Ive worked in the insolvency business (bankruptcy) and i couldnt tell you how many people in their 20s go bankrupt from credit card debt they couldnt service.
You’re better off putting it s&p500 index every month and pulling the trigger on the box at the 6 month marks.
Not financial advice just my opinion.
eh…
I’m sorry but this makes me cringe.As much as I love collecting in Pokemon cards, there is a time and place.
I’ve seen Youtube videos advising people to take out credit cards and go into debt so that they can “invest” in Pokemon cards. I love the fact that we are at the point in this hobby where we can use the word “investing” but maybe we need to do it with more prudence. Investments can be big or small but they should be done wisely.
There are two ways I like to thing of the term “Flipping”. 1- Person A, Finds product that they don’t necessarily want/Or just at a great price and decides to take the financial risk of buying it so that they can make profit. We all do it. Nothing wrong. 2- Person B, buying things they can’t afford with hopes they can make profit without a solid understanding of the market and with no real plan for ROI…just dreams because someone on Youtube/Instagram once did it. Person B buys the item, doesn’t sell it at their desired price point. Doesn’t understand what they really have or how to make money on it. Doesn’t have the brand name, social media presence, respect in the hobby, ebay feedback score, etc. Ends up selling it cheaper than what they paid for it or at the exact same price because they realize they can’t hold onto it.
If you just want to invest to make money, there are better options for investing money. If you want to enjoy the hobby, start with what you enjoy and what you can afford and work your way up. Note, that when legitimate people talk about investing on social media or on here, they never tell you what to do with your money and in fact when anyone asks them, it just becomes the laughing stock of the questions. If you’re new to the hobby, the only financial advice you should take is to not go into debt buying pokemon cards. Learn the hobby. If you have to ask a bunch of strangers financial advice, you already have your answer.
He will be a much better saver the next 6 months. I’m sure it will be different.
This thread shows why Pokemon will most definitely be affected by a recession. I bet well over 2/3 of the forum uses some form of high interest rate debt (anything higher than 5% IMO) to fund their collection. Many would say they don’t but they collect while paying on auto loans, student loans, and other various debt in excess of that 5% rate. Hell I don’t use any “bad” debt to fund mine, but with a repeat of 2008 there is probably a 50/50 shot I would lose my job and then even I would surely be selling a few things here and there.
The way I see it is you rarely ever hear of people taking out loans to invest in the stock market or buying bonds or getting a few certificates of deposit. If you wouldn’t take out a loan for something with much less risk as what I listed above then why would you consider taking out a loan for something as speculative as Pokémon cards.
I think Rudy from Alpha Investment said it best and I’m paraphrasing here. If your total networth is 100k and you plan to put 10k in to MtG or Pokemon it is plain and simple stupid to tie 10% of your total capital to very speculative investment. If something unexpected happens and you’d have to sell your investment to cover what ever happened you’d most likely have to sell cheaper than what you originally paid to get money quickly. Put your life in order before thinking about putting 10k or 20k in to collectables so you have that money buffer if needed.
My personal opinion is to save the money as long as it is needed and then buy what ever you want to buy. Taking loans for something that is ultimately hobby for most of us is pretty bad idea even tho there has been upwards trend for many items.
But you do you, no one can tell you what to do with your money.
Someone who has never been to r/wallstreetbets. YOLO
Let’s be clear…I’m talking about using CC for deals not market price items and holding, let’s not get it mixed up.
Say for example a neo destiny 1st ed box comes up buy it now on eBay for $8000. You don’t have $8000 cash. You buy it IMMEDIATELY with a CC.
I wouldnt even consider taking Loans for Pokemon.
That’s a really good interest rate (even without the extra zero 
)
I’d say that many Pokémon items could beat .06%!
I’d advise against using credit at all costs. Op if you need to make the purchase with credit you should at least pay half up front. A $5000 loan is much easier to handle than $10000. This would also give you more flexibility in making monthly payments.
Credit can be a great tool but it’s not really meant for “investments” as the interest rate usually beats any growth you might see. Imo $300+ of interest is risky on a booster box. Just make the wise decision.
If you really can pay it off in 6 months than do it! An extra 360 bucks over the coarse of 6 months is hardly anything. Even if it takes a year instead, 720 bucks over the coarse of a year isnt much either.
I mean, it’s basically right, but it goes too far when it acts like interest rates are a scam.
If interest rates didn’t exist, no one would have incentive to lend you money. The vast majority of people need to be loaned money to buy a house and other things.
@spitfire42, the bottom line is, as long as you’re spending an amount of money that you would be fine with completely losing, then go for it.
If you’re thinking about investing an amount of money that would make you uncomfortable to lose, forget it. Invest that in something else other than Pokemon.
If you want to invest in Pokemon, it needs to be viewed as a high-risk, high-reward proposition.
So anyone who wants to invest in Pokemon cards should ask themselves “If the value of all Pokemon cards went to $0 tomorrow, would I be okay?” If the answer is anything other than yes, then you’re overinvested.
Only you know the ins and outs of your finances, so you will be the best judge on whether this is a good idea for you.
If you’re asking whether we would do this…
Personally - no, never. I’ve stayed away from credit cards my entire life so I am biased against them (I try to live life by “if I can’t afford it, I can’t have it”) but I realise and accept the opportunities they give people who are sensible with them. Even so, taking out a 10k loan to invest in something like a booster box seems quite reckless to me.
Others have already said it but ask yourself some questions. What would I do if the box got destroyed or stolen? What would I do if the price tanked - would I be okay in waiting a year or two for it to (maybe) rise again? What if something happens to my health?
I know I’m sounding like a negative nancy here but I guess my advice is “be very careful”.
On another note why not start out buying some less valuable product? You can put your money into Pokemon without having to spend 10k in one hit. Start investing in smaller items and build it up over time.
Does the happiness you gain from the item you bought outweigh the sadness you take on once a month when you pay that bill?
One example for me: I bought a 2017 Toyota Highlander XLE for about 4000.00 under market with an interest free loan. Every month I pay that 600+ I actually feel HAPPY about it. Your goal should be to replicate that example.
I’d like to add this.
For most of my sane life I’ve always collected this one thing first…money. All my other collectibles were supported by that and/or the profit from that. The few times I’ve strayed (1980s baseball and a super rare basket case Harley) it hasn’t been pretty and hurt way to much.
I never make a big purchase unless I know I have sufficient funds in my bank account beforehand. This actually goes for any size of purchase because it is important to cover regular bills first, and if I have some disposable income left at the end of the month I will put it towards my Pokemon hobby. A quote my dad always told me while growing up was “a penny saved is a penny earned.” This is just my opinion though.
I see a lot of straight-up-nos in this thread and I think that if we changed the commodity then the answers would be different.
People take out 5-7% interest rate loans to buy new cars all the time that will depreciate in value by 25% the second they drive them off the lot. You can buy a new flagship Mercedes for $125k today and three years later with 30k miles it’ll be worth 40k. The depreciation curve is less steep but still abysmal with many other more affordable models.
How do businesses get started? How do hedge funds work? You leverage other people’s money to make profit yourself (and for your investors through profit sharing/interest). On its face, there is nothing different with utilizing a loan to buy Pokemon cards. You’re just switching out the object of investment. Instead of a business or a stock portfolio, it’s a booster box.
I am a strict subscriber to not spending money that I don’t have. I have never taken out a loan and I very rarely utilize my credit card except for purchases I like to track (gas mainly) and when I am buying things that others will pay me back for. That being said, this is a philosophical position and if I had a 10k loan to invest in Pokemon I’m fairly confident I could generate significant returns in a couple years. But I won’t do that because if something were to go wrong I can’t pay that back on a grad student budget.
I would honestly really like to see what someone with significant experience and dedication to the hobby could do with a 100k or so loan, managed like a hedge fund where the returns are tracked via commodity price as opposed to paying the loan back. While I doubt it would ever be possible in practice, the thought experiment would be fun.
I’ll warn people before they read this, make sure you understand yourself and the risk involved before trying out my ideas. What I mean by this, if you’re someone who doesn’t follow through, this advice isn’t for you. If you’re someone who gets overly stressed by risk, this advice might not be for you.
You’re asking a numbers question, if the numbers line up take your shot. @jcincy101 mentions using credit cards for their no interest for six month and then using that to buy the cards you otherwise can’t afford. A couple things, number one- if you’re going to transfer the debt from one credit card to another you’re going to need to calculate the credit card transfer fee into your calculations. You’re also going to have to have multiple credit cards with the same balance available, to get this you’re going to need good credit and a good understanding of finance. Aka this just isn’t an option for a majority of people, and for those that it is an option for they probably don’t need the advice. With that said I do think this is a better option than taking out a loan as most credit card transfer fees are less than loan fees. Make sure to factor in credit score hits, as you’re credit score is almost guaranteed to go down.
Risks in general shouldn’t be feared, it’s takes risks to get where you want to be in life. There’s a fun saying I heard from someone: statistically 10% of all businesses fail. That alone makes most people fear starting a business. The person I’m talking about (wish I knew who it was, but I’m going off memory) says if 10% of businesses fail, all I need to do is start 10 businesses and I should have one successful business.
Now understanding this is great, because it means you’re more prepared to do things and try stuff and if you fail it’s not a big deal, as long as you can have one success. Do I think it should be done in Pokémon. That depends upon you. Some people look at numbers and see that they work and go for it, others look at numbers and worry about if something goes wrong. If you’re doing this for a personal item it’s a lot harder for the numbers to make sense, but if they do. Go for it.