Of Recent Collectors Who Flip
 

We seem to have a small spate of people who start threads about their "amazing" recent purchases, which had everything to do with spending several thousand dollars on readily available cards, only to have them turn around and flip those cards within days of those posts.

I got no problem with card flipping, or quickly losing interest in areas of collecting. But to go out of your way to share your "great find" in a thread that explains how your purchase really defines you as a collector -- only to flip the cards or collection a day later -- is not only lame but it frankly makes you look like a wildly bipolar drama queen to your reading audience.

We pat each other on the backs for jobs well done in collecting -- big and small. You want the congratulations for making an easy purchase that has nothing to do with a long-term collection -- fine. But do us all a favor and don't use us like some kind of advertisement for your prospective flip. And keep your personal drama about how you hate the cards you loved yesterday to your psychologist.

Ut ohh, Somebody got outsniped ;)

There are:

Collectors that Collect
Collectors that Flip
Flippers that Collect
Flippers that Flip

As you slide down the scale you care less about the cards and more about the money. When the money becomes more important than the cards you don't really need to be here. IMHO

What does it matter if people flip cards? As long as the seller gets the price they want for their card, who cares what the buyer does with it. Flipping keeps cards in circulation. If everyone kept there cards forever, there would be no cards to buy. If you can make money at flipping, that's a bonus. It means you can buy more cards! All cards get 'flipped' eventually.

Ha -- no. Just think its amazing we have a "Mission Accomplished" thread running at the same time as that mission is for sale. And this is not the only example....

Agreed. But I want to add that I find no particular problem with any of those 4 categories. Everyone should just be honest about where they fit in.

Again, I like flipping cards as much as the next guy. But don't come on here telling me that your brand new Plank is going to be in your collection forever and isn't it wonderful -- only to sell it tomorrow and brag about how much of a profit you're looking to claim.

Pathetic.

Perfectly put.

I was clear in the BST about why im doing what im doing. Im no flipper...im a quitter. Im sick of the bullshit garbage and lying in these forums...and since its my sole outlet to discussing cards, why even bother anymore?

Bold statement, but I do tend to agree. I fall into the category of a collector who only sells mainly to fund other purchases or upgrade for a registry set. I would think that means I fall into category #1.

Chicago: I don't think this thread was directed only at you:

"We seem to have a small spate of people"

Rob

I agree to an extent. That Plank may have been the centrepiece to a collection one day, then change into the centrepiece of a new deal overnight. Who knows. Maybe something came up that the owner of the Plank wanted more than the Plank.

I may be a little odd,but I enjoy buying a T206 and thinking to myself "this bad boy won't be seeing the market for a long,long time":D

I'm in the collector who collects catagory-but to each their own..........

Regards,

Clayton

Did I read above that another collector is letting us know they're leaving for good? They're dropping like flies.

Thanks for the courtesy call, but whatever happened to bucking up.

So the dude changed his mind, what's the big deal?:confused::confused:

Upside inside out
 

Livin' the diva loca

No big deal. More great cards in circulation looking for new homes.

i love Net54baseball
 

...as much as the next guy. But if you are actually dumping your collection of pre-WWI baseball cards because of what people say on here you never belonged here in the first place.

This is where collectors come to discuss cards with like-minded collectors. People cannot really be collecting cards just in order to be part of this community, can they? Geesh. This might be the saddest story about humanity and card collecting I have ever heard. A total and complete downer.

Hey guys, at this point it's piling on...let him sell his cards and move on.

Not me!.. I waste my money on cards and hang out here just to cause friction in the marriage.

Now that made me laugh...well played. :)

Jim you're right and I don't find a problem with any as well. I being in sales don't think profit is a dirty word.

But if someones interest is more about making money than collecting cards I just don't think this is the right place for them.

OR....Livin the VIDA Loca....just saying....

I bought that T205 Johnson in hopes of flipping it. Then I became attached to it and decided to keep it. Then my 2 wonderful daughters created a senario that made me sell it. Since I don't like debt I think I jumped the gun on the sale. Should have kept it as the next month was great for business. Oh well now.

I think I may be a collector that flips sometimes

or
 

my choice of words was intentional

I'm no flipper, but I'm DEFINITELY a collector who flips. My goal is a PSA 3 or better Plank, I guess I'm flipping my AUTH Plank because in the end I felt like I was settling when I won it (again, never thought my bid would win). I tried to convince myself that it was a great enough deal that I could be happy with it, and it is an intoxicatingly beautiful card, but it isn't what my heart was set on. Not sure I'll ever completel the monster, but I'll continue my slow go at the big end of it.

I rarely spend any money that I haven't already put into the hobby already, just turn out cards occasionally to fund new purchases. That looks like just a flipper to the outside world because no one gets to go to the bank with me to see what I've had for decades...

Take a look at the douchebag who posted in my BST thread....is it any wonder why im quitting? I've had enough of the idiots on these forums....I have better things to do with my time and money.

I agree that mintacular was inappropriate doing that....hang in there if you can, Phil.

Best of luck.

Signed,

Cy O'Nara

Many years ago on the old board, I started a thread to share my T206 Highlander team set with 20 something different backs. I collected it in a few months and it included Uzit, Lennox, Piedmont 42, Hindu on down. When the set was complete in my mind is when I posted the thread. Shortly afterwards I started to lose interest in them , the thrill of the hunt was over, there was nothing left to do. I decided to sell them soon afterwards on the b/s/t. I didnt plan it, its how it happened. Not saying that is what is going on here , just sharing my experience. (by the way, the only card I have ever regreted selling was the SGC 30 Uzit. Forgot what member I sold it too, but would love for it to come back home).

Orion's Highlanders
 

Orion,
I recall your Highlanders well. They were very impressive. I think I traded you a nice pink Chase EPDG. I also remember when you sold them. Bummer the thrill didn't last longer.

Best,
David R

Very well said, but I want to add one thing. If he wouldn't have boasted so much about his "deep pockets" and other things, he probably wouldn't have taken so much heat. The sad thing is that he really did have a nice collection.

Of Recent Collectors Who Flip
 

bipolar:mad:

a very serious illness that has nothing to do with baseball cards, but I do understand what you are saying. I just think people feel good about a sale and want to tell others about it. Yes, in some cases things get out of hand and maybe it belongs on a different forum

Jimmy

Slow and steady wins the race....It's been my perception that collectors who go at a breakneck pace in putting together sets are more likely to sell them almost as soon as the goal is accomplished. We see it here all the time...some times those collectors slow down and they usually stick around the forum and then there are those who just move on to something else.

Regading the four categories, I am most certainly in category #1. I find it hard to let anything nice go, although I think I am approaching that time (not by choice).

Just a few years ago, I couldn't have cared one lick about any of these cards, until I saw my son enjoying his own cards and reminded me of my own years ago. Go figure.

Thanks David R., I did get a lot of great help from net 54 members.

I don't look at myself as a flipper but, I have sold lots of cards and memorabilia that I lost interest in.

Complete sets 1967 thru 1990
150+ early Baseball, football bobbers.
Obaks That played for Detroit
D310/D311 that played for Detroit.
My 1952 thru 1959 Detroit players
and many more.
Of course not because of someone's comments, just decided to go another route.
I'm sure others do this too.

I only collect 19th Century Detroit right now:)

Joe

Hmmm, this thread reminds me of Seinfeld but I won't regress. After studying the chart very carefully, I'm a little of all four. I'm a CFCF.

Some cards I exclusively "collect,"
other cards I "flip" even though I would prefer not too,
sometimes I plan on flipping a card but end-up "collecting" it,
and finally, there are times I make a purchase with the sole purpose of "flipping!"

At least, I now know where I stand. When I'm flipping, I should ban myself from using this board and hookup with Peter Chaos and his merry men. When I'm collecting, I am the consummate Net54er, who brings nothing but honor and accolades to this brotherhood of prewar collecting knights!
I hereby decree, that Leon start a "Net54 Papal Orders of Chivalry." Which will be bestowed on a monthly basis upon the most noble of Net54er.

What do you say Leon??? What a "great way" to use all the money that you are saving by clunking the annual dinner.....

Lovely Day...

I almost never flip cards, however if someone offers me a nice high price for something, then why not, i can usually get another somewhere.

I think "to each their own" do what you want...

Chicago, don't let others get you down, you can only control your own actions, if you are happy with your actions, then you have nothing to worry about.

My grandpa used to tell me : Opinions are like assholes, everyone's got one and some of them really stink!

I think there are a lot more collectors who are also flippers here than you might think. Most of my cards which I bought on ebay, auctions on-line, shows and bst stay in my collection but when you spot a great lot and can break it down and sell it card by card and then plow the profits in to more cards you collect and keep, what's wrong with that? If I spot a very underpriced highly desirable card I might buy it, even though I have one in my collection, knowing that down the road it can be trade bait or sold to get a card I really need. I think a lot of us do that and we can still retain the mantle of "collector." I don't think a collector is someone who just keeps 100% of what he buys forever. Not all of us are independently wealthy and making money by selling some cards in order to buy other cards helps level the old playing field sometime. :D

I totally agree with FUBAR, "to each thier own." What is bipolar to one person is setting a goal, achieving it, and moving on to the next challenge to another. Some people believe "the early bird gets the worm", others "good things come to those that wait."

sorry folks
 

I agree with the original poster, it's not about flipping per se:

Bingo. As I posted earlier, diva loca.

Um.... No one said flipping is wrong or bad. Or that you can't change your mind or collecting focus. There's a lot of enjoyment in great sales and changing priorities.

But when someone comes on here, purportedly to share their collection and hobby accomplishments, only to turn around essentially the same day and jump ship, it sells all of us a bit short: "Congratulate me on achieving my goal -- I accept paypal."

It's all just a bit yuck for me...

I'm with Paul on this one, it comes off as shameless advertising at best sometimes worse.

We all sell something sooner or later we all flip something some more than others but I totally see Paul’s point.

I have quite limited funds, so when I find a higher end card that I want to add to my collection, sometimes I am forced to liquidate my other cards to fund it. I dont have a huge collection, nor are the cards I have anything that would excite a "seasoned" collector, but as time goes by, I hope that by collecting entry grade cards, I will be able to use them to fund a larger, more impressive collection. Thats just me though so its just one mans' take on the subject!

Brandon

I'm usually happy to pick up "scraps" from the folks upgrading here. The well healed collectors here sniff out the crap on the BST and make it a safe place to buy, and I am thankful. The internet has opened an opportunity for me to collect cards I would only see once or twice a year otherwise. And in many instances I would have been ripped-off if it weren't for the board police. My knowledge is very limited on many issues, but the good people here give me a sense of security. I don't post hardly at all, but I read alot and have made very sound purchases here and the peripheral entertainment is a nice bonus.

There have been a lot of times in my collecting that I have come across a card I had absolutely no interest in but found at a good price so I've bought it, knowing that I was only buying it to sell later so that I could buy something I really wanted. I don't do it often because it's an annoying and circuitous route to collecting. But it does happen.

On the "flip" side, I recently won a Roberto Clemente signed ball on eBay that I really wanted. Then I saw a card on the BST that had I known would have been offered in the future I would have saved my money for. So I tried to sell my Clemente ball but was unable to. Still a win-win if you ask me.

GRock
 

Rob,
very well said and refreshingly humble with gratitude.
great to have you on board as you move away from 'lurking' status!!
best,
barry

You know, some people change their minds quite a bit, others are always looking to flip a card to make a buck. Although its kind of funny, collectors like these end up chasing their tails (and don't stick in the hobby very long), and don't really do any damage to the sterling reputation of this board...

i don't believe i could of said it any better............ :)
Mr. Iggy you are my Hero fir da Day!
i must add, that "Chivalry", usually involves a female. So, i propose, in honour of All the Babe's in Baseball, we Call ourselves "Da Knights of Ruth".
Those that have been Knighted Anyways............

"All in Favor",

Flip a card, Buy a Card, Collect a card or get taken one way or another,
Then And Only THEN, will Your vote will be counted :)

I don't think that posters who do this are doing so because they are bipolar or have just changed their minds; they are doing so solely to advertise a card they planned on flipping from the start. I find that often the people that do this eventually get caught up in other, petty frauds on the board, so this sort of disingenuous behavior is really just par for the course for them.

Ok, here it is, one final time. My intentions were sincere. I wanted to be a collector. A "flipper" is a person who buys a card with the intentions of selling that card at a PROFIT. Please go back and read my "Mission Accomplished" thread. I very candidly display the prices I paid for these cards. Now go to my "BST" ad. Notice anything? Really? You mean my asking prices are about IDENTICAL to my purchase prices? No way!!! So im not trying to make a quick buck? The thread starter owes me an apology. While I do see his point, it does not apply in this situation at all. I have simply become disenchanted with both the CU forum as well as this one. Because my wife doesnt want to talk about cards, I soon will have no outlet....hence my leaving the hobby. If this makes me "Bipolar", or a "Drama Queen", then oh well. When you cut through all the BS, im simply a guy who gave it a real go, and now has decided to make some VERY pretty cards available to other collectors at the exact same prices that I have paid for those cards.

Phil

If you're so disenchanted and really are "leaving" the hobby, then why the constant drama and posts? If you've made the choice, sell the cards and go already. Then you'll be at peace on your boat, right? Doesn't seem that tough to figure out.

Goodbye and good luck.

See why im leaving? Im "attacked" by the TS as being a flipper. I clearly show why that is an inaccurate description by using facts and logic. Yet another member piles on immediately following my reply. This is why its no longer fun.

Goodbye and good luck.

And yet... you are still logged on to the site, just waiting to respond yet again.


The original poster WASN'T talking about just you. He clearly stated: "We seem to have a small spate of people..."

In a follow up post, he referred to the T206 Plank card. That also wasn't you.

It really doesn't matter whether you stay or go. It doesn't matter whether you continue to collect or not.

In any case, you do seem to like to talk about it.

You're right...no way he was talking about ME. BTW, im logged in this site still because I have a few thousand dollars worth of cards for sale on this site.

I'm sorry, but I will not be apologizing for starting this thread (irony intended). Your conduct is extremely suspect, even if your intentions are pure and even if you do not profit from your contemporaneous "mission accomplished" and "for sale" threads.

Congratulations! You bought 15 T206 cards over a 3 month period and somehow managed to turn that modest accomplishment into controversy and cynicism on multiple threads on 2 internet chatboards. That is, of course, no one's fault but your own.

I am sure we can all agree that you should leave at least the internet community side of our hobby for now. But feel free to come back when you have something worthwhile to share or contribute. If you really have such thin skin, keep your posts simple, never share personal data, and keep your shared purchases to the monthly pick-up threads.

I repeat, (but I'm used to doing that. I have teenagers), he wasn't talking about JUST YOU!

He referred to a spate of posters. Certainly, you are just one of the members of that group. Yet, somehow the thread has become all about you.

My BST ad went live at 4:15pm yesterday. This thread went live at 4:56pm yesterday. Doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out what the inspiration was for this thread, does it?

Chicago, why do you care what people think of you? Are you running for Congress? And why do you need to talk to other people on this board in order to have 'fun' with your collecting?

I'm starting to think what might actually be fun is to have a steel cage match with you, Blunder and that Verisleeves CEO guy inside.

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I repeat, for the third time, IT WASN"T JUST YOU!

Yes, you are/were part of the problem, but if you were the only guy who had done this recently, it would have gone unmentioned.

Now, please, leave us alone.

Jeff,

You know our fine Congressmen are far too busy for these kinds of things! They are much more concerned with hookers, young boys, and blow. When they do get down to business, they worry that Guam may capsize if the Navy consolidates multiple facilities to one side of the island.

Chicago--

Even in your quote of me trying to prove it was all about you, you acknowledged that I said that there were "other examples."

Of course yours was the most recent example, which caused me to make my post.

Also, yours was the most blatant example I have ever seen in my 8-9 years on this board.

Your interest in getting into these arguments is what gets you into trouble. Stop fighting -- get your collection liquidated -- and pick up another hobby, preferably one that does not require you to make friends on-line.

Chicago: For starters, I don't even know your name. There was a debate here last year when we switched to the new forum about anonymnity and Anonymous prevailed. That disappointed me. As it is every Tom, Dick or Chicago can cruise onto the site, do their thing and not really be accountable.

A lot of the guys go way back. They are not shimmering entities in cyberspace to each other but flesh-and-blood people they've shaken hands with, shared time with, talked cards with, and ultimately become the best of friends with. For a lot of us Net54 is like a clubhouse where, one way or another, we have managed to fit in. When I first came aboard six or seven years ago I was timid as a mouse amongst the regulars; gradually I found a comfortable niche. I am sure that many others' stories would echo that. What we have here is a mobocracy of rich guys, poor guys, in-between guys, registry types and beater collectors, right wing whack jobs and liberal pussies, those who can spell and those who can't, you get the drift. Somehow it all works, most of the time anyway. Only a few characters over the years have gotten the heave-ho but I am afraid it is not looking good for you. You haven't respected us. If you want to stay, you really need to chill. If you want to go, go already; your exit thus far has been graceless. (No problem for "chicago" I suppose if no one knows who you are). Please don't construe this as an "attack". I am trying to keep things on an even keel here although I gotta say your program is starting to piss me off.

David McDonald

It's 3:30 in the morning where I am. Just got finished reviewing the Heritage catalog and I am going to sleep. I hope this thread is DOA when I get up. You east coast guys, what are you doing on 54? It's a weekday. Don't you have jobs?

No. We're all "liberal pussies."


Crap! Edited to add: :D

I'm a liberal pussy who can spell. Is that good?

Geez David. How do you think many of us pass the time at our jobs? :o

Ken

Nope! In my neighborhood a liberal pussy who can't spell is a notch above one that can spell. Sorry about that.

Lovely Day...

I assumed the good spelling was the problem.

This Board is at its best when...
 

Sorry wrong thread.

agreed
 

agreed...and we all see through it faster than anything.

Exactly. When you've seen it a bunch of times, you get a really great BS meter.

The main difference being that im not a "flipper". Flippers make a profit. Im exiting the hobby at/below my cost. Hard to be a flipper when you dont make a dime, isnt it?

Question
 

I tried to stay out of it but one question is really nagging at me. Just because you can't talk about your cards with a bunch of strangers you are giving up collecting? That just seems like a odd reason to not collect. You stated in previous posts that you loved the history, photography and beauty of the cards themselves. How do a few disagreements on a website ruin your enjoyment so badly? Personally, I have no one to discuss my cards with, yet I look at them nearly every day and get great enjoyment in just having them. I also buy and sell cards on a regular basis as a hobby. I get some, enjoy them for a while, and move some more to generate revenue to purchase more. I have a very small budget, so selling some of what I have allows me to get something else I like more at the time. I have some I plan on not selling as part of my permanent collection, but "never say never". I re-focus my collecting wants regularly but I would never dump everything and get out of it just because of what somebody else thinks of me or my cards. Nobody has actually said it, but maybe because you came in all guns blazing, spent more money than most of us would have in 10 years for cards and then 3 days after proudly displaying your collection and sharing the story of how it all started, you sell it all and say it's the board's fault. Just my opinion, but it sounds strange. You don't have to reply an if you do I won't slam your response.
Good luck in your future endeavors.

flipping?
 

Actually, no, it's not hard to be a flipper if you don't make a dime. Ask any person that flips (myself included) and every single one will tell you they don't always make money on a flip. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. It goes with the territory. And, btw Chicago, I honestly wasn't even thinking of you in my last post. I just want the bickering to quit. I don't care how we get there, only that we do in fact get there. That includes everyone on the board.

Can we get Bruce reinstated please? At least that guy was good for a laugh or three and didn't whine too much.

Whether you make a profit is ENTIRELY BESIDE THE POINT. People who sell what they just bought are flipping the item. What you originally paid for the item and what you are asking for the item are both entirely irrelevant. The issue I have with the behavior is in your entire process and way of doing business. That you're not making any money out of it only makes your process more irrational than it already is.

Rob have you been hacking my Ipod again?

Thank goodness there are still voices of sanity here. Besides the ones in my head, I mean. :)

J