2. Vintage Video Games and Consoles
Do you have a box of old video games your children left behind when they moved out? Original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Super Nintendo, and Sega Genesis cartridges are fetching unprecedented prices. The key to high value in the video game market is the packaging. A game cartridge alone might sell for twenty dollars, but that exact same game in its original cardboard box, complete with the instruction manual, can sell for ten times that amount.
Unopened, factory-sealed games from the 1980s and 1990s routinely command thousands of dollars at specialized auction houses. Even the consoles themselves retain solid value, provided they are clean, functioning, and include the original cords and controllers.
I’m in my 80s now, and recently acquired a number of family items of furniture after my (older) sister passed away. I was not responsible for state or federal inheritance taxes on the financial items she willed to me, but — IF I were to sell all or some of the furniture items (a few might be antiques, others not) — would I be liable for “capital gains” taxes on whatever money I receive from their sale?
I’m conflicted. On one hand, some of these are “family items” that my children might want someday, but I personally have no real connection to them in that respect. Further, they have been cluttering my basement for over a year. So being aware of the possible tax ramifications might influence my decision on how to proceed (or whether to proceed) in disposing of the items.