Got an old games console knocking around? You could sell it for up to £2,500 on eBay – and here’s how to get the most for it
All recommendations within this article are informed by expert editorial opinion. If you click on a link in this story we may earn affiliate revenue.
FOR those that grew up in the 80s and 90s, a Nintendo SNES or Sony Mega Drive was the ultimate must-have gaming console.
As many parents will remember, they were common culprits for keeping kids up well past their bedtime - and an excellent bargaining tool when it came to getting them to help out with household chores.
Classic consoles have recently enjoyed a revival, with remakes of the Nintendo NES and a surge in popularity of retro games like Super Mario Bros.
It's no surprise then that this has sparked renewed interest in the original models on buy and sell websites.
There are currently around 850,000 listings for video games and consoles .
But while some are available for under £100, others will set you back thousands.
MOST READ IN LIVING
This current listing for a Super Nintendo Entertainment System - a SNES, as it's more commonly known - offers a boxed console for £1,139.99.
It's available to buy now and has 19 watchers, with at least one of this model viewed every hour.
Given the original SNES, which was released in the UK and Ireland in April 1992, cost £150, that's a pretty staggering profit.
We spoke to eBay to find out what classic consoles like the SNES and Nintendo 64 have gone for on the site in the last three months to see if this is normal.
And this isn't the most expensive - by a long way.
Since December, a SNES has sold for £2,500, while the average price over the last year for the 43,305 consoles listed was £22.43.
During the same period, 31,645 Nintendo 64s have been bought on the site, with an average price tag of £22.27.
The most expensive console sold for £1,383 - more than a grand less than the SNES.
Despite the Sega Mega Drive being an equally popular choice among 90s gamers, it fails to match Nintendo in the nostalgia stakes.
Just 19,604 have been sold on eBay in the past year, with a top price of £723 and average of £21.56.
The SNES' predecessor - the Nintendo NES - carries a higher average price on the site, coming in at around £30.94 per item over the past year.
Out of the 24,182 sold, the most expensive went for £1,150.
Remember the Atari Jaguar? It was the last programmable console to be developed under the Atari brand and came out in 1993.
The home video game console is also a popular vintage gaming system among eBayers - with the most expensive since December selling for £1,381.
In the past year the average price for Atari Jaguar consoles was £43.45, with 1.053 sold.
When it comes to more recent consoles, the Nintendo Switch - the seventh major home video game console developed by the company, unveiled in October 2016 - carried a much higher average price.
Bought new they retail at around £250.
There were less of them sold on eBay over the past year (5,088) yet the priciest fetched £1,000.
Speaking about the increased demand for vintage consoles, Murray Lambell, eBay's electronics retail director, said: “It’s no surprise that old gaming classics, like the SNES, are currently having a retro revival. They captured the imagination of gamers across the world.
"eBay.co.uk is the perfect place to pick up or sell your retro tech.”
If you've got a classic console you think could be worth a bob or two, here are eBay's top tips for getting the most cash for it.
Ultimate eBay selling tips
Keywords are key
Take the time to get your keywords right and bidders will flock.
When buyers search, eBay automatically looks for words in the listing's title only, so it's crucial to write your listing in your customers' language and use the keywords they search for - especially brand and product names.
There are some keywords that are sure draws, including old and vintage.
If relevant, use them - they build traffic to your sales.
Even better, 's nifty free eBay Pulse tool shows the most popular search terms buyers use, by category.
Opt for ten-day auctions to ensure the most bids
When listing an auction, you can choose whether it lasts one, three, five, seven or ten days.
The longer your item is listed, the more chance of people seeing it, so unless it's time-sensitive, go for ten.
For buy-it-now listings, you can choose three, five, seven, ten or 30 days.
They cost the same - we advise selecting the 30 day option.
There's also the "Good 'Til Cancelled" option, which renews automatically until you score a sale.
Pictures are paramount
Most users won't bid on items they can't see.
It allows people to see what they are interested in - and proves that you actually have it.
Remember, a good picture often holds up a less-than-perfect listing.
Check out your competition
There's no worse feeling than to have sold a very expensive item for a very low price because you did not know its value.
If a brand or product is unfamiliar to you, you may not know how best to draw bidder.
Do searches for items similar to yours and take a critical look at the listings and pricing – especially if there are more bidders and higher prices.
You can learn much from your competition.
It's all about timing
Get the timing right.
The busiest time for buyers is Sunday evenings, so schedule your bids to end around that time.
Avoid times when most people will be busy, such as weekday mornings, or any big events such as sports matches or TV finales.
Earlier this month we reported that playing violent video games like Call Of Duty ‘doesn't make you aggressive or stunt your emotions’.
In January we revealed the terrifying reason why you shouldn't download Super Mario Run for Android.