Photo by Roman Synkevych on Unsplash
?Thank you. Do you have any questions you would like to ask me?? I asked politely, after receiving a stack of $50 notes (that amounted to $1200) from the buyer. I counted the stack diligently, note by note before placing it into my wallet. It was so thick that I could not close my wallet without it being abnormally tight and oddly shaped. Feeling worried about my wallet overstretching, I took out the stack of notes and placed it in my pocket discreetly so as to not attract attention.
?Is the sum correct?? asked the buyer, ?Yes, thank you? I replied. We both then waved at each other before parting. This was how I sold my most expensive mobile game account from Summoners War, the game I played casually without spending any money, 2 years ago.
I then went on to sell another account in the same game for $700 (purchased for $450), one for $80 in Digimon Linkz and even a Pokmon GO account for $750.
Photo by David Grandmougin on Unsplash
Do you play mobile games?
Have you given your accounts away for free or just left it to rot after quitting?
Well, you can actually sell them for money after appraising it. Let me share with you 5 quick ways on how you can tell whether your mobile game account is worth selling.
1. Market
Is there a market available?
Just like how there needs to be demand and supply before a transaction/trade can be made, there has to be a market facilitating it. As trading of mobile game accounts sometimes violates the game?s terms & conditions, one must be careful not to reveal their mobile game account identities or they might risk getting it banned.
There are many websites that act as a marketplace for trading game accounts (e.g. playerup.com, playerauctions.com, g2g.com, epicnpc.com). If possible, it is advisable to deal face to face as it offers a sense of security for both sides. And if face to face trades are out of the picture, the next best thing is to use a middleman for the trade.
By taking a quick look at the different trades (both selling & buying), you will also be able to gauge the price range for the mobile game accounts. This would give you better sensing of the average value.
An active market is a good sign
If you can find an active market that has a high volume of trades for that particular mobile game, then the average value of the accounts would tend to be better. The high volume of trades improves your odds of carrying out your ideal trade, making it more worthwhile to sell your mobile game account.
2. Player Base/Popularity Of Game
Game downloads
Go to the App Store/Google Play, you would be able to see the number of downloads for the mobile game. Needless to say, a higher number of game downloads would lead to a higher probability of people trading.
Content
Does the game have a lot of content? Are there content creators? There is a tendency for popular games to have lots of content because the community is huge. The strong demand for content will create a gap for aspiring stars to fill. And you would be able to find mainstream platforms such as Youtube and Twitch, to be populated with content from the mobile game. The more content is readily available, the better the prospects to sell your mobile game account.
How long has the game been running?
The logic behind why people would trade mobile game accounts is because time is invested in the accounts, and time is money. Hence when the game has been released for a longer period of time, the game accounts would receive a fair amount of time invested in them. This creates a directly proportionate relationship between the average value of the mobile game accounts and the length of time the game has been released.
Usually, a new mobile game that just started would have a lower probability of people trading accounts. However, there are instances where a significant amount of marketing budget is allocated to promote the mobile game. This would generate enough hype to build a decent player base, increasing the probability of players trading their mobile game accounts in the early stages of the mobile game.
3. Trading & Item Restrictions
Is there in-game trade?
Is there a feature in the game that allows trading of items/units? An in-game trade system would allow the players to complete objectives faster. Whether it is a personal objective of collecting 5 different colors of a decorative item, or a quest to collect 5 rare items, having an in-game trading feature would impact the value of the mobile game accounts.
Similarly in some games, there might be a trading feature or even an official market place on their game website for the players to exchange items and in-game currency. This would also impact the value of mobile game accounts.
Trade restrictions
In certain games, there are special items that cannot be traded. By having such restrictions, it reduces the usability of the said item as it is not liquid. The items cannot be exchanged for in-game currency (let alone real-life cash) or even other items. This makes it challenging for players to appraise and thus does not have much positive impact on the game account.
4. The Rarity of Items & Game Units
Are in-game items and units easy to obtain?
When items and units in the game are harder to obtain, it means that more time will be spent to acquire them. Once again, time is money. If items and game units are generally more difficult to obtain, it would have a positive impact on the value of the game account, making the game account more worth selling.
Is real-life money required to obtain in-game items or units?
In many games, especially free to play ones, selling in-game items for real money is a common way to generate revenue for the company. This helps establish a tangible relationship between the in-game item and real money. By doing so, players will tag the value of those in-game items or units purchased with real money. Ultimately, this will positively impact the game accounts, making the game accounts more worth selling.
5. Competition
Ah? nothing excites players more than having the competitive element. This point is unique as there is a progression of 4 stages. The later the stage, the higher the positive impact on the value of the game accounts.
Stage 1: PvP ? Player vs Player
Usually, most games start off with Player vs Enemy (Computer). The game then progresses to include features that allow players to challenge each other. Having PvP in the game will allow their players to claim bragging rights. A less-developed game account would definitely have lesser value compared to a well-developed one due to the later having more advantages. In short, players will pay to win.
Stage 2: In-game tournaments
In-game tournaments can only come after establishing the PvP feature. By having in-game tournaments, it allows players to battle for the top spot, fame, limited edition in-game items, and in-game currency. Again, players will pay to win.
Stage 3: Real-life tournaments
After duking it out in the virtual world, the next progression will come in real-life. People will start organizing tournaments where the players will battle face to face in the real world. Exciting content can be created here, which could exponentially grow the game, acquiring more players and motivate them to be more competitive.
Stage 4: Tournaments with cash prizes
The final stage would involve having monetary rewards, on top of the fame and prestige of winning the tournament. These tournaments are usually hosted by the company that made the game or by a third party organization. By winning a tournament, a player can most likely recoup all the money they invested in the game. Thus, making it even more worthwhile for players to obtain a better game account.
The 5 ways of identifying whether a mobile game account is worth selling or investing your time in for more money are non-exhaustive. Sometimes they are even applicable to other categories of games such as computer games and game consoles. As more and more people seek entertainment for various reasons, the number of games would continue to grow, and there would definitely be more opportunities to make money while casually playing games.
Have you sold or traded a game account for money before? Respond and share your experience! If you found this article interesting or helpful, do share it so that you can help others too.
