Classic Arcade Game Artwork, Tutorials, and Information
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How to sell arcade games on eBay
I’ve been selling items on eBay since 1996. First it was comic books, and since 2006 its been arcade games – either full games or individual parts. If you are new to eBay and have an arcade game or a pinball machine to sell, this will be a good primer of things to think about as you get up to speed to list your game.
If you read through this entire page and decide that you want some help, or don’t want to go through the working of listing your coin-op equipment on eBay – contact me and either I can help sell your game or I may buy it myself.
There are 3 main things to focus on as you get ready to list. If you have more than one game or collectible, over time you will expand on your punchlist – but this will be a good start.
How much is my arcade game worth?
Deciding how much an arcade game is worth…is challenging. Value is based upon condition, local market, time of year and buyer emotion, among a wide array of other factors. Trying to figure out an exact price is more of an art, and less of a science. But, in order to get the game ready for sale on eBay, here are a couple of tips to get an idea.
Consistently check eBay – If you are a low tech person, mark a note on your calendar to pull up ebay and search for your game every day for 3 weeks. Here is the information you’ll want to record with some examples of what you might list out.
| Listing Name | Location | Initial List Price | Final Sales Price | Listing Notes |
| Ms. Pac-man arcade game Bally Midway Working | San Jose, CA | $200 | $625 | Text, 6 photos, 1 video, Website Listing, Layout Design |
| Ms Pac man video coin op not working | Atlanta, GA | $275 | $425 | Text, 12 photos |
| Ms. Pac-man arcade video game for sale @@LOOK@@ | Boston, MA | $150 | $575 | Text, 3 photos, 2 videos, great backstory |
Use an RSS reader to check eBay – If you are high tech, setup an RSS feed of your eBay search and monitor it daily, and record the same information in the table above.
For those of you who don’t know what RSS is, but want to save time, it is worth a primer. RSS is an acronym for a technology that puts all of your favorite news in one place on your dekstop – every day. There is free software available that is easy to use to get started. Using an RSS reader may save you 15-30 minutes a day monitoring listings on eBay.
More information on RSS: Google Reader, Snarfer RSS Reader
Once you have your RSS account setup, all you have to do is copy and paste a link of information from eBay. It seems from day to day, eBay hides where to find a link to track new listings. Here is a screenshot from eBay talking about RSS, and showing you the icon you need to click if it is available. Right-click the RSS icon > Copy Link Address and Paste into your reader.
If you can’t find the RSS icon on eBay for your arcade search results, here is the link you need to copy and paste.
Note: See at the end where it says “arcade game name here”? Make sure to customize that for your arcade game search, each word separated with “+” signs. Otherwise, this exact link won’t turn up anything.;)
Additional information about how to understand the value of your arcade game, coming very soon.
How do I get my arcade game ready to shine?
Coming very soon.
How should I design my eBay listing?
Coming very soon.