Finding Board Game and Tabletop RPG Deals on Craigslist and eBay

Board games and tabletop RPGs are one of the most overlooked deal categories on the second-hand market. Sellers routinely offload massive collections at garage-sale prices, out-of-print titles that were never reprinted show up constantly, and Kickstarter exclusives that cost backers $150 get listed for $40 because the seller just needs shelf space. If you play tabletop games, this is a category worth setting alerts on.

The reason deals are plentiful is simple: people burn out on hobbies. Someone who went all-in on Gloomhaven, bought the Jaws of the Lion standalone, the Forgotten Circles expansion, and the miniature painting supplies might decide a year later that they'd rather have their living room back. That whole collection lands on Craigslist for $80 and it's gone in two hours to whoever has an alert set.

What Makes This Category Different

A few things work heavily in a buyer's favor here:

• Bulk lots are common and underpriced. Sellers hate doing the research on 20 individual games. They bundle everything together and price the lot to move. You get titles you wanted anyway plus a few you can resell or gift.
• Sellers underestimate value constantly. A sealed copy of Pandemic Legacy Season 1 in the black box is worth $60+. Sellers who don't follow the hobby list it for $15. This happens all the time with out-of-print titles, especially older Fantasy Flight Games products.
• Storage kills enthusiasm. Big box games like Gloomhaven, Frosthaven, and Kingdom Death: Monster take up serious space. When a household downsizes or a relationship ends, the first things to go are the hobby bins. Moving situations create some of the best pricing.
• RPG books are almost always underpriced. A complete 1st or 2nd Edition AD&D collection - Dungeon Master's Guide, Player's Handbook, Monster Manual, supplements, the works - might be worth $200-400 to the right buyer. Sellers who inherited these from a parent or older relative often list them for $30 because they have no idea what they have.

Board Games Worth Hunting For

Not every used game is a deal. Monopoly and Scrabble are everywhere and worth almost nothing. Focus on titles that retain value and go out of print regularly:

• Gloomhaven and Frosthaven: Both are massive, heavy games that retail for $100-140. Used copies with all components intact go for $50-80 on Craigslist. Check that the sticker sheets are unused and the map tiles aren't warped.
• Kingdom Death: Monster: A Kickstarter-funded horror dungeon crawler that retails for $250 new and rarely goes on sale. Used copies with expansions attached can be worth real money. Any listing under $150 for the core game is worth a look.
• Spirit Island: Consistently one of the highest-rated cooperative games. The base game plus Branch and Claw and Jagged Earth expansions runs $120 new. Bundles show up used for $50-70 regularly.
• Vintage Avalon Hill titles: Squad Leader, Civilizaton, Titan, War and Peace. These are old wargames from the 70s and 80s that have devoted collector followings. Complete copies with unpunched counters are worth significantly more than played copies. Sellers rarely know the difference.
• Fantasy Flight Games out-of-print titles: Battlestar Galactica, Descent 1st edition, Arkham Horror 1st and 2nd edition, the older Netrunner LCG complete sets. FFG has discontinued or rebooted most of these. Complete sets are worth tracking down.
• Ticket to Ride Europe and the expansions: The base game is everywhere cheap, but the rarer map expansions, particularly the older 1910 expansion and the India/Switzerland map pack, show up underpriced regularly.

Tabletop RPG Books and Collections

The RPG book market on Craigslist and eBay is genuinely wild once you know what to look for. Physical books that are out of print often trade at a significant premium to their original retail price, and sellers who don't play RPGs almost always underprice dramatically.

• AD&D 1st and 2nd Edition: The original Dungeon Master's Guide, Player's Handbook, and Monster Manual in good condition are worth $20-40 each to collectors. Complete collections with the early supplements, Fiend Folio, Deities and Demigods, Unearthed Arcana, are worth real money. Watch for estate sale listings.
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition: A beloved British RPG from 1986 that never got a proper reprint. A clean hardcover copy runs $100+. These show up in the UK on eBay periodically from people clearing out their parents' stuff.
• Old World of Darkness books: Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension in the original editions. Complete collections of one game line easily run $200-300 retail equivalent. Sellers regularly list 30-book lots for $40.
• Pathfinder 1st Edition hardcovers: Paizo moved to 2nd Edition and a lot of 1st Edition books dropped in price. The core rulebook, Advanced Player's Guide, Ultimate Combat, Ultimate Magic, and Bestiary 1-6 are all still in print but often show up used for 60-70% off in bulk lots.
• Call of Cthulhu older editions: Chaosium has been publishing CoC since 1981. The older box sets and sourcebooks, especially the 5th and 6th Edition hardcovers, have collector value. Scenarios from the 80s and 90s are often worth more than the rulebooks.

Search Terms That Work

On Craigslist, the best searches for this category are broader than you'd expect. Try:

• "board games lot" - catches bulk sellers
• "board game collection" - bigger lots, serious enthusiasts clearing out
• "dungeons dragons" or "D&D books" - pulls RPG sellers who don't know the abbreviation
• "tabletop games" - catches sellers who don't say "board games"
• "RPG books lot" - estate and collection sales
• "warhammer" (on its own) - pulls both the miniatures and the RPG books

On eBay, the strategy shifts. Search for specific titles and add "lot" or "complete" to the query. Sort by newly listed rather than ending soonest - fresh listings from unmotivated sellers get watched but sellers who relist do it because the first price didn't move it, and they often drop the price on the second or third listing.

Also search common misspellings. "Gloomhaven" is spelled correctly so often that it's competitive. But "gloomhaven jaws of the lion" typo variants, or "kingdome death monster," pull up listings that fewer people are watching. The same principle that works for typo hunting on eBay applies here too.

What to Check Before Buying

Board games and RPG books have a few specific things to verify before committing:

• Component completeness. Missing one card from a card game or one die from a set can make a game unplayable. Ask sellers directly: "Is this 100% complete?" Look for photos that show the insert or all the component bags. Good sellers photograph everything.
• Punched vs. uncut. For older wargames and some eurogames, unpunched counter sheets add value. A wargame with factory-uncut counters is in significantly better condition than one that's been played 50 times. Ask explicitly.
• Sticker status for legacy games. Pandemic Legacy and similar games use permanent stickers. An unplayed copy is worth much more than one that's 10 sessions in. A completed campaign copy is worth almost nothing unless it includes the rulebook for someone who just wants to explore.
• Book condition for RPGs. Spine cracks, water damage, and torn pages are common in older books. Ask for spine photos. "Good condition" means different things to different people - always ask for close-ups of the worst spots.
• Edition verification. "Dungeons and Dragons books" could be anything from 1978 to 2024. Make sure the seller lists which edition before you drive across town. For RPG books, edition matters a lot for collector value.

Setting Alerts That Actually Catch Deals

The board game market moves fast on Craigslist. A lot of 20 games at a great price will be gone within a few hours of posting, often to the first person who responds. Checking manually every day isn't going to cut it for good lots.

The approach that works is running a few parallel alerts: one broad alert for "board game lot" in your metro area, one for specific titles you're actively hunting ("gloomhaven," "kingdom death"), and one for RPG book lots if that's your interest. You want to be notified the moment a listing goes up, not two days later when you happen to check.

That's exactly what LurkMor does. Set your searches, confirm your email, and you get a notification the moment a matching listing appears on Craigslist or eBay. For a category where deals last hours rather than days, that timing advantage is the difference between finding the collection and missing it.

Where Estate Sales and Moving Sales Shine

Some of the best board game and RPG hauls don't come from someone who played regularly - they come from estate sales where someone is clearing out a deceased hobbyist's collection. A lifetime of gaming can represent thousands of dollars in retail value, and the family clearing the house often has no idea. They price it to move.

Watch Craigslist for listings that mention "estate sale," "moving sale," or "clearing out," especially when they include photos of shelves full of games. These sellers are almost always motivated and open to bundling. If they list 20 games individually, ask if they'll take a lower price for the whole lot at once. Most will say yes.