What is my junk worth?

Nine Toes · Mon 20/03/2006 07:23:52

I went to my mom's house tonight, and I dug out a bunch of my old toys. I dug out all of my old games (Sega Genesis, NES, & SNES), my comic books, and my comic cards.

I started wondering, "I wonder how much I could get for this stuff on E-bay?" I'm in a bit of a crunch right now, my car has been acting up, and I've been missing a lot of work lately because of it.

But, I don't just wanna put all of this stuff up for sale on e-bay for a couple bucks, and then, later on, come to find out I could have gotten more for it. To me, this isn't just junk, I grew up with this stuff. I'm willing to part with it, but I want to know if any of it's worth anything. I know all of the stuff is really nothing special, but to me it's got sentimental value.

I was wondering if anyone knows of an appraisal resource of some type for these kinds of things? I could go and buy a copy of Wizard and find out how much the comics and the cards are worth, but I don't have the $10 to shell out for it (I'm not even sure if they put the price guides in the magazine anymore).

The thing is, I've got the full 1995 Fleer Ultra X-Men set, with all of the chase cards (except one). It's got to be worth something. The whole set is in pretty good condition, I've taken good care of it, and the set is over 10 years old. I've even got an unnumbered card that's not on the checklist for that set. I found the card I need to fully complete the set on E-bay for $2, I'm more than likely going to buy it.

As for the video games, I don't even know what to ask for them.

I've already searched google quite a bit, but I can't seem to find a price guide, or any type of appraisal site. Any tips?

Gregjazz · Mon 20/03/2006 07:56:22

Quote from: Mr. Hyde on Mon 20/03/2006 07:23:52
The thing is, I've got the full 1995 Fleer Ultra X-Men set

Something inside of me wants to say "you, my friend, are sitting on a gold mine."

Well if you still can't find answers, you might look on E-bay to see what the bids on similar items are going for...

Pesty · Mon 20/03/2006 13:14:58

What I'd suggest as far as the games are concerned is to make a list of them. Most NES games go for about $5-8, cheaper for some of the more common or undesirable ones (like the football ones and, like, Remote Control and stuff) and $10-20 for the rarer and popular ones (Metroid, Maniac Mansion, things like that). SNES games are generally more expensive for some reason, but not by much. I saw a place trying to sell them for $40 a pop, but I doubt you'll get anything like that unless you have something everyone wants. I don't recommend taking them to any used game dealerships, since they won't give you a good deal ever on anything. I'm unsure about the Sega games, since my Sega is broken and I haven't been as interested in collecting the games as I have the NES ones (even though I've generally liked Sega games better).

As a collector, I'd like to see what you have. I might be interested in buying some from you if you have anything cool.

Tom S. Fox · Mon 20/03/2006 14:53:50

You wouldn't get anything for it.
But you are lucky: I would take your stuff for free!

Kweepa · Mon 20/03/2006 16:51:30

If this stuff has sentimental value, I recommend holding on to it.
It's not likely to net you much - maybe a couple of hundred bucks for a lot of work advertising it and packaging it up - and you'll regret it later.
On the other hand, if you're just keeping some of it because you think it might be worth something... sell! sell!

skyfire2 · Mon 20/03/2006 19:31:05

unless a collecter wants your game really bad, you won't make any money off those nes games. nowadays, it only takes about a couple of seconds for a person to download a nes game. have you ever heard of roms?

Mr Jake · Mon 20/03/2006 19:54:36

Have you ever heard of people prefering to have an original copy of the game on the original system to play?

The Inquisitive Stranger · Mon 20/03/2006 20:20:45

What Sega Genesis games do you have? I might be willing to buy one (or more than one) off of you...

Scummbuddy · Mon 20/03/2006 21:32:02

Well, I will say that the only goldmine of a game on genesis, are the Mutant League Hockey/Football games. If you happen to have Hockey I would surely buy it from you.

I too was a huge comic card collector as a kid. I have about 4 complete sets, and I was hoping at a time they could pay for something I may need later in life, but not even Wizard comic guide discusses their price value, because, I've found on ebay, not a huge demand for it. And if anytime it would be valuable would be now, with the xmen movies being a hit, but again, they just dont sell. perhaps the action figures may do well, but not the comic cards, Im afraid. But I want to keep all of mine really, as it was a blast collecting them, and they are fun to remember that I'm a Marvel fan, well over a silly DC fan.

ManicMatt · Mon 20/03/2006 21:39:37

Ooh I've still got some X-men comics somewhere! I'd forgot about those. And some Collossal comics too... and even Garfield. Oh! And the complete first series of Ren and Stimpy. (Minus the badge that was on the first episode.)

LimpingFish · Mon 20/03/2006 22:16:32

Video games really have to be boxed and with manuals before you can start thinking of selling them. Even then its really only a small percentage of games that are worth more than a couple of bucks.

I collect videogame cartridges for all major systems from the Nes on upwards. I don't care about the condition since I only collect them to play them. But thats just me.

Most collectors collect for the thrill of owning complete lines of games for each system, or every game from a certain developer or publisher. And they usually like them to be near-mint+.

Its usually only the ultra-rare games that go for big money anyway.

That said, if you have any mint boxed Squaresoft games or mint editions of the first games in popular franchises, you might make a decent profit. I wouldn't count on it though.

BOYD1981 · Mon 20/03/2006 22:56:17

i took a look on ebay once to see what the average price people were selling a fully boxed copy of the amiga version of Secret of Monkey Island with the manuals and pirate wheel was. it led to me not selling it as it wasn't really that much.
i've always said that something is only worth what you're willing to pay for it, like the time i found a cd boxset on ebay that i had been after for a long time since two of the three CDs of my copy got scratched beyond playibility.
i think i got it for like Â£7 but i would have paid Â£25 or more because it was so dear to me...

Evil · Tue 21/03/2006 04:31:30

It's really hard to get a decent price on those kinds of things. Usually only collectors shoot for this kind of stuff, and eBay is the best place to look price wise. Most local specialty stores will have "the blue book", which has price values for everything of that subject/class/whatever. Just stray from the chain-stores. They'll always rip you off. They just want it for the sale, not the item.