How to Find Valuable Thrift Store Video Games

You can still find valuable video games at thrift stores and garage sales, but it takes a plan. Your best odds are with handheld cartridges, boxed copies, Pokémon games and lesser-known titles from popular consoles. Check every game's condition, skip the titles everyone owned, and look up the value before you pay. Most of the bins are common games. The finds are the few you'd walk past if you didn't stop to check.

This guide covers where thrift store video games tend to hide, what's worth picking up, how to check a game in a few seconds, and how to use what you learn to pay a fair price.

Where thrift store video games hide

Games rarely all sit in one tidy spot. Check:

• The media shelves. Discs and cases often end up next to DVDs, CDs and audiobooks, sometimes in the wrong case.
• The electronics section. Consoles, controllers and loose cartridges often land here, sometimes in a bag together.
• The display case or behind the counter. Many stores lock up games, handhelds and anything that looks collectible. Ask to see them.
• Toy bins and grab bags. Loose cartridges get tossed in with toys, or sealed in a bag with other items. It's worth a careful look at what's inside.
• Outlet bins. Goodwill Outlets and similar stores sell items from large bins, usually by the pound. It's messy, but games turn up there.

Keep in mind that many larger thrift chains now check donations for valuable items and send some to online auctions such as ShopGoodwill. That means the best items don't always reach the shelf. Smaller independent and church-run thrift stores are often less picked over.

Timing helps too. Shelves change daily, so going often beats going for hours. Ask staff when they usually put out new stock.

Garage sales, yard sales and estate sales

Garage and yard sales are a different game. The seller is usually the person who owned the games, and they may not have brought them outside.

• Ask. "Do you have any old video games or game systems?" often gets you a box from the basement.
• Go early for the best selection, or late for better bundle deals.
• Look at the whole setup. A console with a stack of games, a box of mixed carts, or a handheld with a case full of games is common at these sales.
• Estate sales can have a whole household's collection at once, including boxed games that were kept carefully for decades.

Garage, yard and estate sale season peaks in spring and summer, so that's when most of the good finds turn up.

What to grab

When you're standing in front of a bin, prioritize:

• Handheld cartridges. Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance and DS carts are small, easy to overlook and often mixed in with toys. Some are worth real money. Game Boy games worth money covers what to look for.
• Pokémon games. The most collected series on Game Boy, GBA and DS. They're also the most faked, so check them using how to tell if a Pokémon game is fake.
• Complete copies. A game with its original box and manual can sell for several times the loose game, because most boxes were thrown out. See loose vs CIB vs new.
• Lesser-known titles from popular consoles. Late releases, RPGs and smaller-publisher games often had smaller print runs. Unfamiliar doesn't mean worthless.
• Original prints. For PlayStation and other disc games, the original print is usually worth more than a Greatest Hits or Platinum reprint.

Quick condition checks before you buy

You don't need to test a game in the store. A quick look tells you most of what you need.

Cartridges

• Contacts. Look at the metal pins. Dirt and light tarnish can usually be cleaned. Heavy corrosion is a bigger problem.
• Label. Tears, fading, stickers and marker writing all lower the value.
• Shell. Check for cracks, missing screws and broken tabs.
• Authenticity. Rare handheld games are often faked. A few quick checks are in how to tell if a Game Boy game is fake.

Discs

• Check both sides. On CD-based games, like those for the original PlayStation, the data sits just under the label side, so a deep scratch on top can do more damage than one on the shiny side.
• Look for cracks near the center hole.
• Open the case. Make sure the right disc is inside, and that the manual is there.

Boxes

Look for crushed corners, water damage, sun fading and price stickers. On cardboard boxes, every bit of wear counts.

What to skip

Some games show up in every bin because millions were made. Unless the price is tiny or you want to play them, pass on:

• Pack-in games that came bundled with a console.
• Annual sports games, like last year's football or basketball release.
• The biggest hits of each console, which turn up loose almost everywhere.
• Empty cases and cases holding the wrong disc, unless you're filling your own gaps.
• Anything already priced like a collector's item. If the store looked it up, the deal is usually gone.

Check the value before you pay

This is where most hunters lose money: paying a "collector price" for a common game, or walking past a good one because the cover looked boring. A quick value check fixes both.

With RetroWorth you take a photo of a label, a box or a loose cartridge. No barcode is needed, which matters because most old cartridges don't have one. You get an estimated value range by condition (Loose, Complete in box or New) and region (US, EU or JP), and you can add your finds to a collection to see their total estimated value. Scanning is free and your first two price checks are free. The values are estimates from market sales data, not a guarantee of what you'll get when you sell.

Haggling with a number in hand

At garage and yard sales, a fair offer is part of the fun:

• Bundle. Offering one price for a stack usually works better than haggling over each game.
• Be friendly and fair. Make a reasonable offer, and remember the seller can say no.
• Leave room if you plan to resell. Selling fees, shipping and your time all come out of the difference.

Thrift stores usually have fixed prices, but many chains run rotating discount days or tag-color sales. If you plan to sell your finds later, selling your video game collection explains how to price and list them.

FAQ

Can you still find valuable video games at thrift stores?

Yes, though less often than years ago. Many bigger stores now look up prices or send valuable donations to online auctions. Smaller shops, outlet bins and garage sales still turn up good games, especially handheld carts.

What are the best video games to look for at a thrift store?

Handheld cartridges, Pokémon games, complete boxed copies and lesser-known titles from popular consoles. Skip the huge hits and annual sports games unless they're very cheap.

Do I need to test a game before buying it?

Not usually. Check the contacts, label and shell on cartridges, and both sides of discs. Most games that won't start just need cleaning, and stores usually can't test them for you anyway.

How do I know if a thrift store game is worth the price?

Look up the value before you buy. A price guide or eBay's sold listings work for a few games, and scanning the label is faster when you're looking at a full bin. Compare that estimate with the sticker price.