The DS games in your collection that could make you rich

So January is never the cheeriest of months. You've just weaned yourself off a pre-Christmas diet of chocolate and red wine; Martin Lewis the 'money saving expert' seems to be a permanent guest on daytime television, preaching the virtues of interest free credit card transfers; and the highlight of your week has become Sunday night's Dancing On Ice, simply because you can't afford to go out to the pub any more.

But if money is the primary cause of your January woes (and if it's not, we don't want to hear any gloating from you), it could be an easy fix if you're the type to hoard away your old games and forget about them.

Because even though the DS is still a relatively new console and its games might not quite have reached collectors prices just yet, a surprising number of its titles are still worth well above what you might expect.

Before we reveal the top sellers, we should add that the more effort you go to selling your games, the more you're likely to get for them. Your local game shop is usually the worst place to exchange games for cash and will usually offer around a third of the game's current value.

eBay is the obvious choice for most but remember the usual eBay tips apply when selling games – and the more positive feedback you have, the more bids and money you're likely to get for your games.

Even better than eBay can be taking the time to set yourself up as an Amazon seller. On average, even used games go for a few pounds more on the site and getting two-thirds of the price of the game back isn't uncommon. One word of advice: don't be tempted to undercut other seller's prices. Many of its retailers use software which ensures its prices are always 1p below the cheapest so you'll only end up driving all of the prices down.

Anyway, with the selling method out of the way, here's what you really want to know. Which of your games are going to earn you the most cash?

We've listed the top 10 DS games below, which averaged the highest prices on eBay over the last 14 days.

Unsurprisingly, topping that list is a limited edition game only made available to Japanese Club Nintendo members. However, there are many more – including really 'old' games such as Mario 64 DS – which are reaching respectable sums second hand.

Some of the prices shown, usually the higher end ones, are for new games and not second-hand. Clearly, you're always going to get more cash for pristine copies – something to bear in mind next time you're using that Mario & Luigi instruction manual as a coffee coaster.

1. Game and Watch Collection – average price £31.45
4 items sold, all for £31.45

2. Kirby Canvas Curse – average price £19.51
5 items sold, ranging from £15 to £27

3. Hotel Dusk Room 215 – average price £18.94
161 items sold, ranging from £6.50 to £35

4. Electroplankton – average price £18.68
3 items sold, between £14 and £22.40

5. Mario Kart DS – average price £18.58
339 items sold, ranging from £3.97 to £27.58

6. Super Mario 64 DS – average price £18.58
203 items sold, ranging from £0.99 to £31

7. New Super Mario Bros – average price £18.00
414 items sold, ranging from £4.20 to £29.99

8. Point Blank DS – average price £17.54
12 items sold, ranging from £10 to £22.99

9. Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga – £17.41
60 items sold, ranging from £4 to £23

10. Trauma Center: Under the Knife – average price £16.51
89 items sold, ranging from £7.47 to £25