Two eBay listings for the same retro game can ask wildly different prices, and usually the condition explains it. Retro collectors sort a copy into one of three conditions before they talk price: loose, CIB or sealed. The game on the cartridge or disc is identical in all three. What you're paying extra for is what comes with it.
This guide covers what each term means, what to check before you buy, and how to read titles that don't say which one you're getting.
The three conditions
Loose
The game alone: a cartridge with no box and no manual, or for disc games, the disc with little or nothing else. It's the most common way retro games are sold, and usually the cheapest.
Sellers write it as "loose", "cart only", "cartridge only", "disc only" or "game only". Many don't say anything at all. A title like "Super Mario 64 N64 Authentic Tested" with eBay's condition set to Used is almost always a loose cart, because sellers with a box and manual nearly always say so.
What to check:
- Authenticity. Reproduction cartridges are common for popular games. Look for clear photos of the label and, ideally, the board. A label that's slightly off in color, font or finish is the usual first sign.
- Label condition. Tears, writing, stickers and sun fading all matter to the next buyer if you ever resell.
- Saving. Many cartridges that save keep the save in memory powered by a small battery on the board, and those batteries eventually run out. If a game saves to the cartridge, ask whether it currently holds a save.
- For discs: scratches, and whether the disc actually loads and plays.
CIB (complete in box)
The game, its original box and its manual. That's what most buyers mean by CIB. Some collectors also expect the inserts that originally came in the box, like the cardboard or plastic tray, posters and registration cards. Sellers don't all mean the same thing by "complete", so if the inserts matter to you, ask.
Sellers write it as "CIB", "complete in box", "complete", "box and manual" or "with box and manual".
What to check:
- That every part is the original. Reproduction boxes and manuals are sold openly, and a "complete" copy is sometimes a real cartridge in a reproduction box. Compare the printing quality and cardboard to known-good photos.
- That the parts match. Box, manual and game should be the same game and the same region. A North American box with a European manual is a mismatched set.
- Box condition. Most of the price difference between CIB copies comes from the box: crushed corners, tears, price stickers, missing flaps. Cardboard boxes from the cartridge era were easily damaged and often thrown away, so a clean one is the scarce part.
- For disc games: the original case, its front and back artwork, and the manual. A cracked case is easy to replace. Missing artwork is not.
Sealed
Factory-sealed and never opened. It's the most expensive condition and the one most at risk of fakes.
Sellers write it as "sealed", "factory sealed", "new sealed", "shrinkwrap" or "unopened", and graded copies say "WATA graded" or "VGA graded".
What to check:
- Resealing. Opened games get rewrapped and sold as sealed. The seal type should match how that game was originally sealed when it was released, which varies by console, publisher and era. If you're paying sealed money, learn what the real seal looks like for that specific game, or buy graded.
- Graded copies. WATA and VGA grade sealed games and encase them in a plastic case. That helps, but the grade and the case are part of what you're paying for, so read our guide to tracking WATA-graded listings.
- "New" on an old game. eBay's "New" condition on a decades-old game should mean sealed. If the title says new but the photos show an open box, it isn't sealed, whatever the condition field says.
Why the price gap varies so much
A CIB copy almost always asks more than a loose one, and sealed asks more than CIB. How much more depends on the game. Some games had flimsy boxes that few people kept, so complete copies are scarce. Others shipped in sturdy cases that survived. And a game everyone kept in its box has a much smaller CIB premium than one most people threw the box away for.
That's why it's worth checking each game's prices separately rather than applying a rule of thumb. Every game page linked below shows the current median asking price separately for loose, CIB and sealed, along with how many listings each figure is based on. They're asking prices from active listings, not sold prices. Treat them as what sellers want today, and check eBay's sold listings before you settle on a number.
How our deal pages sort listings by condition
eBay's own condition field only says "New", "Used" and so on. It has no idea whether a used game is loose or complete. So each listing on our deal pages is sorted by its title:
- Sealed words ("sealed", "factory sealed", "shrinkwrap", "unopened", "WATA graded"…) put it in Sealed. This check runs first, so a "factory sealed CIB" listing counts as sealed.
- Loose words ("loose", "cart only", "disc only", "no box"…) put it in Loose.
- Complete words ("CIB", "complete in box", "box and manual"…) put it in CIB.
- No condition words: eBay's "New" counts as Sealed, and any used condition counts as Loose.
A listing with no condition words and no condition at all is left unsorted. It still shows under All, but not under any chip. It's a best-effort heuristic and a seller who mislabels a listing can still fool it, so check the photos before you buy.
Price guides by console
Each page shows live listings you can filter by Loose, CIB or Sealed, current asking prices for each condition, and what to check for that particular game.
Nintendo (NES): The Legend of Zelda · Mega Man 2 · Super Mario Bros. 3
Super Nintendo: A Link to the Past · Chrono Trigger · EarthBound · Super Mario RPG · Super Mario World · Super Metroid
Nintendo 64: Banjo-Kazooie · GoldenEye 007 · Majora's Mask · Mario Kart 64 · Ocarina of Time · Ocarina of Time Gold Cart · Paper Mario · Snowboard Kids 2 · Super Mario 64
GameCube: Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance · Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door · Super Smash Bros. Melee · The Wind Waker
Game Boy and Game Boy Color: Link's Awakening · Pokemon Red · Pokemon Blue · Pokemon Yellow · Pokemon Gold · Pokemon Silver · Pokemon Crystal
Game Boy Advance: Pokemon Ruby · Pokemon Sapphire · Pokemon FireRed · Pokemon Emerald
Nintendo DS: Pokemon HeartGold
PlayStation: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night · Final Fantasy VII · Metal Gear Solid · Suikoden II
PlayStation 2: Silent Hill 2
Sega: Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis) · Skies of Arcadia (Dreamcast)
All of them are also listed on the deals index.
Getting alerts for one condition
Each deal page shows every condition, so you can compare. Your own alert can be narrower. Use Track this item on a game's page to start from that page's filter, which already excludes the junk that game's listings turned up while the page was built, then set the price you'd pay. To hear only about complete copies, add "CIB" and "complete" as keywords. To skip sealed copies, add "sealed" to your exclude keywords.
Related
- How to filter out "box only" and "for parts" listings
- How to track WATA-graded game listings on eBay in real time
- How to check eBay prices from Discord:
/price earthboundshows loose and CIB side by side