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A resolution I made this year was not to go into debt to purchase cards. For decades now I've been thinking "Buy first, pay later," thinking if I make a significant purchase I would then sell some of the dross in my collection to pay for it. That rarely happened. I'd buy something, then only sometimes would I get around to listing a few things that might sell or might not, and come nowhere near the price I paid, anyway. So I would accumulate debt and eventually pay it off after lots of interest charges accrued.
This year, I vowed to limit what I buy to what I really, really wanted. No more impulsive $5, $10, $20 cards that are neat but wouldn't really fit into a larger whole, something that the hobby allows me to feel. Further, and more importantly for this story, I'm not buying anything I'd have to put on credit unless I sold stuff first. This worked find for the first 29 days of the year. There was a card I've been really, really wanting sitting on ebay for $1000, closer to $100 with shipping and tax. It was a 1/1, which I knew made waiting risky, but it had been there for a little while already, maybe no one wanted it. I hunkered down at my scanner and started listing stuff. I accepted offers I had previously rejected. By the end of this weekend's listings, I'll be up to almost $800. So close. But this morning I looked at MyEbay and saw the object of my affection had been sold.
This sucks. It was the first thing I've been really excited about in this hobby in quite a while, the idea that this thing could be mine if I'd just gone ahead and broken my resolve. I am irritated with myself for not being weak and going into debt for even a month or two until my sales caught up. It is backwards. This hobby screws you up.
But now I have a decent chunk for whatever my next obsession is, or was. I've got 2 cases of Heritage coming, which I preordered on credit a couple months ago, so this will help pay for that, and I've got a little rhythm with the listings so I can hopefully finally start using my hobby to subsidize my hobby like I used to rather than just letting things accumulate.
But dammit I wanted that card.
This year, I vowed to limit what I buy to what I really, really wanted. No more impulsive $5, $10, $20 cards that are neat but wouldn't really fit into a larger whole, something that the hobby allows me to feel. Further, and more importantly for this story, I'm not buying anything I'd have to put on credit unless I sold stuff first. This worked find for the first 29 days of the year. There was a card I've been really, really wanting sitting on ebay for $1000, closer to $100 with shipping and tax. It was a 1/1, which I knew made waiting risky, but it had been there for a little while already, maybe no one wanted it. I hunkered down at my scanner and started listing stuff. I accepted offers I had previously rejected. By the end of this weekend's listings, I'll be up to almost $800. So close. But this morning I looked at MyEbay and saw the object of my affection had been sold.
This sucks. It was the first thing I've been really excited about in this hobby in quite a while, the idea that this thing could be mine if I'd just gone ahead and broken my resolve. I am irritated with myself for not being weak and going into debt for even a month or two until my sales caught up. It is backwards. This hobby screws you up.
But now I have a decent chunk for whatever my next obsession is, or was. I've got 2 cases of Heritage coming, which I preordered on credit a couple months ago, so this will help pay for that, and I've got a little rhythm with the listings so I can hopefully finally start using my hobby to subsidize my hobby like I used to rather than just letting things accumulate.
But dammit I wanted that card.