Topic: How do You Get Rid of Old Games?

I know for a lot of people this would be anathema, but I always prefer physical copies of games mostly because when I'm done with them, I can sell them to get more money for more new games. So for those non-collectors like me, what is the best way you have found to do this? I used to mostly sell them on Amazon because I could get a lot more for them that way than I could trading them in to Gamestop or Best Buy, but Amazon's latest practices have made that a lot more difficult. Now you have to like create a business account or something and everything that goes with that. I'm not a business, I'm just trying to get rid of old stuff I don't want anymore. I currently have a giant pile of old games just sitting on my desk because I can't find a good way to sell them. What does everybody else do when they want to get some money for their old games? And assuming it's probably different everywhere, I am in the US.

I get rid of them by placing them on my shelf

I don't tend to sell many games, but if I'm selling anything I usually use eBay and have never had a problem doing so. Just be sure to describe your items' condition etc. accurately, package items well, and know how much it's going to cost you to ship something before you list it.

Don't know how competitive eBay is as a platform for sellers in terms of what cut eBay takes, but you get the best exposure for your item there, in my opinion. Amazon might provide similar exposure, but I've never sold through it. I've been an eBay user for 20 years so I know my way around it and how to deal with issues if they crop up, but I don't sell much in general and have much more experience as an ebay buyer.

@gcunit I've only bought 1 or 2 things off of eBay and I don't think I've ever sold anything on there before. It just seems to me from stories I've heard like they don't have nearly as good control over making sure what you are buying is legit and getting your money back if it's not as Amazon does. I could be wrong, Amazon just seems more trustworthy.

But anyway, after posting this, I went on Amazon just to try again and it turns out you really only have to answer a brief 4-5 question survey promising you won't sell anything fake, and you're good to go. So it really wasn't that bad once you figure out what you're doing. Except it was annoying because I had to take the survey again for every company whose game I was selling (Atlus, THQ, Namco, etc.), but it only took like 5 seconds each time so not a big deal. So hooray, hopefully I can get some money for these things, get them off my desk, and finally convince myself to buy Metroid Prime Remastered since the money will be coming from selling old games and not straight out of my wallet.

You can always try private sales. Put them up on Offer Up or Facebook Marketplace. Maybe even look for groups on Facebook that you can join and sell/trade gamed that way.

I mostly play indies and I buy them as digital. Whenever I do buy a mainline game I buy physical and I just punt it in cex tbh.

I totally miss read this thread title, I thought it said "How do You Get Rid of Old Gamers"...

I never sell my games once I finished the games.
I keep them all in my shelf, maybe I still want to play them again.
Why sell the items that really hard to get them then you throw away after the games finished ?

@Xyphon22 Sounds like you've got it sorted then, good luck with the sales.

While the topics hot though, it's worth saying that personally I've found eBay UK to be excellent from the buyer's perspective.

It's written into eBay rules - no counterfeit goods to be sold - so if you wind up with a fake Game Boy or DS game as I have 2 or 3 times you just have to initiate a return on the basis that the item is counterfeit, photograph the tell-tale supporting evidence and Bob's your uncle, you get a quick refund and normally end up keeping the fake item as well.

I have lost count of the number of times I've been sent something in worse condition than it was described and I've ended up getting a full refund AND kept the item too, and I'm talking £100 Wii consoles, £80 Wavebird controllers, I even got a free Switch Fortnite Edition and Switch Lite that way - seller misdescribes the condition, I prove it with photos, seller can't be bothered to arrange a proper return label and I get to keep the item. The Wavebird controller... I actually posted it back to the seller because it had evidence of a battery leak and wasn't working, got a refund, but the item got returned to me with some sort of undeliverable message and then I got the controller working.

The way I see it, eBay is only risky if you're an idiot that is trying to sell something that's in worse condition than you want to admit, or if you're terrible at the logistics of shipping items.

I'm sure there must be scammers out there on eBay, but in well over 1000 transactions on eBay I'm yet to be bitten.

Sell them to gamestop for 50 cents each/joke

I've got an optical disc shredder in the office if you're truly short of ideas. 😉

I've sold old games on Facebook Marketplace and eBay. Haven't sold on Amazon.

FBM pros:

• It's good for selling evergreen games that someone would always want: Mario, Zelda, Smash, Pokémon, etc.
• Works well if you're in a metro area.
• For in-person transactions, you can usually insist that buyers come to you.

FBM cons:

• If you're selling games that are more niche and/or in a less populated area, your listings may languish for a while.
• Having to put up with questions from randos that indicate they didn't read the listing, like "How much are you selling this for?"
• The search function is terrible.

eBay pros:

• Timed listings mean that your items will usually sell, if your opening price is somewhat reasonable.
• Larger pool of potential buyers means that you can sell an item for more than you expect, especially for rarer items.

eBay cons:

• The higher selling price may not mean much because eBay takes a big chunk out of your proceeds.
• The time spent packaging items adds up. If you're not reusing mailers from packages sent to you, that's another expense.

If you're thinking about waiting until the holiday shopping season to sell because there may be more demand then, keep in mind that the USPS is likely to temporarily jack up postage rates during that time for the same reason, like they've done previously.

eBay works for me. Probably the place where I buy most games as well