02541: Secondhand Gaming


When Tobie and I first traveled to Singapore together many years ago, one of our initial indulgences around the time was loading up on board games at stores like Paradigm Infinitum, now known as Games@PI. But over time we've become a lot less reliant on foreign retailers and given the increasing prevalence of local stores like Gaming Library we haven't had to go as far for new games.

But as our collection has grown over the years to span over 500 titles, our rate of acquiring games also feels like it has slowed. On the one hand, I think we've become a lot more careful when considering what games to buy based on our preferred playstyles and such. On the flip side, there's the growing secondary market for secondhand board games that Tobie regularly scours for interesting finds.

So now the board game decision-making process involves not just a careful evaluation of the style and genre of the game and whether we think it's something we'd enjoy playing, but also the question of whether or not we want to get it at full price or if it's something we can wait a bit for since someone is bound to sell their copy as part of an effort to optimize their own collection. This has helped us add some interesting games we weren't sure about at full price but turned out to be decent fun at a lower price point. And there are real prizes like rare games that have been out of print for some time.

I could end this post with something quasi-clever like "supply and demand at play" or something, but that doesn't feel quite right. This post isn't a complaint or anything - just a series of observations. And a recognition that as much as the rate of growth of our collection has slowed, it's still growing.

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