Angst about selling stuff

[Edmond Dantes]

So, lately I thought about "thinning out" my collection (of games, mostly, though I have other stuff that needs going).

I have a lot of games that I think are worth something but that I don't believe I'll ever play--largely of the "I was interested as a kid, but these days they're not my thing" variety.

The problem is, I have this fear that if I sell them, I'll want to play them again.

Anyone else have this issue?

[CStarFlare]

Yes.

It gets easier once you have enough money to be able to say "if I want this later, I can just buy it again." There are things I can't quite get rid of yet (I'll never let my Earthbound cart go!), but it helps with slimming things down.

spoilers: I've never repurchased something. (though improving 32-bit emulation has helped with that)

[rancor]

I have loads of stuff like that. Mostly arcade gear at the moment. I haven't played Shienryu since the week that I bought it, but I've yet to see another ST-V copy turn up in ages so I'm reluctant to get rid of it. I've got the entire Raiden Fighters series PCBs as well as the X360 collection. I really should get rid of the PCBs since the ports are good enough, but I just cant bring myself to do it.
My Capcom mini-cute too.. ugh.. Haven't even turned it on since nzero/victoly was over here and we had a Dynamite Deka slug-fest. I need to just get rid of it. I could use the extra +$1000, and its sure to make someone else happier than it's making me. The list goes on and on.. I also wish I could break my superplay DVD collecting habit. At this point it's more about the acquiring than the actual watching..

[dcharlieJP]

So, lately I thought about "thinning out" my collection (of games, mostly, though I have other stuff that needs going).
I have a lot of games that I think are worth something but that I don't believe I'll ever play--largely of the "I was interested as a kid, but these days they're not my thing" variety.
The problem is, I have this fear that if I sell them, I'll want to play them again.
Anyone else have this issue?

Regret is all part of the process - it's best to get into the frame of mind of "if i actually had X hours - what would i play? what could i actually play time wise?"

I've nuked my collection 3 times, but this last time is the last big nuking. I've went down from somewhere around 4k games to around, maybe, 150?

There just isn't enough time anymore so i'm focusing on a smaller, tighter collection. Once you let go of the angst it really isn't so bad.

[EmperorIng]

I've never been in the habit of parting with games until recently, when I realized that having money can do so much more for you than a shmup you only play three times.

[drauch]

Yeah. I pretty much keep everything. There are movies I got rid of years ago that I still regret selling. I've been called a hoarder, pack rat, freak, whatever. It's what I love; these things are my life, and pretty much all I do. Found out a VHS I've got is worth about 150 bucks, so I'll be selling that since it's not a good movie. That's about the only time I sell something, when I don't like it. Other than that, it sits in my house, waiting and plotting with the rest of the garbage to swallow me up and be my demise.

[BIL]

Other than that, it sits in my house, waiting and plotting with the rest of the garbage to swallow me up and be my demise.

That'd make a killer short film, preferably using stop-motion. I'd have the guy just barely escape the nest of grasping cables and flying discs, only for his brick Gameboy he could never sell to KO him as he steps out the front door. Cue montage of guy as a kid with his brick GB as he's dragged back in (sad music + sepia tones) before the door slams leaving brick GB all alone on the doorstep. ;-;

[Domino]

Me keep moving around often due to college + different hobbies cause me to get rid of almost all my gaming stuff. I still miss my JP Megadrive collection but at the same time I would play some of the games like five times and that's it. I love looking at my old JP copy of Alien Soldier but I only played it like what, three hours at most. Now with me having a real job and such my mind is just on music and comic book reading. I would look more at my JP Megadrive games for their packaging than playing them.

One funny thing is that I still like to listen to tons of older shooting game OSTs. Something about music that always draws me in. If I had more money I would hurt down the rarer Technosoft OST releases.

[Edmond Dantes]

Another issue in my case is that I think I might review some of my games in my blog sometime.

So I guess "any game I review and say bad things about, I'll put on a sell pile" (although that might devalue it...)

[drauch]

Other than that, it sits in my house, waiting and plotting with the rest of the garbage to swallow me up and be my demise.

That'd make a killer short film, preferably using stop-motion. I'd have the guy just barely escape the nest of grasping cables and flying discs, only for his brick Gameboy he could never sell to KO him as he steps out the front door. Cue montage of guy as a kid with his brick GB as he's dragged back in (sad music + sepia tones) before the door slams leaving brick GB all alone on the doorstep. ;-;

Alright, BIL, let's start a Kickstarter for the shmups forum's first movie! We'll dedicate it to the late Ray Harryhausen.

[drunkninja24]

Pretty much the only time I sell stuff is if it's worth a somewhat sizable amount and I don't have a particular attachment to it. Example would be when I was looking for stuff to fund my Ketsui PCB purchase, I gladly sold my Earthbound SNES cart since I had played through it, paid around $60 for it and it was selling for around $200 at that time, and as much as I liked the game, I don't have the near fanaticism for the series others do, and was happy to let it go for something much more worthwhile to me.

[Skykid]

Yeah, definitely. Funny thing is I always remember the stuff I regret selling. Ten years ago I sold MVS Pulstar and Twinkle Star Sprites for peanuts (probably around £40 for both) and always regretted it, but I wanted the cash for a new DVD player. God smiled on me and I got TSS again for even less than the first time around, but not Pulstar sadly.

I had a big purge last year where I just looked through everything and thought, "yep, all this shit can go." My criteria is quality/rarity/ or personal nostalgia over just having 'things' because they fill shelf space. I think I sold almost everything current gen (all the LE's) bar a few exceptions, no regrets whatsoever.

That said, I'm rubbish at parting with anything SFC or MD related.

[burgerkingdiamond]

I have loads of stuff like that. Mostly arcade gear at the moment. I haven't played Shienryu since the week that I bought it, but I've yet to see another ST-V copy turn up in ages so I'm reluctant to get rid of it. I've got the entire Raiden Fighters series PCBs as well as the X360 collection. I really should get rid of the PCBs since the ports are good enough, but I just cant bring myself to do it.
My Capcom mini-cute too.. ugh.. Haven't even turned it on since nzero/victoly was over here and we had a Dynamite Deka slug-fest. I need to just get rid of it. I could use the extra +$1000, and its sure to make someone else happier than it's making me. The list goes on and on.. I also wish I could break my superplay DVD collecting habit. At this point it's more about the acquiring than the actual watching..

nah nigga, don't sell the Mini Cute. I know it doesn't get used much but it's damn cool.

[Edmond Dantes]

So... so far, I've worked up three guidelines.

1. Anything I've already sold once and repurchased = definitely not letting go of. If I loved it enough to repurchase the first time, why would I want to repeat that drama?

2. Anything that would be rare/hard to get back = Basically, I have to absolutely hate it (or be in dire need of money) to want to part with it. It's similar to #1 but in this case I don't want to go through it in the first place.

3. Sell games, but never consoles. Because you never know when you'll discover that one Must-Play game for the Gamecube. (Exception is for when I have more than one of the same console).

My goal is to narrow all my game platforms down to just personal/nostalgic favorites.

Now, there is ONE platform where I would have no emotional qualms with thinning out my collection. That's... and I know this will sound like a flip-flop after the "MS-DOS Memories" topic, but... that platform is PC games. I just have too many, and a lot are in genres I liked as a kid but have no patience for now (RPGs, Strategy, Simulation games). The problem is, that's a platform where its not easy to sell games. Nobody wants PC games. Everybody wants console games though, which sucks because I can't see as many console games I'd like to ship off. That kinda sucks.

Unless anyone happens to know a "PC game trading post" type place?

[drauch]

Sell me your PC games

[Edmond Dantes]

Sell me your PC games

... You know, I actually might.

Did you see the list of games I own? Did you see any in particular you were interested in?

(... maybe we should take this to PMs)

[stuminator]

I'm definitely in this camp. I've got a crapton of console stuff, some of which I haven't played in over a decade (sometimes not at all) and I still don't sell it. I keep thinking that maybe someday I'll want to play this, so I keep it around in case I ever do.

[Vexorg]

I get rid of things I'm not playing anymore on a regular basis, and in almost all cases I can manage to do so without a second thought to the games I got rid of. My apartment is fairly small, so I just don't have the space to keep a ton of stuff around. In terms of current games I've largely moved back to PC gaming (and get just about anything that isn't a platform exclusive on there,) and hardly ever play on consoles anymore anyway.

[TransatlanticFoe]

Found out a VHS I've got is worth about 150 bucks, so I'll be selling that since it's not a good movie.

There's a VHS collector's market???

[broken harbour]

I get rid of things I'm not playing anymore on a regular basis, and in almost all cases I can manage to do so without a second thought to the games I got rid of. My apartment is fairly small, so I just don't have the space to keep a ton of stuff around. In terms of current games I've largely moved back to PC gaming (and get just about anything that isn't a platform exclusive on there,) and hardly ever play on consoles anymore anyway.

I did this years ago, steam has many games that used to be console exclusive, so I bought a PC, sold a bunch of console stuff and enjoyed the superior graphics...

Then I decided I wanted the 'real thing' and ended up buying back a bunch of consoles and stuff lately, and well now it costs more that I sold it for all those years ago.

Back in 2000 I sold my Saturn and my collection of games thinking I wouldn't miss them. I sold my USA copy of Guardian Heroes for like $10, now I see it on ebay for $200 + and I hate myself every time.

Now I'm not selling anything anymore, I'll just become a hoarder.

[drauch]

Found out a VHS I've got is worth about 150 bucks, so I'll be selling that since it's not a good movie.

There's a VHS collector's market???

Dude, there's a HUGE VHS market. Like, almost as bad as the retro game market. Mainly just horror films, though. Check out this shit:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Halloween-MEDIA ... 35c7e9dabc

[Skykid]

Found out a VHS I've got is worth about 150 bucks, so I'll be selling that since it's not a good movie.

There's a VHS collector's market???

Dude, there's a HUGE VHS market. Like, almost as bad as the retro game market. Mainly just horror films, though. Check out this shit:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Halloween-MEDIA ... 35c7e9dabc

Holy fucking wow. I'd be surprised if this extended to the UK, you can't even give VHS's away to charity shops anymore. They can't sell them and put notices saying they no longer want them donated.

[SA-DaleCooper]

For me the problem is that i often buy things that i don't absolutely want because it's a great deal, sure i can get a Tekken 1 pcb for $10 bucks but am i really going to play it? anyway that's my issue, i wish i could sell a lot of the things i have right now but i'm thinking the might come in handy for trades, maybe if i really need the money i'll sell some of my collection.

[cools]

I try and sell anything that's been shelved for >12 months. Can always buy it back if the urge rises.

[Marc]

Had to get rid of my Neo/Saturn collections years ago and while I still miss the huge carts and box art of the Neo in particular, but a lot of the stuff I really liked has been re released on XBLA or comps, and with kids around the house stuff never tends to stay in the kind of condition I'd like to keep it in anyways. The only thing I haven't and won't let go of is my Intellivision stuff, I've 70 or so mostly boxed games in storage until I can pick up another machine, just one thing that never feels the same via emulation.

[Acid King]

I wouldn't worry about it. The only thing I've gotten rid of that I regret is my Batrider PCB, which I traded for a Neo Geo and some MVS stuff, and that's mostly because Batrider has really gone up in price in the few years since. I think the "I'll get to it eventually" attitude is kinda misguided because unless you stop buying stuff period, "eventually" never comes. My free time has gotten more precious as time has gone on if I had held on to all the shit that I sold to finance the purchase of a cab it would all still be piled up in my closet waiting for that magical moment where I have the time to sit and play through thousands of hours of games.

[charlie chong]

Holy fucking wow. I'd be surprised if this extended to the UK, you can't even give VHS's away to charity shops anymore. They can't sell them and put notices saying they no longer want them donated.

nope uk vhs can be real collectable as well.especially the pre-certification big boxes,stuff unreleased on dvd and films on the video nasty list..
luckily sites such as cinemageddon exist that archive vhs rips of these rarities!!!
i would have never seem many many awesome films that still don't exist on dvd if it wasn't for guys doing vhs rips.some of the awesome philippino made vietnam action films will probably never be issued on dvd.
like this
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcForApOLT8

[Jonst]

Yeah,it's quite natural to be anxious about this.really think about it,because its a bastard to have to buy the same stuff back however many years later! Done it myself about 3 times over.the worst was having to re-buy all the mega drive stuff and the Asian spec console again!

[hail good sir]

side

[ZellSF]

I would sell lots of my stuff, but I don't for a combination of reasons:

1: Local ways of selling stuff suck
2: Shipping from here is expensive (Norway)
3: Many of my games are US region (and I live in Europe)
4: Many of the games I have are obscure games with not so many potential buyers
5: The games I do want to sell is older stuff (PS2, Wii), but not old enough to be retro (which apparently sells nowadays)

Just don't see much money in it.