welcome back to another episode a flagship episode here of stacking slabs on the stacking slabs network of course this is your hobby content alternative and i am brett appreciate you being here make sure you're following along to all of the episodes going out from each of the shows here on the stacking slabs network all you have to do is hit the follow button if you're enjoying what we're doing here tell a damn friend more content over in the patreon group there is a topic i've been thinking about i have been thinking about it from my own perspective as a collector and what i wanted to do here is perhaps make an argument for why buying less can make collecting better i know it sounds crazy we like things we like our mail days we like that dopamine hit but i have been taking a couple steps back i've been looking at the market i've been seeing what's happening i've been trying to map back that all back to my goals as a collector and one of the observations i have found is i'm buying less does it necessarily mean i'm not buying because of prices i am just refocusing my efforts and so i can say this by slowing down i'm enjoying the hobby a little bit better so wanna get into all of that but before we do gotta shout out inferno red technology the official sponsor of the flagship episode they're the engineering team behind some of the biggest names in sports and collectibles like dc sports eighty seven comc collectors upper deck and ebay from ai powered solutions for start ups to full stack platforms for industry leaders their team can tackle your toughest technology challenge they build awesome software for the hobby for leagues and fans and for everyone in between see what they can build for you at inferno red dot com i wanna start with a number nine hundred eleven point seven nine million dollars that is the total amount of online trading card sales card ladder reported for august that number could change it likely changes at the time of recording that's what it says and that is a monster number and i think about that number and i think about all of the major auction houses and auctions that ran in august and all the big cards that went off the board and all of the sales the volume of sales happening on ebay and it all rolls up into that monster number a number that we've never seen before for context the previous record was six hundred and ninety five point five five million in june july came in at six ninety four august did not inch past the record it exceeded it by more than two hundred and sixteen million dollars that is an increase of about thirty two percentage from the previous high in just one month more than nine hundred million in tracked online card sales that number will get the headlines and it deserves our attention it tells us there's demand it tells us there's liquidity it tells us more cards are changing hands and more money is moving through this hobby than card ladder has ever recorded in one month that's exciting it's good for collectors to see new people enter the hobby it's good to see established collectors show conviction it is good to see cards that have been held on to for years find new homes it is good to know that when the time comes to sell there are active buyers across categories and price points i am not opening this episode with a record number so i can spend the next thirty minutes telling you that the hobby is out of control i'm not here to predict a crash i'm not here to tell you that every expensive sale is irrational i'm not interested in treating strong market activity as a problem i like what is happening i like seeing important cards surface i like seeing collectors compete for them i like seeing the attention that is brought to the hobby because of these sales i like that the market has enough depth to support support cards and categories that receive less respect five years ago but i also know what a number like nine hundred and eleven million can do to a collector it can change your sense of normal it can make you feel late it can make you feel small it can make you feel like everyone else is buying while you're sitting still it can make a card you had never thought about feel urgent after watching three other people chase it it can make you confuse activity with progress that is what i want to talk about today what if one of the best ways to improve your hobby experience right now is to buy less not stop buying not leave the hobby not wait for some market to decline and it may never come back but just buy less make fewer decisions pass on more cards that you like create enough room for the cards that matter most to become clear the point of this episode is not that fewer cards make you a better collector the point is that a record market places more demand on your attention if you do not decide what matters to you the market will keep giving you reasons to buy what matters to someone else a record month is information about the market but it is not instruction for your wallet think about the hobby experience most of us have right now you wake up open your phone and see the biggest sales from the night before you can watch an auction in in real time you can get a notification when a card on your watch list is ending you can see a collector post a mail day learn the card exists search for another copy check the comps message the seller and pay for it without getting out of bed there is less friction between seeing a card and owning a card these there are more available there are more auction houses there are more marketplace tools there are more live selling platforms there's more shows there's more products more parallels there are more creators showing you what they bought there's more information too sales histories pop reports market indexes alerts vaults digital collections private deals public auctions group chats all of it that access has made us better collectors in many ways it has also made buying the easiest response to almost every hobby feeling you're bored you browse you see a card sale you search for another one a player is a big game you check what is ending a friend lands a card you start thinking about the version you might want you sell something before money reaches your account you already assigned it to the next purchase you have a slow week a mail day gives the week a hobby event none of those actions make you reckless they make you human the hobby gives us a steady supply of prompts many of those prompts lead towards acquisition buy this release bid on this card do not miss this copy look at what sold look at what someone else found look what's moving the market is good at presenting possibilities it is not responsible for protecting your own priorities that part belongs to you i wanna make this practical because we throw around words like fomo so often that the word can lose its meaning there are a few separate focus forces at work when the market becomes this active the first is social proof social proof is something i think a lot about as a marketer when we see more people spending bidding posting participation begins to feel like confirmation a card attracts attention because collectors want it then the attention becomes another reason collectors want it the sale is no longer only evidence of what one buyer paid it becomes a signal this card matters this category is moving serious collectors are here do not get left behind the sale must be valid the card might deserve the price the category might have room to grow none of that tells you whether the card belongs in your collection the market can be right about a card and the card can still be wrong for you the second force is scarcity sports cards play scarcity in front of us all day one of one out of five pop one first copy to surface fresh to market final hours scarcity is not fake by definition some cards are hard to replace some chances do not return for years or maybe ever a disciplined collector has to respect that but scarcity can answer the wrong question scarcity tells you how often you get the chance to buy something it does not tell you how much the object should matter to you those are different questions if a card is rare and meaningful scarcity supports your conviction if a card is rare and unrelated to your collection scarcity can create conviction that was not there before that is where collectors get into trouble the third force is competition auctions turn a purchase into a contest once you place a bid it can stop feeling like you're evaluating a card and start feeling like you're defending a position research on what is called auction fever found that high time pressure and competition with real people increase bidders' arousal and lead to higher bids in ascending auctions that should sound familiar i've been talking about it on some episodes of stacking slabs you set a number before the auction someone passes you you tell yourself one more bid now you are not only deciding what the card is worth you are responding to another person you want the card but you also want to win there's nothing wrong with enjoying the enjoying the competition of it all the problem comes when the price of winning becomes detached from the role of the card and that that role the card will play after the auction ends i think the fourth force is opportunity neglect and this one matters consumer research have found that people often fail to consider what a purchase displaces unless they're prompted to think about the alternative when those alternatives are made visible purchase rates can fall and buyers choose less expensive options in collector language we're good at asking do i want this card we are less consistent at asking what does buying this card prevent me from doing next that impulse purchase might take your attention away from a private conversation that needs patience every yes uses money but it also uses space attention and future flexibility the cost of a card introduces the next choice you lose the fifth force is comparison when the market is doing record numbers your own collection can look inactive by comparison you might be holding cards you love you might have spent years building a collection that reflects your life you might be in a sound financial position and you might have no reason to change anything then you see what everyone else is buying your collection feels smaller than it did five months ago nothing about your cards change your reference points change that is why comparison is so costly in this hobby it can reduce the meaning of something you own without changing the object at all i think it's important to note that buying is not the same as collecting this is a distinction i keep coming back to buying is part of collecting it is not the whole experience buying is a transaction collecting is the relationship you build with the objects the people the history and the choices over time buying can happen in thirty seconds collecting can take years you have built much of the modern hobby around the moment of acquisition the post the package the reveal the mail date the auction when those moments are fun i'm not giving them up but the high from getting a card can cover up a weak reason for wanting it you can feel good when the package arrives and still realize three months later that the card has no place in your collection i've done this i've seen this happen to other collectors i did not make some terrible decision i did not put myself in financial danger i bought a card i liked but liking is not the same as needing to own it the difference has become more important to me and i'm observing this with myself and how i collect and how i buy there are thousands of cards i like i've got a whole watch list full of them there are fewer cards that can make my collection meaningful if i treat those two groups the same i spend my money and attention on cards that'll never last that is where buying less starts to help it forces distinction between appreciation and ownership you are allowed to think a card is great and let someone else own it you are allowed to follow a category without entering it you're allowed to celebrate a record sale without looking for a cheaper version of the same idea you are allowed to admire another collector's taste without copying it that is not passive collecting that's confidence i'm thinking a lot about the season i am in right now in my own personal collecting i wanna make this personal because i'm not presenting a theory from outside the market i feel the same pressure i see the same cards i get the same messages i watch important cards get listed i know if i pass the next chance will cost me more i know that some cards might not surface again i also know what happens when i buy too many cards that are good but not central to what i'm building the collection gets larger but its purpose becomes less clear right now i've limited my buying i've been selling more i'm trying to land cards that have a deeper connection to me and to the collection i want to build that means i'm moving away from a pattern i know well see the card think it's cool buy it wait for the mail date post it start looking for the next card there is nothing evil about that cycle it can be a fun way to explore it it has helped me learn and some of my favorite collecting lanes started because i took a chance on a card that caught my attention but a behavior that helps you explore can limit you once you know what you really care about and at some point exploration has to produce judgment you learn enough to say this is not for me that is not this card moves the collection forward that card gives me a mail date this card i wanna build around this is a card i would be trying to sell six months from now i do not want my collection to become a record of what caught my attention for five minutes i want it to be a record of what held my attention over time that requires more passing it requires selling cards that no longer fit it requires holding cash without treating it as an unfinished transaction it requires accepting that another collector will buy the card i like it also requires trusting that my best hobby experience will not come from keeping pace with the market it will come from building a collection that keeps pace with my values when i when people hear buy less they focus right to money money matters a budget is real debt is real family priorities are real no card is worth creating a problem outside the hobby but the benefit of buying less is larger than the amount left in your account buying less gives your attention back each card you own asks something from you you track it store it insure it evaluate it you decide whether to hold it you compare it to the next version you can consider grading selling or trading it one card does not create much work hundreds of weak decisions do when you buy less you have more attention for what you already own you can go back through your collection you can research cards history remember why you bought it you can have a conversation with another collector about it you can improve how you store it or display it you can understand where it sits inside the player's history or inside your own collecting story buying less gives you patience back patience is hard to maintain when your money is spread across ten cards you've always wanted it is easier when you know the one or two cards you're prepared to wait for a patient collector is not an active they're researching building relationships watching copies learning ownership history understanding condition saving selling getting ready the transaction is delayed but collecting is still happening buying less gives you standards when you know you can't buy every card you like you have to decide what meets your standard the question develops taste why the player why the issue why the year why the copy why does it deserve space next to the other cards you care about standards are not designed to impress other collectors they protect the direction of your own collection buying less gives you memory think about your favorite cards you can often remember where you were when you found them who helped you what you sold how long you waited why the card mattered at that point in your life those details give the card weight beyond the price when acquisition becomes constant cards can arrive faster than meaning can form around the package lands the post goes up the next search begins buying less creates time for ownership and buying less gives you flexibility this matters most in an active market record sales do not only create temptation they create liquidity this means that this means this can be useful a very very useful time to evaluate what you own and move cards that no longer fit you can turn the past decisions into flexibility for future ones selling is not a failure of conviction when your collection has changed holding cash is not missing out when you are preparing for a card with more meaning passing today can increase the quality of a yes later i think a collection is a set of decisions around identity we have covered russell belk's mindset regarding possessions a lot here in the extended sell as a reminder the basic idea is that what we own can help express and reinforce who we believe we are collectors understand this without reading a research paper your collection says something about you not every card has to carry a serious story not because a collection needs a mission statement it says something through repetition the players you return to the designs you notice the errors you like the risks you take the collection becomes more specific as your decisions become more specific that is another reason buying less can improve your experience when you remove the need to act on every interest your real interest become easier to see look at the cards you still care about after the purchase excitement is gone that's useful evidence the hobby gives us public metrics sales prices public pop reports followers likes auction results those numbers can inform you they cannot define a personal collection for you if the only evidence that a card matters is that the market has started paying attention to it you do not have conviction yet you have a signal worth investigating take time to learn whether the signal connects to something that's real and authentic for you i wanna challenge one easy conclusion before we move into a framework you will hear people say that too many choices makes us unhappy there is some research behind choice overload but the full evidence is mixed a major meta analysis found that the average effect across many experience was close to zero with large differences based on the person in the decision setting the nuance matters more cards do not automatically make collecting worse more options can help an experienced collector find a better fit more marketplaces can improve access more data can improve judgment more categories can give people more ways to connect with sports and culture the issue is not that the hobby contains too much the issue is entering a market with endless options and no clear basis for choosing when your preferences are weak every new option competes for your attention when your preferences are clear more options give you more chances to say no and wait for the right fit that is the goal not a smaller hobby a clear collector i hate to be absolute so i'll make sure this is clear buying less is not a rule that applies to every collector in every season if you are new you need some exploration you can learn through research but you can also learn through owning cards you can learn what designs hold your attention what sets matter what players you like a new collector who refuses to make any imperfect purchase might not ever develop taste keep the stakes manageable and treat those early buys as tuition buying less can also be the wrong advice when a true target appears some cards are some cards are replaceable some cards aren't if a card has been on your list for years fits your collection fails within a number established before the auction and you understand what the purchase displaces buying it can be a disciplined decision do not buy less as an excuse to avoid committing to anything fear can be mistaken for patience there's also no virtue in owning a small collection for the sake of owning a small collection some people love sets some people love player runs some people love binders some people love one of one some people love dollar box cards some love opening wax with their kids the number of cards is not the measure the alignment is buying less is useful when it improves your experience i want to provide a filter you can use without turning your hobby into a corporate planning exercise before the next meaningful purchase ask six questions did i want this before i saw it available what role does the card play in my collection what does this purse purchase displace what would i would i want it if the price and the audience were hidden what is my walkaway number and where did i get it and if i pass what will i do next if this episode is connecting with you try it try it for thirty days this is not a no buy challenge the goal is not to prove that you can resist cards the goal is to produce better evidence about your own behavior review your last ten purchases do not judge them by whether the price went up or down ask whether you would buy the card again today ask what triggered the purchase how long you wanted it ask if it still fits next create a target list not fifty pick three to five they don't all need to be expensive they need to represent the direction you want third create a waiting list for everything else when a card catches your attention save the image write down the date do not make the first moment of interest carry the full decision return to the card few days later maybe even a week later if the listing allows if it's an auction ending sooner run the six questions before bidding some interest will get stronger many disappear that is not a lost opportunity that is information also sell with a purpose do not dump because the market is active look for the cards that no longer match your direction cards you forgot you own cards that you keep because selling would force you to admit the purchase did not work turn those cards into money space and attention then decide when those resources where those resources go before the next listing decides for you there is a lot of things that we can do to measure measure sentiment measure our own interests and measure preferences again i'm not trying to over systematize or over structure things i'm just sharing some information with you of how i'm thinking about the new world or the new season i'm in as a collector there's a lot of conversation right now about who has the advantage the biggest buyer the person with the best idea the dealer with the strongest inventory the collector with the earliest information all of those advantages can still matter but there is another advantage available to anyone knowing what you do not need if you know the players you do not collect you save attention if you know the parallels you don't care about you save money if you know the grades that do not change your enjoyment you avoid paying for a label that does not serve you if you know the social signals that affect you you can create the distance before you act if you know what belongs to the center of your collection the rest of the market becomes information instead of pressure this does not mean your your taste can never change collectors should evolve i've evolved quite a bit ever since i've been back in the hobby the collection i want today is not the collection i wanted five years ago that is part of the experience but change should come from learning not from being pulled towards whatever received the most attention that week the ability to say no is not restriction on collecting it's what gives your yes meaning nine hundred and eleven million is a crazy number it's worth celebrating it's proof of participation it's proof that people care about cards it's proof that the hobby has reached a level of activity we have not seen before in card ladder's monthly data i want important cards to find strong buyers i want new collectors to enter i want sellers to have liquidity i want categories with history and meaning to receive attention i also want you to come through this period with a collection you recognize that requires separating the health of the market from the health of your own collecting the market can support more sales while your best decision is to pass a card can set a record while your collection needs nothing another collector can make a great purchase without creating an assignment for you you do not have to match speed spending and volume around you you have to understand what makes the hobby work for you for me that has meant limiting my buying it has meant selling more it has meant trying to move away from cards that create a quick reaction and more towards cards that hold meaning after the transaction is over i do not expect to get every decision right that is not the standard the standard is whether my decisions are becoming more honest am i buying the card because it fits my collection or am i buying it because the market made me feel that standing still was a problem your collection does not need to keep pace with the record market it needs to stay connected to you so celebrate the sales be excited about the market enjoy the energy i am buy the card when the reason is yours and when it is not let it go a card can be good and still not be for you that might be one of the most useful things a collector can understand right now appreciate you supporting stacking slabs hit the follow button tell a damn friend if you're digging what i'm doing over here happy collecting more stacking slabs coming across the network this week take care talk to you soon