collection appraisal

[techwizard]

I'm not selling my collection but I feel like researching how much each game i have is worth (approximately) for curiosities sake. has anyone else done this, and any suggestions beyond ebay? that's most likely what i'll be basing a lot of my estimates on, with the completed listings option. for anything i can't find there i'll probably ask here in the price check thread, or maybe somewhere like nintendoage.

i know a lot of the value in video games changes depending on what people are willing to pay, and the markets fluctuate easily. i just think it would be cool to be able to say my collection is worth X amount of money with some degree of accuracy.

[Zagnorch]

There are a few price-checking resources on the net that my fellow 'generators have brought up in past forum posts and blogs.

Mr. Nupoile brought up pricecharting.com in a recent blog:

http://www.rfgeneration.c...t-price-charting-2212.php

However, he did bring up the site's big drawback:"Unfortunately, pricecharting.com doesn't keep any record of condition, which has a big effect on value."

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Also, its values are based on current trends. If something started selling for much lower or much higher recently, it'll take a couple months worth of sales to bring it back to the average.

[techwizard]

condition is why i thought ebay would be a good place to start because i could find items selling for similar condition. another option i thought i could do would be to take the item that sold for the least and the one that sold for the most and put it as a range of values, and tally them as 2 separate totals for the collection. like say my collection is worth $4000-$6000 for example. not too precise but enough to get a general idea.

[RobotCowhand]

This actually brings up a nice side discussion. Do people have their collection insured?

[techwizard]

i don't but i could see it's a smart thing to do if it's big enough, there's a lot invested there. the problem is that i'm sure they would want to know a better figure for what it's worth to know what coverage you need, and it might not be possible to really know exactly.

[Razor Knuckles]

You can insure a game collection. I do know of a collector that pays about $1,000 to insure his collection.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

You can insure a game collection. I do know of a collector that pays about $1,000 to insure his collection.

Insuring a game collection is somewhat silly. You attach an arbitrary value you feel is worthwhile, and they say "ok".

When I had my apartment flooded, they covered some of the damaged games I had. The appraiser tried to find the values for some of them on eBay, and often picked the wrong one in my favor. They only cover up to a certain amount though, which I was just under.

[Razor Knuckles]

You can insure a game collection. I do know of a collector that pays about $1,000 to insure his collection.

Insuring a game collection is somewhat silly. You attach an arbitrary value you feel is worthwhile, and they say "ok".

When I had my apartment flooded, they covered some of the damaged games I had. The appraiser tried to find the values for some of them on eBay, and often picked the wrong one in my favor. They only cover up to a certain amount though, which I was just under.

I kept trying to find the video of this persons collection to show you guys. I believe Gamester81 did a interview of Joe's collection, the founder of Atari2600.com (I think thats who it was). It showed his own personal collection at his own home. In the video he discussed insuring his collection and I believe it was something ridiculous like $1,000 a month. He had complete collections of nearly every common system CIB. He had a safe filled with extremely rare games. Seems the video has been pulled.

Maybe if you own a collection in the mid to high six figures it may be worth insuring it? Then again I can't comment as my collection probably isn't worth more than $3,500.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

You can insure a game collection. I do know of a collector that pays about $1,000 to insure his collection.

Insuring a game collection is somewhat silly. You attach an arbitrary value you feel is worthwhile, and they say "ok".

When I had my apartment flooded, they covered some of the damaged games I had. The appraiser tried to find the values for some of them on eBay, and often picked the wrong one in my favor. They only cover up to a certain amount though, which I was just under, but I'm sure that varies based on policy and company.

I kept trying to find the video of this persons collection to show you guys. I believe Gamester81 did a interview of Joe's collection, the founder of Atari2600.com (I think thats who it was). It showed his own personal collection at his own home. In the video he discussed insuring his collection and I believe it was something ridiculous like $1,000 a month. He had complete collections of nearly every common system CIB. He had a safe filled with extremely rare games. Seems the video has been pulled.

Maybe if you own a collection in the mid to high six figures it may be worth insuring it? Then again I can't comment as my collection probably isn't worth more than $3,500.

DreamTR's collection is insured, and there are a couple others that I know that are insured. However, for collections worth a certain amount, renter's/homeowner's insurance will cover the cost. I believe the maximum amount for renter's insurance, for the one I previously owned, is $2,500.

Considering that my collection, when I previously appraised it, was worth $15,000+, and there are quite a few others here that have more than me, insurance is not necessarily a bad idea. However, it's a bad idea to insure ALL of your collection, instead of key pieces.

[nupoile]

.....
Mr. Nupoile brought up pricecharting.com in a recent blog:

http://www.rfgeneration.c...t-price-charting-2212.php
......

It's like I'm a famous blogger!   

I really need to credit Mr Shadow with bringing pricecharting to my attention in the first place.

My take on the insurance issue, first you have to know although I actually read all the boring paperwork from our insurance company, I am not an expert. And your insurance may be different. It is my understanding my insurance will cover my collection in case of loss. Because my collection is not worth huge amounts of money (tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars) it is covered under "personal belongings". Often homeowners and renters insurance are pretty similar in the personal belongings part. If your stuff is lost or destroyed insurance will pay you to replace it.

I am a little fuzzy on this part but I think that if my couch was lost in a fire, I would first go buy a couch, then give the insurance company the receipt, then they would give me a check for that amount. If all my stuff was lost in a fire they would probably just give me a check for the amount of insurance I have. I think the amounts most people have are $15 000 or $20 000.

Because video games are normal things many people have, the insurance company (I would hope) won't think you are lying to them when you try and make a claim for their loss. ESPECIALLY because you all have some proof here on RFGen with up to date collection lists and some pictures, right?

Things change though when you have very spendy single items or your whole collection is worth a bunch of money. If I, out of the blue, went to my insurance and told them someone stole my boxed Air Raid and I needed $40k they might start to question things.

What I am getting at is if your collection is worth in the low thousands and you have homeowners/renters insurance, you are likely good to go. But if your collection is worth lots, go talk with your agent, get a special rider or up your insurance. Besides if you just have the minimum amount you may want more anyways. $20k isn't a lot when you have to replace a bed, a couple of PC's, a phone, clothes, TV's and so on.

And of course the disclaimer is that I know nothing, please consult a professional.

[techwizard]

also some things might be so rare to be almost irreplaceable

[Razor Knuckles]

Lol RF Generation can save my ass in case of a disaster. I just have renters insurance and probably don't have more than $15,000 worth of stuff. Sadly my game collection is worth more than anything else I own in my house.

It does make me curious to how one would specifically insure a collection and how to claim a collection in case a disaster happened. Than again I just have basic coverage like most of you. No $100,000 collection in my house. I know nothing either.