How would a drastic downturn in the US economy effect the collecting market today?
When we had the receission that started in 2008, video game collecting wasnt anything like it is today. There was major collectors and dealers in the toys, currency, art, and sports memorbilia fields ect. at the time, but video game collecting hadnt hit the mainstream yet. Im curious what would happen with people like us NA'ers if there was a major US recession in the near future.
There would be less extra money for everyone to purchase new finds with. There would be less buyers for your overstock. There might be less traders to take your bait due to their own financial problems at the time.
Personally, for me, I would have to figure out what to do with my business bank accounts as I would probably drain the checking accounts by buying up what I could as there would be less competition, and have credit lines that serve no purpose because I wouldnt want to borrow from them for a large purchase with fear of not being able to pay it back due to the economy.
Typically the first thing to go down in a bad economy is the collectors/memorbilia market as they say, but we have yet to be hit with economic downturn, and Id like to hear what you guys think would happen.
PS: I know there will be a ton of "Id buy it all and keep it for myself," and "Ill hunker down until the economy turns around." Realistically, buying it all up at that point and not knowing what the future holds is extremely risky, and for 99.9% of the members of this site, downright foolish. Also, what if the economy never came back? We could become a socialist country like North Korea, and fun would be punishable by death.
PPS: Im not into the hobby for the money, or the business side of things. It just sorta happened to roll into a business, then I backed it off to be 100% about building my collection for my own satisfaction, and not to make a living off of. I have other ways of providing for my family, which Ill admit, arent as enjoyable.
There would be less extra money for everyone to purchase new finds with. There would be less buyers for your overstock. There might be less traders to take your bait due to their own financial problems at the time.
Personally, for me, I would have to figure out what to do with my business bank accounts as I would probably drain the checking accounts by buying up what I could as there would be less competition, and have credit lines that serve no purpose because I wouldnt want to borrow from them for a large purchase with fear of not being able to pay it back due to the economy.
Typically the first thing to go down in a bad economy is the collectors/memorbilia market as they say, but we have yet to be hit with economic downturn, and Id like to hear what you guys think would happen.
PS: I know there will be a ton of "Id buy it all and keep it for myself," and "Ill hunker down until the economy turns around." Realistically, buying it all up at that point and not knowing what the future holds is extremely risky, and for 99.9% of the members of this site, downright foolish. Also, what if the economy never came back? We could become a socialist country like North Korea, and fun would be punishable by death.
PPS: Im not into the hobby for the money, or the business side of things. It just sorta happened to roll into a business, then I backed it off to be 100% about building my collection for my own satisfaction, and not to make a living off of. I have other ways of providing for my family, which Ill admit, arent as enjoyable.
Comments
First of all, I think you answered your own question in your second paragraph where you talk about less traders and buyers. In an economic crisis, I can think of 2 things that would happen. People won't be buying stuff anymore, and people that need money desperately may sell their valuables. That being said, I would think we would see a flood of supply on the market and no one to buy it off. But I can't say that for sure.
The other thing is, you say you aren't in it for the money, but it seems that is the main thing you are concerned about with the rest of your statements. I think either way, there can be money made selling anything, no matter what condition the economy is in. I think there will always be deals to be found, but you have to know how to get them and how to make a profit even in an economic crisis. That goes for any business selling things.
As far as relocating to another country, yeah, you could do that, but then you have a handful of "foreign" games that no one collects locally, but if you sold them globally, you may still be able to keep that business.
This, of course, is just my opinion.
PS: I know there will be a ton of "Id buy it all and keep it for myself,"
I'd buy it all and keep it for myself.
We could become a socialist country like North Korea, and fun would be punishable by death.
Oh damn... Well. I guess I have bigger things to worry about than my game collection.
Well when the economy turns and we can't afford food I think I'll just start eating my games. At that point I'll have to really. The question is which carts are going to taste the best? Obviously not the Switch, and since they're totally inedible they'll be completely worthless I might burn those for warmth and cook fire. Gotta heat up those SNES carts somehow. Seriously what kind of heathen just eats raw plastic? Not this gal that's for darn tootin'!
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Either way, game values (and collectible values in general) will be affected. Some games are "recession proof" in my opinion. Super Mario Bros 3 is a $10-$12 game today and has been for 20 years. People love the game, copies are plentiful and there will always be a market for it. The games that would be most affected by a downturn are those "rare" games that are terrible and/or ones no one really owned back in the day and have no nostalgia for. Those will get crushed in the short term... Whether they ever recover to their current levels is an unknown.
The best thing you can do it try to buy games at the right price and not lose your mind if they go down in value a little.
Now if WW3 happens, your games won't be worth shit. Start collecting water, gas & food without expiration dates!
When we had the receission that started in 2008, video game collecting wasnt anything like it is today. There was major collectors and dealers in the toys, currency, art, and sports memorbilia fields ect. at the time, but video game collecting hadnt hit the mainstream yet. Im curious what would happen with people like us NA'ers if there was a major US recession in the near future.
There would be less extra money for everyone to purchase new finds with. There would be less buyers for your overstock. There might be less traders to take your bait due to their own financial problems at the time.
Personally, for me, I would have to figure out what to do with my business bank accounts as I would probably drain the checking accounts by buying up what I could as there would be less competition, and have credit lines that serve no purpose because I wouldnt want to borrow from them for a large purchase with fear of not being able to pay it back due to the economy.
Typically the first thing to go down in a bad economy is the collectors/memorbilia market as they say, but we have yet to be hit with economic downturn, and Id like to hear what you guys think would happen.
PS: I know there will be a ton of "Id buy it all and keep it for myself," and "Ill hunker down until the economy turns around." Realistically, buying it all up at that point and not knowing what the future holds is extremely risky, and for 99.9% of the members of this site, downright foolish. Also, what if the economy never came back? We could become a socialist country like North Korea, and fun would be punishable by death.
PPS: Im not into the hobby for the money, or the business side of things. It just sorta happened to roll into a business, then I backed it off to be 100% about building my collection for my own satisfaction, and not to make a living off of. I have other ways of providing for my family, which Ill admit, arent as enjoyable.
In 2008 video game collecting was all over the place. People just moved their stuff to "collectables" vs the stock market (which is what I always did) moreso and especially because banks weren't giving much in % for money in accounts. Savings/money market = no sense when buying/selling games was way more profitable. Many people were collecting back then. People go in phases. You must mean it was not "You Tube" worthy and what not. Everyone with a channel presenting more info on games to raise the prices more I suppose?
what is the purpose of this
I'm always amazed by the number of people I see post on this topic who think that video game values will just keep going up forever... The economy cycles and always has. You try to hunker down through the bad times and ride the tide when things are good. The downturn is coming, although I don't believe it will be as bad as the last one - I'd call it more of a correction.
Either way, game values (and collectible values in general) will be affected. Some games are "recession proof" in my opinion. Super Mario Bros 3 is a $10-$12 game today and has been for 20 years. People love the game, copies are plentiful and there will always be a market for it. The games that would be most affected by a downturn are those "rare" games that are terrible and/or ones no one really owned back in the day and have no nostalgia for. Those will get crushed in the short term... Whether they ever recover to their current levels is an unknown.
The best thing you can do it try to buy games at the right price and not lose your mind if they go down in value a little.
Now if WW3 happens, your games won't be worth shit. Start collecting water, gas & food without expiration dates!
This is the exact kind of input I was looking for. Great reply!
Now if WW3 happens, your games won't be worth shit. Start collecting water, gas & food without expiration dates!
World War 3 is what we're all planning for isn't it? When Xbox Live and PSN shuts down, when you can't play your Steam games because the authentication servers were blown up by North Korea, I can still siphon gas out of cars down the street and play my NES carts with my generator.
Trumper or not we've had enough of that whole late 2000s recession...we're due for a late 2010s healthier economy, and that's no bull!
One thing we need to stop doing is using embargos to try to influnence countries.
Congress: "Well russia, you invaded a country that debaitedly used to be a part of yourself, so now we won't trade with you"
Farmers: "Well fuck, there goes our demand"
China: "Don't worry, we'll pick up the slack and slowly take over the market for you"
Congress: "No problem, we're gonna do the same to Cuba next"
Farmers: "Well, fuck again."
What gets me is when people talk about Reagan being such a great president, they blot out the farm crissis of the time. And yet, most people know the song "Rain on the Scarecrow" and\or "Foreclosure Of A Dream".
If you see us taking "peaceful" actions, history generally says guard your pocketbook.
The problem with the "golden age" of collecting, is that it was this golden age because most people were too broke to join in. As the economy recovered, and more people had money, demand for unneeded items jumped back up.
Just trolling.
But yeah, if the economy goes bad games are the last thing I'll think about.
A major downturn would cause the prices to drop, like all extra unneeded things. People will try to sell stuff to make a bit more money to make ends meet. If you remember, most people talk about the "golden age" of collecting, in 2008ish. I wasn't collecting at that time, having stopped around 2004-2005 due to lack of steady employment (I was working 1099 jobs at the time; and no, that's not the number of jobs, it's a type).
The problem with the "golden age" of collecting, is that it was this golden age because most people were too broke to join in. As the economy recovered, and more people had money, demand for unneeded items jumped back up.
Agreed. When the market crashed, ALOT of people lost their jobs. It's going to be tough to buy a Little Samson cart on unemployment. If one had a secure income, it may be a good place to invest...
Same goes for house size. Can't imagine keeping a big collection if you're halving your square footage to lower your bills.
Thats an interesting variable that I never thought of. How to store your massive collection when you have to downgrade your living situation. If you lost your home, and had to move into an apartment, and didnt have the extra money to store your collection, you would be forced to sell it right? But what if there are no buyers because of the economy, and then youre just giving away your valuables because you cant take it with. That also makes me feel back about our NA'ers in Florida and Houston areas right now. Having to packup and leave, how many of your favorite games could you really pack in your bags when you leave?
If you look at the times when gaming was most popular and when it crashed they coincided with economic downturns and upswings almost exactly.
Atari Fever 1977-1980 = Terrible Economy
Crash of 1983 to early 1987 = Gangbusters Economy
NES Craze = Late 1987 Stock Market crash through crappy late '80s/early '90s economy
2nd video Game Crash of 1993 through 1998 before PS1 really catches on = economy racing along at top speed
Playstation 1 and 2 get huge = Dot.com bust, September 11th, everyone stays inside and doesn't go on vacation, 2 recessions
General mid 2000s game industry sleepiness = very strong economy
Massive success with Wii/ Guitar Hero and Rock Band go insane = total economic meltdown of the late 2000s