Your whole "will it hold it's value" thing never really registered when I listened to your backing videos. Until I backed Oathsworn, completed Oathsworn, and resold Oathsworn for almost what I paid for it. When I looked back and realized I played that whole game and in the end cost me less than $20, the lightbulb went off. Especially campaign games, your "will it hold it's value" holds a lot of water with me now. Appreciate you!
For me, the value of board game/s is coming out of how much fun we have with my friends and how much diversity in terms of modes/ expansions/ characters/etc there are, how different component looks and whats the cost of that game- and there are great board games that gives you that value for their cost.
I really appreciate you taking the time to record this second video explaining what's behind your focus on value. Truth be told, I've been watching your crowdfunding countdown for a while now and was always weirded out by this "will it hold its value" section. I was looking for a video where you maybe explain the reasoning behind this but couldn't find one. Now there's 2 of them. Thanks again, Alex!
Great video as always Alex. You are one of the few board gamers that I enjoy listening to about stuff that is not always about what's new or how to play a game. I love these videos about the hobby. Cheers
I really resonate with this video and appreciate your 'To Back or Not To Back' series. As Kickstarters become more expensive, the value offered needs to be compelling enough for me to consider backing a project. If these games retain their value, I can continue exploring new titles by buying, trying, and potentially reselling them. Since I don't have a large gaming group to try new titles with, this is one of the few ways I can experience a variety of new games.
I tend to look at the Value as VPH, Value Per unit of Happiness. This game cost $X and I hope to get x hours of gameplay out of it. If/when I trade, sell, give, donate the game that can add additional value.
Awesome video. I've been on the same path for the last few years. Even have a balance sheet of revenue of games sold vs. costs of purchased; it's been liberating to just dip into that balance for my board game purchases rather than our wages.
My first set of board games that started my collection was through boardgameco so I do want to express my appreciation for the website. Value definitely resonates deeply with me which is why I still buy physical copies of video games so that I can possibly resell if I’m done with it or lost interest. Appreciate the to back or not to back video series for sure.
First, great shirt! This video dovetails nicely with your other(s) on how to save $ buying games, waiting to buy, etc. I recently initiated a terrarium constraint for our collection: Buy games used, once they’re no longer the latest hotness. Give them 1-2 tries; if it’s a dud be merciless and resell. Supplement with the occasional $4 thrift store gem (which can itself be resold if a dud) and it’s basically a closed loop. BUT maybe once a year I allow myself a hard-considered and
The last few years I’ve been keeping track of my buying and selling and trying to treat what I have as my funds instead of constantly spending wages on new games. So if I want a game I need to have sold a game to pay for it. I’ve been doing that successfully enough that I’m quite a long way ahead, which has given me the freedom to make purchases I wouldn’t have never considered before (I just late pledged all in for guards of Atlantis 2). It really needs to be something you enjoy doing though, the amount of time and effort definitely isn’t worth it for the money I’ve saved. I really enjoy buying, trading and selling games, it’s very much an extra layer to the hobby for me. This has mostly been on the second hand market instead of crowdfunding, shipping prices kill a lot of the value getting them from overseas
My primary concern now is where do I have room to put the game? Unlike my steam library, a new board game takes up space. This video really needs a companion video of how to resell your board games so you can do the new game churn that Alex talks about.
The trick with reselling your boards is is really neat... ...you don't! Well, that is, if the boardgame you got isn't in demand XD Looking at your Human Punishment: The Beginning XD
I started following your channel around the end of last year and I always wondered about why you mention this, thanks for explaining your approach and view Alex, it does make a lot of sense :)
Before I watched this video I was sceptical. I didn't care about games holding their value. It is still a bit... out there for me since I don't have a credit card and can't really get into crowdfunding but I have a completely different view on this aspect now. I don't know if you have a past in sales or motivational speaking but you completely convinced me. Like... I can literally feel how much you love games and want to play more and more of them. And I can see why getting the financial freedom to enjoy this hobby is so important. I can relate to things you say, especially since I am in this hobby on a mimimum wage myself. So thank you for this video.
Your experience and opinion mirror mine almost identically. The selling and trading of games is almost a hobby of its own. Even when I'm trading I am considering if I don't like this game, will I be able to trade it again.
Your value trait of buying, playing, and selling completely goes against my hoarding personality. Motto is Jim Cramer's "buy, buy, buy." 😂 I'm kidding. I dont have a hoarding personality. 😅😢
That’s precisely how I see it, keep the games rolling! (I bought Multiverse basic pledge, and am so happy with what I kept and what I have sold, and for DC I went all in because of this experience).
I appreciate this video. Each month or every other month I decide what I can spend on "fun". Some time that means a game, sometimes it means a movie, or going out to eat. I have plenty of games but I also love games, so I have 2 list 1 is look more into this game, the other is buy as budget allows. Also I mostly buy on clearance or discount. Not always. There are rare few games I back now. A few. Great video. Thanks.
For me, a lot of clearing my shelves has not been about value monetarily but it has certainly been about value emotionally. My FOMO wave when it arrives, and then a 2nd wave when donating the game after I'm done with it or I have decided that it will never get played. Goodwill, board game cafes, and other donation spots have gotten some of my crowdfunded games to make room for more things but also in the hope that someone will get to enjoy something they otherwise may not have gotten to play. Yeah, it may be picked up to resell it, but I prefer to be an optimist about it.
this is another great subject, I often have a hard time separating a review from the price of the game but is such an important factor. More and more I have been coming across things while wonderful, the price just does not make sense relative to the experience they provide. As a reviewer I probably owe it to the audience to really knock a game if its price/experience ratio is wildly off. The tricky part is each persons scale and tolerance is likely different.
I know where you're coming from. Just sold a couple of game so 6: Siege would cost me only 100€. Wouldn't do that if I wasn't sure that I would get at l least 80% that money back (inflation "included"). And now I am ready for all the insults on how I could give money to Mythic Games.
As an occasional watcher of your To Back or Not to Back videos, I appreciate your transparency. But I thought I'd offer my 2 cents: If we define holding its value as actually getting *all* of your money back, including shipping, I suspect less than 90% of crowdfunded pledges meet that bar, and that's probably being generous. You typically have to pay for shipping twice (once to receive the game and again to ship it to the next buyer) in order to break even. This is a pretty big deal, especially as games get bigger and heavier and shipping in general gets more expensive. As in this video you sometimes call out that you might have to eat the shipping, but that point rarely comes up during the Back or Not to Back videos, which I feel can set a false expectation. I feel that if you just started those videos by saying "by the way, most of these games you will lose money on," and then highlighted any extreme exceptions (like CMON games with lots of KS exclusives), that would be good enough! If I get a game and I actually enjoy it and get, say 10 plays out of it, I'm suddenly a lot less concerned about making all of my money back. But if I get a game and it's a dud on the first play, I regret backing it. So when I'm looking to back a campaign and watching your Back or Not to Back videos, I'm much more interested in trying to figure out whether I will actually enjoy the game, not whether it will hold its value. Do the mechanisms bring anything new to the table? What available games would you compare it to, and why might it be worth backing over just getting that already available game? Does it seem like a game that would stand up to repeat plays? Etc. etc. Some of these assessments might be speculative, but hey, so are assessments about whether these games would hold their value!
The shipping cost you bring up is a big deal. Unless you're in the US, the shipping you paid on the game is probably mega expensive so making back close to what you paid or doing better is really hard. TBH, a lot of times Aleks' advice on value doesn't really seem super applicable to those of us that have to deal with high shipping costs.
Do you ever feel bad for selling a crowdfunded game for a profit? I dont think I would, but I could see others framing it as profitting off someone else's FOMO.
Not at all. Scalping limited goods to sell for a proft, e.g. convention promos, vs buying unlimited goods, e.g. crowdfunding, is very different. Buying a game never denies someone an oppurtunity, so selling it at market value never came at a cost to someone else.
@@BoardGameCo Ah yes, I can see the distinction there. It's not abusing the system, the value has genuinely increased. It's not crazy to profit when you took the risk of backing the game, knowing the value could drop instead.
Because of your status as a content creator, I was wondering if you ever factor in the cost/possible return as a business expense and it's potential tax implications. Yes, for you, board games are first and foremost a hobby to enjoy, but because there is an income stream associated with this channel, I was curious if you consider the ability to write off the price of a game if you eventually review said game or otherwise generate content associated with it.
I watched the vid now. I still dont get that, cause I dont buy 100 games a yesr, i buy very very few select ones, most often very much second hand because they are 10 yesrs old or something. And when I buy a game it means I will love it, i think least than 10% of games I ever bought were not 8+/10 for me and Got to the for sale list, so yeah, alien concept
