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Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: MandyT on March 14, 2021, 09:49:27 AM

Title: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: MandyT on March 14, 2021, 09:49:27 AM
Long time no see! In 2017 I learned enough from MMM to pay off 25k in debt in 6 months. We've been debt free since then except for the mortgage and a (0% interest) surgery bill payment plan. Yay!

Now we're looking for more ways to earn and save, especially as I've decided to close down my business of 24 years due to medical issues. (I have enough in my business's buffer accounts to pay my salary for about a year after I close it down.)

So: my husband works in the board game industry and has thousands of games...mostly Euro-style games, NOT popular (Monopoly-type) games, wargames, miniatures. etc. They come in via the mail at maybe 4-5 per week (he reviews games as part of his job). He has tried different ways of selling off the extra games:


We've even tried contacting local homeless shelters, children's hospitals, etc. just to see if they'd like to take them for free. No interest.

These games are taking over the whole third floor (which was supposed to be an office suite). and I feel like we're sitting on wasted cash here.

Any suggestions? Thanks!


Title: Re: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: onecoolcat on March 14, 2021, 09:53:27 AM
eBay will take fees but you will get more prospective buyers which will be necessary for your more obscure games.  Good luck!
Title: Re: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: Frankies Girl on March 14, 2021, 10:31:52 AM
FB marketplace or Nextdoor. They both offer local sales groups (Nextdoor has a classified/for sale section and you can list just for your area) and my suggestion would be to list things for super cheap and sell in lots - don't list one or two items - list 10 games at a time for $20. Someone will see that as a "I can buy those and resell them for a profit" thing then and likely not think about the actual hassle or have better means to do so.

May also approach a gamer/comic shop to see? We have local independent comic stores that run games (or did during the before times) and have sold board games to them in the past. I also have stores like "Half Price Books" in my state that buy pretty much anything - books, records, cds, movies, vhs, games (both board and console/computer) and while they won't give you much if they even take items, it's better than nothing.

You could also contact your local library and ask them if you could donate them if you're just trying to clear them out.  Or check a small local charity/church that you think does good work. If they can't actually use them (eventually) most libraries have book sales (not just books tho - music, movies, games also) and make nice money from donations.

What about starting your own Etsy shop and selling them there? I'm not sure about Etsy over Ebay but I've heard that Ebay is getting really awful for sellers in general... Etsy does allow shops that resell items in addition to crafting so it may be worth checking out to see if it may work for you.
Title: Re: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: Villanelle on March 14, 2021, 10:36:55 AM
Try FB marketplace of ebay for a last ditch effort to sell them

Post them on a local Buy Nothing group.

Contact local schools, domestic violence shelters, Boys and Girls Clubs.  Even a food bank might be interested. (You may have already done this, but there may be organizations other than those you've contacted.

Re-approach that board game cage and see if they want them for free. 

Or drop them off at a local Goodwill or similar. 


It seems you've determined that there is little to no money in these games, so I'd let go of trying to make a few bucks of them and work on just getting them out. You aren't sitting on wasted cash if you have a product for which there is no market.  You are sitting on junk.  So focus on getting rid of the junk, not selling it.
Title: Re: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: ender on March 14, 2021, 11:38:59 AM
I'm a little confused, what's your goal here? To get rid of them? Or to sell them?

You talked about donating but then say local shops didn't want to buy - most local boardgame shops would LOVE a huge donation of games for them to keep on hand. Pre-covid, this was pretty common to see boardgame stores with games for local groups.
Title: Re: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: tygertygertyger on March 14, 2021, 11:44:06 AM
We sell board games at a Half Price Books near us, but you may not have one.
Title: Re: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: JoJo on March 14, 2021, 11:52:06 AM
Curious about location, I know someone in the Redmond, WA area that likes to pick up new strategy games. 
Title: Re: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: Metta on March 14, 2021, 12:49:16 PM
My husband sells our older games through Noble Knight <http://nobleknight.com/>, which pays shipping and some amount for the game. He’s gotten thousands of dollars, which is not as much as we would get through EBay, perhaps, but it is pretty non-stressful. Just pack a box of games, email them for a quote, and they send a FedEx shipping label.
Title: Re: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: reeshau on March 14, 2021, 03:28:43 PM
My husband sells our older games through Noble Knight <http://nobleknight.com/>, which pays shipping and some amount for the game. He’s gotten thousands of dollars, which is not as much as we would get through EBay, perhaps, but it is pretty non-stressful. Just pack a box of games, email them for a quote, and they send a FedEx shipping label.

Thanks for the link!  I have a ton of old D&D modules that look like they have decent demand, from the prices.

What kind of percentage of their selling price did you get for cash?
Title: Re: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: Metta on March 14, 2021, 05:05:58 PM
My husband sells our older games through Noble Knight <http://nobleknight.com/>, which pays shipping and some amount for the game. He’s gotten thousands of dollars, which is not as much as we would get through EBay, perhaps, but it is pretty non-stressful. Just pack a box of games, email them for a quote, and they send a FedEx shipping label.

Thanks for the link!  I have a ton of old D&D modules that look like they have decent demand, from the prices.

What kind of percentage of their selling price did you get for cash?

He doesn’t know. When he prepares the list of games they just send an offer for the lot. He estimates that the was getting 20 percent of the price they sold them for. One advantage of dealing with them is that they will take everything.
Title: Re: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: DragonSlayer on March 14, 2021, 06:02:24 PM
I'll second Noble Knight. I also review games and need to get rid of a ton at a time and they've been the best option. They may not give you the most $$$, but they pay for shipping which is huge. And they're super easy to deal with, as long as you're honest about the condition of the games they're buying.
Title: Re: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: MandyT on March 14, 2021, 06:12:39 PM

Thank you, everyone! Yes, I know, we are kind of on the fence between wanting to get rid of them and at least getting some cash for them. :-)

JoJo, we are in Raleigh, NC.

Looks like there is no Half-Price Books and he were in North Carolina, darn!

i think Noble Knight is the one I tried, but it was a few years ago so maybe I should try it again. It almost seems like it's not worth the effort of having to pack up all those games and bring them to the post office, but I could be wrong.

My husband says he will put together a list for the local Facebook board game group. We are not really on Facebook but he does have an account so at least he can do that. We'll see what happens with that, but I suspect it will be more of a pain than it's worth selling the games piecemeal.

Thanks again for the suggestions!
Title: Re: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: seattlecyclone on March 14, 2021, 06:48:52 PM
Also try Amazon. For things that you can list on there I find it a bit easier than eBay. Either of those platforms will let you reach a national audience so you should be able to get a good price, but the packing and shipping will eat up a good chunk of time and money.

How did you get into game reviewing?
Title: Re: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: SwordGuy on March 15, 2021, 08:51:36 AM
@LinLin,

Sent you a PM about this.   Local hobby store I shop at will get them to the veterans at our local VA hospitals.

I'll be glad to come up from Fayetteville, NC and tote them back for you.
Title: Re: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: DadJokes on March 15, 2021, 09:03:29 AM
Board game forums or Facebook marketplace would be the best money for your time. It might take a little longer, but you will get better results if you sell where the buyers are.

Curiously, do you have a list of the games? I'm a big board game player and am always interested.
Title: Re: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: yachi on March 15, 2021, 11:01:38 AM
I'm not sure how his agreement with the company works, but if he has the freedom to summarize his reviews for a YouTube channel or something similar, he could use the board games for viewer giveaways. 
Title: Re: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: MandyT on March 15, 2021, 12:15:25 PM
Thank you, all!

These are all really great ideas. I have thought about eBay and wondered if it would be too difficult, and haven't really thought about Amazon at all. Interesting!
 
I think the ideal situation would be somebody who needs a ton of games all at once, say for a café, flea market, or event, who can offer a flat fee and then cart them all away. Good luck with that, right? :-)

FYI for those who asked, my husband has been in the board game industry for about 15 years, previewing and writing about games for his employer, and he gets inundated with them. I think adding a giveaway to each preview video is a great idea, but he's already pretty busy as it is. :-) And he has such a backlog of (older, already-previewed) games to deal with as well. But I will bring it up with him, you never know if it will spark another idea!

@SwordGuy and @DadJokes: my husband plans to put together a list of the games he is looking to sell (preferably) or donate. If you will PM me your email address, I would be happy to send you the list! Forgive me if it takes more than a few days, as I will be away Wednesday through Sunday.
Title: Re: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: yachi on March 15, 2021, 12:52:49 PM
Re: Amazon.  I actually met someone who started selling on Amazon by selling board games.  He would buy them from yard sales and sell them on Amazon.  I think he would look at the asking prices on Amazon and use that as a guide for what to buy.  I think items with UPC codes are very easily sealable there. 
Title: Re: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: seattlecyclone on March 15, 2021, 02:45:27 PM
Re: Amazon.  I actually met someone who started selling on Amazon by selling board games.  He would buy them from yard sales and sell them on Amazon.  I think he would look at the asking prices on Amazon and use that as a guide for what to buy.  I think items with UPC codes are very easily sealable there. 

Unfortunately for many brands these days, selling is restricted to those who can provide a recent invoice of a purchase of the item. For the brands where that restriction isn't applied, Amazon is nice and easy to sell single copies of used items.
Title: Re: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: Dartwa on March 17, 2021, 10:43:51 PM
I'd also be interested in seeing what games you're looking to get rid of and potentially taking some off your hands!
Title: Re: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: jamesbond007 on March 18, 2021, 11:06:44 AM
If you have a list of games, I'd like to buy from you at least some of them.
Title: Re: How to offload a ton of board games
Post by: MandyT on March 20, 2021, 05:07:18 AM
@jamesbond007 and @Dartwa Please PM me your email addresses. Thanks! DH still working on list...