What your old PlayStation 2 is still worth

For a lot of people the PlayStation 2 has been sitting in a drawer for years, under a bed, or in a box down in the cellar. It probably still works, it just never gets plugged in any more. The question that follows is almost always the same. Is it still worth anything, or do you just throw it out at some point.

The short answer is that age barely matters. There are a lot of PlayStation 2 consoles in the world, that is no secret. What makes the difference is condition and completeness. Two consoles from the same year can sit very far apart, and that has nothing to do with luck. It comes down to things you can check yourself in five minutes.

What we look at first

On a PlayStation 2 it is the mechanics that decide. There are four things we look at first, and in this order.

The drive is where most machines give up. The lens gets weaker over the years, and at some point the console still reads DVDs but no longer the older games, or the other way round. If you can test it, test with a game you know. If it starts quickly and without rattling, that is a good sign.

The controller ports work loose, because for twenty years somebody pushed the plug in and pulled it out again. If the controller wobbles while you play, it shows up when we buy the console in.

The power supply is its own topic on the slim models, because those come with an external brick. If it is missing, a part is missing that not everyone has lying around at home.

And last the casing. Not for the looks, but because it tells us whether somebody has been inside already. Missing screws, scratches around the seams or a broken clip tell us the console has been opened. That is not a reason to say no, but it changes the assessment.

How to tell for yourself where your console stands

You do not have to unscrew anything for this. Put the console in daylight and look at it from about thirty centimetres. What you cannot see from that distance, a buyer will not see later either.

Then plug it in. Does the fan run quietly, or does it sound as if there is dust inside. Does the drive pull the disc in cleanly. Does the picture stay stable when you move the cable slightly. These are the same checks we do here, except that we do them every day. How we name the individual grades is set out in full on assessing condition properly.

The part almost everyone underrates

Most people think of the console first when they think about selling. Yet the bigger share is often right next to it, in the box with the games.

A single PlayStation 2 is a machine that exists in very large numbers. A particular game in good condition, with case and manual, is by contrast a single item that somebody has been hunting for years. That is exactly why it pays to bring more than the console and to empty the whole drawer. Memory cards, the second controller, the multitap, the component cable, these are all parts that get little attention on their own and together make a decent difference.

If you want to see which titles end up back on the shelf afterwards, you will find them in the Shop. That is not a buying price list, but it shows you what people are asking for.

What brings the value down

Smoke is the harshest factor, and the only one that cannot be undone. A console that stood for years in a smoker’s household still smells after cleaning. After that comes damp, so an unheated cellar, where corrosion forms on the contacts that you cannot see from the outside.

A faulty machine is not worthless, by the way. We repair in house, so a console with a clear, nameable fault is often more useful to us than one where nobody knows what is going on. So if you know the drive no longer reads, just say so. Being straight about it makes the process faster, not worse.

How you get to your number

What your PlayStation 2 is worth today is stated concretely in our offer, and the amount becomes binding after our check. A number pulled from a table does not know your device. On Sell you describe your device in a few clicks, no photos needed. You see your price straight away, with no waiting. No account, no sign-up, and you decide only afterwards.

If the amount suits you, you tell us and get the free postage label to print. You hand the parcel in at the post office, the shipping costs you nothing. Or you drop the console off in Holziken by appointment. We check every item by hand and pay out within 48 hours.

If the condition differs from what you stated, we come back to you with an adjusted offer. If that does not suit you, we send the device back free of charge. That costs you nothing either. We are a family business in Holziken in the canton of Aargau, and we look at every device ourselves before we pass it on.