The more people fall for it, the more it becomes a concern. Say that this guy buys a sealed copy of FFVII for $80 (shot in the dark figure). He spends $3 sealing it in frustrating plastic, 25 cents on a label, and a trip to the dollar store for a pack of shiny gold stickers. Then when it's on eBay for $800 and someone actually buys it, it injects him with a 700%+ profit; arming him with a lot of new-found spending power to buy up more collectible games. The more spending power that this guy is armed with, the more fairly-priced collectible games will vanish and re-surface as VGA GOLD for 5-10 times the amount that they once were. This could put a significant dent in the supply of fairly-priced collectibles which are always increasing in demand. It's brilliant in it's own exploitative jackassery... turning $400 in investments into $4000 through patience, but it needs to stop before retro game collecting turns into a white glove AES-type of scene. Any thoughts?
I think it's sad, but what can you do about it? "Retrogaming" / collecting seems to have become a trend in the recent years, and prices have gone up by insane amounts. eBay is almost out of the question now if you want to buy something, absurdly high prices. In my home country (Uruguay), retrogaming has become very popular in the past year and you had lots of people doing what you say above, not exactly the same as VGA grading but reselling like that.
I think you're completely missing the point of these services. VGA, like AFA for Star Wars figures, is a way of accurately grading a game's condition AND KEEPING IT IN THAT CONDITION. That is achieved by sealing it in a protective plastic casing. Gold level is just high-grade items. "This guy" is actually a company (Collectible Grading Authority, Inc.) with a number of sub-organizations specializing in particular fields. I highly doubt they have time to go around grading items and selling them for profit. They're too busy profiting from the service they offer. I can say that AFA stuff is done well, and they are traceable on the website. Now, that's not to say they're infallible. They DO make mistakes and sometimes have been known to grade fakes. Still, that's basically the service they offer - grade something and ensure it a) remains in that condition and b) is documented and traceable. Yup, plenty of people are against the idea. I'm not saying I go for it - it's expensive to do a complete collection. And yes, the prices can be ridiculously high. At the same time, if you want a high-grade copy of a game, it's a good way to find one - you can never rely on an eBay seller's description. Or indeed whether the item will get damaged. Unless it is graded and sealed. Could an individual do what you describe? Sure. It's a risk, though - first buying games probably off eBay, and then assuming it'll be graded high and someone will pay a lot for it. Now, could that same person buy a sealed game and immediately sell it (ungraded) on eBay for a profit? YES! I don't know how many times I can say this. The value of ANY item is WHAT SOMEONE IS PREPARED TO PAY FOR IT. Sure, people might see an item sell for a lot and THINK they'll get the same for theirs. Only if someone is prepared to pay that. If a rare car sells at auction for $100,000, there were at least two people bidding it up. AND ONE STOPPED. So that person wasn't prepared to pay $100,000. If a second one came up, would that person automatically decide they should now pay that price? Of course not. They should probably assume that nobody will outbid him, or they would have last time... and that there's now one more on the market, so demand will go DOWN. Sealed games are getting rare anyway. Their value will be based on supply and demand. The more that are sold for "reasonable" prices (my friend just paid £800 for a Sealed Link to the Past. That is NOT a reasonable price. I paid £30 for mine brand new), the less there will be. As people for some reason want sealed games nowadays, this will just make them more in demand, and force prices up. There will be a limit, then nobody will buy. So no, it's not going to mean the games will be extortionate. It means that you have to be stupid to pay dealer prices. Those shops that sell electronic goods that do business clearances, yet put them at high prices.... would you buy from one? If you would, you're an idiot. Sure, they have good stuff. Half of the time, they don't test or warrant them (if they do... OK, fair enough) and so you're better off looking on eBay, Craigslist etc. A friend of mine works at one of those places and offered me a free 1970s oscilloscope. Places like his on eBay listed the same item at $80-200, often untested. The ONLY examples that have sold on eBay have been, on average, $10-50. So... should I buy one from a dealer? Why the hell would I do that when I can source them cheaper? What will happen is collectors will eventually say ENOUGH. They won't pay... so any dealer who bought 10 copies of a game and had them graded will have 8 copies remaining on their shelf forever... or until some rich Arab who doesn't have the time to hunt grabs one.
Well, I suppose you are right in that people will buy whatever they deem worthy of buying. Who am I to try and stop them? Great use of caps.
Don't worry, it won't happen because VGA stuff just flat out sells poorly. (At least by looking at completed ebay listings)
VGA is a bunch of bullshit, however many think they up the value and do whatever to the game. Which is why we have VGA graded Wii games and current gen games. Makes sense right? The more people support it, the more it will become a norm. People who do support it and buy these so called "graded" games are equally as brain washable. I should probably send a tub of Pokemon yoghurt to get graded so it stays fresh.
Or better yet,some pokemon cereal. http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e305/michael01990/IMG_0734_zpse676c7a8.jpg
I don't really understand this. Surely there is a big risk. So If someone buys a seal copy for very high price because obviously sealed and unopened. How that person going to know that seal copy has it all the content inside the sealed box? Of course unless it been open to find out but again the value will decrease. Some people are so fucking stupid. VGA grading stuff gets on my bloody nerves over the years now.
"Felix the Cat" (NES) for sale, unopened, NRFB. Odds of game being actually inside and working are indeterminate. Call +555-... and ask for Mr. Schroedinger.
Grading is itself fine. As mentioned earlier, it greatly increases the odds a game is in its advertised condition and will remain that way for a significant length of time. How reliable the grading services we have are, I don't know.
What about those graded consoles that are known to have leaky capacitors? The outer box might look pristine to the grader and assuming all the contents are intact from factory; they do not negate the fact the system is deteriorating inside-out. I suppose these "collectors" simply don't care. As long as those boxes remain sealed, nothing happened right?
The color is in relativity. Surely even the most dedicated of VGA graders think the idea of vacuum-sealing an entire UPS Truck that happens to contain crates of PS4 games would be silly, and they probably also think that tossing out a candy bar wrapper would be rational. Using VGA logic, why is it silly if the UPS Truck could easily be just as significant in terms of it's sentimental value and history? Why is it rational to throw away a candy bar wrapper when it is made out of the same material that makes a game worth an extra $600? For that matter, why are we not vacuum-sealing New York City at this particular moment in time to preserve it for future generations to look at? It's almost atrocious that we are not because the future will be left scratching it's head wondering forever what that moment in time contained, right? Maybe when we finally get space travel down and blow this popsicle stand, we will turn it into a museum and pay experts to keep every tree shrub and blade of grass looking exactly how it did when we left it.
To them, the printed box artwork is what they want and all they want. No telling whether its creator accidentally place the wrong stuff inside either. Heck a factory mishap could increase the price by encouraging other people to buy copies seeking it.
In my opinion VGA grading shouldn't cost more than 10$ maybe 15$ because of the hard case. I doubt that there are very educated masters of grading working over there.
Yeah, there seems to be no evidence that the people grading these games are experts in any way shape or form. The fact that you are able to send the same items back in to be re-graded and can sometimes get drastically different scores obviously indicates that there is no real consistency at all.
