Adapting to the market?

[mcorey777]

Pokemon Collection Goals. What Cards Should I Buy? - YouTube @sacari O wait me too

[smpratte]

@pfm

@nietzsche

Surprisingly, Lord and behold, smpratte said the same thing a few weeks ago right before I started seeing a trend in this being said on the forum.

I think you mean “lo and behold”

p.s. smpratte please like this

“smpratte is rly smart, but he is no god”

[nietzsche]

@sacari

@nietzsche

That seems like more of a compromise than an adaptation to the current market. I was thinking of adapting more along the lines of making changes along with the market so you can continue to buy what you were buying or achieve the same thing despite price increases. I did not take into account how general the word adapt is because of the context I’ve seen it used in. I mostly see people saying they will adapt to continue to buy the same cards at the prices they are now.

If you just continue to buy the exact same thing and do the same thing that’s the exact opposite of adapting lol?

what? If you were spending $40-$100 on PSA 9 1st edition Wotc in 2019 because that is what you could afford and you now have to pay sometimes triple that because 9’s have caught on so you make the changes necessary to afford them at the present price point that’s adapting. I just was not thinking of the fact that compromising and buying lower grades would also be adapting because I had not seen people say that is what they were doing. Most of the posts that echo the notion of assess the market and adapt were specifically saying they are continuing to buy at these new price points.

[nietzsche]

@cullers

@nietzsche

Over the course of the last few weeks many members on E4 have claimed they will continue to adapt when asked about whether or not to buy at these prices. Surprisingly, Lo and behold, smpratte said the same thing a few weeks ago right before I started seeing a trend in this being said on the forum. My question is to those who have claimed they will continue to buy and adapt. Are you adapting a business model or are you just saying that you will buy no matter the state of the market as a collector? Many of you who have rehashed the adapting of the pokemans also claim to be solely collectors and so I don’t see why there’s a need for adaptation if you have to buy no matter what the markets like in order to collect.

I think the better explanation is to consider what it means to not adapt. It means you’ll be looking at prices that are no longer relevant and unable to did people selling for those prices. It means you’re unable to change your goals to match your budget (maybe downgrade from PSA 10 to PSA 9 or 8), it means you’re going to be left behind and out of this hobby.

Also, just a personal note Scott doesn’t exactly say things that are mind blowing. He has somethings that are different from his personal perspective, but he’s pretty much just a part of the echo chamber not the leader of it. I think people see him more often and think he’s the original thought, but the reality is he’s rehashing a lot of common thoughts that have been around for a long time, NTTAWWT. So when people say Scott says this and everyone follows, it’s more like everyone is on the same boat and Scott has an audience.

Yea I get that. It’s been trending tho in the last few weeks among people who are not in the same boat. I wasn’t putting Scott or others who are in the same boat on a pedestal just saying that how they adapt and how others adapt will be much different. Especially if you’re solely a collector with much less means to adapt. I was looking to get insight into others who are echoing that they are adapting, how they are adapting.

[pfm]

It’s just a matter of changing your expectations with the market rather than waiting for the market to change to your expectations.

[nietzsche]

@fourthstartcg

@nietzsche

That seems like more of a compromise than an adaptation to the current market. I was thinking of adapting more along the lines of making changes along with the market so you can continue to buy what you were buying or achieve the same thing despite price increases. I did not take into account how general the word adapt is because of the context I’ve seen it used in. I mostly see people saying they will adapt to continue to buy the same cards at the prices they are now.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWQNYwuVz70

A tl;dr if you don’t want to watch the whole video…It’s very important to adapt to the market. For me with my English ex series goals, that meant buying the same thing I originally wanted (PSA 10s) but adjusting what I thought was a “reasonable” price to pay. It also meant changing my goals to include PSA 9s and below on some cards because they were too out of reach for my financial situation.

Adapting can mean a lot of different things, but its essential if you want to have a fulfilling collection!

I actually agree. I started buying 1st edition base in 8 grades recently which I would never have entertained in the last few years and it’s been great. I just saw that as more of a compromise and inability to adapt than as an adaptation.

[gott006]

Im buying 8s instead of 9s now. Just the same as how i used to buy 9s instead of 10s. The difference is negligible and in the future i can see 8s moving up and 7s being the new norm. Hell psa7 unlimited zards are fetching prices i would have laughed at a year ago.

[joetehman]

Shifted focus currently to Dragonball Super TCG. Still collecting pokemon and purchasing, but the artwork on the super cards is just fantastic and I just keep finding more and more cards I want to add!

[nietzsche]

@pfm

It’s just a matter of changing your expectations with the market rather than waiting for the market to change to your expectations.

Yea I get the perspective that changing your expectations by choice could be considered adapting to the market. Things like lowering your standards, getting priced out, being forced to buy lower grades to get the same fulfilment, and because of all these things being stuck with the highs and lows of the market with lower grades or less quality in hand just did not seem like adapting to me initially. I understand that it is something you have to be able to be flexible and do to get fulfillment out of collecting as fourthstartcg said. But those echoing the “Ill assess the market and continue to adapt” do not seem to be adapting in the context that I see it said.

[nietzsche]

@joetehman

Shifted focus currently to Dragonball Super TCG. Still collecting pokemon and purchasing, but the artwork on the super cards is just fantastic and I just keep finding more and more cards I want to add!

Oh man super is awesome. Have a broly scr and apex of power getting graded right now. I thought it was going to die off about a year and a half ago when lgs started abandoning it. So glad it’s going strong. I think it could have a better collectors market than Yu-Gi-Oh.

[fazool]

I find it really weird when people act like Scott is anything more than a huge Pokemon fan who’s been involved deeply in the hobby for a long period of time.

Some people here have related buisnesses and plenty of us sell cards but for the people going on years and years of this it is from passion not profit. There are millions of more profitable things to be doing or spending your time on.

Your personal goals, and everyone else’s for that matter are just that personal. No one you ask will ever give the validation you seek because you aren’t going to feel it unless it comes from you.

Enjoy yourself, take the time to think about what you really enjoy with the hobby and focus on that instead of what you are afraid of missing out on. Best adaptation you can make

[mykel]

@pfm

@nietzsche

Surprisingly, Lord and behold, smpratte said the same thing a few weeks ago right before I started seeing a trend in this being said on the forum.

I think you mean “lo and behold”

p.s. smpratte please like this

It’s just too easy.

[qwachansey]

I reflected on my priorities in collecting over the past few months and decided:

• PSA 10s weren’t worth the price premium for me outside of a few special sentimental cards. This meant no longer looking to buy a PSA 10 1st Ed. Chansey, Blastoise, or holding out hope for Shadowless Chansey.

On the plus side, I decided to downgrade my shining and crystal 10s and will pick those up in 8-9 for my binder. I graded the six Skyridge crystals from my binder in 2017 so it kinda sucks to be buying back some of the exact 9s graded and sold at the time, but fortunately I held onto the 10s / replaced the 9s with 10s in '17/18 and they experienced large price growth. And I always missed having them in my binder anyway.

Financially I’m sure the smarter move was keeping the 10s and also buying everything needed for my binder, but I’m not made of money and put the profits back into my collection.

• My sealed product, at current prices, is no longer worth the sentimental / nostalgic / collector value to me. I’ve always collected binder sets and Chanseys as top priority but have also enjoyed picking up pack art sets over the years. Most I got for around $80/ set, things like early EX packs. They were expensive and rare enough to be special to me before big price rises. Now I look at a “heavy” Skyridge pack and think “This is a lovely pack but I’d rather have a thousand bucks.”

That kind of thinking has never crossed my mind for binder cards, I’ve always bought them back if I grade. Something like a mint 1st Ed Neo Gen Lugia I could now get a thousand bucks for as well but I would never consider selling, so this has been a bit of a priority reminder for me. It doesn’t help that packs I had hoped to eventually acquire are now hundreds of dollars each and the market is rife with scammers and crap I don’t want to deal with. I’ve been selling most of my sealed boxes. The pack art sets I’ll hold onto but realistically know now that I’ll sell one day.

• I’m increasingly concerned about protection for binder sets. Theft, fire, card warping or scratching, humidity etc. Some of this stuff has been in the same binder for ten years without worry or issue but when a set goes from $50 to $5000 you have to look into new storage methods. I recognize in terms of actual problems people have I will not get much sympathy for this one LOL.

[ripguyfawkes]

When prices rise, you have not one but two options. You can adapt your goals, but you can also adapt your means. When I see that my chase card has increased in value, I don’t see it as defeat, I see it as an opportunity to improve my life style and increase my income to not fall behind, and to keep my chase card in reach. This fuels my drive to be the best version of myself, be as innovative as I can be and grow beyond the person I would have been if my goals and thus by extension my determination had stayed smaller.

Also I can always sell my kidney, my left testicle and my dignity, so there’s that.

[qwachansey]

P.S. Never underestimate the power of mental gymnastics to satisfy your collection needs!

YOU can be the one to decide you don’t need Masakis in a vending binder set.

YOU can be the one to decide e-series reverse holos have the same art and aren’t needed in a set.

YOU can be the one to decide a full 10 card Snap set is not presently possible, but if you split into subset of Mario Stadium 5 vs CoroCoro 5, Mario Stadium 5 is a possible set!

[nietzsche]

@fazool

I find it really weird when people act like Scott is anything more than a huge Pokemon fan who’s been involved deeply in the hobby for a long period of time.

Some people here have related buisnesses and plenty of us sell cards but for the people going on years and years of this it is from passion not profit. There are millions of more profitable things to be doing or spending your time on.

Your personal goals, and everyone else’s for that matter are just that personal. No one you ask will ever give the validation you seek because you aren’t going to feel it unless it comes from you.

Enjoy yourself, take the time to think about what you really enjoy with the hobby and focus on that instead of what you are afraid of missing out on. Best adaptation you can make

I think it’s weird too. I personally don’t look to people for financial advice who can’t touch on how they earned their position initially. Not accusing anyone of just being handed everything. I’m just saying that most people I’d want to listen to would certainly use their initial beginnings as common reference since it resonates with most people who are seeking advice and will have to work for theirs.

[nietzsche]

@ripguyfawkes

When prices rise, you have not one but two options. You can adapt your goals, but you can also adapt your means. When I see that my chase card has increased in value, I don’t see it as defeat, I see it as an opportunity to improve my life style and increase my income to not fall behind, and to keep my chase card in reach. This fuels my drive to be the best version of myself, be as innovative as I can be and grow beyond the person I would have been if my goals and thus by extension my determination had stayed smaller.

Also I can always sell my kidney, my left testicle and my dignity, so there’s that.

This is the same way I see adapting or not.when you say youll assess the market and continue to adapt, doing that successfully would entail making lifestyle changes. I think that is successfully adapting. Throwing in the towel and settling for less so you’re stuck with less and less you can do about it does not seem like adapting.

[cheevyboy]

Does the volatility of the market for lower population slabs (80-100) make it harder to gauge a fair price on things at the moment?

I’m very new to this, so this market is my norm - but after some reading into how things were not long ago, It keeps me from pulling the trigger on what I wanna buy.

[nietzsche]

@cheevyboy

Does the volatility of the market for lower population slabs (80-100) make it harder to gauge a fair price on things at the moment?

I’m very new to this, so this market is my norm - but after some reading into how things were not long ago, It keeps me from pulling the trigger on what I wanna buy.

You’re in the same shoes as everyone whenever they first assessed what they want to buy. Best thing you could do is not look at what prices were months ago. There’s no use in that. Just buy what you want. Pull the trigger bro. It’s easy to find a fair price. Probably more difficult to find something for your price. Don’t put so much weight on population.

[cheevyboy]

@nietzsche

@cheevyboy

Does the volatility of the market for lower population slabs (80-100) make it harder to gauge a fair price on things at the moment?

I’m very new to this, so this market is my norm - but after some reading into how things were not long ago, It keeps me from pulling the trigger on what I wanna buy.

You’re in the same shoes as everyone whenever they first assessed what they want to buy. Best thing you could do is not look at what prices were months ago. There’s no use in that. Just buy what you want. Pull the trigger bro. It’s easy to find a fair price. Probably more difficult to find something for your price. Don’t put so much weight on population.

Hey bro!

That’s sounds advice thanks for that.

I posted in another thread so apologies otherwise although I guess my concern was in particular around 1st Ed. PSA 8 Shining Gyarados but maybe I can generalise my concerns into market speak.

I took the last 4 auctions for a card spanned over 6 weeks. The most recent 2 went for ~20% less than the ones before them. Would it be fair to stick to the current prices and bid within my budget or does it make more sense to average the last 4 and use that as a basis for negotiation.

Appreciate it.