Summer Vacations - Continue Collecting or Getaway?

FB

Guys,

I was talking to a couple of collectors at work and the subject came up as to how do different people handle their "collecting habits" during the summer months. I hadn't really thought about it before...
The question arose as to whether I was a diehard that couldn't stay away from the daily hunt on eBay or did I shut down for a week or two and get away from it for awhile....

I thought about it and was happy to conclude that I could "quit anytime I want" - but that I just choose not to..... (how's that for denial!)

Most vacations for me and the family are at our house on the Outer Banks in North Carolina. I bring the laptop. For the week, I will usually only log on once per day while the wife is out running. I don't look for or bid on anything more than the bare minimum (1972's that I still need in PSA 9 or 10). I make sure that all auctions that I'm selling have closed at least 2 weeks earlier. So, basically I enjoy it so much that I like to continue checking eBay. I check the PSA Forum to see what you chuckleaheads have to say and I answer a few emails. But, beyond that I try not to impact the family vacation at all. And if the vacation is somewhere else (Hawaii, Denver and Seattle/Vancouver were the last 3) I don't even bring the laptop and just go cold turkey.

How badly are you guys hooked????

thegemmintman

FB- the hobby never sleeps, but I certainly understand what you're saying. I think it's important for collectors to check Ebay even when they're on vacation since you never know what may come up. Perhaps the best answer is to check less frequently than you would if you were not on vacation. This way you're not a total slave to the hobby, and the wifey thinks you actually want to spend quality time with her rather than staring at your cards endlessly .

Fabfrank

You mean you don't plan your vacation around the card shops you want to visit?

GATOR5

For me the vacation has been in chitown for the last year with the nationals and sportsfest!!

But I must say when I've had enough which occurs mostly during the winter months sometimes
the computer stays off for three days straight. Now I have stole a few big ticket items where
a collector always wins but must have been on vacation for the auctions ended half of what the
market presents. Hurray for gator. So I guess the answer is this you have to put it up sometimes
but you might just be missing something. CAN you sleep at night knowing your missing something
or do you hit the computer at 2am

Gator

thegemmintman

<< <i>during the winter months sometimes the computer stays off for three days straight. >>



There's just no dedication to the hobby anymore.

invader73

Last Christmas I geared myself up for 10 days of cold turkey in a ski chalet in the French alps. The first night we were there ( in a remote village near to Courcheval) I was chatting to the owner who turned out to be a total computer geek and had a satellite hook up in his office and that I was welcome to use it while I was there. My girlfriend freaked out as she thought we would be computer free for the duration. I ended up getting up quietly at 5am every morning to check Ebay and then going back to bed

It was a great vacation (apart from busting up my knees doing mad jumps on snow blades.)

Matt

Vargha

I've already loaded my snipes for when I'm gone.

danandkat

It was the August of 2000. The girlfriend and I had planned a trip to Hawaii, where I was going to propose to her, to her surprise. I bought the ring, had a spot picked out and everything. Well, problem is that I play fantasy baseball. A nation wide league where the grand prize was $15 grand. Somehow, someway, I was winning this thing, and had a shot to win the $15 grand. Changes to the team were done the week before, but what about the week we were in Hawaii? Girlfriend told me to take a break, and I agreed. A break was needed.

We go to Hawaii. I pop the question, she says yes. Everything is cool. So one morning we go and have some coffee in a coffee shop, and I see a computer, with internet access. I look at my, now fiancee, and she gives the evil eye. I play it cool, and hope she would need to use the ladies room. Sure enough, she gets up to go. I make a mad dash to the computer. Go to the website, and while in the middle of making the changes, she walks out of the restroom. I got caught. I said to hell with it. So, after making the changes to the fantasy team, I had to check out EBAY.

Thanks
Dan

GATOR5

Gem,


Well the heart and soul of me belongs to my fishing rod. Ice fishing especially which means
me sitting on a bucket with a beer. So I can swap no computer for a frosty and fresh fried bluegills
at least for a few days.

mikeschmidt

Sometimes if you have a "must have" list of approximately 10-20 cards, you might find that your collecting friends in cyberspace are happy to look for them for you during your Holiday...

I know that there is someone I always ask -- no way was I going to try and hook up to the 'Net while on honeymoon in South Africa. Let's just say that I had the wrath of Venezuelans hanging over my head... My wife, a beautiful Venezuelan, never overtly makes mention of the fact that John Wayne Bobbitt's wife was also Venezuelan -- but it is nonetheless true!

But just ask your hobby friends (many of whom are on this board). Generally, most are very nice, and have adopted a strategy of I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine!

dude

When I travel, I check for either a public library or Kinkos, both of which typically has internet access, and use eSnipe for auctions, and I'm good for 5 or 6 days.

danandkat -- Great story. I played Fantasy Baseball for many years and not having Internet access was a pain when I was on vacation. I was at the 2000 National in Anaheim and it coincided with the MLB trading deadline and several significant trades were made while I was away. Two of my closers were traded away to other teams and became set-up men. One was Roberto Hernandez and I can't remember the other. Since I was away, I couldn't pick up the players that replaced them (they were taken by the time I returned) so I was hurting for saves the rest of the season.

mikeschmidt -- If it comforts you at all, Clara Harris, the Houston area dentist who ran over her cheating husband three times in her Mercedes, was born and raised in Venezuela.

aro13

My wife is also a card collector but when we go away on holidays I never look on ebay. If there is a major auction, Mastro, Superior, etc. I usually get a friend to place my highest bids on the last day. I usually put all my bids in early on ebay and email the seller that if I win the item I am going away and will not be back to send payment right away.

However, unlike many people, there are very few cards that I would really be dissapointed if they came up on ebay and I was unable to bid.

SAHDofTwins

I will be without an internet connection for 2 weeks while the navy packs us out and moves us to chicago. thank god i have my pocket pc phone to surf the web and make my bids while on the road. any important stuff i will set up snipes for prior to our departure.

uniship

I just spent 9 days in Maine and decided to take out some ads in the local papers to buy baseball cards. I received about 50 calls - only 1 was of interest (the first one ironically) - and I ended up giving the guy $4000 for a ton of RedSox oddball stuff. It made the trip more interesting as I received many calls throughout the day - all with anticipation of another good find. I also hit a bunch of antique stores and card shops but nothing of note was to be found.

I guess I learned that cards are my way TO relax.

goodriddance189

i dont think a day has gone by in the last 2 years that i havent checked ebay for new hockey stuff. even when i got broadsided and rolled my truck 3 times and almost died. i was in the hospital for several hours, and the second i got home i went right to ebay. its more addictive than crack

Vargha

We can all quit whenever we want to . . . right fellas? Hmmmm . . . I wonder what kind of Internet connection my brother has at his house in AZ? Not that I would even think of using the computer while on vacation . . .

1420sports

On my honeymoon in Aruba, I was doing quite well and did not even think of eBay and what cards I was missing out on. After some shopping before dinner, we found an internet cafe and decided to use it to send some emails. My wife looked at me and said "go ahead", so I peeked at eBay and thankfully did not see anything I had to have, watch, or bid on. The rest of the trip was eBay free ...

mrc32

Man- We all need a support group. But I guess that is what this board is for!

My CU ID is MRC32 and I have a ebay problem! Everyone say it....

I too can't spend huge amounts of time away from it. Just last weekend I was away for 4 days. The last thing I did before leaving was check ebay and as soon as the key hit the door on my return I was headed toward my PC in the basement. My wife has begun to accept this addiction as part of our marriage but I can tell I get the evil eye when I go down to check it before we go to bed.

I did make it to Europe last fall for 10 days and didn't check it, but I came back to find that one of my snipes hit and I was the winner on one auction!

helionaut

danandkat - So did you win the league? Leave us hanging.

This past weekend I went out of town for a cardshow, but there was a lot of ebay stuff going on and I was curious about new sets that were coming out. I was staying at a friend's house and he doesn't have a phone or cable TV or anything, so I figured his internet connection was down. For about 40 hours I'm staring at his computer dying to see how some things are shaping up on ebay, maybe I could get some deals at the show, etc., but I don't even ask him about it. Sunday afternoon we are trying to decide where to go for lunch, he powers up his computer and gets on Roadrunner to look up restaurants. Grr!

danandkat

I took 5th and won $1500.

Thanks
Dan

sellerman23

I was away on vacation to Europe for 2 weeks earlier this summer and I was lucky to stay in places that had many interent cafes. So I checked the net when my girlfriend and her family checked theirs (only about 20 minutes a day). Since I was limited in time, I only chose to search for a few must-have cards while I was away. It was annoying thinking about all the other ones I was missing out on, but I survived.

I think that we do need a support group!

Dave

joker73

Like Neal, I just got back from my honeymoon. Nearly four weeks in Italy, and I didn't check eBay once - and I somehow still managed to have a good time. By the end of the trip, I had also forgotten my computer and voice mail passwords for work, which only confirms that I truly enjoyed my time with my new wife. After all, they're just baseball cards .

Robert

FB

joker,

It just goes to show you - that there are definitely time where its better to walk away from the computer. You may miss a few deals, but you'll go back a better man. At least a man, not in pain!!!

These times include:

Your wedding ceremony
Your honeymoon
The birth of your children
Dinner with your in-laws
Most school graduations
Any award ceremony for your child
Most candle lit dinners


Aaaahhhh... I feel like I'm already making progress on this issue...

riccaboni

I have been away from eBay for atleast a month now. They suspended me, citing I was related or something to a suspended eBay'er. I have no idea whatsoever what happened and eBay is not being cooperative at all in resolving the issue.

Anyways to the subject at hand, while on vacations, I am always on the look out for ma and pop video stores myself. I'm an avid collector of old and rare WWF videos, and those video stores always seem to be the best locations to pick them up at. Card collecting, unfortunately, isn't as big in my heart right now as it was last summer. A girl friend, who actually loves baseball and baseball cards, 20 hour work weeks and summer basketball tournaments out the Wazoo will do that to you I guess. I used to vacation to Cape May to search for card dealers, but anything I found was either in terrible shape or terribly over priced.

Ian

FB

Ian,



<< <i>A girl friend, who actually loves baseball and baseball cards >>



Hang on to this one!!!!!

chrisrenaud

Hello everyone, this is actually an interesting but unusal topic for me. When I first went on summer holiday and summer work I tried to keep up but after a point I decided it was just easier to wait until September and hope that the few cards I missed would come up again.

KING KELLOGG

Frank...

K Kollecting, has always been, is now, and always will be........... 24/7.



(I've got the curse..bad...)






Larry

FB

Larry - you and me both...

Chris - you're a better man than I!!!

jvineyard

I just returned from almost three weeks in the Iowa cornfields, visiting my wife's family. Although I didn't think I could cut down, much less stop, I was almost ebay free the entire trip - just checked my existing bids. I think I logged on only three times during the entire trip. Of course, my willpower was assisted by the lack of a decent internet connection at my in-law's house, and the nearest rental access was a Kinko's almost 60 miles away.

AlanAllen

I try to keep up while on vacation. I bought myself a Toshiba 2032 PDA/cell phone/web browser as a graduation present to myself, so basically anywhere I go I have access to ebay in my pocket. I just got back from a week and a half in Flathead Lake, Montana, and there was no access there. I had queued some snipes before I left. I managed to find an Internet cafe and shimmied in 30 minutes while our laundry was in the dryer. I checked my snipes and my saved searches, and queued a few more snipes.

On my honeymoon in Hawaii a few years ago, and had just a few minutes on a computer in our hotel. I made my picks for the office football pool in about 2 minutes doing no research at all, and won the damn thing that week .

Joe

Basilone

Just got back from vacation....I lasted about 10 minutes before getting on the computer to check eBay and these boards!!

John

NeilDowney

Hi Frank, Good question! I just came back from being in Wildwood for eight days. About the third day I cam across this Cybercafe about 4 blocks from where I was staying. I wrestled with this question and decided that you can have both with the right planning. I restricted myself to only once a day and no more than 30 minutes a day. About as much time as it took for me to drink a cup a coffee (a big cup - lol). I even added 2 more cards to my Gary Carter set that I would have missed if I didn't find this place. The trick is to limit it so that it doesn't keep you from your family and from resting by the pool. Neil