forcing yourself to sell something

[Iron Draggon]

just wondering how you force yourself to sell something when you know you really need to, even though you don't want to... I really need to sell some stuff to make some money for moving, but I still haven't been able to force myself to do it yet, despite many efforts to force myself to do it... I am a very stubborn anal retentive old goat, and I am going to just sit here on all my collections like a donkey, unless something forces me to move a little... and I am having all this trouble trying to sell some stuff so I can be closer to the man I love... yes not even love has been able to force me to do it yet...

we Capricorns really are very stubborn old goats... ask the man I love... he's a Capricorn too... so asking him for advice prolly wouldn't help me much... his thing is movies, my thing is games... he has a brand new 60" widescreen LCD HDTV and a brand new Blu-Ray DVD player and 5.1 speaker system to go with it, and he can afford it... he has thousands of movies on VHS, DVD, and now he's begun collecting Blu-Ray movies, in batches of 5 at a time... so he is just like me in my glory days, when spending hundreds of dollars at a time meant nothing to me... and he would never turn loose of any of his movies, even the really outdated ones on VHS, just to get some more movies on Blu-Ray or for any other reason... so how do I force myself to sell something that I really like having around to gather dust with me, but I don't really need?

no way in hell that I'm ever selling my video game collection anytime soon, so that's out... ditto for my gem and mineral collection... and my tigers, and my dragons, and my gargoyles, and my griffins, and my cats, and my dogs, etc...

I tried to force myself to sell my board game collection, but the process of getting them all down out of my attic and dusting them all off just convinced me that there's no way in hell that I'm ever selling my board game collection anytime soon either... so that's out as well... I'm running out of options now...

I often toy with the idea of selling my music collection, but the music market is so bad now, and I could never get what it should be worth for it, nor would I ever be able to replace it all again... when it's gone, it's gone for good... I know that I could rip MP3's off all my CD's and burn them onto disks and then sell all the originals and still be able to keep all the music, but I'm not gonna spend even more money that I don't have to do that... it would be defeating the entire point and just exacerbate the desperate need for alot of cash...

so it seems that my only remaining option is my Hot Wheels collection... and it would make so much sense for me to sell it all, because even though it's become a very adult oriented hobby to collect them, it's still such a childish thing to collect... and I have been collecting them since I was a child... I've already sold off all my originals from childhood, and what's left is everything that I've collected since I started collecting them again in 1998... I have somewhere between 1000 - 2000 different models, and I prolly wouldn't even have to sell them all to get all the cash I need... but I still can't seem to get myself to get started on getting any of them sold yet... instead, I've just been buying more... so this is the dillema that I face now... how do I force myself to stop buying more of the damned things, and start selling them all?

part of the problem is that I still need a few more to complete some of the subsets that I've been working on, and I'd really like to complete them before I start selling them, or it will bother me forever that I never got them... even if I do find a way to force myself to sell them all after I get all the ones I need... there's that word again, trying to trick me into thinking that I really do need more of the damned things, when what I really need to do is sell them all... I know that many of you have experience with this, so what do I do? how do I break the cycle of addiction and just get rid of all this stuff?

I really am at a loss... it all seems so simple, and yet it's proving to be so damned difficult... must... force... myself... to... sell... something... soon...

[LifeGame]

Hi, i cant believe this is exactly what im feeling at the moment! Worse donkey here! Must sell doubles, cant let singles go!

[Steven]

You gotta remove the doubt and stubbornness (sp). In fact, think as little of it as you possibly can, and do so without any regrets. Iron, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

[Bassgrabber]

"I tried to force myself to sell my board game collection, but the process of getting them all down out of my attic and dusting them all off just convinced me that there's no way in hell that I'm ever selling my board game collection anytime soon either... so that's out as well... I'm running out of options now..."



But won't you be taking them with you when you move?

Good luck with your tough decision!

[PDorr3]

Sometimes I look at my more valuable items like pazer dragoon saga and a neo geo aes system, and I say to myself "gee I could make hundreds of dollars on these things in no time" but the collector in me tells me to hold onto them because I value them so much. Selling panzer dragoon is tempting but its a prized peice of my collection....something so tempting to sell but also something I probably will keep forever. (unless its re-released or something)

[Mad Gear]

I sell my ass most nights but i'm not really forced to do so as i like the money far too much.
Could be a worthwhile alternative, hmmmmm?

[Cornelius]

Good topic. I think any collector knows how you feel, even if not necessarily having to sell.

The thing that has made me come the closest to selling is imagining another burglary (2 break-ins since we've lived here) where they take all my games. Imagine everything then just being dumped at a pawn shop for next to nothing. Ugh. Kind of makes me value them more as the simple possessions they are instead of whatever grandiose thing I imagine them to be. In your case with so many different types of things, imagine a fire! E-gads, pretty horrifying, but it helps a bit with perspective... these collections aren't as permanent as they seem.

Oh, and I haven't sold any collections myself, but I do keep a pretty good list (on rfgeneration) of what all I've got in case the worst should happen.

[Vroomfunkel]

The thing that has made me come the closest to selling is imagining another burglary (2 break-ins since we've lived here) where they take all my games. Imagine everything then just being dumped at a pawn shop for next to nothing.

Actually, that's probably the best way to have it happen - providing you have it all properly insured

All gone in one swoop and there's nothing you can do about it. All you have to do is fill in the claim form and pocket the cash. You'd have to have a pretty good policy, that specifically covered collectibles - but there are such things.

As for it all ending up in the pawn shop for next to nothing .. well that's actually quite an appealing thought to me, if you consider it in a detached way - imagine some collector's joy when they wander in and see a sealed Radiant Silvergun for $10 or something ...

[Cornelius]

Heh, I totally see your point, and you might even come out ahead if you were able to get fair market value as opposed to selling in one lot. But you do have to consider your insurance rates going up. That actually makes filing a claim not worthwhile in most burglary cases.

But, having your home broken into is a really traumatic thing. The first time for us it was (we assume) kids, since they took frozen pizza, oreos, beer, wine (that was our biggest $$ lost), and most of a new pack of TP leaving us a roll (that was the wierdest, because they took each one out of the same hole we'd torn open). Still I was planning all kinds of elaborate (and deadly) security measures.

And I always feel a little weird about buying at pawn shops. I mean, I'll do it, but it does occur to me that a lot of it may be stolen, particularly the power tools section... I bet 95% of that stuff is ripped off. And a lot of pawn shops are now savvy to classic games, so you don't even get that good a deal. :\

Okay, sorry to be a buzzkill.

Actually, that's probably the best way to have it happen - providing you have it all properly insured

All gone in one swoop and there's nothing you can do about it. All you have to do is fill in the claim form and pocket the cash. You'd have to have a pretty good policy, that specifically covered collectibles - but there are such things.

As for it all ending up in the pawn shop for next to nothing .. well that's actually quite an appealing thought to me, if you consider it in a detached way - imagine some collector's joy when they wander in and see a sealed Radiant Silvergun for $10 or something ...

[Sanriostar]

I've had to do this most of my former 80's vinyl collection, (had to pay for a car accident I was in) and I don't feel any different afterward.

As a fellow collector, (and a Capricorn, but not much of an astrology guy) I suggest taking one of your collections that will sell the quickest, offing that via the method of your choice (Pawn Shop, Ebay, whatever), and using the $ for what you need. DO IT QUICK; like tearing off a bandage. It still hurts a bit, but do not give yourself time to dwell on it.

[bangtango]

This may not be helpful but here is what I do with stuff that is tough for me to sell. I list it on Ebay as quickly as possible, before I have second thoughts. Then I submit the auction listing shortly before I go to bed, which allows me to "sleep on it" for 8 hours. The next morning, I go to work and am at the office all day. I don't check Ebay in the morning before work and I don't check it during work. I come back from work at around 5 pm or so and look at Ebay for the first time since I listed my item the previous night. By now, my item has been up for close to 18-20 hours. It seems stupid but allowing that much time for an item to be on sale before "checking" on it helps ensure two things.

1. It gives me a little time to get over the fact I am actually selling it.

2. Sometimes that item has a bid or two which means I am now obligated to sell it. I don't have to agonize over whether to pull the item because I am having second thoughts.

[hezeuschrist]

I'm in the exact same position, I'm moving this saturday and i've been forcing myself to sell off as much of my collection for two reasons:

1. Moving is expensive. Stupidly so. I never saw this as all of my moves used to be into/out of my parents house... this is a whole nother ballpark now.

2. I don't want to move all these damn things again.

I just looked at my collection one day and realized, "I'm never going to play half of these games." So my goal from the beginning was to cut it straight in half, however many I could get rid of from each system and then start forcing myself to do it.

It gets easier. Once you see your paypal balance start to pile up (I just bought some couches yesterday for my move!) it gets easier to figure out what you're really attached to and what you aren't. Stuff worth money is oddly enough much easier to detach yourself from... at least for me. Most of it doesn't hold much nostalgic value, but the stuff that does isn't getting sold at any time.

Just start small and keep going.