Hobby versus Making a Living

[ullmandds]

Jim...I could picture you sleeping in that cardboard box clutching your 33 Goudey Lajoie in 1 hand and a bottle of maddog in the other!

[joeadcock]

Hobby for me.

Frank

[oriolesbb6]

I take offense to the double wide comment-Here is mine and it is for sale..LOL

[JP]

Originally Posted by oriolesbb6

I take offense to the double wide comment-Here is mine and it is for sale..LOL

This clearly belongs in the BST!

[martyogelvie]

Yes... i do...

Some follow up questions:
- How did you get started in the card business and when? I owed the IRS about 4k one year and decided to sell some of my collection..

- In your opinion, what are the keys to having a successful card business?
not to sound to simplistic but you buy low and sell high.. or at least higher.. plus contacts.. you have to maintain a base of buyers.. also, an online store today makes more sense than a brick 'n mortar.

- What were the biggest obstacles in starting up your card business? attachments to your cards... in the beginning I had a hard time selling my cards.. after a while, it got earier.. plus finding cards at prices that will allow you to make a profit. That's easier to do in the NEW CARD market vs the vintage market.

- If you had it to do over again, would you choose to be in the card business or was there another field that you really had your heart set on? yes, i would.

[glynparson]

I started buying and trading cards in 1979 when I was 7. I didn't start selling until I was 18 in 1990, my Dad and I would set up at shows. In 1995 When I graduated College I was doing well enough selling cards that I just kept doing it, excepting the short time I worked at SGC. The key really is finding material at prices you can sell it quickly and at a profit. You need to know a lot of different issues and also how to grade to be successful at it today. I didn't really have any obstacles because I had a nice collection and started before prices got crazy. To be succesful it helps to be nice and offer fair prices. You don't need to give away your best stuff but price your junk and more common material cheaply and it sells, even in this economy. If I had to do it over again, would I? Absolutely, its the best job in the world and what I dreamed of doing as a kid. This may sound funny but I wanted to be a card dealer more then a baseball player.

[teetwoohsix]

Right now I only collect,and am very content with that.I've tried to entertain the idea of selling off a few of my T206's to go after a few of the pricier T206's,but can't bring myself to do it-I guess I'm too attached to them

For awhile now,I've had the fantasy of opening a small pre-war card shop here.No modern stuff,and very little 50's-70's.......more along the lines of 30's on back.I talked to the owners of a couple of shops out here,and asked why they don't carry pre-war at all,and both said there was no market for it.One told me that if he didn't sell on ebay,he wouldn't survive.The other said he does well with 50's to present,but said the local demand for pre-war is just about non-existant,and on top of that,he said it's too hard to get good deals on pre-war to make any type of significant profit.This was discouraging to my idea,so,for now,it will remain a "fantasy"

A few years ago,I was lucky enough to go into a local shop for the first time and the guy had almost everything packed up into boxes-he was closing shop and going out of buisness.He really didn't have any vintage,mostly modern stuff.He sold me two large boxes with mostly cards from '98-'06,,with lots of rookie cards,chrome refractors,serial #'s,and regular stuff.Nothing major,but IMO a great deal.I figure when I really want to get into selling,I will sell these cards off on ebay,and use whatever $$ I make to funnel into pre-war cards,and take it from there.

Wouldn't that be the ideal "dream job" for most collectors-to be a financially successful card dealer?

Clayton

[Jim VB]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

Jim...I could picture you sleeping in that cardboard box clutching your 33 Goudey Lajoie in 1 hand and a bottle of maddog in the other!

It's been a loooong time since I consumed any MD 20/20! Yikes!

[ethicsprof]

hobby only.
no job compares to the bliss.

best,
barry