Video game value checker
Photograph the cartridge or disc, the case and the manual. The estimator identifies the game and platform, notes whether it is loose, complete in box or sealed, and estimates a sale price.
Example estimate
Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera
$190
Usually sells for $120 – $320
Your result appears here.
How to photograph it
Good photos are the biggest single improvement to an estimate. These are the shots that matter most.
- Photograph the label, the case front and back, and the manual.
- For cartridges, show the label and the back sticker or code.
- For sealed games, show the seal and any tears.
- Type the region (NTSC, PAL) and whether it works.
What decides the price
- Title and print run
- Low-print titles and late releases on older consoles can be worth far more than big sellers on the same system.
- Complete in box
- Loose, complete in box and sealed copies sell at very different prices; manuals and inserts count.
- Condition
- Label damage, case cracks and disc scratches lower prices. Graded sealed games are a separate market.
- Reproductions
- Fake cartridges are common for valuable titles. Board and label details reveal them.
What this market actually looks like
Retro game values split sharply by completeness and by platform. A loose cartridge for a common title on a popular console is worth a few pounds or dollars; the same title complete in box with the manual can be worth several times that, and a sealed copy belongs to a different market altogether. For disc-based systems the equivalent split is whether the manual and the original case artwork survived.
Scarcity in games is usually about late releases and small print runs rather than age. Titles published at the end of a console's life, after the audience had moved on, were pressed in small quantities and are the quiet keys of the hobby. Conversely, the best-selling games of each generation were sold in tens of millions and remain cheap no matter how fondly they are remembered.
Region and revision add another axis. The same title released in different territories has different box art, different print runs and separate collector markets, and early revisions of a cartridge or disc can carry a premium over later ones. A valuation that ignores region is working from the wrong population of sales.
Hardware pulls the software market along behind it. Prices for a console's games tend to firm up once working units of that console become hard to find in good condition, because every new collector entering that platform needs both. This is why the games of a system that aged badly in hardware terms, with failing capacitors or dying screens, often rise faster than the games of a more robust system from the same era.
How condition is judged here
- Loose, CIB, or sealed
- Complete in box means game, box and manual, with any inserts. The three states are priced independently and the gaps between them are wide, so the listing has to say which it is.
- Label and artwork condition
- Cartridge labels tear, fade and get written on, and disc-era inlays warp and discolour. This is the most visible condition signal and the one buyers judge from thumbnails.
- Battery saves on old cartridges
- Cartridges with internal save batteries lose them after two or three decades. A working save is a selling point worth stating; a dead one is a disclosure, not a defect to hide.
- Sealed means verified sealed
- Resealing is common and well known. Sealed copies at serious prices are expected to come with authentication, and an unverified seal attracts suspicion rather than a premium.
What costs people money
Most of the value lost in this category is lost before the item is listed, by the owner, with good intentions. These are the four that come up most often.
- Throwing away the manual
- The manual is often a third of the value of a complete copy. Separating it from the box is the single most common way value is lost in this category.
- Cleaning labels with solvent
- Household cleaners lift print off cartridge labels instantly. A barely damp cloth is the limit, and most of the time doing nothing is better.
- Pricing from sealed comparables
- Sealed prices for retro games are driven by a small, volatile collector market. They tell you nothing about what your loose or complete copy will sell for.
- Ignoring regional differences
- A PAL copy and an NTSC copy of the same game are different items with different buyers. Comparing across regions produces prices nobody will pay.
When to bring in a professional
Authentication and grading are worth considering only for genuinely sealed copies and for the recognised late-release rarities, where the cost is small against the price and the buyer needs the reassurance. Everything else sells faster and nets more raw, described honestly. For a boxed-up childhood collection, the first useful step is separating loose from complete rather than researching titles: completeness will determine most of the total before any individual game's rarity does.
Common questions
What does CIB mean?
Complete in box: the game with its original case or box and manual. CIB copies sell well above loose ones.
Are sports games worth anything?
Most annual sports titles were made in huge numbers and sell for very little.
How do I spot a fake cartridge?
Check the label print quality, the screws and the board inside. The estimator flags visible signs but cannot confirm.