etzee

Pricing video games for a live auction

Complete, loose and sealed are three different markets. Pricing them as one is the whole mistake.

The Metzee team13 Oct 20261 min read

The title is a weak guide to price in this category. Completeness is a strong one.

Price the state, not the title

The same game, loose and complete, can be a long way apart. Decide which of the three you have — sealed, complete in box, loose — before you pick a number, and put that word in the listing title.

Where to start

Loose and common: start low, run fast, use them to build the room.

Complete and sought-after: a low start works when the room is busy and costs you when it is not. A reserve is the safety net.

Sealed: start higher and expect fewer bidders. This is also the category where a buyer is most likely to ask a question before bidding, so leave room in your pacing for it.

Lots

Loose games sell well in platform lots — a box of one console's games, counted and described. Keep the sought-after title out and run it on its own.

Consoles

Price a console on whether you have tested it and on what is included: controllers, cables, power supply, memory card. Each missing piece is money the buyer has to spend before it works.

Questions people ask

Do I need to grade a sealed game?

No. Grading exists, it is slow and it costs, and for most games it is not worth it. Say it is sealed and ungraded.

How do I price something I cannot test?

Lower, and say untested clearly. A buyer paying untested prices is not disappointed by an untested result.

Should I split a console bundle?

Usually yes for sought-after games, no for the cables and controllers. Nobody bids on a power lead.

More: how to price for auction, selling games.

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