Now, don't get me wrong. I do believe everyone has the right to charge what they want for the models they buy, especially if it's a model in high demand and limited quantity...I just sometimes wish they wouldn't do that. Take Valiant, for example...
Unfortunately, my brother is one of those people who would charge more than he should just because he has a model that is a variation of the regular run and because he has the box. He thinks he could ask for more just because he has the original box. I tried explaining to him that the box itself isn't going to be worth much with the model since the model was removed from the box and displayed so it was not an MIB or NIB. I told him he would have to disclose the fact that it's been displayed and he said he didn't have to and I told him it was dishonest. He didn't seem to grasp that concept.
Another example is when I was at my local dealer on Tuesday picking up Snowman, we were talking about Breyerfest and how I wanted to go. They really encouraged me to go and said I should buy a ticket "just in case" and I could always sell it if it turned out I couldn't go and that if I did that I might even make a profit. I told them I wouldn't do that and their response was "Well, you could." I don't know. When I was younger and Garth Brooks was in his prime I had 3 tickets to his show and they were, like, 14th row on the floor. My dad said I could sell them for a profit because the money I made would last longer than a couple of hours of enjoyment at the concert. Why does everyone think money is the most important thing? Yes, it's VERY important, but it's not THE MOST important. <sigh> Maybe I'm an idiot for not being like everyone else and getting what I can, whenever I can. I'll be the first to admit I have expensive tastes. I have expensive hobbies with the model horses and photography. But what can I say? I grew up with a friend whose family had more money than mine and I got to enjoy going out with them.
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I had to stop because I'm training on new stuff at work and I wasn't going to make my co-worker sit there while I finished my entry so it's now 2 1/2 hours later.
Anyway. I guess...like I said, I know people can charge whatever they want, but if they really want to sell horses they aren't doing themselves any favors by setting a price so high. No, I know I don't have to pay the high prices and it's up to me to decide how much I want to spend on any given horse, but it sucks that I have to choose sometimes between having a few dollars in my bank account versus a model I don't really need but would really like. I won't get into what I think of the people who buy multiple models to turn around and sell for a profit. hahaha.
Speaking of my Breyer dealer, I found out on Blab last week about a new model that is due out in early October.
So, I have a pen obsession. It's better than it used to be because I used to be in the hospitality industry and it was easier to grab pens that were left lying around. I used to have probably 75 or so just from picking them up at places where I worked. One resort, for some reason the maids would have a bunch of different ones and would leave them lay around in the linen closets where we got our towels from and sometimes they'd just end up in my pocket. hahaha. Surprisingly, I don't have any pens anymore from any of the hotels/resorts I used to work at. hahaha. But I have newer ones. Mostly San Diego and Las Vegas
I hope everyone had a nice weekend. Mine was good. I got to see my friend Lori for a few hours on Saturday. She was in town with a co-worker of her sister's for an NFL game and the other girl let Lori borrow her truck so she could come see me. We drove around for awhile. We went to the resort we used to work at then drove around and looked at some of the fancy houses in Paradise Valley. We saw a convoy of Google cars out taking pictures. That was pretty cool. Lori said she wanted that job and I said she'd have to move to California since Google was headquartered in Northern California and she said she could handle Northern California. I then showed her where I worked and the houses with horse property that I like to drive by and look at. At one point we decided maybe we should get some dinner and pulled over into a shopping center so she could text the girl she'd come with and ask if she wanted to go to a vegetarian buffet near where I lived. Andi said she wasn't hungry and was watching college football and told Lori to enjoy herself. As we sat there I happened to look up and see a glowing red sign across the parking lot. I asked Lori if it was a Cold Stone Creamery sign and she said yes and so we went and had ice cream for dinner. hahaha. I had a yummy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup concoction. It was chocolate ice cream with a swirl of peanut butter and had peanut butter cup chunks. Wow. Eventually, though, she had to take me back home and take the truck back to Andi. It was really nice of her to let Lori use it so she could come visit me. It's kind of funny, though. Lori and I have seen more of each other in the past 11 months than we have in the previous 10 years. She only lives about 6 1/2 hours away but she isn't really all that conveniently located. I'm not going to drive to St George alone and while she lives only 2 1/2 hours from Las Vegas, I don't really want to fly to Las Vegas then spend the time in St George. She likes visiting Arizona, but doesn't always have money to make the drive to Arizona. She agreed, though, that it's been nice seeing each other so much (even if it was because of family issues) and said we should try to make more of an effort to get together when money allows.
Well, I guess that's it for now. It looks like my work load might actually be increasing at work, which is good. I went home early two days last week because of no work and I'd rather go home than sit around and do nothing, you know?
**update** I found out that the little silver Venetian pen is actually refillable and uses a refill that some of my others do. Hurray!
Ah, but you would remember the Garth Brooks concert forever. Would you remember what you spent the money on? Most likely not. Memories are more important. It seems cheap that some businesses, instead of giving bonuses, give an employee a trip. Turns out later that the employee enjoyed the trip more than a bonus because it creates a memory. On our deathbeds we wish for more memories, not money.
ReplyDeleteToo many people chase money. Yes, it is nice to have BUT it isn't everything. I like getting a good price on my model horses, don't get me wrong. But I try and be fair too. If it happens to go for more than I expected then that is the gravy. Perhaps that is why I will never be rich. Wrong attitude. But my hobby is for fun and I like sharing it with others who want to have fun.
We hear about the big bucks but how many do they not sell or sell cheaply? We don't hear about that. Anyway, just rambling...like it isn't obvious :).
I agree. I didn't agree with my dad's reasoning and thought I was stupid for not trying to sell the tickets for a big profit since the concert sold out in an hour. Of course, it didn't stop him from attending the show and he had a good time. But yeah. Memories last longer than the money. As for companies giving trips instead of bonuses...I think I'd prefer a trip!
ReplyDeleteYou are very right about people chasing money. Sure. I wish I had a LOT more of it, but sometimes I wonder if they're really happy. When my friend and I were driving around Saturday night looking at all the big, expensive houses I told her they probably didn't appreciate what they have. They take it for granted. People who start out with little and maybe win the lottery or whatever, they're the ones who appreciate the nice things because they went so long without.
Who doesn't enjoy getting a good price for their stuff they're trying to sell, especially if it goes for higher than they'd imagined? I certainly wouldn't tell a customer "Oh, I'm sorry. Here's your extra $200 back because I thought I'd only get $$300 for it" or whatever. If you have an older model or a model where very few were made of and it's in great condition then I think it's fair to ask a pretty penny for it IF you need the money or some other legitimate reason. But to put it up for sale just because there's others out there doing the same thing, then it gets to the "not fair" category. I don't know. I'm real big on fairness. I will say I paid $250 for my Kalahkaari. I didn't want to spend that much, but it looked like there were fewer and fewer becoming available on the secondary market. One girl offered to sell me hers for $250 but it had a ton of flaws. The one I bought had a couple and was more worth the money than the flawed one, but since the $250 is the going price at the moment, that's what most people set the price at, regardless of the condition. On blab a couple of months ago I commented on someone's thread about being a day late and a dollar short on getting a Mother Lode from another blabber. Next thing I knew, I was getting PMs from others offering to sell me theirs. For $400 or more! Uhm. No, thanks. Not when the model only cost $175. But then again, there was only 100 of them made so it's supply and demand. Oh well. I guess some of it is sour grapes. Another blabber was trying to sell some of her models and had a couple of the CC Shuffles from Breyerfest. I offered to buy both of them and asked for short time payments. She said if she couldn't find someone who could buy them outright, she'd let me know. Well, she never did say anything and then I saw them on ebay. They never did sell and by that time I would've had them paid for if she'd done time pays with me.
What were you saying about rambling? hahaha