eBay addiction

[Singer]

At any given time I can find 50+ things on eBay that belong in my collection. Things that maybe I haven't seen before and won't see again for a while. But I have a limited budget. Maybe I can't spend more than $20 or $50 for the week, or month. I can't be dropping $200 every day online, I'm not that rich. So I have to keep telling myself that no matter what I'm seeing for sale right now, it will come back again, or something equally cool. I don't have to buy this one, right now.

Anyone else have this problem?

[Rik]

I had that 'problem' for years, but I ended buying most of it... I was usually on a first name basis with the mail man at any place I worked (I had packages shipped to work) within a month of starting there...

See where it ends up? 1,000+ games later...

I seem to have reached the point that the few games I still really want rarely ever come up for sale, and when they do they are really expensive, so I usually just pass on them... So while I don't find 50 things a week I want, I do manage to talk myself out of the few I do find saying 'it'll be cheaper next time!'

[GameHoarder]

YES, eBay, I know it well. I "spend" many hours looking over the many pages of information and stuff that can be found there.

I have the eBay search emails that I get most every day for items that may interest me. Then I will search for items that may interest me "the long way" in that I will make the search very vague in that I have to look through many items that have little or nothing to do with what I'm searching for, but in the end I find many items that most others miss when they are searching for it.

I enjoy the "hunt" for odd and interesting curios and seeing if I can "bag it".

I have what I call my entertainment budget. I pay for the things I buy for my collections out of that as well as any thing else entertainment related. So if I want wine woman and song and the expense of feeding the old horse and buggy for travels to wonderland, I must go without some of the "toys and such" for my many collections and hobbies.

If we take a close look at what we spend our money on we will find that a lot of it is basically entertainment related one way or another.

So do we want that fast food meal and a movie at the theater?
Or another neat toy that we really don't need, but would like to add it to our collections of things to look at and box away until later.

Thought I would add this. I buy most all of the items for my collections and hobbies at a "bargain" in that I look for the "deals". I buy many items in "lots" where the end price per item can be a fraction of what the items bring when sold separately.

It has taken me years to build my collections and the hoards of extras and related items. I do enjoy my collecting and the possible financial returns that might be realized in the future when I decide to part with my collections.

I did some research before I started to seriously collect video game type items as to the possible direction the hobby could go as a investment.

I wanted to make sure that it wasn't just another trend or fad with the collecting of older game items and the many newer items that may have a nice return on the original investment price.

Collecting can be very rewarding if done right.

[Singer]

Yes, I have to put the horse and buggy first. I have a wife to please and 3 kids (two newborns!) to keep fed. I feel guilty if I spend more than $10 or $20 in a week on myself. I've just rediscovered this hobby of handheld games and right now I can only collect based on price. eBay search: price, lowest first. So it will be some time before I'm collecting Coleco mini-arcades or Game & Watches. I do enjoy searching for lots, I love to see games that tally up to only 2 or 3 dollars apiece.

I haven't thought so much about investing, I just think the games are cool. When they take over the house I may not feel the same way. In fact pretty soon my now small pile of packages may need their own shelf. Then, their own room. I'll probably have to buy my wife a bigger house before that happens.