I’m doing a piece of reflective writing for No Buy October.
For the purposes of transparency, I will reference the results of this poll in the piece.
It has significant meaning in context of social media, so if you would feel so inclined as to vote, I’d appreciate it.
This poll is set to not show who voted, but if you’d feel at all uncomfortable I’d encourage you not to vote. I don’t meant any offence in any way.
For consideration when voting, by debt I refer to consumer debts, like credit-card debt, money owed to parents/friends, and car finance, etc. I do not mean mortgage or income-contingent type debt like the UK student loan.
For purchasing, I do not mean the odd pack here or there, but rather any amount of cards purchases over $100 a month.
Have you purchased Pokémon cards ($100+) whilst in debt?
So you want us to say yes if we have something like a car loan that we are still paying off?
If so, then yeah I think myself and many others here will be a yes.
I feel like there are different levels to types of debt. A car loan or home loan does not usually feel equivalent to something like credit card debt or owing money to friends and family in terms of potentially pointing towards irresponsible spending. Although I guess I should note there are plenty of people in todays society with horrendous car loans……
I guess what I’m getting at is that not all debt is inherently bad or irresponsible.
However for the purposes of what I’m writing about, I consider car finance plans to be relevant.
If you do not own your car outright and owe payments on it Yes would be in line with the information I seek.
By no means is it going to be a scathing piece directed at irresponsibility etc, or any kind of judgement on a person’s choices, but more for reference of challenging perspective.
I’ll go on record as saying I’ve used 0 interest PP Credit to finance 4 figure purchases. I’m not proud of it, but I don’t regret it. You can save up cash for cards, but that’s tough to do. Like losing weight, it takes discipline over a long horizon.
(No, literally, theres some decks ending tonight that id like to get. A small amount of interest spread out is negligible compared to getting it at the price the auctions end at compared to BiN and can be budgeted for)
My answer was yes, then i saw student loans and then it became no. I bought a lot of pokemon while in student loan debt (pokemon profits from selling cards i didnt like ended up paying off my debt), but yea
During the 2020 boom I was still in grad school. I borrowed from my parents to submit about 1500 cards to PSA at $9/card bulk. That was my only debt at that time (no student loans thankfully). I paid this quickly when the cards came back.
My parents loaned me the 20% down payment on my first house. I am still paying them back, but very aggressively — I pay them more per month than to my main mortgage lender (the 80% loan). So I’ll have them paid back in about 3 years.
So while I technically have debts they are not conventional, mostly unofficial besides my mortgage. Since I am paying them quickly while also maxing the usual savings buckets (e.g., max pre-tax retirement contributions), I feel comfortable continuing to spend responsibly on the hobby.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with using credit to your advantage to buy cards / collectibles if you can pay the debt back in a reasonable amount of time and minimize accrued interest. However, if you are already underwater with high interest debt, buying cards is probably the last thing that you should do.
I use a credit card all the time but I have the funds and pay my bill every month. I recently bought a 5 figure card on my credit card instead of using a wire on ebay cause it is dumb not to get the credit card points when you can if you have the funds. I would never go into actual debt buying cards.
Once again and as always here I’d like to express my gratitude to everyone who has voted and commented. The responses have been fantastic and arguably for what I intend to write about, couldn’t have been better overall. I really appreciate everyone taking a moment to talk about and explore a facet of collecting that is quietly ticking away in the background, and that being financial literacy and the unseen decision processes people go through whilst navigating their purchases.
It’s all too easy to see something spectacular in What’s Your Latest Purchase? and feel like you’re doing something wrong compared to those around you here. But the truth is, you don’t know the circumstances behind that acquisition, and are just viewing a very curated snapshot in time.
In my writing, that and many of the other elements touched upon here are part of what I’m going to explore (for the fun of it, no really) - so truly, thanks to all who have participated in this thread and granted me extra insight!
I’ve voted no, but I have come very close for the first time in life last month when the German Surf-Pikachu popped up for sale for the first time in ten year collecting (when I was already running low on money). I managed to win that auction with a few hundred bucks to spare on my general bank account and 0 left on my savings account.
I did pay my groceries for the rest of the month on credit (the few hundred bucks on my general bank account had to cover some upcoming automatic monthly expanses, like water/electricity/internet/insurances/etc.). Thanks to this forced participating of the “No Buy” October, and I also plan to take it slow in November/December, I can slowly start saving again, since I honestly don’t feel too comfortable with <5k euros on my savings account for unforeseen expanses outside of my hobbies (e.g. repairs and such).
I also feel like credit card debt is a completely different concept in the USA compared to the rest of the world. In my country, loads of people don’t even own a credit card. I didn’t even own one myself until about four years ago. The most common debt is of course for a house mortgage, which is normal and I’ll ignore for now. But after that it’s student loans, and there aren’t too many other types of debt that are too wide-spread here, although I’m not entire sure.
For cars I’ve always just pay it whole, even with the higher prices these days. If I wanted to pay in monthly intervals on a car, I could have just leased one instead of going in debt.
I voted no, but to be fair, I’ve never been in debt before (touch wood). My motto’s always been if I can’t afford it, I don’t buy it, and that goes for pretty much everything.
I don’t really do monthly payments except for the usual bills and insurance stuff, and I’ve never owned a credit card. I’ve been working full time since i was 16 and always been pretty good with my money even though I don’t earn a big wage.
Becoming a family with two kids and a wife has certainly strengthened that, my main priority is making sure they’re safe and looked after. This is part of the reason i took a break from the hobby for a few years when my second daughter was born.
Now, any card I’m interested in just becomes something to work a bit harder for, or I find other ways to save up the cash for it that doesn’t effect my main income & outgoings.
For the answer to this thread, “Do not owe people money” is always a standard for me before I try to expand my hobby, so house mortgage aside I always ensure not to get myself in debt, let alone buying cards in one.
This also might be a country-specific thing, but even if you’re very aware of your spending and would never get yourself into debt, you should still study the credit score system in your country and increase yours very carefully so that if you plan to buy a house or run into emergency issues (i.e. large medical bills after insurance) you can apply for loans easier. If credit cards can help you with your score, you should apply for one and adapt its use into your spending habits.
While credit cards give people the impression of buying things without money in hand, using them and paying back also leaves record in credit score systems which loan and other card issuers can later refer to when they try to assess:
Customers who always pay their bills on time can be trusted more to also pay back their loans on time
Can assess if the customer is able to afford the amount of loan applied by reviewing their past credit card bills
And these records can be weighed more in some countries such as Japan, where companies and banks have more trust on customers who left longer transaction records. In fact, not using a card may even hurt in these countries in the long term, as having a literally “clear” record (no credit records at all, whether paid or not) at or past mid-30s raises suspection of whether the record is because the holder was in debt in the past and waited for the record to expire to come clean again.
In my case I actually have two credit cards (one for daily spending, one for hobbies) and am using them to pay almost everything except in stores which only take cash. However I always follow the rules below when using them:
Asked both card companies not to enable cash advance - some banks see cash advance as a need for unplanned borrowing and therefore a risk factor while reviewing loan applications. Plus the interest rates are horrendous.
Always pay monthly bills in full (so basically using them more like charge cards). You don’t need to pay any interest if you pay back what you spent immediately.
By doing so I can ensure that I’m piling up my credit score while keeping the habit of only spending the money I feel safe to spend.
I voted for no. I did not take mortgage into consideration but I have never gone into debt for Pokemon card. I do not think I would ever see myself prioritizing monthly bills over Pokemon cards.
I also second everything what @Quuador stated. The credit card culture is much different here as maybe compared to US. Credit cards are seldom used. I do have one but had to purchase it out of necessity since some online websites only work with Credit Cards. I personally think it is handy now that I am using it, but I do make sure that after the purchase is done, I immediately pay back the amount due on the card.
All other purchases atleast for mortgage and utilities are automatic and groceries is done via the debit card.
I think this is an valid fact that everyone should be aware. Based on my rudimentary understanding I have , the Credit system or score in the Netherlands, is based on the income you and your partner earn. I think once you go into any debt, it impacts the maximum loan you can get from the bank. Meaning based on my salary, if I can get X Euros as total loan but I currently have a debt of Y Euros because I made a purchase say of a TV on monthly installments, then my max loan I can get would be X-Y, till my TV is paid off. So I think in a way the government or banking system ensures that you are not loaned more than you are able to pay back.
I also think Netherlands culture is more frugal and more savings oriented. My family and specially my wife really loves this because most people in my home country also have a similar mindset. My wife really prefers the peace of mind on never having any debt than the opportunity the money can bring via a loan.
I also think the medical system is great enough that every expense is covered after your risk amount is paid. That being said, I do have an emergency fund for major unforseen impacts (loss of jobs, injury etc) and also do traditional investments. Cards are always purchased out of excess or leisure income.
I was raised this way too. The downside is there are opportunities where I could smartly leverage debt to make some money, credit points or credit, but I’m scared of being in debt to any institution and give institutionalized debt a wide berth
My wife and I hate debt of any kind, though we still have a mortgage. I’d imagine most forum users at least have mortgages and I’d say that’s very fair and understandable to have while still buying cards. Outside of a home loan, if you owe others money, have credit card debt that’s unmanaged, big auto loans, etc, maybe don’t spend big amounts on Pokémon. Not gonna say you can’t ever buy cards, because we’re human after all. I’d just avoid dropping a lot at once. Some packs every now and then probably won’t kill you. That’s just my $0.02.
Personally our motto is try to pay off what debt we have very aggressively, which is what we’re doing with our mortgage. Once that’s gone in 2027 (assuming all things remain constant… fingers crossed), we’ve already talked about taking a year and really splurging on things we want. Kind of like a huge self reward. Not having a mortgage and not trying to dump a lot into principal only would free up many thousands each month. I’d like to go after more base 1st PSA 9s (currently only have stoise daddy).
