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Myself and the folks at Windstone watch spending trends (our paychecks depend on it in a way!) closely- not just of Windstones, but of all things collectible and art related. Our conclusion is that we can’t see a pattern! When we think sales will go up, they won’t.. or when we think there will be a slow month, it’s busy. It seems random at best… but right now seems to be a slow spell. Not many people seem to have extra money right now.
So why do you spend the way you do? Not just Windstones, but all ‘luxury items’ (luxury items are any items that you do not need to survive and carry on every day life; for example groceries, gas money, bills, car maintenance, etc are not luxury).
Do you try and buy something you like as soon as you see it? Do you plan and save for something, and purchase only that one special item? Do you always splurge your tax refund on fun things? Do you buy yourself goodies at certain times of the year?
For me, I’m greatly unable to afford ‘luxury’ items and get maybe one or two small things for myself in a year. I do however splurge a little bit for Christmas and birthdays- but not for myself, for others. 🙂 This is usually the time I’ll spend the most on gift and collectible type items, but they are for other people! 🙂
My ‘driest’ time when I have the least amount of income to spend is just after Christmas. My funds are depleted from buying gifts, and then I have to worry about paying my income taxes shortly thereafter.
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My art: featherdust.comVolunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comOh man…tax return time and right before Christmas (because of all the deals..we don’t actually celebrate it). Those are our major spending times. Right now I’m in a crunch because of needing $$ for my son’s dentist visits….he fell and pushed one of his teeth way up into his gum area…possibly damaging his permanents…sigh…he’s ok though, thank goodness.
It often depends on whether the item I want is something that will be available later, and whether I’ve just bought something recently (the “You’ve indulged yourself enough, dear” kind of thing). There’s also the “is it a reasonable price to me” question. I get into trouble when I’m pursuing retired Windstones because it’s hard to predict what will come up again and what it will cost.
It depends on what I’m purchasing.
For Windstones:
If I have the money or can borrow it, I would be more likely to purchase a new release from the factory if we don’t know how many will be made (and it’s a piece I would really want). Mainly because you can’t go back later and buy it if the entire batch is gone. On e-bay, I usually wait until I find a piece that looks good and a seller that has good communication. (Or at a time I know a lot of people will unload their collections – i.e. Christmas.) I’ve been burned too many times and my impatience has cost me, so I’m more cautious now.For hobby items/books & CDs/etc.
I try to save up for these items (since there is a mass quantity) or will purchase early if I can find a really good deal. These items are usually $50 or less, so I don’t worry too much about getting them at a certain time or not. I know some people have to be the first to own a particular movie on DVD. I can wait months until I get it and it doesn’t bother me.So, I guess my long winded answer would be availability determines when I will buy, assuming I have enough $$ and the item is in my price range.
Barrdwing wrote:It often depends on whether the item I want is something that will be available later, and whether I’ve just bought something recently (the “You’ve indulged yourself enough, dear” kind of thing). There’s also the “is it a reasonable price to me” question. I get into trouble when I’m pursuing retired Windstones because it’s hard to predict what will come up again and what it will cost.
Yes, exactly!
I buy when I have money. Right now seems really slow but I dont know why. I know I am broke. everyone else must be, too. Also, there are not that many more things that I just HAVE to have. My shelves are full. 😆
Nambroth wrote:but right now seems to be a slow spell. Not many people seem to have extra money right now.
I think part of this is because there have been so many special pieces for so long now that no one has had any time to recover their finances. One of the things that LIH tracked in her eBay database was the sale of the special Windstone pieces. Since she started it in October (and then passed it on to me and several others in June) there have been at least 418 pieces auctioned. That’s an average of 40 a month for the last 10 months with no real break to recover finances.
pegasi1978 wrote:Nambroth wrote:but right now seems to be a slow spell. Not many people seem to have extra money right now.
I think part of this is because there have been so many special pieces for so long now that no one has had any time to recover their finances. One of the things that LIH tracked in her eBay database was the sale of the special Windstone pieces. Since she started it in October (and then passed it on to me and several others in June) there have been at least 418 pieces auctioned. That’s an average of 40 a month for the last 10 months with no real break to recover finances.
True! But I meant for everything– not just Windstones. 🙂 I’ve not sold any prints or art, and talking to dealers of other gift items their sales are poor too. I wonder why everyone is hurting for money right now vs. 3-4 months ago? Economically the country is about the same as it was then… gas prices have fluctuated a bit but aren’t really much higher than they were in May. The only thing I can figure is that people are just outside more because it’s summer, and are doing less shopping! 🙂
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My art: featherdust.comI, like most others, am broke right now too. I only purchase non-necessities, like Windstones, when I have money available in my Paypal account from selling other stuff. I currently have a 0 balance, so am not going to spend… unless it’s something I REALLY want. In that case… I’ll put in on my credit card, and pay it off later. I’ve gotten into trouble a number of times when doing it that way though. So… I’m trying to keep myself from doing it now because of that reason, and to keep my husband off my back! 😆 I currently have nothing left to sell at home right now that would bring in decent money to buy more dragons. I’m going to give a crack at some PYOs to see if I can make some money that way though. I only buy other things I don’t need like home decor stuff, jewelry, extra clothes if it’s on sale.. or I’ve got coupons!
Pegasi has a good point though. There were and are just soooo many limited production and open edition pieces that have been auctioned off… a lot of people can’t keep up with them now. For example, that second female Lab Griff from yesterday should have brought more bids… but it didn’t. It sold at a pretty low price. I sometimes think that the time of day an auction ends has a lot to do with how high or low it sells for (most people are at work during that time, and can’t bid). But, it just might be because they don’t have a lot of extra cash to blow on something like that at the time. 😕
I don’t know though… those are my thoughts on the whole thing.
Something else I forgot to mention too is that a lot of people take late summer vacations (at least here). Now that they are coming back the next big thing is getting ready for school/fall, etc. So maybe everyone’s focus is more for stocking up for things like that than looking at the pretty stuff. 🙂 Just an idea.
Nambroth wrote:True! But I meant for everything– not just Windstones. 🙂 I’ve not sold any prints or art, and talking to dealers of other gift items their sales are poor too. I wonder why everyone is hurting for money right now vs. 3-4 months ago? Economically the country is about the same as it was then… gas prices have fluctuated a bit but aren’t really much higher than they were in May. The only thing I can figure is that people are just outside more because it’s summer, and are doing less shopping! 🙂
Lot’s of people go traveling during the summer time so extra money that could be spent on “luxury items” is probably going to expenses related to travel (gas, hotel rooms, food, et cetera). Also there tend to be more conventions and faires during the summer and people tend to save up money to spend at them.
I’ve actually been inside more since it’s summer and the heat index in my area is often in the 100s and higher (we’ve even had a few 115 heat index days). There aren’t a lot of places to go shopping in my town, and I don’t want to do too much “theraputic spending” with my husband being gone, so I try to limit myself to trips to the city twice a month.
Travel! Summer is when many of us plan our trips, and so (for us) a lot of our $$ is saved up for the trips (vacation? ah, no, trips to see family). And really, trips to see family or friends generally lead to buying some gifts for the kiddos you don’t get to see that often and then gifts for the people watching your pets, plants & home while you’re gone. None of these gifts are art related, as art is so personal. (Unless you know the person really well and are willing to spend more money on them, but that’s usu. birthday or Christmas gifts, not hey-I-miss-you or thanks-for-taking-care-of-the-animals gifts. Then, too, you buy a few things you normally wouldn’t when you’re on vacation (I bought jewelry, I never buy jewelry, but I do love what I bought!), and again, unless it’s special circumstances (like GB being able to get windstones here after seeing them first), I tend to not buy art or anything really heavy while on vacation. (Exception: when in Australia, I walked into a didgeridoo store where they taught me to play and I just loved ’em, so I had a real beaut shipped home).
I’m normally very good about not buying so much (except books, I buy way too many books, even though we hit the library every other week); but, this forum has certainly lead me to buy windstones faster than I would, and I do need to slow down now. 🙂
I know I’ve been trying to get some of the special, limited production pieces, saving up for a few of the bigger pieces (Brown OW, scratcher, Birman), getting the smaller pieces (poads, royal hatchers, curls, etc.) while I can. Sorta puts the production pieces and retired pieces I’d like off the top of my list for the time being. I know that, for right now, I have a vacation coming up in a month and need to make sure I set aside some money for food and gas.
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