Are you in the hobby for the enjoyment or the money?

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by ScooterD

So isn’t every LCS basically a box flipper boi with a license?

Btw - I had no idea that people actually did this. Seems risky

Essentially, yes.

But at least shops are obvious with their intentions.

They don’t try to mask themselves as being “collectors” and make statements that could be construed on a message board as being an ulterior motive.

Again, on BO, know your poster to understand what they are really trying to say.

[theshowandme]

Blowout has more poors than I originally thought

[JoshMN]

Originally Posted by auctionjmm

Nobody does this. There is nothing that anyone can ever say on this forum that could impact the market at large. You continue to create strawman after strawman on a forum that is no longer relevant to the business. If you want to "pump" something, get on Youtube and build 100k followers. Until that happens, there is no pumping on the BO forums. It's impossible.

Two words: Meijer’s Purples.

Have you seen what’s been done to those over in the Bobby Baseball thread? It’s a travestshamockery. TBP seems like a nice guy until you realize he lives only to pump those purples in grades PSA 7 or higher. I’m not here to start fights, just trying to educate.

[ledgewerx]

I am a little of both.

I am a set builder. To finances this, I flip hobby boxes. Currently I buy 1 hobby and 1 jumbo for myself. I also buy a case of hobby to sell on eBay. I sell the boxes from the case for 35% above what I paid. After I open my personal hobby and jumbo box, I sell the silver packs along with any inserts, parallels or doubles that I do not want. The proceeds from doing all the above covers the price of my personal hobby and jumbo box. As a bonus, I get the joy of ripping a couple of boxes while completing sets.

[ScooterD]

Originally Posted by JoshMN

Two words: Meijer’s Purples.

Have you seen what’s been done to those over in the Bobby Baseball thread? It’s a travestshamockery. TBP seems like a nice guy until you realize he lives only to pump those purples in grades PSA 7 or higher. I’m not here to start fights, just trying to educate.

How do you differentiate between a poster trying to educate others about the lesser-known issues of the hobby and those who are pumping for the purpose of selling for profit?

I haven’t seen or heard of Eric selling a bunch of Meijer purples. Maybe he has - I don’t know

[dodgerfanjohn]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

You are flipping at the end-product level, the individual card, and yes that is part of the hobby.

My gripe is primarily towards new product flippers, who don’t utilize the sealed product in any way, shape or form, except to pass that elevated unused product cost to others, ie the middlemen.

They are the ones who take advantage of compulsive degenerate breaker johns who uncontrollably overpay to get their gambling rush.

The box flipper bois hoard a scarce product in its unused form, singles collectors hoard the end product. The difference is, there is no experience or element of surprise, something people who open boxes on their own pay for, when buying singles . You know exactly what you are getting with singles. If you are addicted to that, then that’s on you.

I get what you are saying, but to an extent doesn't everyone do this? I know I did it with several products during Covid times. The most notable was the 2020 finest flashbacks where the cost from Topps was like $50-60 a box, and then boxes escalated to over $500...maybe more.

I also had picked up a TON of midgrade 1950's and 60's HOF in the 2012-2016 timeframe. I couldn't believe how inexpensive they were...like barely more than the price of the slab. I also sold off a TON of these in the Covid times (while still keeping many in my collection) since prices skyrocketed so high.

Honestly, between 2020 to 2023, I didn't pay for anything hobbywise other than from proceeds of sales of other items I held.

While I get the frustration as a collector with products being artificially limited, I'm pretty sure that would happen one way or another anyway.

[dodgerfanjohn]

Originally Posted by ScooterD

How do you differentiate between a poster trying to educate others about the lesser-known issues of the hobby and those who are pumping for the purpose of selling for profit?

I haven’t seen or heard of Eric selling a bunch of Meijer purples. Maybe he has - I don’t know

Some have actually admitted that this is what they are doing. Others foolishly pumped a product that couldn't reasonably be pumped and were called out for it.

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by dodgerfanjohn

I get what you are saying, but to an extent doesn't everyone do this? I know I did it with several products during Covid times. The most notable was the 2020 finest flashbacks where the cost from Topps was like $50-60 a box, and then boxes escalated to over $500...maybe more.

I also had picked up a TON of midgrade 1950's and 60's HOF in the 2012-2016 timeframe. I couldn't believe how inexpensive they were...like barely more than the price of the slab. I also sold off a TON of these in the Covid times (while still keeping many in my collection) since prices skyrocketed so high.

Honestly, between 2020 to 2023, I didn't pay for anything hobbywise other than from proceeds of sales of other items I held.

While I get the frustration as a collector with products being artificially limited, I'm pretty sure that would happen one way or another anyway.

For sealed boxes, if I purchase a box, I open it.

Everyone buys and sells singles. I’m not harping at singles flippers.

It’s the box flipper bois who are not utilizing a product that has a value of experience, something that was meant to be opened - they are simply shifting a higher cost to someone else. They are selling that experience, for profit, and ultimately targeting the compulsive degenerate of that gambling experience.

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by dodgerfanjohn

Some have actually admitted that this is what they are doing. Others foolishly pumped a product that couldn't reasonably be pumped and were called out for it.

Here’s an example:

Poster 1: I just bought a sealed case of product x for a great price. Here’s my case break. It’s of outstanding quality and fantastic yield. If you can find it, try it out, you won’t regret it.

Poster 2: I just bought 58 boxes of product x, most on my red card discount. I opened one box and can’t believe they are so cheap. Product of the century. Oh, by the way, I’m gonna be able to sell the other 57 boxes for 100x profit, better buy one before you can’t afford it anymore! What? You hit a Magglio ordonez gold refractor out of that box, what an amazing hit mojo!!!!!!!!!! I can’t believe how loaded these boxes are - the prices are skyrocketing, this is going to da moon!!!!!! I’m going to try to get more, I would hate to miss the boat on this one!!!!!

Lesson is take what you read with a grain of salt. Know your poster and their intentions.

[seanrs1]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

For sealed boxes, if I purchase a box, I open it.

Everyone buys and sells singles. I’m not harping at singles flippers.

It’s the box flipper bois who are not utilizing a product that has a value of experience, something that was meant to be opened - they are simply shifting a higher cost to someone else. They are selling that experience, for profit, and ultimately targeting the compulsive degenerate of that gambling experience.

In this thread, you come off as someone who has a wax addiction and doesn't like capitalism. Then you troll others on how they hobby.

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by seanrs1

In this thread, you come off as someone who has a wax addiction and doesn't like capitalism. Then you troll others on how they hobby.

LOL, admit it, we all like opening wax if the price is right.

This thread is about finding your true identify in the hobby.

If you are fundamentally capitalistic, own it! It’s ok to present yourself as being in the hobby with money as the primary motivator. Most people are.

But it would be inaccurate to say you are collecting cards for the pure enjoyment of cards.

Most people as per the poll enjoy the money they can potentially make from cards and not necessarily to keep the cards themselves.

Ask yourself this question - how would your buying habits change if you knew, prior to purchase, that you could never resell or trade any single card or box or case that you ever purchase because there is zero secondary market demand for it?

Would you continue to buy what you buy and would your purchases decline in that scenario?

[seanrs1]

I don't buy or open wax. It is a losing proposition with a net negative return...and for current wax its mainly gambling hoping to hit a big card.

At this point I mainly collect Ohtani...but to be honest I haven't been buying much due to the increase in his prices.

At the same time I am not out there selling my cards either.

I am just holding onto my collection and enjoying watching the players I collect/formerly collected.

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by dodgerfanjohn

I get what you are saying, but to an extent doesn't everyone do this? I know I did it with several products during Covid times. The most notable was the 2020 finest flashbacks where the cost from Topps was like $50-60 a box, and then boxes escalated to over $500...maybe more.

I also had picked up a TON of midgrade 1950's and 60's HOF in the 2012-2016 timeframe. I couldn't believe how inexpensive they were...like barely more than the price of the slab. I also sold off a TON of these in the Covid times (while still keeping many in my collection) since prices skyrocketed so high.

Honestly, between 2020 to 2023, I didn't pay for anything hobbywise other than from proceeds of sales of other items I held.

While I get the frustration as a collector with products being artificially limited, I'm pretty sure that would happen one way or another anyway.

It’s funny you mentioned Covid because during the pandemic, unspecified “card collectors” became avid “infant formula collectors”. They hoarded infant formula then resold for 10x. They didn’t consume the product (I hope not), they simply passed it on to the next consumer (baby Timmy) at a hefty profit for a limited item and forced Timmy’s mother to pay hostage prices to feed her newborn.

Sure, they would pump the vanilla formula as the best ( of course, they had ten cases of the vanilla), but also spike fear in nursing mothers - “what kind of mom wants their baby to starve?” “Better hop on this formula or you will miss the boat!” “You’re just angry because you lost out on the vanilla” they would boast! “Maybe have a child that prefers breastfeeding next time, you lazy postpartum wreck” they would ridicule.

So you see, can you really call these guys “infant formula collectors”?

I think not.

If you paid for your LeBron rookie with infant formula profits, I pity you.

[auctionjmm]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

Ask yourself this question - how would your buying habits change if you knew, prior to purchase, that you could never resell or trade any single card or box or case that you ever purchase because there is zero secondary market demand for it?

Would you continue to buy what you buy and would your purchases decline in that scenario?

It's a catch-22. If there was zero secondary market demand, nothing you buy would be very expensive to begin with. Your buying habits would change by default and so would your lifestyle, with less funds being needed for cards. If your Gilded set had zero secondary market value, you could have completed it for a fraction of what you did, in theory.

I think 99.9% of collectors would dramatically drop their spending if there was truly no secondary market. There would be no reason to spend big. a 52 Mantle would be the same as an 89 Topps Griffey.

But since we are talking reality here, I would still say that 99.9% of collectors would slow down their spending if they knew they could never sell again. No matter how pure your intentions, in the back of every collector's mind they know that when they die, their family is going to have something of value that will make their lives better. Someone is going to get your Gilded set when you die and they will be very happy with what they get for it. Most collectors spend what they spend because they know that asset can be passed down.

The exception is hobbies that truly have no value. My grandma did crochet and ceramics. She was never going to sell the blankets she crocheted or the ceramic tchotchkes she painted and decorated her house with. Those hobbies were done to pass time and brought out her artistic side which was intrinsically satisfying. BUT they were also cheap hobbies. It didn't cost much. If she was spending $1,000 on a spool of yarn I think both her spending and intentions would have changed. Maybe she would have determined it wasn't worth it anymore.

Cards, art, coins, comics...there is value there that simply cannot be ignored. That value drives collections and collectors and spending decisions are made based on that value. If you want to own a 52 Mantle, you've gotta put in some time and work to reach that goal unless you are already rich. Value plays a far bigger role than you seem willing to admit.

[seanrs1]

Originally Posted by auctionjmm

It's a catch-22. If there was zero secondary market demand, nothing you buy would be very expensive to begin with. Your buying habits would change by default and so would your lifestyle, with less funds being needed for cards. If your Gilded set had zero secondary market value, you could have completed it for a fraction of what you did, in theory.

I think 99.9% of collectors would dramatically drop their spending if there was truly no secondary market. There would be no reason to spend big. a 52 Mantle would be the same as an 89 Topps Griffey.

But since we are talking reality here, I would still say that 99.9% of collectors would slow down their spending if they knew they could never sell again. No matter how pure your intentions, in the back of every collector's mind they know that when they die, their family is going to have something of value that will make their lives better. Someone is going to get your Gilded set when you die and they will be very happy with what they get for it. Most collectors spend what they spend because they know that asset can be passed down.

The exception is hobbies that truly have no value. My grandma did crochet and ceramics. She was never going to sell the blankets she crocheted or the ceramic tchotchkes she painted and decorated her house with. Those hobbies were done to pass time and brought out her artistic side which was intrinsically satisfying. BUT they were also cheap hobbies. It didn't cost much. If she was spending $1,000 on a spool of yarn I think both her spending and intentions would have changed. Maybe she would have determined it wasn't worth it anymore.

Cards, art, coins, comics...there is value there that simply cannot be ignored. That value drives collections and collectors and spending decisions are made based on that value. If you want to own a 52 Mantle, you've gotta put in some time and work to reach that goal unless you are already rich. Value plays a far bigger role than you seem willing to admit.

You are absolutely correct! I said something similar in my post on here previously.

[auctionjmm]

Originally Posted by seanrs1

You are absolutely correct! I said something similar in my post on here previously.

It's also a hell of a safety net. I know people don't like to think about the end, but supposing you end up in a nursing home that drains your assets, it would feel REALLY good if you had some 500K card collection in your house and could pull your wife in slowly as you wink and say "You'll be okay, sweetie."

[cpa85]

I'd say 75% fun, 25% money (which I think in my case would have to be described as partly gambling partly mild investing, which I do also admit is fair to frame as a form of gambling in itself).

[TBTC Baseball]

Originally Posted by auctionjmm

It's a catch-22. If there was zero secondary market demand, nothing you buy would be very expensive to begin with. Your buying habits would change by default and so would your lifestyle, with less funds being needed for cards. If your Gilded set had zero secondary market value, you could have completed it for a fraction of what you did, in theory.

I think 99.9% of collectors would dramatically drop their spending if there was truly no secondary market. There would be no reason to spend big. a 52 Mantle would be the same as an 89 Topps Griffey.

But since we are talking reality here, I would still say that 99.9% of collectors would slow down their spending if they knew they could never sell again. No matter how pure your intentions, in the back of every collector's mind they know that when they die, their family is going to have something of value that will make their lives better. Someone is going to get your Gilded set when you die and they will be very happy with what they get for it. Most collectors spend what they spend because they know that asset can be passed down.

The exception is hobbies that truly have no value. My grandma did crochet and ceramics. She was never going to sell the blankets she crocheted or the ceramic tchotchkes she painted and decorated her house with. Those hobbies were done to pass time and brought out her artistic side which was intrinsically satisfying. BUT they were also cheap hobbies. It didn't cost much. If she was spending $1,000 on a spool of yarn I think both her spending and intentions would have changed. Maybe she would have determined it wasn't worth it anymore.

Cards, art, coins, comics...there is value there that simply cannot be ignored. That value drives collections and collectors and spending decisions are made based on that value. If you want to own a 52 Mantle, you've gotta put in some time and work to reach that goal unless you are already rich. Value plays a far bigger role than you seem willing to admit.

I’m doing my hobbies wrong then.

[ObanMontecristo]

There’s a difference between hobbies that are based on collecting things (cards, stamps, coins, cars, sneakers, trains, etc) vs. ‘active’ hobbies (knitting, crocheting, traveling, cooking, crossword puzzles, reading, running, sports, etc). Not critiquing either type, but the ‘value’ factor definitely plays a much bigger part in the former

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by auctionjmm

It's a catch-22. If there was zero secondary market demand, nothing you buy would be very expensive to begin with. Your buying habits would change by default and so would your lifestyle, with less funds being needed for cards. If your Gilded set had zero secondary market value, you could have completed it for a fraction of what you did, in theory.

I think 99.9% of collectors would dramatically drop their spending if there was truly no secondary market. There would be no reason to spend big. a 52 Mantle would be the same as an 89 Topps Griffey.

But since we are talking reality here, I would still say that 99.9% of collectors would slow down their spending if they knew they could never sell again. No matter how pure your intentions, in the back of every collector's mind they know that when they die, their family is going to have something of value that will make their lives better. Someone is going to get your Gilded set when you die and they will be very happy with what they get for it. Most collectors spend what they spend because they know that asset can be passed down.

The exception is hobbies that truly have no value. My grandma did crochet and ceramics. She was never going to sell the blankets she crocheted or the ceramic tchotchkes she painted and decorated her house with. Those hobbies were done to pass time and brought out her artistic side which was intrinsically satisfying. BUT they were also cheap hobbies. It didn't cost much. If she was spending $1,000 on a spool of yarn I think both her spending and intentions would have changed. Maybe she would have determined it wasn't worth it anymore.

Cards, art, coins, comics...there is value there that simply cannot be ignored. That value drives collections and collectors and spending decisions are made based on that value. If you want to own a 52 Mantle, you've gotta put in some time and work to reach that goal unless you are already rich. Value plays a far bigger role than you seem willing to admit.

My point for asking the question was to make people think about the true intention of their purchase - how many of you go into buying cards with the thought they could indeed be worthless the next day? If you are willing and able to accept that risk, then you just might be a collector. If you would be very concerned about this possibllity, then you just might be more in the hobby for the money aspect.

[seanrs1]

Hermano....after you open wax, do you sell the singles? Do you ever try to make money off the hobby?

I think you have a very narrow view of what a collector is. As said before it is hard to separate cost/value in the equation of collecting.

Do you collect anything that has zero value?

[auctionjmm]

Originally Posted by JoshMN

Two words: Meijer’s Purples.

Have you seen what’s been done to those over in the Bobby Baseball thread? It’s a travestshamockery. TBP seems like a nice guy until you realize he lives only to pump those purples in grades PSA 7 or higher. I’m not here to start fights, just trying to educate.

Those are singles. We weren't talking about singles. Hermano has already absolved all who buy and sell singles. We are okay in his book!

[auctionjmm]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

For sealed boxes, if I purchase a box, I open it.

Everyone buys and sells singles. I’m not harping at singles flippers.

It’s the box flipper bois who are not utilizing a product that has a value of experience, something that was meant to be opened - they are simply shifting a higher cost to someone else. They are selling that experience, for profit, and ultimately targeting the compulsive degenerate of that gambling experience.

You've done a lot of back-tracking and clarifying to arrive at the point you could have already arrived at in one sentence. There aren't many "box flipper boi hand sanitizer infant formula bros" on this poll who are posing as collectors. You've identified your target. We don't need more strawman arguments about how they are posing as collectors. I'm pretty sure you created that profile in your head.

If I'm wrong, call em out. Give us the specific user name of the box flipper boi hand sanitizer infant formula capitalist on Blowout who you are so perturbed by. Let's stop beating around the bush. If you cannot produce even one name, then we know you created this profile in your mind.

[Triple B]

Originally Posted by seanrs1

In this thread, you come off as someone who has a wax addiction and doesn't like capitalism. Then you troll others on how they hobby.

That's what I'm reading. The guy below buys boxes to resell to fund his hobby. I buy singles to resell to fund my hobby. He's a POS because he resells sealed boxes, but I'm cool because I resell singles.

Help me make sense of it. I've bought sealed cases in collections before...should I have opened them and lost my ass and then sell the contents to recoup, or am I a POS for reselling it sealed?

Judging someone on how they enjoy the hobby is wild.

Originally Posted by ledgewerx

I am a little of both.

I am a set builder. To finances this, I flip hobby boxes. Currently I buy 1 hobby and 1 jumbo for myself. I also buy a case of hobby to sell on eBay. I sell the boxes from the case for 35% above what I paid. After I open my personal hobby and jumbo box, I sell the silver packs along with any inserts, parallels or doubles that I do not want. The proceeds from doing all the above covers the price of my personal hobby and jumbo box. As a bonus, I get the joy of ripping a couple of boxes while completing sets.

[seanrs1]

Originally Posted by auctionjmm

You've done a lot of back-tracking and clarifying to arrive at the point you could have already arrived at in one sentence. There aren't many "box flipper boi hand sanitizer infant formula bros" on this poll who are posing as collectors. You've identified your target. We don't need more strawman arguments about how they are posing as collectors. I'm pretty sure you created that profile in your head.

If I'm wrong, call em out. Give us the specific user name of the box flipper boi hand sanitizer infant formula capitalist on Blowout who you are so perturbed by. Let's stop beating around the bush. If you cannot produce even one name, then we know you created this profile in your mind.

Back during Covid, there used to be people on here that would use bots to buy up all the retail online and post photos of their huge stash. So these people use to exist. Not so much anymore now that blasters have gone from $20 to $40.