Making Money Off Of The WoW Collector's Edition - Reader Submission

Making Money Off Of The WoW Collector's Editions
I received an email from a reader that I would like some help answering.  If you are knowledgeable in this area, please consider leaving your opinion or ideas as well in the comments so we can help her determine a course of action.  I will respond with my own ideas and thoughts on the topic, but really would appreciate other opinions as well.  Here is the emailed question:

Hey Cold,


First off, I'd like to thank you for your fantastic blog. You've helped me make lots of money in WoW and it has generally been a fun, helpful addition to my WoW experience. Anyway, this might be out of your area of expertise, but I thought I'd throw this question your way anyway.

I have two sealed Collector's Edition copies of Wrath of the Lich King and have been wondering if there is an optimal time to sell them. In general the price has increased slowly since 2008 but it seems to be staying around $250 lately. Since it's pretty clear the value of mini pets will increase with the release of Mists of Pandaria, I was thinking perhaps the value of all Collector's Editions will simultaneously increase but that's nothing more than novice speculation.

Have you paid any attention to this and do you have any thoughts on when the best time to sell my CE's are?


Have a good one,


Natasha aka Shamette on Kilrogg - US PvE

My Opinion On Selling The Collector's Editions Box Sets

Thanks Natasha for the great email submission.  Your question really got me thinking deeper as this isn't an area I have actual experience in.  I myself have never bought a WoW Collector's Edition set and I also don't purchase the companion pets or mounts from the Blizzard store.  Well, not for myself anyways, as I have purchased them for giveaways and contests on the blogs.  So I had to dig a little deeper and look into the proposed question:

Do you have any thoughts on when is the best time to sell my Collector's Editions?

Breaking it down...

What holds the value in the Collector's Edition boxed sets?  The game itself? Not much as the price drops over time on older expansions.

The music CD, art book, and other goodies?  Nope - Doubt it, as we can't give that stuff away on our Auction House Junkies giveaways. 

So what's left? The Collector's Edition only companion pets!  Much like the WoW Trading Card Game loot card mounts and pets, these CE vanity pets can sell for top dollar on eBay or other TCG sites.  So, I assume the majority of the value of the older Collector's Editions is held by the rare Collector's Edition pets and not much else.

Now when is the best time to sell these?  Assuming that the value increase over time as more and more of the out of print World of Warcraft Collector's Editions are opened and the pet codes are claimed.  So the longer you wait, the more codes are claimed and the less there are left available.  This gradual drop in supply is coupled with a gradual increase in the price of the CE boxed sets. 

Now, fast forward to the upcoming WoW Mists of Pandaria expansion.  What do we know about companion pets?  The majority of the in game companion pets will become BoE, can be leveled, then can be sold on the AH or traded to other players.  All from the upcoming MoP Battle Pet System.  The Battle Pet System still has many unanswered questions, but we do know that most pets will become tradeable.  I say most, because it was specifically stated that the majority of the pets would be tradeable, but not all. 

So, are the Collector's Edition pets going to be some of the few that are left untouched?  If so, we can speculate that the value of these CE pets and their respective CE boxed sets would continue to rise, much like they are now.  If they are made part of the Battle Pet System and are tradeable, then you can bet that the price of the CE box sets will crash.  Why?  Because those same CE pets would be able to be purchased off of the in game WoW auction house with in game gold.

Current Pricing at Amazon:
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Collector's Edition- $64.61
World Of Warcraft Burning Crusade Collector's Edition - $219.99
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Collector's Edition - $149.99
Diablo III: Collector's Edition - $99.99 Pre-Order (See the Diablo 3 Collector's Edition Contents here)

When to sell the CE boxed sets?  It's hard to say exactly since we don't know the fate of the CE pets in Mists of Pandaria.  Taking the lower risk approach, I would say sell them before Mists of Pandaria.  If you are willing to gamble, hang on and see what happens once the Pet Battle System launches.  If you bought them to sell for real cash, to the safe out and sell them ahead of time.  If you wait until MoP, you may be stuck only able to sell them for in game gold on the auction house.  Or Natasha, since you have two, sell one now and hold onto the other.  Or you can always wait a little longer until we have more information disclosed on the specifics of the Battle Pet System and can look ahead and determine value for these and other companion pets.

The Diablo 3 Collector's Edition is going to also include an in game WoW companion Pet, which could present a real world money making opportunity should they be spared from the Battle Pet trading system in Mists of Pandaria.

What does everyone else think on this topic?

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