When Do Retro Games Sell Most? Seven Years of OSGV Sales

The holiday season gets plenty of attention, but The Old School Game Vault's own sales records show a stronger start to the year. Across seven complete years, from 2019 through 2025, January through March accounted for an average of 30.6% of annual online sales revenue. October through December accounted for 24.1%.

The Table of Contents

These figures come from The Old School Game Vault’s online sales. They describe our business's seasonal pattern, not the entire retro game market. We share percentages so readers can compare seasons without needing our private revenue figures.

Which quarter accounted for the most retro game sales?

The Old School Game Vault's first quarter had the highest average share of annual online sales revenue: 30.6%. It was also the strongest quarter in five of the seven years studied.

• The first quarter's average share exceeded the fourth quarter's by 6.5 percentage points.
• The pattern was especially clear from 2021 through 2025: the first quarter was the strongest in each of those five years. However, the records don't explain why shoppers spent more during those months. Tax refunds, holiday gift money, and collecting habits could explain this, but these figures don't prove them.

Which month had the largest average share of sales?

The Old School Game Vault's March sales averaged 11.3% of annual revenue, the highest monthly share in the seven-year comparison. January and February followed at 9.7% and 9.6%.

• February has the fewest days but nearly matched January's share of annual sales. After dividing each month's share by its number of days in each year and averaging across the seven years, February's daily sales share was 8.4% higher than January's. That makes February's performance stronger than the monthly totals alone suggest.
• March was the highest-revenue month in 2023, 2024, and 2025. That repeat pattern is worth reporting, but it doesn't mean March will lead every future year.

Are summer months always slower?

The Old School Game Vault's July-to-September sales had the lowest average quarterly share, at 22.0%, but summer wasn't consistently slow every year. July had the lowest average monthly share, at 6.6%, narrowly below November's 6.7%.

• The clearest exception was 2020. July was our highest-revenue month that year, and July through September was the strongest quarter. That difference matters: a seven-year average should not hide a year that followed a substantially different pattern.
• We kept 2020 in the averages. The figures alone don't show what drove that year's pattern.

Did holiday sales lead every year?

The Old School Game Vault's holiday quarter didn't lead the seven-year average, though it was the strongest quarter in 2019. December remained a meaningful sales month, averaging 8.9% of annual revenue.

• November was the lowest-revenue month in 2022, 2023, and 2024. But that didn't continue in 2025, when July was lowest, and December revenue fell below November's. We therefore cannot describe a November low followed by a December rebound as a dependable rule.
• The useful finding is that our sales extend well beyond the holiday shopping period, with a particularly strong first quarter in recent years.

What can these records tell shoppers and sellers?

The Old School Game Vault's records show when we earned revenue. They don't show the cheapest month to buy a game, the best month to sell a collection, or how many shoppers buy each month.

• Revenue can change because of the number of orders, prices, available inventory, or the mix of products sold. A high-value console bundle can contribute more revenue than several inexpensive games. Without separating those factors, sales dollars should not be treated as a direct count of shoppers or games.
• For our business, the findings mean we should pay close attention to inventory and customer service early in the year and during the holidays. For readers, they offer a documented look at one established retro game business's seasonal sales experience.

How did we calculate the seasonal percentages?

The Old School Game Vault used January-December “Online Sales” figures in its monthly profit-and-loss summaries for 2019 through 2025. The records combine our yearly online sales from The Old School Game Vault’s online store and eBay store, as confirmed by founder Brandon Perton.

• For each year, we divided each month's recorded sales revenue by that year's total recorded sales revenue. We then averaged the seven percentages for each calendar month. Quarterly shares use the same method, combining the appropriate three months. Each year carries equal weight, so a higher-revenue year does not dominate the seasonal average.
• The analysis includes 84 months across seven complete calendar years. It uses the recorded Online Sales row without separately adjusting for refunds, shipping, taxes, product categories, or selling channels. Annual totals calculated from the twelve monthly entries reconcile with the totals recorded in the source summaries.
• These numbers come from one business. Changes in inventory, pricing, listings, and operations, along with customer demand, can affect sales. Monthly and quarterly shares are not adjusted for the number of days. The separate February comparison divides each month's share by its actual number of days, including leap years, before averaging across the seven years. Incomplete 2017 summaries and partial 2026 results are excluded.

The Old School Game Vault is a nationwide mail-in retro video game buyer and online store that has operated since 2008.