Ask John: How Can Someone Determine the Value of Anime DVDs?

Question:
My son has a collection of anime and he has been thinking about selling a few to make some money and make room in his storage cabinet for more DVDs. We have been puzzled over pricing. The biggest example is an 8-disc collection called “Tenchi Muyo GXP: Galaxy Police Transporter.” It has 26 episodes and is labeled a “complete series collection!” We have seen two types of collections for sale at different prices (S.A.V.E. is the cheapest and Veridian which is a bit more expensive). My son’s DVD set does not have either of these labels. We have seen prices for used sets from $19.99 to $199.99. One online store had a new one with a “list price” of $39.99 which was crossed out and the “our price” was $499.99. What gives? How are we to know what would be a fair price for my son to sell his set for and not be short-selling his set?

Answer:
To put it simply, especially in America, anime is not an investment hobby. While that’s not to say that select anime DVDs don’t become valuable, the vast majority of American released anime DVDs quickly depreciate in value and stay that way for a number of reasons. The collector market for anime DVDs is relatively small, and market value is heavily determined by preference rather than scarcity. Many of America’s rarest anime DVDs are near worthless because they’re discs of obscure and unpopular shows that very few collectors are interested in owning. Industry devaluation also undercuts the collectablility of most anime releases. Nearly every distributor in the domestic industry re-releases its catalog titles multiple times, and each release incrementally decreases in price. FUNimation’s Hell Girl series was initially released at a full SRP of $179.88. Now the complete series is available brand new for under $17. A very small handful of obsessive collectors may prefer to own the original six-disc release, but the much larger audience that’s just interested in watching the show is equally satisfied to own the $20 complete four-disc re-release.

To a large extent, the only genuinely collectible domestic anime DVDs are the relatively rare releases of popular titles. Sailor Moon and Card Captor Sakura DVDs have maintained their original retail value because they’ve been out of print and in steady demand for years. Specific discs including Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures volume 4, Zegapain volume 4, Aura Battler Dunbine volumes 11 & 12, Overman King Gainer volume 6, every volume of Super Robot Wars, most volumes of When They Cry, Zipang volume 6, Karin volume 6, the Lyrical Nanoha & Familiar of Zero series sets, several of the Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time volumes, and End of Evangelion, to name a few, now typically sell for double to several times their original SRP because these discs were manufactured and released in limited quantities and either were never re-released or were only re-released in limited quantities. However, most American anime DVDs have multiple editions and an abundance of copies relative to the number of collectors in the market. Sadly, the vast majority of all American anime DVDs are now worth less than their original retail prices. Countless domestic anime DVDs can now be acquired used for less than the cost of a cheeseburger.

Given the nature of the hobby, sellers can request any price they wish for their collectibles, but asking price isn’t the same as selling price. Possibly the best example is Pioneer’s 2000 Dog of Flanders movie DVD release. The rare release never seems to show up online at less than $70, but I’ve never found evidence of a single copy anywhere ever actually selling for that amount. The Tenchi Muyo GXP TV series has been released on domestic DVD five times: first as eight single DVDs, then as a series of four double-disc sets, then as a “Complete Box Set” packaged in a clear Alpha case, then as a Viridian Collection release in a paper digibook, then in its current S.A.V.E. edition release. Since the only difference between the multiple releases is their exterior packaging, the difference in legitimate collector value between the various releases is minimal. Since the only difference between the original “Complete Box Set” and the S.A.V.E. edition box set is the green label on the cover, the original release may be worth only two or three dollars more to a hardcore collector that prefers the less ugly cover. Amazon and elsewhere sellers may ask for $200 for the original edition “Complete Box Set,” but I have tremendous doubt that they’ll ever get that price. When the original, first edition release with illustrated collector box actually sells for less than $20, and even the second edition four double-disc set with chipboard illustrated collector box can be acquired in flawless condition for $35, there’s absolutely no incentive for collector’s to pay more for the less attractive, bargain packaged third release.

The best way to determine legitimate values of domestic anime DVDs is to scour Ebay for both listings and completed sales, to see what the average asking price is and to see how often collectors actually pay the typical asking price. Remember that anime series which have multiple re-releases are almost always worth very little. Editions mean very little to most American anime DVD collectors. Practically speaking, the only valuable American anime DVDs are discs that aren’t commonly available in any edition anymore and were never very common in the first place.