Comments on: Taking Advantage Of Short-Term Opportunities

By: Mike Dunham

Mike Dunham — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 14:44:31 +0000

“Ethical” issues aside, if you passed up the opportunity to get a ~300% ROI with almost no risk and didn’t because of some “emergency” that might or might not happen, then that’s just stupid. Even if you had bought the cards and the “emergency” actually happened the very next day, let’s say you have to put the $1,200 on a credit card. And let’s say you have to carry that balance for ONE WHOLE YEAR while you sell the cards because you are an extreme procrastinator. If your card is charging you 12% a year (which is probably a lot higher than the card(s) you actually have), that’s what, $150? So you only make $3,850 instead of $4,000 on your $1,200 investment, and that’s assuming the “emergency” actually happened, which of course may not have occurred. Seems like extreme risk aversion screwed you pretty good.

By: Randy

Randy — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 13:27:56 +0000

If you have’t read it already “The Richest Man in Babylon” talks about being lucky. It states being lucky is being prepared to take advantage of an opportunity. Its also a short easy read about simply saving money and having your money make money for you.

By: John

John — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 13:21:46 +0000

You mentioned that you know a fair buit about comic books Trent. I am in the process of trimming down my extensive collection (I went through the 2 long boxes and 8 short boxes and immediately realized I wouldn’t lose sleep over 4 short boxes worth) and am wondering what the best option for liquidating them is. I’m guessing Ebay, but I’ve followed several auctions of items that I have and it seems like the prices vary wildy. Any suggestions?

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 11:59:05 +0000

Like Ted, I have a fairly extensive collection of baseball cards from the ’70s and ’80s. I pass them daily on the shelf in my basement and think of them as an investment but have little idea of their value. I’ve bought card collector magazines a few times over the last 20 years but I am always intimidated by the amount of time required to figure out how much cards are worth individually. What do you mean by getting the cards ‘graded?’ I definitely don’t want to just sell the whole collection on e-bay. Any suggestions (maybe worth its own blog post)?

By: reulte

reulte — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 09:25:36 +0000

Jack — the point could be that the seller wanted cash in hand now for the cards and was offering them at a set rate. It doesn’t mean that he didn’t know the value of the cards, rather it meant that he wanted cash in hand now and wasn’t willing to wait or go through the trouble of listing them on craigslist or ebay. I never have this problem when I’m at a yard sale where items are offered for the price that people want at that time. Sure, they could probably get more for the bike, the jewelry, the house, etc. if they took the time to fix it up, clean it up, or research it. For the most part people don’t want to do the work or don’t think the work is worthwhile. If you’re having serious ethical struggles, then simply comment, “You know, with a little work/research you may find you can get more than I’m paying you” and check the reaction.

By: Charles Ngo

Charles Ngo — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 00:23:45 +0000

When reselling things I always post it on craigslist first, then on eBay if it doesn’t sell. I generally make more profit off of craigslist if I can find a buyer due to not having to pay ebay/paypal fees.

When researching prices, I always searched ebay’s completed listings.

eBay listings generally take me about 2 minutes to do. I already have a rough template that I use for everything. All I do is update the description with ebay’s pre-filled information, or I copy and paste a few paragraphs from wikipedia about the item.

By: Mitch

Mitch — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:49:57 +0000

Kenny, you read it correctly; he is just referring to some earlier opportunities when he did not buy it. This spring he’s run into Wii’s available for sale once or twice, and decided not to buy it that day.

However, he’s been talking about getting one for himself since before Christmas, and having considered it carefully finally treated himself this month.

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:18:42 +0000

I have a question that will likely come out as an accusation that I’m not at all intending to make. I’ve had similar situations and I struggle with them and would love another opinion. At what point is it exploitation, versus intelligent investment/trading?

In your second case, you could have turned over the cards for triple what your friend wanted. But do you ever find an ethical issue in situations like that, in that your friend could also have tripled the value if you disclosed?

Like I said, I’m just curious what you think. And I very much enjoy your writing. Keep on.

By: Ted Valentine

Ted Valentine — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:10:39 +0000

You want to buy my banker’s box of 70s and 80s baseball cards?

By: fivecentnickel.com

fivecentnickel.com — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:02:00 +0000

The time and risk involved with buying and eBaying a Wii for a $50 profit just isn’t worth it for me.

By: Kenny

Kenny — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 18:52:53 +0000

But, Trent, On July 2 it appears you announced that you had in fact bought the Wii and enjoyed playing tennis (one of the free games included in the box) with friends. This note says you did not.

Did I miss something here? Misread something?

I played the “buy the hot item and sell it on ebay” last Christmas with those TMX Elmos. That sure was fun.