How do you finance your collection?

I didn't start collecting sealed games (Actually "Collecting" them) until I was about 21. Before that, I did have a part time job whilst I was in sixth form which funded perhaps one new PlayStation game every fortnight ~ Two weeks being usually enough time to complete the previous game bought. I did buy a Jaguar when I was under 18, and also had a Mega Drive that my parents had bought me. After that, I bought myself a PlayStation, N64, and Dreamcast on my weekly wages. I also had a GameBoy in the mid-90's.

I've always bought brand new and sealed games, but it wasn't until about 2001 / 2002 when I started to actually amass them as part of a professional collection. Most of my collection have been bought since 2002, so that's approx 900+ games in five years.

I'm mid 20's, and like many other collector's I have a dead end job which I hate but which pays good money. It helps fund my obsessive game collecting; Alcoholicism; And the trail of gold-digging bitches I always seem to end up with. I live life on the edge, and take each day as it comes, and it doesn't bother me if I spend over £100 on a rare sealed PlayStation or N64 game, as I know in under seven days time I will have the cash back in my bank account

I fund my collection mainly though my wage (i'm 26), tend to spend around £100 - £300 per month but last year this was more like £400 - £500+ per month. (this isnt just sealed stuff by the way). If I see any bargains on ebay that are poorly listed i'l snap them up for re-sale or trading purposes.

Ive noticed recently there are less and less things poping up that interest me. Although Ive spent £330 this month on some excellent items.

> rupert wrote:
> Ive noticed recently there are less and less things poping up that interest me. Although Ive spent £330 this month on some excellent items.

I think generally I noticed that the number of rare and special items on ebay is not as big as it was a year ago ...

I've always loved video games, right from when i first recieved my first console (Snes), whilst at school i would work weekends with my dad for a few hours and as soon as he handed my wage (£5) i would be off like a rocket to my local gamestore to see what second hand games i could buy with my cash. Obviously on £5 a week i would not be able to get many sealed games and i cirtainly wouldn't have been able to resist playing on them if i had.
It wasn't till i'd left school at 16 and got an apprenticeship as a carpenter i was able to fund a start to my collection. I would buy a game once a week, i was on around £130 at the time though most of this was wasted away on drink and other harmful substances you don't rearlly need to know about. But anyways my collection began.
Nowdays i am very happy to report financely i'm doing very well, i'm now a fully qualified carpenter so get around £350 a week and this will improve with time. Also around a year ago i set up an ebay shop selling, what i like and know about most, Video Games!!! it cost a bit (Of time and money) to set up but now it's great... it almost sorts itself out. I spend around 1/2 hour each night packing stuff up and an hour or so listing things at the weekend and that's it. It helps to fund my evergrowing collection, a lot! What also helps also that virtually all my wage is either saved or goes on my collection. I've become a finatical games collector and also thai boxer, this is a great sport and keeps me out of trouble and in the gym. I've got better with time and am now quite an impressive fighter with a fight record of 13 fights 13 wins 4 by KO and am the proud owner of the Midland Kickboxing Champion Belt.... And after the 11th of November hopefully British Thai Boxing Champion Belt

This hobby takes up most of my spare time as i train in the gym 4 nights a week and run for the other 3... and it's sooo cheap, allowing all my funds to go on my other hobby... Game Collecting!!!

...Whilst my two other main hobbies are drinking, and high-maintenance tarts who like dragging me around shoe shops, handbag stores, and jewellers... In regards to the latter: The second I even glance at a GAME or GameStation, I get a hefty slap in the chops with a Louis Vuitton handbag complete with over-sized buckles. And if i'm caught within sniffing distance of said stores, I can expect an evening of Hugh Grant films.

However, I am allowed in HMV, but the chances of me actually spending a penny of my own cash on myself is slim, as i'm always conned into buying the latest must-have teen movie chick flick. When I did grow some balls and decide to spend my last £70 buying myself Guitar Hero II, I got the silent treatment for a whole week, as it meant I had no more money to buy shoes. Shame that. I got the better end of the bargain though, as I spent the whole week playing with it! Lol! What fun is shoes? And why do women have to have so many for? I don't. I have a pair of shabby trainers for dossing about in; A pair of respectable casual shoes for the pub; And a pair of smart shoes for work. That's it.

I have since learnt that if I plow as much money into my other two hobbies (Games and drinking) as I can without the female of the species knowing, then this therefore leaves less money I have to waste on buying useless girlie crap. Although I do make an exception when it's Ann Summers... I keep asking for a "REz Trance Vibrator", but I do get some funny looks...

I work...a lot.

I'm a Ebay seller, and have a room full of stock, so list a few items when i need some paypal credit.

I also advertise for Play-Asia and Yesasia, so earn commission. Most recent games i've bought have been free or around $5-$30 + commission and coupons. I'm usually in the top 10 Play-Asia associates, and can make quite a lot of money when consoles are released (for example i made around $800 from people buying the Final Fantasy Crisis Core PSP though my Yesasia links last month). I love getting free games, for so little effort!.

Anything non Japanese (like Rock Band Set) or ebay items get added to my credit card debt, if they don't accept paypal.

It is the state who finance my collection ^^ I'm a student and at the moment I'm in the military and they forced me to make a longer service. I hate it, but I earn very well (comparing to nothing or to the shorter service).

Well, for my whole after-primary-school life I've had the good sense (in my opinion) to realize that wasting money on intimate relationships is just that - a waste. Likewise, I don't drink. So, after I pay my mortgage, board, and a little under A$100 for bills and food, I have a whole A$200 to myself, or nearly A$1000 a month.

That's working my current full-time job, but I've recently been considering a weekend job also, since (shockingly enough) it seems I really need more money than I have if I expect to both catch up and keep up.

> Darkside wrote:I work...a lot.

me too

i sell games i bought for cheap. thats whats financing my collection right now. its not easy to do since most of them are sealed. like for instance i sold 12 used n64 games for $83 so i used the money to buy a new ar tonelico and time crisis: crisis zone bundle both brand new. im trying to make a 10 rpg lot to sell on ebay

> The Imp wrote:A$

Australian dollars?