Before donating to Goodwill, or any thrift store for that matter, it’s always a good idea to take stock of the value of your belongings.
A recent video game donation made to a Pennsylvania Goodwill store ended up bidding for $30,000, down from an original bid of just $9.99.
The Goodwill Keystone Area store in Hannover has received a brand new Nintendo game console and 27 vintage game cartridges still in their original packaging, in perfect condition.
Donated services representative Nichole Garcia had a hunch that the console and games could be very valuable.
“My brother-in-law sells collectibles and knows Nintendo consoles and games,” Garcia said. “I picked up a thing or two from him and thought these cartridges would be interesting. When they were published on our site shopgoodwill.com, I sent him a link. He thought they would sell well over $10,000. I had no idea the final bid would land where it did, but I was thrilled.
Some of the games in the pack included Nintendo classics like “Metal Gear”, “Bad News Baseball”, and “Infiltrator”.
Over an eight-day period, bidding was well over $10,000, reaching $30,000.02 after 143 total bids.
The Cartridge Pack is the top-selling item of all Goodwill Keystone Area’s auction merchandise.
Vintage video games, especially those packaged in new condition, are increasingly popular at auction. The recent sale of a sealed copy of
‘Super Mario 64’ for over $1.5 million
was so jaw-dropping that even pundits were baffled by the game’s value, considering it’s the best-selling Nintendo 64 title and not exceptionally rare even in this condition. Some video game fans have
speculated
the sale was part of a money laundering conspiracy.
Goodwill Concerns
labor
and
business practices
aside, those who own vintage video games should take the time to research their value before throwing them away. They might not land $30,000 in a bundle, but there seems to be a strong demand for classic, working games.

Before donating to Goodwill, or any thrift store for that matter, it’s always a good idea to take stock of the value of your belongings.
A recent video game donation made to a Pennsylvania Goodwill store ended up bidding for $30,000, down from an original bid of just $9.99.
The Goodwill Keystone Area store in Hannover has received a brand new Nintendo game console and 27 vintage game cartridges still in their original packaging, in perfect condition.
Donated services representative Nichole Garcia had a hunch that the console and games could be very valuable.
“My brother-in-law sells collectibles and knows Nintendo consoles and games,” Garcia said. “I picked up a thing or two from him and thought these cartridges would be interesting. When they were published on our site shopgoodwill.com, I sent him a link. He thought they would sell well over $10,000. I had no idea the final bid would land where it did, but I was thrilled.
Some of the games in the pack included Nintendo classics like “Metal Gear”, “Bad News Baseball”, and “Infiltrator”.
Over an eight-day period, bidding was well over $10,000, reaching $30,000.02 after 143 total bids.
The Cartridge Pack is the top-selling item of all Goodwill Keystone Area’s auction merchandise.
Vintage video games, especially those packaged in new condition, are increasingly popular at auction. The recent sale of a sealed copy of
‘Super Mario 64’ for over $1.5 million
was so jaw-dropping that even pundits were baffled by the game’s value, considering it’s the best-selling Nintendo 64 title and not exceptionally rare even in this condition. Some video game fans have
speculated
the sale was part of a money laundering conspiracy.
Goodwill Concerns
labor
and
business practices
aside, those who own vintage video games should take the time to research their value before throwing them away. They might not land $30,000 in a bundle, but there seems to be a strong demand for classic, working games.