Collectors’ demeanor in 2021
 

Has anyone else noticed a souring of collectors demeanor in 2021?I have been collecting a long time and it just seems like recently some collectors have a bad attitude. Not necessarily on net54, but just online in general.

There are definitely good people out there, but a small group are “me first” and could care less about people. Very frustrating.

Perhaps, it's taken on the traits of society in general.

From my admittedly myopic view:

If they primarily collect cards, they generally enjoy participating in a hobby/community. Many of these people have been collecting cards for years. The value of their collection has likely grown considerably over the past 18 months.

If they primarily collect money, they generally couldn't care less about the hobby/community. Many of these people started buying/selling cards within the past 18 months. If they did so with the expectation prices would keep climbing, there's a chance they're not doing too well, financially speaking.

Lots of new blood in the community of the last year or two.

My patience runs thin…

+1, sadly.

You'll find the "nicer" your collection, the more "haters" that will come out of the woodwork. Also, the tremendous run on prices gives older collectors pause to think about the late 80s.


I was just a kid then, and "everyonenwas making money" selling baseball cards. You could likely walk into a shop, buy a pack of 1990 score, sell the contents back to the store and buy two packs with the proceeds. Wild speculation on rookies and investments filled the minds of thousands of kids buying .25 packs. I remember seeing some 1985 topps packs and couldnt resist the chance of pulling some Gooden or Clemens rookies. I dont think McGwire had quite the appeal back then.


Then, for some reason, it came to a grinding halt. I was sitting on 300 scott cooper and carlos Quintana rookies. Many many other hundred count lots of players that were barely worth the stock they were printed on. I had loaded of rookie and traded sets, unopened boxes, and more. My " retirement plan" filled the back of a dodge Dakota 20 years later and I received $1,000 for my years of collecting.

Sure I kept the good stuff, but the modern junk wax stuff just soured me away from buying cards for a decade or so. I can only imagine how many other "collectors" were tunr off, or walked away from the hobby. As "fun" as it may have been, the llmonetary loss, although nothing insurmountable, was enough to give me pause for a while. Those that say this market is different, I cant agree. History may not repeat itself, but it will make for a good mirror. I think some of the collectors who lived through the 80s boom, see the writing on the wall and are getting out or worried about what the future holds.

Hi

I understand the vibes you feel and it can be a little frustrating

Especially with a Forum like this that many of us have the Love the Game, the History, and Collecting.

But as others mentioned new money comes in and many do not have the same passion as us they are "new collectors" without the passion and/or they are New Investors and it just about the money.

So they have no connections to our Community as collectors and as an investment the new money may not have made as much money as they thought or potentially even losing money and they maybe frustrated because of their lack of knowledge collecting.

As a result we can either try and help those that are willing or we just ignore those that are negative

But overall I am still very happy with our Collector Community, This forum, and the Knowledge that every one shares and the passions we all have for it

Kind of like every other hobby, you have snarky people that will always dampen the good times. They can easily be ignored. I mean, this board is mostly excellent, but there are a few who are cranky. I would actually rather deal with a brand new collector who has a new perspective on the hobby vs. some long-time collector who thinks they have a sense of entitlement.

I think it emanates from those people who are baseball card brokers and speculators, who are not hobbyists and only into cards for the money. I see the lengthy threads here at net54 all about card speculation. That is when I feel ignored and not at all a member of the "clique". This is a wonderful forum when it's about the hobby, which it truly is to me.

There is The Good, The Bad And The Ugly.

It's sad to see some of the bullying on Facebook Card Groups. I feel bad for what sellers have to go through on there. It can get nasty quick.

I think one just has to be careful on Facebook. I have had nothing but plenty of positive experiences on there and have made some good friends as well. No fees!

Agree Pete, plenty of good guys on Facebook groups.

Cliche Warning! This forum, the hobby, the country, etc., will be what we make it. The only thing that will stop a bad guy with a quote is a good guy with a quote.

The thing that dismays me the most is that the "new" collector seems to have little knowledge or respect for the storied, rich history of the game and the hobby itself. The only thing that matters is the player and grade.

Yes, "the grade." God forbid they should be interested in raw cards.

Before the last couple of years, my viewpoint always came from lurking and occasionally buying/selling on here, some trading on Beckett's site, and lurking around on BO. Sure there are a few chuckleheads everywhere but it seemed limited.

This past year I dove into joining a bunch of groups on FB. I haven't done any kind of transaction in any of them but, wow, it seems there are an awful lot of just miserable people in there. I'll always say that those people are in the minority but with the rise of social media, they're given a much larger platform to show it off.

I'm always amazed at when someone posts a decent looking raw card for sale and the number of people who chime in that it's fake. They can't explain why it is fake aside from "it just looks fake" or "if it was real it would be graded."

I work in the veterinary field and this has been the case since Covid hit. People have been just down right mean. Basically for no reason at all in my opinion. We were doing curbside service and people were just rude about is when this was being done o protect our staff.

The most depressing thing for me about being old right now is not that I will die soon, but that a large portion of my beloved country has decided the more they stick their ideas and opinions "in the face" of those that don't agree with them, the better. That was called "rude" when I was growing up. And I'm not talking about any particular groups, I see it happening on all sides of the political spectrum. Having it pour forth nonstop from the top in the last few years, however, did seem to validate this behavior for a lot of people and open up just about every arena, including ours, to some nasty and contentious discussions. I don't know how you put this genie back in the bottle, but until that process gets underway, this is not going to be a pleasant place to live, no matter how "great" anybody thinks we are or how much wealth we generate.

You know I haven't seen any of that. I have done a lot of deals on this site, both buying and selling, and they've all been respectful.

And even the ones where we couldn't get to the right price were congenial. I have no complaints about anyone.

I will say it is hard buying and selling raw cards. People get used to sellers overstating the condition of the cards and as a result no one wants to believe NM cards are really NM and pay NM prices for them.

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I don't think the OP was talking about Net54. Leon is a very civilized person and runs a civilized forum. A lot of us wouldn't be here otherwise.

+1. Even in a sea of social media toxicity, Facebook stands out. Well worth a read:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-fac...es-11631713039

Very well put Hank

I honestly was hoping for the opposite. More people cooking at home, less stress, more friendly to fellow humans, less shopping for unnecessary crap.

I just dont get, and go out of my way to be more friendly in person, but will call people out on certain stuff. Littering, and no saying "excuse me" will get you a comment!

I have also seen this shift with a significant number of people with whom I’ve interacted. My theory (really just a wild guess) regarding an explanation is this:

Many people are social, by nature. They often take behavioral cues from nonverbal indicators given to them by others. Without the crowds to which they had become accustomed, they aren’t receiving constant feedback and reinforcement. Because of this, more than a few of them have become introverted; people operating with an “island unto themself” mentality.

This can lead to some social awkwardness, bitterness, and altogether outlandish behavior. Some (not all) people are in “keyboard warrior” mode 24/7 at the present time. Hopefully, when there is an opportunity to step away from the keyboard more frequently, they’ll revert back to they way they behaved pre-pandemic.

Now, whether that’s good bad…

Not a complete explanation for all different activity, but could some of the negative vibes be due to collectors seeing some of the big price surges since the pandemic started now putting more and more cards and sets they were working on pre-pandemic out of their reach financially? If so, I can definitely see it making many people somewhat bitter towards a lot of these new collectors/investors and their money who are entering the hobby and turning it more into a business/investment activity, while at the same time ruining the hobby enjoyment for many long time collectors.

People in the hobby for the money (and let's be honest, the chicks!) don't have a true love for the history of the game, or real appreciation for the pieces of history they acquire. It's just another way that they can show off.

When card values decrease, they're going to be cranky.

Some are going to find out the hard way that the pot o' gold they saw at the early part of the pandemic may ultimately be a mirage. If profit was their only motivation for getting into the hobby, I have no sympathy for them.

100% agree.

I will gladly state the obvious. It's politics, politics, politics. Some people want to pretend it's not politics, but it's freaking politics. The sooner this threads is closed, the better.

Someone on this board has the handle "here to have fun" and I wish I had thought of that. That's exactly how I feel.

The playoffs are starting, and if the Dodgers can just beat the Cards on Wednesday, all will be right with the world.

Amen to the Dodgers beating the Crapinals!

Well said. Here, here. Civility to all has to make a comeback and become the societal norm once again.

I don't think the shifting tide is hobby specific.

Demeanor?
 

Interesting observations. I stopped being amazed by the lack of people-
even on net54- who don't discuss the actual sport involved with their cards.
The truly concerning thing is the diminishing number of folks who no longer
grasp hobby history itself. Examples are those who say "It's only a PSA 8
and I want 9 or higher", "raw cards are all trimmed", " I don't like shows I
do everything online", "Who is this Beckett guy?" and the like. Heck, they
can't even tell you about their Ja Morant Triple Platinum Refractor Titanium
PSA 12- they just "need" double what they paid for it, so "it's worth the t
time". There are lots of folks who fell like they belong in the game even
though they've not put in the practice...

The saving grace is the cards we enjoy, and the actual good people out
there. Just a few names- Eric Perry, Kris Sweckard, Jason Bisping, Derek
Hogue. The key is finding them in the first place:)

Trent King

It appears to me that most of the FB groups are saturated with posts like : "What's this worth"

Every time I see that post - I just wanna reach out and "touch" someone.

It’s not political it’s money. The easy money making days for Johnny come lately dealers on line has Ended. Buyers have wised up.

I have a hunch that the days if 19 year old kids doing 100K deals at the major shows is soon to end soon; it doesn't need to be anything cataclysmic, like a default due to failure to raise the National Debt limit, but the lakes of cash floating around the country looking for a return or an adventure. Dutch Tulips, anyone?

Myself, I am investing in Kudzu......I hear its going places. :cool:

I have noticed a few very rude buyers recently. Think it can be chalked up to their being newbies and let it go at that.

You likely will crap when the Cardinals beat the Dumbers.

If anyone experiences anything beyond the pale they can always call customer service or PM me, one of the two. There are around 12000 sets of eyes here and I appreciate the PMs I often get. I think our forum is a microcosm of society. Well, a mostly male dominated one.
.

This thread needs a card(s) - any nominations for a player with a "bad attitude"?

Amen
 

Amen to that!

While I hope that becomes the norm, I doubt it. Not with what I have seen over the last few years and especially this year.

It's stress. More experienced collectors are simultaneously suffering sticker shock, a dawning realization that they will not be able to afford the cards they want, and anxiety over whether to take profits on the cards they already have.

Oh, and the COVID thing.

Mr. T has nothing on Mr. M(ulldowney).

Brian

I have noticed an uptick in arguments here in the past year and a half. It's still very low overall, but more than it used to be. It seems like it comes and goes; I remember about 4-5 years ago it got a bit heated, then cooled off, now we're on an upswing again. I am a member of a few collecting groups on Facebook, but I don't poke my head in there very often so I can't comment on those.

you wanna take this outside buddy???

So, it’s not all bad. I saw a card here I really need for my collection. The owner didn’t list it for sale, he was just showing it. I contacted him, and offered him lots of options for a trade. He could have held my toes to the fire, and he knew it. But he accepted my offer, which was fair for us both. He’s a collector, and so am I.