How do you feel about emulation?

[Mystic]

But then your post is also an assumption, isn't it? No doubt about it there are plenty of fair resellers who budget like you just described. I guess I should have been more specific, but I'm not talking about those people. I'm thinking mainly of the truly exorbitant prices on games like Shantae and Panzer Dragoon Saga. Now, those people- those are selfish collectors. There are people, right now, who own multiple copies of these games,never even open/play them and attempt to charge a small fortune. These are old, technically obsolete games that shouldn't go as high as they do.

Just like anything else, the video game secondary market is driven by supply and demand. Games with exorbitant prices are like that because that's the price the market will bear. The price on those games are so high because there is very little supply, but high demand. If the sellers lowered their price, it would just sell out immediately and you still wouldn't get a copy; if they raised their price too much, it wouldn't sell. That's just how the free market works.

There are two ways the price goes down: an increase in supply or a decrease in demand. The existence of emulation is already artificially increasing supply, keeping prices somewhat in check. When games get rereleased, either via emulation services like the virtual console or proper ports, that also increases supply, lowering prices accordingly.

So basically, if you want a legal version of Shantae, just buy the virtual console release. If you want a collector's item that you can also play if you want, then buy an original physical cartridge, but expect to pay through the nose to get it.