Frequently Asked Questions
It’s the process of carefully evaluating all aspects of a video game and scoring it compared to its original (“perfect”) state when it was originally manufactured. We look for things like creases, wrinkles, stains, tears, bent pages, dirt, grime, odors, scratches, etc… To learn much more about the grading process on our How It Works page.
No. However, as the hobby of investing in video games grows it will become more and more necessary to have video games, both sealed and complete in box evaluated and authenticated by a neutral third party such as Video Game Graders LLC to safely sell them at a fair price. Grading and authentication gives potential buyers the peace of mind when buying vintage video games.
If you do some Googling on the subject you’ll find a variety of conversations and many opinions on what “complete in box” should mean. However, it is generally accepted that complete in box (CIB) requires a box, a game cartridge (or disc in newer games), and instruction manual. And they should all be from the same variation - see the FAQ regarding mismatched parts for more info. There were certainly other things included in the box like promotional posters, magazine subscription cards and more - we will note any of these extras on the label but will not be required to be considered complete and will not impact a “mismatched” designation.
Throughout the years of video game production manufacturers made subtle changes to elements on game boxes, cartridges and manuals. For example, the use of the trademark (™) symbol evolved over time and was missing on earlier versions of some game boxes, manuals and cartridges but will be present on later versions. The seal of quality on all 3 pieces changed from a circle early on to an oval later on. These are just a few examples of many - but rest assured our expert team is well versed in these variations which is where the mismatched (MMC, MMM, MMB) come into play. MMC means mismatched cartridge indicating the cartridge version is not the same as the box and manual (for example the first variation box of a game does not have a ™ next to Nintendo Entertainment System, the matching manual will not either nor would the game - but if collected and put together after the fact these parts may be different, aka mismatched). MMM means mismatched manual which means the box and cartridge are the same (matching) variation (also called print or version). MMB means mismatched box which indicates the cartridge and manual match but the box is a different variation. All parts still get a grade as usual but the mismatch is noted on the label as generally speaking collectors prefer a matched set of pieces in CIB collecting.
They certainly can be. In April of 2021 a sealed copy of the original NES game Super Mario Bros. sold for $660,000! Yes, really. A record sale for a video game at the time. In that same auction several games sold for over $100k so yes old video games can be valuable. It’s not likely you have one of these exceptionally rare games hidden in your closet (congrats if you do!) but as the hobby of video game collecting and investing continues to grow and people begin to better understand and realize the true scarcity of many video games more and more will command higher and higher prices.
Absolutely! As well as any crystal clear material can in fact! You’ll find the same material in the world's finest museum protecting priceless works of art. We are very forthcoming about the material our cases are made of - we aren’t sure all grading companies can make that claim. Don’t take our word for it - here are links detailing our case material:
https://www.acrylite.co/acrylite-uv-filtering-op3-product-info.html
It’s really pretty simple. Click the green SUBMIT GAMES at the top of the page, or CLICK HERE and follow the quick and easy steps. Then carefully pack them up and send them to us insured. We’ll take care of the rest.
Unfortunately it happens a lot. It’s usually an honest misunderstanding about sealed games - in the late 80s and 90s (even still today) many video rental stores, used game sellers and dealers would shrink wrap games that had previously been opened from their factory seal. This is commonly known as a third party seal. Most (but not all) of the time nobody was trying to trick anyone into thinking it was a factory seal; it was simply a security measure. Our expert graders can tell the difference and will not grade a game as sealed if it’s not a genuine, original factory seal. Regardless if this was a reseller seal and honest misunderstanding or a more malicious effort to make a game worth more money on the resale market if we are not 100% certain of a game's authenticity it will be returned to you with a letter of explanation and your grading fee (minus a $25 processing fee) refunded to you. The same is true if a game box, cartridge or manual is not an authentic original.
Your games are insured from the time they are opened by us undamaged including insured shipping back to you. This amount of insurance is determined by the declared value of your games so make sure you carefully enter this number. Some quick research of past completed auctions and sales on sites like eBay and Heritage Auctions will give you a good idea of the potential value of your game after grading. And since we don’t charge more for grading more valuable games you don’t need to be conservative to keep grading costs down - just enter a fair market value number. If there is any issue with a game getting damaged in our possession or by the shipping company we will use the replacement cost or declared value to settle any claims so make sure your declared value is accurate.
No we do not. We are video game graders, not video game cleaners. There is an inherent risk to cleaning any part of a video game that may lead to further damage despite the level of expertise of the cleaner. More importantly we believe there is a conflict of interest as a neutral third party grader in offering a paid service to enhance the quality of a piece being graded that may lead to a higher grade artificially - even if this does not happen the appearance of this potential impropriety is not how we approach grading.
We are a neutral third party grading service. We believe that charging a fee to enhance a piece that we are then going to grade compromises both the third party and the neutral position we must have as trusted graders.
We absolutely can - it’s our only small add-on fee to standard grading. If you want your game tested you should be absolutely sure it works very well (doesn’t require a wipe down, a blow on the pins and three tries) before you send it. If you select testing we will test your cartridge to confirm it is in working order. If in fact it is working the label will indicate Tested: Working or it does not work on our test, Tested: Not Working. If you do not select the add-on service of testing the label will not mention testing either way.
That is of course entirely up to you. If you know it works and never intended to sell it then probably not. But it stands to reason that knowing the cartridge was working when graded could be more desirable to a future owner.
It takes time to do well. Unpacking your games, entering them into our system and carefully managing them throughout the process all the way to the final step of creating a detailed label, assembling the state-of-the-art custom case, packing and shipping is time consuming. And we didn’t even mention grading. Evaluating over 26 specific criteria with 200 points at stake on a game box, manual and cartridge needs to be done slowly and carefully by experts - again it takes time, as it should. We believe our pricing and turnaround times are competitive for the industry.
We have a lot of respect for WATA as they have done many very good things for the hobby of video game collecting which we love. We believe Video Game Graders offers some improved options, an improved process and unique grading system with greater transparency. Read more about How Video Game Graders Compares To WATA Here.
Eventually, you’ll be able to sell them on our Marketplace which will bring together collector’s to buy-sell-trade games in a safe/secure environment but that’s not quite ready yet. You can always sell games on eBay (having them authenticated and graded will help!) and potentially many other auction sites - we are working on a preferred auction partner to help make selling your games even easier - stay tuned. Make sure you’re on our mailing list to stay up-to-date.
In the early 80's Atari nearly destroyed the home video game console market. In October of 1985 Nintendo released the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) along with 17 games in very limited release as a test market in New York City, although not an overwhelming success immediately it did well enough to slowly expand to a few additional major cities before releasing nationwide in September 1986. In early 1986 Nintendo released 10 more games in their “Arcade Series” and 3 more in early 1987. All of these games were made by Nintendo and all had the same basic box design, a black box. The original 30 games helped Nintendo save (or revive) the home video game console. Millions of these games were eventually printed and sold but because of the staged rollout and quickly changing needs by Nintendo these games exist in up to 11 variations that indicate how early (or how late) they were released which creates a valuable hierarchy to collector’s as they strive to get not just the original black box games synonymous with the NES but to collect the earlier variants/prints/versions. Much, much more about this here.
Of course it will vary depending on how many orders are in front of you - we process and grade all games in the order they are received by service level. The next factor is the service level you choose - we will strive to meet or beat the estimated turnaround time on every order.
Pack them carefully, learn more here, and ship them to us insured via a trackable method. Be sure to include a copy of your order receipt in the box with your games. Don’t worry, we’ll remind you of all the steps after your order is complete.
We strive to make our customers happy so if this is what you want, contact us, we can talk about it. Eventually we will add this service to our ordering process to make it even easier for you.
This is something we have discussed adding to our offerings in the future. It would help us prioritize how quickly to get this option up and running if we knew how much demand there was for appraisal services. Please contact us and let us know you’re interested and let us know what you’d like to see from this service option.
Currently we grade NES games, sealed or CIB (Complete In Box) and GameBoy games (including original, color and advanced) in both sealed and CIB. We will soon be adding additional games, SNES and N64 will most likely be next.
Yes, once we receive your games in our facility they are insured for the replacement value or the declared value (whichever is lower) but please keep in mind this only covers games we received undamaged. It is your responsibility to insure games when shipped to us.
We’re working on it. We absolutely want to be able to service clients around the world but it is very expensive to ship internationally and of course you have to get your games to us which is also expensive. We are working on solutions to eliminate this problem. In early 2023 we did begin service to Canada. We are very excited about potentially bringing VGG to the UK and other countries around the world. Contact Us and let us know where you’re located so we can have a better understanding of how much international demand is out there - the more there is the quicker we will have a solution for you.
We grade vintage video games - so we went for a retro vintage look. The older you are the more likely you are to recognize the font. We aren't sure we love it - do you? Let us know by contacting us, we appreciate any and all feedback to improve our business.
Sometimes. Not too often though, learn more here.
With so many specific elements being graded and points weighted as they are there will be times when our score doesn't equate to a round number for a final grade. If the math makes the decimal more the .5 we round up, if it's below .5 we round down. If it is exactly .5 (which happens a lot) we use the eye test to round up or down. For example on the box if the back or sides have more imperfections than the front we might round up; if a bit more of the imperfections are on the front we might be more likely to round down. This applies to cartridge, manual, box and overall for CIB games and overall for sealed games.
We randomly include a little something extra when we ship games back to you. If you haven't gotten one yet, don't worry, we'll keep doing it with new stickers - each a new limited edition - so keep your eyes out in your next VGG delivery.
Simply contact us here.
Information on this page is subject to change and is ultimately governed by our Legal Disclaimer which you agree to by placing any order on our website.