Cost of living and trading cards

[Brendan_B]

Well said, I've cut my collection back this year so going forward I can realistically maintain a collection near 100% complete of in my case NRL Warriors signature cards. Already I see next years Traders has more signature variants than this years. I buy/sell/trade to get funds to maintain my hobby . I've seen a number of longtime collectors not only stop collecting but selling up entire collections which is sad (pending on the reasons) but it's just like many things in life, you move on. I just hope anyone needing to sell for much needed dollars in these tough times both sides of The Tasman that they aren't being lowballed . The hobby adapts to a changing environment and there's winners and losers as in life.

Well said, I think everyone is feeling the pinch, my kids school fees went up 7%.

I have cut my collecting in half, literally, just chase raiders low end, signatures and the odd numbered card that I like.

No more BD / Emerald Mojo's or Priority or Raiders players in rep teams.

Cost of living is certainly a consideration but also, there are just too many cards, and it limits the enjoyment.

 

[Brendan_B]

Well said, I've cut my collection back this year so going forward I can realistically maintain a collection near 100% complete of in my case NRL Warriors signature cards. Already I see next years Traders has more signature variants than this years. I buy/sell/trade to get funds to maintain my hobby . I've seen a number of longtime collectors not only stop collecting but selling up entire collections which is sad (pending on the reasons) but it's just like many things in life, you move on. I just hope anyone needing to sell for much needed dollars in these tough times both sides of The Tasman that they aren't being lowballed . The hobby adapts to a changing environment and there's winners and losers as in life.

Well said, I think everyone is feeling the pinch, my kids school fees went up 7%.

I have cut my collecting in half, literally, just chase raiders low end, signatures and the odd numbered card that I like.

No more BD / Emerald Mojo's or Priority or Raiders players in rep teams.

Cost of living is certainly a consideration but also, there are just too many cards, and it limits the enjoyment.

 

[GarnettFan4Life]

There's some BS going on to with "cost of living"...... used to spend $350 on some groceries, now those same ones cost $430. Ink for my printer used to be $85, now it's $95 all of a sudden. Not even to mention the rental inflation situtation.......... some big companies taking advantage of people at the moment - a lot of people struggling

 

[Avonc]

A lot of people cutting back on collecting have seen some amazing collections up for sale recently!

Also personally in the past I used to tell my wife the cards I was buying were only "worth" $20....... now I can only afford to buy cards that ARE actually worth $20!

Tough times.

, I have a "card" account to buy/sell cards so that's not the problem with my wife. It's the volume, always make a big deal when I head
off to the Post Office with a parcel to send. When we come over to the Gold Coast and I have packages waiting for me there now that's
a whole other problem. Bloody cardboard with pictures and numbers on them

 

[GarnettFan4Life]

, I have a "card" account to buy/sell cards so that's not the problem with my wife. It's the volume, always make a big deal when I head
off to the Post Office with a parcel to send. When we come over to the Gold Coast and I have packages waiting for me there now that's
a whole other problem. Bloody cardboard with pictures and numbers on them

Don’t believe this @Matt26 guy and his crying poor about $20 cards…..he has some of that Jordan auto equity stashed away and could be retired and living the life by now…..

 

[Matt26]

Don’t believe this @Matt26 guy and his crying poor about $20 cards…..he has some of that Jordan auto equity stashed away and could be retired and living the life by now…..

Im not @Billyhoyle !

 

[GarnettFan4Life]

Im not @Billyhoyle !

all you old admin OG’s have Jordan autos tucked away from when you got them for $400! Come on now!

 

[Matt26]

all you old admin OG’s have Jordan autos tucked away from when you got them for $400! Come on now!

May have 1 or 3 of those in the collection....... @Billyhoyle has about 200 of them!

He uses PSA 8 Graded Jordan Rookies as drinks coasters.

 

[1980bust]

There's some BS going on to with "cost of living"...... used to spend $350 on some groceries, now those same ones cost $430. Ink for my printer used to be $85, now it's $95 all of a sudden. Not even to mention the rental inflation situtation.......... some big companies taking advantage of people at the moment - a lot of people struggling

Yeah I think people look at the CPI number, and there's almost this assumption that that's the % across the board for price increases. But since almost everything relies on a massively-interconnected chain of production and logistics, that % applied at every single step of the way adds up to far more than any CPI number.

Profiteering is absolutely happening, but it's far more widespread than this hyper focus on Coles & Woolworths that seems to be the norm at the moment.

At the end of the day, almost every day-to-day financial problem for people in Australia can all be traced back to the astronomically out of equilibrium cost of housing in this country. Whether you rent or pay a mortgage, the amount of time, money and stress that goes into something that completely stifles other innovation and productivity should be a national embarrassment.

 

[GarnettFan4Life]

Yeah I think people look at the CPI number, and there's almost this assumption that that's the % across the board for price increases. But since almost everything relies on a massively-interconnected chain of production and logistics, that % applied at every single step of the way adds up to far more than any CPI number.

Profiteering is absolutely happening, but it's far more widespread than this hyper focus on Coles & Woolworths that seems to be the norm at the moment.

At the end of the day, almost every day-to-day financial problem for people in Australia can all be traced back to the astronomically out of equilibrium cost of housing in this country. Whether you rent or pay a mortgage, the amount of time, money and stress that goes into something that completely stifles other innovation and productivity should be a national embarrassment.

facts

housing costs and internet speed and quality in AUS are putrif

 

[Paul_Ambrey]

My turn. I have to get my car repaired by FORD Australia as my model is under World Wide Recall.The mechanics who repair the work vehicles charge $150.00 per hour. Ford charge $280.00 per hour.Its either I pay $4000.00 to $5000.00 which includes parts and labour for a car thats insured for $7200.00, or try to find another car to get around in.Anybody want to buy my autograph collection.

 

[Matt26]

My turn. I have to get my car repaired by FORD Australia as my model is under World Wide Recall.The mechanics who repair the work vehicles charge $150.00 per hour. Ford charge $280.00 per hour.Its either I pay $4000.00 to $5000.00 which includes parts and labour for a car thats insured for $7200.00, or try to find another car to get around in.Anybody want to buy my autograph collection.

Hi Paul, if your car is under a recall isn’t the onus on the manufacturer to cover the costs of the repairs? I had a car once that got recalled and they fixed it free of charge?

 

[Paul_Ambrey]

Hi Paul, if your car is under a recall isn’t the onus on the manufacturer to cover the costs of the repairs? I had a car once that got recalled and they fixed it free of charge?

They fixed the problem 4 years ago.Now the same problem has arisen again plus the transmission is playing up. I just can't win.

 

[ozsportscardcollector]

There's some BS going on to with "cost of living"...... used to spend $350 on some groceries, now those same ones cost $430. Ink for my printer used to be $85, now it's $95 all of a sudden. Not even to mention the rental inflation situtation.......... some big companies taking advantage of people at the moment - a lot of people struggling

I'd love to know how the government/reserve bank come up with their inflation rate, 5% or whatever. The essentials have gone up by way more than that.

And here in WA the State government are patting themselves on the back again for having a 3 billion dollar surplus in the budget the second year running. Despite this most folks are struggling over here with the cost of living.

The health care system is broken, homelessness is becoming more and more visible. Count yourself lucky if you can get a GP to see you at short notice.

The middle class is gone. You are either doing really well or you're working yourself to death just to meet mortgage repayments and feed the family. The gap between the haves and have nots has never been wider.

State government has never had so much money at a time when its citizens have never done it tougher. How obscene is that.

 

[1980bust]

Putting on my tinfoil hat for a moment, my guess is that the reason that both Federal and WA state Labor are so vocal about their "surpluses" while watching services slowly break, is that they're all teeing up a "see, Labor ARE good economic managers" as one of their major pitch points for 2025.

Don't get me wrong, running a surplus that you've accumulated through smart economic management (and while funding essential services) is something to declare, but neither WA or Federal have got theirs through fiscal cleverness or discipline. Federal's comes through tax bracket creep and the household taxes paid increasing, and WA is fortunate to be sitting on that abundance of resources.

Governments crowing about their surpluses while services go to the wall and people reach their limit, is the most cynical sort of politics there is. They're taking from the most needy places at the same time as they further bloat their own ranks and bureaucracy with the biggest number of public servants ever. It's disgusting.

Sorry - politics rant over

 

[TBB1983]

It doesn't help that the rumor is Albanese just bought the Steph Curry rookie logoman auto and the luka doncic rookie logoman auto with tax payers money. Rumor is he bought them and other undeclared cards from the WA goverment. Cards cannot be named due to cabinet secrecy.

 

[Hornso]

Quite a few rare cards I've been looking for over the past 2-3 years without any luck are starting to pop up on eBay. Anyone else notice this?

 

[Matt26]

Quite a few rare cards I've been looking for over the past 2-3 years without any luck are starting to pop up on eBay. Anyone else notice this?

I have noticed this as well.

 

[GarnettFan4Life]

My wallet for sure as hell noticed!!

 

[Avonc]

Tough time of year if you have a young family, credit card bills due, holidays to pay for. School expense's
looming. NRL Traders 2024 on the horizon . Not to mention just the standard of living costs heading
north. So tough time for some collectors, so bargains can be had.
But just be nice about it...