Can you collect on a budget?

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Posted By: jay behrens

It's easy enough to throw large sums of money at a card when you want it, if you have the money. My question is, how many of us have the discipline to collect on a truly limited budget. I've been on both sides of the spectrum and find collecting on a lmited budget fun and challenging. Granted, I dont' get ot go chase really cool, really rare vintage material, but when I can add a rarity to my collection, it's a major coup.

I've been back in the hobby about 4 years now. I keep reocords of all my purchases and sales. In that time, my total out of pocket expsense for collection after subtracting the sale of duplicate cards is $1k. With this wheeling and dealing I've managed to acquire cards of Thorpe, Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Williams, Cobb, Wagner and about 30 other HOFers. Type cards from 35 different sets including e107, Red Boarder Colgan HOFer, Ju Ju Drum, e104-3, e90-3, Old Mill series 8 and other rare sets I'm forgetting. Then there are the 3 uncatalogued cards and 2 new variations that I've found since coming back.

Yes, I am tooting my own horn, but it's to also prove a point to Jim that you can put together meaningful collection and have an impact on the hobby without having a ton of money to throw at it.

Jay

My place is full of valuable, worthless junk.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

You can collect on a budget (I do, believe it or not; my buying spree at the National was 6 months' savings), you just have to be very focused and very willing to shop. I spent months looking for a T206 Evers portrait that fit my budget for that set when I could have had one in a week if I'd wanted to pay 50% more.

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Posted By: Scott Elkins

wheeler/dealers I know! It seems the two of you can spot a "good buy" anywhere. When I started back collecting in the Winter of 2003, my income was $0 (due to several health problems)!!!!!!!! I did have a coin collection that I started selling off on eBay to fund card purchases. At the time, I was only able to afford low grade T206's - I collected players that were only issued in the 150 Series with different back varieties and Sweet Caporal 150 Overprints.

Currently, my income is less than $1200/ month!! While I have not wheeled and dealed enough to buy a Ty Cobb Backed T206 or T210 Shoeless Joe Jackson (cards I have always wanted), I have built my collection up enough to where I can sell a card or cards in order to purchase just about any caramel card I want to buy.

Bottom line - it takes a lot of patience and having to pass on cards you want early on. However, with enough education, time, patience, sense of value and a good eye; you can collect most anything you want on a budget!

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Posted By: Anonymous

Jay, I must say, that is impressive

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Posted By: Anonymous

It certainly has become more difficult to afford cards from many of the sets i am interested in and began collecting before they "took off".

It also seems as though few collectors are willing to trade anymore, prefering to play the e-bay lottery.

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Posted By: cmoking

Seems like a post about value and money. I don't mind it at all. But I just find it interesting that you can complain about posts regarding the high value of some collections but have no problem discussing the value of your own collection.

Why is it a good thing to accumulate cards with little money but a bad thing to accumulate cards with a lot of money?

It's all good in my opinion.

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Posted By: steve k

<<< Can you collect on a budget? >>>

Sure you can. Even Hal has a budget. Seems like he was "forced" to buy a "lowly" grade 1 Wagner because he couldn't afford a higher grade

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Posted By: jay behrens

Show where I ever said it was a bad thing to buy cards with a lot of money?

Jay

My place is full of valuable, worthless junk.

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Posted By: cmoking

OK, your probably right, you may never have said that.

I'll re-phrase:

Why is it a good thing to post about a collection that was accumulated with little money but a bad thing to talk about a collection that was accumulated with a lot of money?

Why is it a good thing to talk about the value of cards if they were cheap...but not the value of cards if they are expensive?

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Posted By: jay behrens

If you don't understand the last sentence of my original post, then you just don't get it.

Jay

My place is full of valuable, worthless junk.

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Posted By: cmoking

someone else tell me what I'm missing. obviously there is a communication gap from Jay to me.

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Posted By: John

Cmoking;

For a guy who hates fights and seeing people getting picked on, labeled or singled out you seem to be in a lot of places tossing gas on open flames…..

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Posted By: Anonymous

Objectively, there is no difference between tooting ones horn about a collection bought for less or a collection bought for more. Both people feel they are buying for good deals. Both people should be proud of their collection.

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Posted By: cmoking

"For a guy who hates fights and seeing people getting picked on, labeled or singled out you seem to be in a lot of places tossing gas on open flames…"

I don't recall saying any of this. I'm not tossing any gas anywhere, I'm speaking my mind.

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Posted By: John

No kidding Cmoking I did that once (spoke my mind) along with some other board members and we were labeled vicious attackers weird huh?

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Posted By: Paul Arpasi

I would be interested to know if most collectors gain more pleasure from shopping and searching and ultimately buying a vintage item, or from owning the card through the years. Personally, I like finding cards which fit my goal and that I can afford better than ownership. If the former is true, collecting on a budget can be more enjoyable than having unlimited funds. If ownership is most rewarding then it helps to have unlimited funds. Just some thoughts.

regards,

lurker paul

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Posted By: Shane Killian

I collect on a very limited budget. I'm a student with only a very minimal part time job that basically covers the essentials. My card money comes from selling on ebay and doing odd jobs i find on craigslist. I've managed to put together about 145 cards in the T206 set in the last year including some HOFers (matty, mcgraw, etc) and a few miscellanous pre-1930 cards that way. I personally feel i've been pretty sucessful workin' on a budget.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

It is the hunt, absolutely, that is the key for me. I have completed and sold off four pretty significant sets (N28 boxers in high grade, 1954 Topps baseball, 1971 Topps football [colored borders; sheer hell to collect] and 1969-70 Topps Basketball). Once the struggle to assemble them was over, the thrill subsided and having a really nice Willie Miranda card didn't seem that crucial. I've since partially reassembled the baseball and boxing set and finished the basketball set again.

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Posted By: T206Collector

Paul,
That's an interesting issue I have not thought much about. I think they are dual pleasures -- the hunt and the kill is exciting, but the savoring the taste after a hunt and kill is also quite enjoyable. I think they are different joys, and depending on circumstance, one can be better than the other. For example, finding my T206 O'Hara St. Louis at a bargain price on eBay brought me more pleasure at the time of conquest than it does sitting in my fire proof box. On the other hand, my $30 purchase of a VG-EX T206 Oberlin card was not very interestin, but it is one of my favorite cards to look at and admire, because of the color and pose. I think it's just case-by-case, and both finding and admiring are quite a lot of fun.
Paul (aka T206Collector)

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Posted By: cmoking

I enjoy the hunt for cards I need to help complete a set. I am getting close to finishing my goal, and when I find a card that fits my set that I need, it is incredibly satisfying. But if I didn't have the other cards in the set already, it would be a different feeling. So I think they go hand in hand. My main hunt is for 1933 Goudeys in PSA 6 or higher grade. Some of the cards I get are relatively cheap (raw cards for $30 that are EX-MT which normally go for $100 when graded) and I enjoy those tremondously when I do find them. Some of the cards I get are more expensive, and it is as satisfying to find those. Hunting for cards can be fun regardless of budget. Is it fun to buy a card for $30 that would normally sell for $100 when I need it for my set? Yes! Is it fun to buy a card for $12,000 that would normally sell for $15,000 if it fits in my set and I can afford it? Yes!

Low budget, high budget, the hunt is the same. It's all good.

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Posted By: jay behrens

I love the hunt. With a limited budget, it's that much mroe challenging. Kind of like fishing for marlin on a 10# test line. I also love the possesion element. No way anyone is prying my Thorpe away from me, along with a few other select cards.

Jay

My place is full of valuable, worthless junk.

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Posted By: Rhys

I think limited budgets are the just about the only thing that keeps people in the hobby for extended periods of time. I do not have a problem with the big hitters in the hobby, they will always be around but thier collecting shelf lives are usually about 5-6 years or so. Go back 10 years and look at the major buyers in the hobby. They burn out quickly if money is not an issue because the fun of finding items and the challenges associated with being on a budget are not present. When I was 18 years old and only had a budget of maybe $300-$400 per month on cards I was having much more fun digging through SCD and finding deals and cool things than I do now with the capabilities to buy bigger items, and I am still on a wife-induced budget for the things I truly keep for myself and am in NO WAY a wealthy person.

Like I said, go back 10 years and the guys who were spending tons of money (collectors mind you, NOT dealers like Rosen who only do it for the money) are almost all out of the hobby now. Actually big time buyers have a much shorter shelf life than that. Just take the big players on this forum for example, not many people were around five years ago much less ten and if this forum lasts another 10 years I would bet most of the big money spenders no longer collect cards and have moved onto something else. People with tons of money buy and sell cards for a while until it stops being fun because they have virtually everything they want and they move onto something else. It does not happen to everyone but it happens to the overwhelming majority of wealthy people in the hobby eventually.

Many of the collectors on a limited budget that I knew 10+ years ago are STILL collecting because it is not a competition to them it is simply fun. I am not implying that people who are wealthy do not enjoy it, or that they are not entitled to buy what they want, I think they are necessary for the hobby to thrive, only mentioning that lots and lots of money burns people out of the hobby much quicker than collecting on a budget does.

Dont believe me? Start charting the sales of some of the most expensive cards in the hobby through auctions. They will resurface about every 5-6 years in general at the latest either in auctions or through private sales (with some exceptions).

Rhys

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Posted By: cmoking

interesting premise. you may be right, but I think your method of collecting data is flawed:

"Dont believe me? Start charting the sales of some of the most expensive cards in the hobby through auctions. They will resurface about every 5-6 years in general at the latest either in auctions or through private sales (with some exceptions)."

There may be a high turnover of cards, but that turnover rate may be just as high as lower grade cards. Because it is tougher to track lower grade cards, it would be impossible to compare the turnover rates.

But I still think your premise is interesting...and I'm not arguing it isn't true...just saying the data collection method has a comparison problem as far as turnover rates relative to other cards.

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Posted By: Da n Koteles

that is what I collect on, but....longevity, endurance , training and trades have enabled to get many great cards.

If you really want a card bad enough, save for it, other cards like t205 and t206's, will still be available. I snatch a few of these here and there and grab my
scarcities as they come along.

Being at the right place at the right time is very important, as well as patience!

Good luck
Dan

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Posted By: jay behrens

His point isn't actual turnover rates. I'd be willing to bet that the turnover rate for low grade cards is much higher because people with low grade cards tend to upgrade much more often. His point is more to the effect that the turnover is who the actual collectors are. When you see these high profile cards come up for sale, it generally means that the collector of these high profile cards has gotten out of the hobby.

Jay

My place is full of valuable, worthless junk.

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Posted By: cmoking

Jay, you may be right on that, but that too is difficult to track and compare.

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Posted By: Julie

although I am on a very tight budget (now--I had a lot of dough for 2 years), the words "Julie" and "discipline" don't go together very well. However, I knew exactly what I took to Tri Star yesterday ($650.00). And the two cards I wanted cost about 50 dollars more than I had--so I talked both dealers down 25 dollars a piece.... Proud of myself!

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Posted By: Rob

In my case, I don't have a choice. And I am collecting pre-war thoroughbred because baseball is out of my reach for now. I'd have to save for about a year or more for each card on my wantlist.

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Posted By: zach

I collect on a budget and do it well I think. It's not a set amount per month but it's all around the same. I've been able to pick up some nice cards too(t206 matty,t206 cobb,e101 young). It's all about finding good deals and the occasional payment plain or lay-away from board members. Thanks you know who you are.

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Posted By: Geoff Litwack

I've had no problems collecting pre-war on a budget - I've just become less sensitive to condition. These days, if a card doesn't have holes in it or tons of creases, I'm happy with it. I'm almost halfway into T207 (93 cards) at an average of $14.15 a card, which includes a few HOFs and toughies like Hartley, Donnelly, and Carrigan.