I am officially done cracking wax!

[mugmasher]

Omg ...I feel everything your Saying ..I thought I was nuts thinking I was addicted to sports cards ( opening wax ) i started collecting in 1997 ..an since then I have probably been in and out if the hobby fifty times now if not more ...I just get so greedy and I just buy boxes and cases of cards until I'm broke and I feel so ashamed after its all said and done and then I sell everything for a fraction of what I put Into all that I sold ...I was so bad I took $20,000 out of my 401k and spent 80% of that on wax ...and I have nothing to show for it ...I don't know what gets into me ...I guess it's the thrill ride of looking for that next big pull !!! And that sad part was I loved the hobby so much ..all I wanted to do was just collect cards..but I get so impulsive I have to turn into a gluten and not buy one box but instead buy twenty ..,that's just horrible...well I am back again ..and starting with nothing but one card that I have in what used t be a collection ...I am hoping I can enjoy the hobby that I love so much this time ...this is actually my first time back on here in a while ...so I am hoping for the best ...I just can't stay away ...but reading all of. The comments from this post will give me some new insight on just pacing myself and enjoying the hobby the way it was always supposed to be ...for fun

[Fatty McGee]

I have played this over in my head many times through this past year and I'm officially taking a indefinite sabbatical from cracking wax. Some of you may know I spend quite a bit of my hard earned money opening product, typically high end like The Cup, National Treasures, Exquisite and Ultimate Collection. There are a few reasons why I'm stopping.

1. The value on the secondary market is nowhere near what it used to be.
2. The odds of pulling a card I would actually put in my PC are very very poor.
3. The money I spend.

I just cracked two tins of 11/12 The Cup and 1 tin of 12/13 The Cup and left the LCS feeling disgusted with myself. The breaks were slightly below average, I will make back $500 of the $1700 I just spent. The feelings of anger, resentment, disappointment, shame were all prevalent. It actually reminded me of my drinking and using days, the feelings where IDENTICAL.

So let me add a 4th point to the reasons why I'm stopping,

4. I clearly have a problem.

Many of you will not be able to relate with this. "Having a problem with sports cards?!?!" "how does that make any sense?". Unfortunately I was blessed and cursed with an addictive personality, or OCD also alcoholism. I credit my professional success to this trait, it is also the bane of my existence.

So these are the reason's why I'm done. I will miss it, nothing beats hitting a sick Gretzky, Jordan or short printed rookie card. For some reason the cards don't have as much of an appeal to me if I purchase them off the secondary market. There is something about the experience of actually hitting a sick card that that I find so attractive. And no it's not gambling to me, I don't sell the big hits! I keep them.

Anyways I will now Mod and stay involved in the hobby, maybe start trading? I don't know. We will see.

No joke, while I read this is was like reading my own words from 4 years ago. Every. Single. Word. The. SAME! I reached the breaking point exactly like you and did something to break my addiction (Much like I did with my drinking). I know I've mentioned on other threads, but I feel it needs mentioning again; "I sold 98% of my collection and it was the best thing I ever did!" For the first few days, it was horrible. I truly felt sick and hated myself. But then a new product came out and instead of saying, "Well, I have to at least get a box or maybe even a case" I thought to myself, "I just sold everything for pennies on the dollar! Why the heck would I flush MORE money down the toilet?! And is THAT the set I want to collect exclusively? Yuk". So I didn't buy anything. And guess what? Another set came out and I thought the same thing. Then another, another, etc.

But what about my personal collection, you say? Well, that's the part that I still find really interesting. I didn't WANT to add to my PC. Oh, I THOUGHT I did, but when it came down to forking out the money (Remember, almost everything was gone. I didn't even have traders) I once again thought, "Why? What is the actual reason I want this?" And I didn't get anything. Instead, I went to the box that had my PC in it, I looked at the cards, put them away and truly realised that every year they would be worth a little less. It was like a shovel to the head of reality.

Oh sure, much like an alcoholic I fall off the wagon every once in a while, but hey, that's something that you learn to accept and work through when you're in AA or NA. In fact, I actually use a lot of the AA techniques to NOT buy singles/packs/boxes/cases, etc of cards. It's crazy on the surface, but when you take a step back, it really makes sense. Every once in a while, I'll come across what I think is the deal of a life time, I'll pounce on it and then tell my wife. She'll freak out a little then tell me that the cards (or whatever) have to be out of the house within two weeks or I can't buy anything ever again. And guess what? I've turned a profit most of the time. The only time I don't is when that deal ends up being not such a deal LOL.

So, good for you. You've hit rock bottom. You are as low as you can go and now you can enjoy the glory of the rebuilding process. Just remember, "One day at a time" :-)

[Gallinator]

LOL any non-collector reading this thread would think we are all bonkers!

[habscards]

I have three points here. One is that I will say the same thing that has been said in this thread before; If you are busting wax (packs/boxes/cases) for profit then you should re think what you are doing. When I open a box I am going in full well knowing that chances are good that I will lose money but I am OK with that. It is like gambling in a way. You pay for your chance to play and most of the time you will come out behind from what you started with. And no, I do not have a big bank account that I do not need to worry about money and can spend whatever that I want. I look at this as a hobby of mine. I used to play golf once or twice a week. By the time that I would pay for my green fees, cart rental (I am too lazy to walk), lunch, a few beers and gas I could say that a round of gold would cost me $100. After the round what do I have to show for it? A scorecard if no one else wants to keep it and some memories which will fade over time. Now if I bust a box I will have physical cards in my hands to look at, trade or sell for new traders or another box. Now I just play golf a few times over the summer.

My second point is that people just need to do a little more work and have more patience when selling their cards. As we all know buying a box is a crapshoot. No if, and or buts about it. But if you do your homework you can increase your chances of coming out ahead or breaking even. Pick a product that on average yields a good return. So far this year I would pick Series One and Titanium. I know that everyone likes different products for different reasons but those two have the best ROI in my opinion.

The third is to have patience when moving your cards out. I busted a box and three loose packs of Titanium the other day. So often I see people open a box and then list everything that they pulled at auction starting at $0.99 and just sell whatever they pulled at discounted rates. Everyone with an eBay account can list 50 free listing a month. Everyone should take advantage of that. List your cards that you pulled at a certain price and accept best offers. I have sold a Ward Social Signatures auto for $12, Foligno gold base for $15 and a Primeau prime jersey /50 for $12 over the last few days. Now I know that those sales are nothing to write home about but I would guess that at auction they sell for $5 a piece. I would rather control what my cards sell for rather than hoping that they sell for higher dollar amounts. Now some cards you will hold onto for a long time but some move faster than others. I also have seen cards sell at auction on eBay for price way above what I would expect that card to sell for but those sales are getting fewer and farther apart.

[87sluggo]

So, good for you. You've hit rock bottom. You are as low as you can go and now you can enjoy the glory of the rebuilding process. Just remember, "One day at a time" :-)

Today was it for me. I'm not addicted to busting boxes, I'm not addicted to the "hot" cards either. I've never been in this hobby to make money, although every now and then I'll buy a lot to flip it one-by-one and I almost never lose (the last lot made me $100+ plus I got to keep 6 for myself and give away more than 20) I don't like the taste of alcohol, I don't like the effects of drugs, I don't gamble.

I AM addicted to eBay, but it's not CRAY-ZEEEEEEE. I have a decent job and I can almost afford my problem.

But today.......today I went to the card show, and I saw a table with some amazing stuff on it. Stuff I could never afford. Except....... I go chasing SO many low and mid-end cards, cards that are practically worthless for all intents and purposes except that they cost me real money, that all I can do is stare at the high-end stuff with love in my eyes.

I have 16,000 cards in my room. Maybe two handfuls of them are high-end, and only because I cut two of my fingers off in an industrial accident. The rest fills binder upon binder. I justified it as being "fun"......but it isn't, it's just pile after pile of junk. There's no reason to own 400+ Wayne Gretzky cards when I never even liked him. Or Dominik Hasek, what did he ever do for the Canucks? Or Paul Kariya, or Cujo??

And I do like busting wax..Every time I go into the LCS Derek convinces me to buy a box of something, UD Team Canada and Black Diamond and 12/13 Titanium the last three times. Of course I got pretty much squat, but it was only $80, $90 & $70 right?? Except that $240 will buy a HECK of a high-end card.

So I'm disgusted with myself. Not so much over my addictions, but more because of the sheer waste. And I'm gonna fix it. I've got 960+ cards entered into Turbo Lister so far, and I'm just gonna keep on going. It's going to be Ryan Kesler, 04/05 SP Authentic, my Habs binder, my Canucks binder, high-end and 50's & 60's vintage to collect. The rest of it will go and I won't buy any more.

Feh.

[netsinah]

I think it obvious that people who get a "high" cracking wax and pulling "the big card" are engaging in a form of gambling and there's no doubt that gambling in any form can become an addiction: you see/hear about it everywhere with VLT's, Casino's, racetracks, etc.etc. (the list is endless). Those of us (like me) with "collecting personalities" who enjoy opening wax and especially costly high-end wax like the Cup, must recognize this as a potential problem that can drain huge bucks. As others have said, opening wax and expecting to sell the cards later to recoup what's been spent, is a foolish attitude and totally unrealistic expectation. The odds of finding a card or cards valuable enough to even get your money back (let alone make a profit) are staggering. But of course, poor odds never stop someone seeking the thrill of gambling...

Aside from the money (and time) drain, I don't think people look down the road far enough and consider the cards being amassed will at some point, have to be dealt with. Some sell whatever cards they get from opening (a huge time commitment)…others sell some but keep a portion for their PC…but many simply set them aside and the number of cards continues to grow. All these cards will eventually have to be dealt with and if, like me, you're left with a good size room full of 5,000 and 3,200 count boxes and stacks of smaller boxes…the prospect of finding a new home for all the cards becomes overwhelming. I don't have the time to properly organize and sell off a ton of cards.

Now I realize that some will argue this is a hobby and they enjoy chasing down player/team/insert/etc. cards…and tying that in with the actual sport so they look at the players and teams and relate that to the cards…and don't mind organizing and putting cards/sets/boxes on the shelf…then sometimes returning to them to look at the cards, consider the stats on the back of them, etc. etc. I don't dispute that and justified my involvement as a much needed hobby stress relief, for years. Each to his/her own and all of us will of course have to do what we consider right for ourselves and there's no right answer. But for me and after amassing LOTS of cards, I reached a stage where I was spending a LARGE amount of money and my card count continued to grow and grow…and what little spare time I had wasn't enough to deal with the sportscards and there were other things that needed my spare time more (ie. family).

So I slowed my routine of cracking lots of high-end wax, then I finally over several years, went through all my cards and threw out 99.9% of all the commons. LOTS of large boxes and big black garbage bags (40 to 50? more??) of cards, went to the dumpster or recycle. That took many many hours. I did try and donate some to the local hospitals, but they turned me down saying they had too many and the kids were too disappointed when looking through a ton of cards and not finding any of "The Great One" or Crosby or other favorite players.

Then after that, the issue became how to get rid of the remaining cards. There are the super high end that can be sold individually, then there's the sets that are worth good bucks, but then it comes down to a lot of lesser cards and trying to market them on the bay or collecting boards will take much too much TIME or at least for me, I didn't have the time to market them and as well, the issues you deal with as a seller make it very unattractive: unpaying buyers, buyers who aren't collectors and are looking only to make a generous and often unfair profit off my cards, the ebay fees and (moreso) the paypal fees, contending with the US/Can volatile exchange rate, ebay policies of favouring the buyer (such as the seller having to prove receipt of all cards and lower end cards not justifying the cost of tracking ship), but the main problem was always one of time. Time isn't on anyone's side when it comes to sale prices…typically the longer you hang onto a card, the less you get from its sale. So I had cards for years that might have sold for 4 to 5 times more, had I marketed them soon after the wax was released, but sitting on them cost me huge bucks.

One solution to getting rid of the lesser cards, was to leave them on consignment with a dealer who makes his/her living off the sale of sports cards…recognizing the hit you take on the consignment fee.

My motivation to deal with my card collection and slow down, came from several deaths amongst close friends/family…and then being an executor and looking after their all their assets…and once again the effort/time involved in clearing up their Estates. It really brings home the fact that someone will have to deal with any card collection left behind and in my case, I knew that my spouse (who considered my collections worthless) would take "5 cents on the dollar" at most for what I left behind, since she'd have no clue on value or how to market anything.

Anyways, there's one person's perspective for you. I wish you luck in deciding what's right for you.

[centrehice]

Today was it for me. I'm not addicted to busting boxes, I'm not addicted to the "hot" cards either. I've never been in this hobby to make money, although every now and then I'll buy a lot to flip it one-by-one and I almost never lose (the last lot made me $100+ plus I got to keep 6 for myself and give away more than 20) I don't like the taste of alcohol, I don't like the effects of drugs, I don't gamble.

I AM addicted to eBay, but it's not CRAY-ZEEEEEEE. I have a decent job and I can almost afford my problem.

But today.......today I went to the card show, and I saw a table with some amazing stuff on it. Stuff I could never afford. Except....... I go chasing SO many low and mid-end cards, cards that are practically worthless for all intents and purposes except that they cost me real money, that all I can do is stare at the high-end stuff with love in my eyes.

I have 16,000 cards in my room. Maybe two handfuls of them are high-end, and only because I cut two of my fingers off in an industrial accident. The rest fills binder upon binder. I justified it as being "fun"......but it isn't, it's just pile after pile of junk. There's no reason to own 400+ Wayne Gretzky cards when I never even liked him. Or Dominik Hasek, what did he ever do for the Canucks? Or Paul Kariya, or Cujo??

And I do like busting wax..Every time I go into the LCS Derek convinces me to buy a box of something, UD Team Canada and Black Diamond and 12/13 Titanium the last three times. Of course I got pretty much squat, but it was only $80, $90 & $70 right?? Except that $240 will buy a HECK of a high-end card.

So I'm disgusted with myself. Not so much over my addictions, but more because of the sheer waste. And I'm gonna fix it. I've got 960+ cards entered into Turbo Lister so far, and I'm just gonna keep on going. It's going to be Ryan Kesler, 04/05 SP Authentic, my Habs binder, my Canucks binder, high-end and 50's & 60's vintage to collect. The rest of it will go and I won't buy any more.

Feh.

Look deep inside this message. There is a heroin card addict in denial, volunteering a problem/issue? Lool. Ed, call me when you start knocking off Liquor Stores.

[87sluggo]

Look deep inside this message. There is a heroin card addict in denial, volunteering a problem/issue? Lool. Ed, call me when you start knocking off Liquor Stores.

No sir, I went to a meeting last night instead.........there's a very nice little 1/1 with a huge piece of fabric on the eBay there, that started out with an $800 BIN a few weeks ago. Of course the seller has steadily admitted defeat and the price has steadily decreased, $549, $499, $299, $259......now as of last night it's up for bids starting at 99 cents. I know what it will probably go for and I know who I'm up against for it, and.............he can have it. I am two cards shy of applying for SuperCollector status for my guy, and I have 21 incoming. So I don't neeeeeeeeed another hit :)

Besides, I've been jailed three times, I'm not going back to the pen for a liquor store!

[centrehice]

No sir, I went to a meeting last night instead.........there's a very nice little 1/1 with a huge piece of fabric on the eBay there, that started out with an $800 BIN a few weeks ago. Of course the seller has steadily admitted defeat and the price has steadily decreased, $549, $499, $299, $259......now as of last night it's up for bids starting at 99 cents. I know what it will probably go for and I know who I'm up against for it, and.............he can have it. I am two cards shy of applying for SuperCollector status for my guy, and I have 21 incoming. So I don't neeeeeeeeed another hit :)

Besides, I've been jailed three times, I'm not going back to the pen for a liquor store!

Two cards short? Who decides Super Collector status?, and based on what? You have 10 X Times more Kesler cards than anybody on this planet, I think you more than qualify. Sheesh ….

What happens when you get 2 more cards? Will you then be required to juggle Chainsaws while riding a Unicycle on a High-wire?

[87sluggo]

Two cards short? Who decides Super Collector status?, and based on what? You have 10 X Times more Kesler cards than anybody on this planet, I think you more than qualify. Sheesh ….

What happens when you get 2 more cards? Will you then be required to juggle Chainsaws while riding a Unicycle on a High-wire?

For players with over 1000 cards you need a minimum of 50% which I think is more than fair. After that it's just a matter of keeping up with the new releases.....

To paraphrase a certain Canadian/American who put things into perspective about supercollecting players........ I have 500+ cards of a 2nd-line centre playing on a team that's never won anything and which probably never will, with a Selke and an Olympic silver medal to his name. Could be better, could be worse. That's why it's only a hobby :)

If I stop typing things in the next few weeks you'll know I failed the chainsaw competition!