How much do you spend a year and how can you afford it??!!

[wickedliquids]

'Sup all!

I don't post very much as I really enjoy reading all the threads that ya'll write about every day - some of it's great and it provides good insight into the collecting world.

Just like many of you all, I returned to collecting after a long hiatus - I first started collecting back in 1986; first ever pack was Topps and I remember trading them all away for some GI Joe comic books. I STILL think I got the better deal hehe I never built sets, but I enjoyed busting wax and did so till about 1993 when my desire to collect started to trickle off a bit. Actually, I think it started in 1992 when I was at a card show and the hot thing that day was all the 1992 Bowman baseball - Piazza, Manny, etc and I was handed a cello pack (hard plastic pack) that I just looked at and put it away.

Well, 15 years later, I'm sifting through some old boxes that I had in storage and I found my cards - including the Bowman cello pack (which incidentally had the gold foil version of Bonds on the front and McGwire gold foil version on the back - go figure right?)

Finding that unopened cello pack made me start looking up cards again and lo and behold, HUGE difference in the market - $300 baseball card packs?? REALLY? :shock:

My question to you all is, how much do you all spend on cards over, let's say a year? I watch on youtube of collectors busting cases worth thousands like it's nothing (we've all seen those guys from the Phillipines I think, busting the high-end basketball cases of stuff).

Are you considered a "whale" of modern day collecting? And if you don't mind sharing, what on earth do you do that allows you to feed your addiction to those levels? If you make $30K a year, is $20K of that spent on cards? Just wondering..... and it's been a question I've been wanting to ask since I returned to the hobby

 

[HPC]

I was spending 5k roughly but with buying a house that stopped quick

 

[A_Pharis]

Wasn't the guy that was busting all of that Exquisite acquiring the money he used to buy it illegally?

 

[wickedliquids]

Wasn't the guy that was busting all of that Exquisite acquiring the money he used to buy it illegally?

Was he really? That was the other thing I noticed when I came back to the hobby - Fraud. Or more specifically, since fraud in our hobby has always been around, how it's advanced technologically.

 

[ljw29]

Wasn't the guy that was busting all of that Exquisite acquiring the money he used to buy it illegally?

Yep

Attyball23

 

[wickedliquids]

I was spending 5k roughly but with buying a house that stopped quick

Wow, $5K is a generous amount I slowed down buying wax too when I bought a house about 4 months ago.

 

[ljw29]

I was spending 5k roughly but with buying a house that stopped quick

Wow, $5K is a generous amount I slowed down buying wax too when I bought a house about 4 months ago.

Here is the link to the fraud guy

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=102420&hilit=attyball23

 

[cgilmo]

I bust WAY more than I should.

 

[francisjniskey]

Repost.

 

[francisjniskey]

I have no idea how much I spend. Not really worried about it. Between my wife and I this year our income should be around $150,000.00. The only bills we have are the House Payment, Gas, Cell Phones, and Electric. No Credit cards and the wifes 2005 BMW Z3 is paid off and I just bought a 2011 Chevy Camaro for cash so no car payments.

 

[francisjniskey]

Repost

 

[Huffamaniac]

I spend about 10 K per year. I also sell pretty close to that per year. I do not have any credit card balances and a decent amount of money saved so the spending is not an issue

 

[Tomlinson21RB]

It's surprising how much disposable income you have when you have no wife, no kids, and no car payments.

 

[wickedliquids]

It's surprising how much disposable income you have when you have no wife, no kids, and no car payments.

haha I agree - not married, no kids, but a car payment, which isn't that all obnoxious.

 

[wickedliquids]

I spend about 10 K per year. I also sell pretty close to that per year. I do not have any credit card balances and a decent amount of money saved so the spending is not an issue

I almost forgot to mention that I noticed collectors were much more savvy now a days, which I can only gather due to the product lines changing so much over the years, especially with the introduction of the high-end product. And with the addition of Ebay, I can absolutely see how you could buy a lot of product, but flip it just as fast, sometimes for a profit.

 

[BunchOBull]

I give myself $40 a month to spend on cards (so $480 a year). Anything else I spend comes from outside income, money I make online, or moving other collectibles.

 

[tramers]

don't golf , fish , hunt , smoke , can't drink [meds] , drive 1992 van and still spend to much but Pirates cheaper than most teams . couple thousand a year but sale some .

 

[miguelcabrera]

I spend about 10 K per year. I also sell pretty close to that per year. I do not have any credit card balances and a decent amount of money saved so the spending is not an issue

I almost forgot to mention that I noticed collectors were much more savvy now a days, which I can only gather due to the product lines changing so much over the years, especially with the introduction of the high-end product. And with the addition of Ebay, I can absolutely see how you could buy a lot of product, but flip it just as fast, sometimes for a profit.

Internet, ebay, and message boards are the main reasons why.

 

[prospectorgems]

About 2 years ago I was probably spending about 15k a year on cards. Ugh...that just made me sick, not sure if I want to go on.

 

[miguelcabrera]

About 2 years ago I was probably spending about 15k a year on cards. Ugh...that just made me sick, not sure if I want to go on.

were you the brad hand collector?