For Video Game Resellers
A game title is not a product. Loose, complete-in-box and sealed are three separate markets, and the record has to know which one is on your shelf.
THE SHAPE OF THE PROBLEM
Nothing distinguishes retro game inventory more than completeness. A loose cartridge, the same cartridge with its box, the same again with the manual and inserts, and a sealed copy can differ by an order of magnitude — and they all share a title, a platform and a release year. A record that only stores the title has thrown away most of the information that determines price.
Instica models each copy individually, with the completeness state, the region, and the platform revision as fields on the record rather than adjectives in a listing title. That is what lets you answer "which copies of this do I actually have and in what state" without opening four listings and reading them.
WHAT THE RECORD HOLDS
Loose, box only, complete in box, sealed. Recording which one you hold means your inventory count is a count of assets rather than a count of titles, and it keeps two very different copies of the same game from being confused for each other.
NTSC, PAL and NTSC-J copies are not substitutes, and neither are hardware revisions. These belong on the record because they change both what the item is worth and who can use it.
Absent manuals, missing inserts, a cracked case, a torn spine card. Recording the specific gap up front is what keeps the listing accurate and stops a return that costs more than the game.
THE WORKFLOW
Game inventory usually arrives as a mixed pile from a collection or a lot buy, containing a wide spread of value and a fair amount that does not work. The order of operations matters.
Sorting by console first makes the testing pass efficient, because you set up one system and run everything for it rather than swapping hardware per item.
Discs need a read test; cartridges with save batteries need a save test. Noting "saves confirmed" or "battery dead" on the record is a detail buyers specifically look for and one you will not remember two weeks later.
On complete copies the box and manual carry a large share of the value. Photograph the spine, the corners and any writing inside the cover, because those are the flaws that generate disputes.
A twenty-game lot bought for sixty dollars is not three dollars a game — one title may be most of the value. Weighting the split at intake keeps the common titles from looking artificially unprofitable.
CHANNEL BY CHANNEL
Instica connects to eBay, Shopify and Discogs. Here is what each one is actually good for if you sell games.
WHERE IT GOES WRONG
Buyers of complete copies check for the specific inserts, and a copy sold as CIB without them comes back. The cost is the return shipping plus the fees plus the time, on a category where many items are worth under thirty dollars.
Disc rot and dead save batteries are common on older stock and invisible in a photo. Untested inventory sold as working is the single most reliable source of negative feedback in this category.
When one title carried the lot, spreading its cost evenly makes the good pull look mediocre and the filler look like a loss. That distortion pushes sellers away from exactly the lots they should be buying more of.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
As its own completeness state with the missing piece noted explicitly on the record. Storing that as a field rather than only inside listing text means it stays accurate everywhere the item is offered.
Yes. Consoles, controllers and accessories are records like any other item, with their own cost, condition and tested state. The tested note matters more on hardware than anywhere else in this category.
No. It records your cost, your asking price and your realised sale. Retro game values move on collector demand that we do not track, so pricing stays your judgement rather than an automated figure.
From the reselling course
Loose, complete and sealed are separate markets wearing the same title, and the record has to know which one is on your shelf. These guides settle that first, then handle the channels and the postage.
Sealed stock and loose discs do not belong on the same channel by default.
Region, platform and completeness fields, which decide whether a listing is found at all.
The wording buyers use for a variant, against the wording printed on the box.
A haul of consoles and carts, priced on what tests working.
One cartridge listed twice is one oversell waiting to happen.
A console, a loose cart and a sealed box each want a different package.
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