Okay, so my buddy works at the local Play 'n' Trade.  He called me about two hours ago and said that Ron (the owner) took in a copy of Hagane, and that he wants me to do a label repair on it.

I asked him to repeat that.  He confirms that it was Hagane.  Five minutes later, I break several laws of physics and walk through the doors at approximately eight trillion miles per nanosecond.

It's Hagane.  I open it up, and it is completely legit.  The label is in terrible shape (a huge scar across the front label), and I offered my CIB Chrono Trigger for it.

The owner said that his wife has done research and seen that the game is going for about $300.

I sat him down and explained that the $300 price tag is for pristine cartridges, and that Hagane is not expensive because it is a great game, or because it is a desirable game, but rather because it is a rare game.  To this end, I informed him that the price of Hagane is totally dependent upon the condition of the label, and that I could not, in good conscience, do a label repair on this game, as I would essentially be counterfeiting something to jack up the price.

In fact, I flatly pointed out that a reproduction label on Hagane would actually LOWER the price, because this is a collector's piece, NOT a gamer's piece, and that collectors are more concerned with authenticity over presentability.

I have first dibs on it, and my buddy will be sending pictures of it to my email (which I will post here), but I told him that he could reasonably expect $120-$140 for the game in the condition it is in.  I also told him that eBay is not a good indicator of true value and worth, and that I would put the information I am relaying to you all now out for a more accurate assessment.

I also told him that I would be showing him transcripts (ie, this thread's responses) to verify that I was not attempting to mislead him or take advantage of him.

To those of you in the know (Dain, MrMark, etc), please give me full, honest opinions on this.

wife has done research?
sat him down?
essentially be counterfeiting?
eBay is not a good indicator of true value and worth?
relaying to you all now out for a more accurate assessment?
showing him transcripts?

Is this real life?

Thank you for your...nonsensical, completely unhelpful post. I'm being quite serious, and if you can't be, please let others answer instead.

I would guess one with a tear would go for $200. $120-$140 is pretty low of an estimate.

With all the fakes popping up, it would be stupid to put a repro label on one as people will automatically write it off as fake.

First things first, don't pay or trade for a damaged label you see, play the game first.
I say that because some things sound weird, like the repair part, sounds a bit deceptive.
If it's your copy keep it, for certain games, condition is getting out of the question with the value and all.
But get pics, that would help with pricing and yea mainly pricing.

You got all pretty accuratelly explained to him, although I think for the description of the label, you could do 100? I've seen on eBay 200 usd completed listing with good labels.

Well, these are what I base my price estimate on:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hagane-Th...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hagane-Th...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hagane-Th...

The tear on the label is a little shorter but much wider than the third eBay listing above.

I did play the cart, and it works beautifully.  Sound is good, color is great, and the chip is definitely authentic.

Do not remove the original label, that would be idiotic. I agree with around $200 for one with label tears. No way is it as low as $120, unless the label is completely gone.

After ebay fees and whatnot, if you gave him $140 cash in that condition I think it would be fair.

If your Chrono Trigger CIB is in really good shape with both maps I think he may want to reconsider that trade.

And let him/his wife know that ebay completed items are a good value of worth, just not the inflated BINs that you see.

Well those listings are about 125-175 on ebay. Substract ebay fees + mechant fees and you are on the low 100s

Separate question.....why did he come to you for a label repair? Is this a service you've provided before?

You are half way there then. The price you gave him is fair for you, just try to make him realize that he doesnt have a 400.00 dollar or top dollar copy of hagane. Sometimes you can't get that number out of their head though. Good luck in what you are wanting to accomplish, buying or selling the game.

Nope.  He knows that I make repros because I've sold some to my buddy who works there, and he has a nasty habit of printing out terrible DS case covers for the used games he gets in without a slipcover, so I've offered to print out much better ones before.

In addition, sometimes he gets game in (typically GBA for some reason) without labels, and he prints out terrible-looking labels on pieces of printer paper and then uses glue or double-sided tape to attach them.  This offends my sensibilities as a gamer (being fairly OCD and wanting stuff to look nice), so I've offered to replace the crap labels with something a bit more presentable.

Photos uploaded!

Oh my...i thought you meant a scar like a scar... This is pretty terrible damage to the label. I don't collect snes, but knowing the rarity of it I would pay no more than $140. I will never would trade CIB Chrono in good condition for this Haganr

That label is pretty attrocious, and I think $140 in cash would be generous from your part. Considering that he wouldn't have to have any fees taken out from ebay/paypal or have to ship it etc. If I were the owner and you offered a Chrono Trigger CIB for a Hagane that's like a 2/10, I'd take the Chrono Trigger CIB since you can sell that in a retail game shop at the blink of an eye.

My Chrono is only 6.5/10 to 7/10 condition at best...and the box has some water damage. The only reason I even got it is because I traded a beat up megaman 7 cart for it.

That's a really really shitty label dude. Seems to me like a CIB CT is a fair trade though. However if you can't get him to budge and you think it won't sell, I would just just let it sit - maybe a good lesson for him later.

Well ever since this thing started going up a little while back just like a few others I consider by my own will to pay that much alone unobtainable I do like to watch still (like how people like a good train wreck.) I think going by the auctions that people paid on that did sell/complete on ebay your $120 or so level there was fair considering the damage, perhaps even a little less because hand to hand you're not giving up 15% to ebay and another 2.9%+29 cents to paypal either, nor eating or having someone else eat the shipping.

I think if you came in with that CT if it's as so-so as you said it was, I'd go for it as you could always far far easier get another of that game. The one thing I'd be concerned with is if Hagane has fallen down to that point where those closed with smaller damage than your perspective game there, is this thing cooling off?

I sold one in similar shape with the box that was like a 7/10 for around 300(well 190,a loose Mega Man 7, a CIB Raiden Trad, and a loose copy of Zombies ate my Neighbours) back in September of last year! My thought process was back then 150 for the game and 150 for the box! The market has stayed roughly the same on this one since its rise in value last summer! Hope that helps!

Yeah that's much worse than what I was thinking by your description. Half the label is missing haha I'd say your offer is very fair.

Why would anyone buy that condition for that much money? I have to assume anyone on eBay paying that much for a garbage label is simply going to flip it after putting a replacement label on it.

nice find how much did he pay for it....and yes games like that id rather have a fucked up label then a fake label anyday

I've actually seen (held in my hands seen) several copies of Hagane over the years (ok, three) and all of them had some sort of label damage, with two of them looking similar to that. All three were sold before the price jump for around $90 apiece, tho only the last one was sold on Ebay (the other two on Amazon). While label damage does hurt the value, I'd say it doesn't usually dissuade people from purchasing it. There ARE people out there who want games to play and own but don't really care about condition if they can get a good deal. Not everyone gets into collecting b/c they're OCD (just most of us, LOL).