Hi everyone,

I recently acquired a longtime gamer's collection, and going through it, I've discovered (to my dismay) that many of the items bear the following flaws:
--Pencil markings in the margins and underlining with pencil
--Notations in pen and underlining with pen
--Previous owner's name written on part(s) of module, sometimes in marker
--Highlighting

Most of this stuff isn't exactly in mint condition and is likely to appeal to the casual collector rather than most of the hard-core collectors present here, but there are still some rare items that might generate some interest.

I am a stickler for noting flaws in any item(s) I sell, but am wondering (ballpark estimate, of course) how much these various flaws might affect my final sales values?  For example, the pencil marks could be removed with much patience and diligence, but the pen, marker and highlighter marks are there for posterity...

Thanks for your time and interest,
JohnH
aka Wandering Monster

I agree, I think it's got a lot to do with how anal the buyer is. For me personally, unless it's just an amazingly cheap price, or a module I NEED to have to play, regardless of the shape, I don't buy modules with marks in them. Mainly, I know I'll be looking to "upgrade" that module, and why buy something twice, you know? A stray pencil mark or two, of course, can be erased, good as new. Any highlighting stops me from bidding, and I hate people's names and such in them too. But, if it's not in collector's shape anyway, then you're buying it to play, really, so who cares, right? I would say 20% loss at the minimum, all the way down to 75% loss for significantly marked items. I sold a 2nd print G2 for like $2.50 because it was markered up so badly. Just depends, really, but I'd absolutely have full disclosure on the amount of marking in the book.

Zen

Wandering Monster wrote:Hi everyone,

I recently acquired a longtime gamer's collection, and going through it, I've discovered (to my dismay) that many of the items bear the following flaws:
--Pencil markings in the margins and underlining with pencil
--Notations in pen and underlining with pen
--Previous owner's name written on part(s) of module, sometimes in marker
--Highlighting

Most of this stuff isn't exactly in mint condition and is likely to appeal to the casual collector rather than most of the hard-core collectors present here, but there are still some rare items that might generate some interest.

I am a stickler for noting flaws in any item(s) I sell, but am wondering (ballpark estimate, of course) how much these various flaws might affect my final sales values?  For example, the pencil marks could be removed with much patience and diligence, but the pen, marker and highlighter marks are there for posterity...

Thanks for your time and interest,
JohnH
aka Wandering Monster

Someone will pay for a rare item cheaply if they are marred up, just to have a "use" copy. But in my experience that kind of damage absolutely kills the value....50% or less of what they typically sell for.

Mike B.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your input/thoughts on this!

Unfortunately, they seem to fall in line with what I had already suspected.

Sounds like there will be a lot of eBay auctions with .99 cent starting prices...  

Cheers,
JohnH
aka Wandering Monster