I Thought It Would Be Worth More

August 13, 2015

In the interest of full disclosure, I no longer frequent garage sales and flea markets on a weekly basis. I attend only about two flea markets a month. I'm more involved in the auction scene. In a way, I actually miss the hectic, frantic pace of treasure hunting in the trenches. Judging from what I have seen at the few flea markets I attend and from what others in the trade have told me, the overall market has changed. While there are a lot of great finds at flea markets across the country, some have become a dumping ground of basic household junk while sellers hold onto what they consider to be valuable treasures. Ironically, a lot of these items are nothing special, and most hold no real monetary value at all. This lament is happening all too often in an age where “Pawn Stars” and “American Pickers” are just a click of a remote (or mouse on the computer) away.
Recently, I was asked to help evaluate a classic Nintendo video game collection spanning several generations of systems from the original NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) to the Super Nintendo. All the games were cartridge only with no manuals or boxes, and everything was in good to excellent condition. Both systems were complete with no boxes and in used condition. If I was to rate everything included on a one-to-ten scale with ten being the absolute best condition possible, I would rate this lot a firm seven. Included with both systems were about 30 game cartridges, with 20 being for the original NES and 10 being for the beloved Super Nintendo.
The collection was discovered by an older gentleman who stated it was kept in his basement and originally used by his children, who are now grown and have since moved out of the house. This happens more than one would think. Contrary to popular belief, not every adult wants to collect the objects of their youth. The man offered the systems and games to his adult sons, and both declined to take the items off his hands, with one actually calling the collection junk. The man confided in me that he had watched an episode of “Pawn Stars” in which two rare Nintendo games given out at the 1990 Nintendo World Championships were being offered for close to $30,000. I knew I would have quite a job when I explained to the man that close to 90 percent of all video games are not even worth a fraction of their original retail price! The games shown on “Pawn Stars” were extremely limited releases (never commercially available and with numbers in the hundreds, not millions). Reluctant to trust me, the man did what every seller does and quickly showed me some eBay auctions to verify his claim that these items were worth a lot of money. As any good “expert” (I use the term loosely) I had to explain the reasoning and rationale behind those asking prices.
The first game the man pointed to was “The Legend of Zelda” for the original NES. It has a unique gold-colored game cartridge and sold well over 10 million copies in North America alone when it was released back in 1987. A near mint cartridge only copy of “The Legend of Zelda” is worth about $20 to $25, nothing more. Ironically, that is also a very high retail price. I generally sell this game on eBay for $17.95 plus $4 shipping. It's common, but a classic and in demand as a result. The man showed me a listing for a factory sealed copy graded by VGA (Video Game Authority) in near mint condition that sold for close to $1,000. When I explained this to the man, he got belligerent and tried to tell me he thought I knew the value of these items. I then proceeded to show him completed eBay listings for a near mint copy of “The Legend of Zelda.” As the man went through the listings, he saw prices ranging from $15 to $30 with shipping, and he began shaking his head.
"Mine are much more valuable than this," he proclaimed. Stunned, I asked him to explain to me the difference between his loose gold-colored “Legend of the Zelda” game and the one that was seen in the completed listings having closed for $25. He could not. I then explained to him the true value of all his games. While he expected his collection to be worth thousands, in all honesty the complete collection with both systems and 30 games was only worth about $250, and I would agree to pay him $150 cash. I spent almost an hour explaining my pricing and how I came up with that figure.
I then said something that only those in the retail side of the antiques and collectibles business truly understand. That statement was merely this, "I just spent over two hours of my time with you, and we have yet to agree on a sale. I understand you see that I am making 100 dollars off this deal and think that is substantial, but think of it this way. How many deals do I have to go on and share my knowledge at a cost of my time and travelling expenses before I agree to a deal?" Most dealers in the collectibles business make a little over minimum wage when all is said and done. The man accepted the deal, and I parted all items out for a total sum of $285. I wasn't far off on my estimate, as expected. I'll spare you the details on my time cleaning and testing the items, my time dealing with eBay buyers, the listing of the actual items in question, and the eBay and PayPal fees that have increased substantially over the years.
In conclusion, we are at a very interesting time in the antiques and collectibles hobby. Never before has so much information (the accuracy of which varies widely) been available to the average person who may have absolutely no knowledge of the antiques and collectibles trade. This is causing some interesting issues within the trade, and I see no signs of this trend changing anytime soon. Dealers and collectors need to understand that the average seller outside of the trade has little understanding as to how the business truly works and needs to have more patience when dealing with the general public. The general public has to understand that reality television, regardless as to whether it centers around love, celebrities, or antiques, is exactly that--television based somewhat on reality. Unfortunately, it is the reality part that appears to be misleading. This topic will be explored in greater depth in several upcoming articles. Thanks for reading!

 

More Articles