should I sell my video game collection?

[homerwannabee]

Before today I was struggling financially already. I had pay this months mortgage by using credit. Now I get a call from the mechanic telling me that it will be a $980 repair. Over the years I worked hard to get a decent collection of video games of which i might have to sell just to keep my house. If it comes to the point of selling my video games or selling my house which way should I lean. The way I look at it is the housing market is pretty high right now and selling my video games would probably only pay for a months extra mortgage. But an extra month could give me enough time to gather myself on my feet again. So which way do you think I should go?

[holygrailvideogames.com]

I am sorry to hear about your financial situation.

 

I have from time to time sold part of my collection off in order to pay bills. Some of the items that I have sold I have missed and some of them I haven't. I have replaced some items that I have sold off, but at times I sold some items that I know that I will never be able to replace. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to in order to survive.

 

If I was you I would look at the bigger picture. Based on your current income can you afford the house that you live in? If you can, I would suggest doing what you have to in order to get "caught up" financially. If you really can't afford your home maybe you should consider selling it and using the equity in the house to buy something that you can afford.

[holygrailvideogames.com]

One other thing. You might want to get a 2nd opinion on your repair. A few years back I had two mechanics tell me that my car repair would be $1000+. The third place that I took it to was the dealer. The price was $150. Just be careful.

[Atari Charles]

Hi,

 

I'm not talking about women here so just listen. You mention you are living in a house. The best and easiest way to pay the bills is to rent out a room. Don't give up the house, as that is one of the best investments you can make. Also, if you get rid of the video games, then what. You'll have to replace them eventually, and besides what will you do next month and the month after that.

 

I have sold things I didn't really want to sell to come up with the shitty think called property tax, but I have never sold anything I definitely wanted to keep.

 

If you get a trust worthy boarder. I find foriegn exchange students from Asia the best as they show respect to the landlord and are generally no problem. If they have money to study overseas, then they don't have any problem coming up with rent.

 

Print up about twenty ads with a drawing or picture of a house using your computer and printer. Then post these ads all over the university and or college compus and see what happens. I've done this and it totally works to get a good tenant who can actually pay the rent. Just make sure your rent is about $50 less than what other ads of the same type are asking.

 

Sure, no one likes to share their space, but if it means keeping your house and ideally having the rent cover the mortgage, then you are laughing.

 

Use your house to it's advantage. Have it make money for you.

 

Just don't rent to Bling Bling or Rufus.

 

Atari Charles

[Mr.FoodMonster]

The way I see it, if you have to decide between your games and your home, I would go with the house 10 outta 10 times.

 

/Teenager with no bills

[minorleagueguy]

One word....priorities..

 

minorleagueguy

[ninjarabbit]

I say keep only the games and systems you really want and sell what you really don't want or play, you'll only get a month or two's money from it. Do you have any other assets worth selling that you don't need or really want?

 

Other options include selling your home and buying a cheaper one, renting a room or two out depending on how big your house is, get a second job, find a higher paying job, donating blood, redo your budget. Some ways to save money include shopping at Goodwill or other thrift stores for clothes and furniture, take out a loan from the bank or family member, packing your lunch instead of eating out, cancel services you don't need like cable and internet (most libraries have public internet access), go to the library instead of a book or movie store, for example.

[sku_u]

Sell your collection. If I had to choose between my house and my collection, I'd sell my collection in a heartbeat. You can always buy it back over time if you decide you even want it back.

 

Some things in life are more important in life than your hobbies.

[moycon]

Depends on how many games you have in your collection.

If you had enough games you could sell your house and build a lean-to out of you Atari carts. Check out any boyscout guide from the early 80's for instructions on how to do this.

[video game addict]

My main question is, can you get electricity in a cardboard box on the side of road?

 

In all seriousness, I don't think anyone here would be more qualified to make that decision over you. It's funny/sad, but this same topic, or variants of it, seem to pop up once every few months. I guess with crappy economy, lot of people looking for work. And some who live outside of their means, which is especially easy to get addicted to things like collecting & spending via ebay. So not hard at all to put yourself in this sort of situation.

 

But to sell or not to sell... well that all depends on you. Personally I think a roof over my head would take precedence over some Atari games, or Playstation, or Nintendo or whatever. They are all just material things, which can be re-acquired down the road. But things to think about before selling:

 

First off, how much do you owe, or how behind are you, & what do you realistically espect to gain by selling these?

 

If you owe $20K & you can raise $500 by selling all your Atari games, you're still gonna be SOL

 

Also maybe you should question why you collect, what do they all mean to you, & how do they effect your life.

 

Sometimes we spend lots of money on things, but honestly don't get much use out of them. They sit around & collect dust. So stop & think for sec, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to sell. And as others have said you can always replace down the road.

 

Also concerning prices, oft times the least played will be the most valuable, it may be time to part out the rares, and keep the definitive collection of Atari gaming goodness. Say a top 10 or 20 games you enjoy playing, and just sell off the rest. This is the best way to raise some money & keep the fun.

 

But ultimately only you can decide what's best for you. I think it's something to think over a few days, if selling the games is worth the time & effort, and will help you in your situation, then go for it. But it may only prolong something that isn't going to change for the good just yet, and could be a wasted effort. But only you know for sure.

 

Good luck!

[gremlin]

that is really a bad situation no matter what! if you did decide to sell your house, how long would it seriouly take before you saw any money? maybe 6 months or a year?! maybe you could eventually downsize your dwelling. i just bought a mobile home for $4,000, and the lot rent is only $200 a month. it's cheaper than paying rent, and i can sell it someday. it's also nice being able to fix your own car. i save tons of money that way. and speaking of cars, do you drive or lease a new car and pay a lot for payments, tax, and insurance? maybe sell your car for a few grand and buy something more affordable or just ride your bicycle everywhere! personally i would have a hard time selling any of my video games. but if you do decide to sell them, tell us here before you go to ebay!

barrett

[Historian]

Keep the collection..

 

Do what ever it takes to keep it.

 

Sometimes it is the simplest pleasures that will help you make it throught the hardest of times.

[Adonick]

I would keep it and move into a smaller house and re-evaluate further spending. You can always buy a new house, or get a new apt. Some of your games you may never be able to find for the price again.

 

Depends on your outlook.

[joeybastard]

Sell the collection. You can always play games on emulators, even if it isn't as pleasant an experience.

[Adrian M]

May as well sell it off seeing how things appear to be going rather badly for you as of late (paying your mortgage with a credit card???).

You should be able to re-purchase most everything in no time at all once you become fiscally stable again.

[Mindfield]

I suppose my own record speaks for itself on this particular issue. Last October, I had a good 23 systems and hundreds of games. But hard times and living beyond my means most of the time have reduced my collection to just my 2600, Lynx and Colecovision. I even had to sell off my 2600 rares at one point. I recently added a 7800 to the mix and seriously bulked up my 2600 collection, but only because my own financial position has improved considerably. I guess when it comes right down to it, the necessities of life will always take precedence over everything else. Of course, if it came down to that for me I'd probably end up keeping a bare core of Atari stuff -- just a basic system setup and my favourite games. Stuff that isn't worth enough to make a difference.

 

Bottom line is, you have to live, and if selling will make the difference and there's no other possible alternative you would consider preferable to selling, then the decision is pretty much made for you.

[Cobra Commander]

Will your game collection fit in a shopping cart? looking a little grim for you. You cant play Atari in the rain. I read a book called "The Grapes of Wrath" once, and when ever I think life sucks I just think about them folks. Its only stuff it can replaced, hope things improve.

[homerwannabee]

I think I do have a couple of things I can sell before I sell my video games. I have pretty nice guitar I can sell for about $120 and a broken down car I am looking to sell for $250. Also I would sell my intellivision and colecovision collection before I would sell my atari 2600 collection and a nice baseball card collection but knowing ebay the baseball card collection would probably sell for $20. Looks like though because of my car breaking down I will have to use the magical credit again a second month in a row. Who needs a girlfriend when you have a car that takes all your money for you

by the way does it really take 6 months to a year to collect your money when you sell your house

[donkeykong1]

I think you should sell the least important things for you first.

[Elvis8Atari]

the worst thing i ever did was sell a bunch of my old games. took forever to buy them back. I doubt your collection is enough to pay the bills on a house anyway. Keep your games. find another way to pay the bills. Only do it as a last option.