Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
In one of these videos Warren Buffett provides his take on investing in non-producing assets even mentioning stamps. In his words, someone buys a collection with the only hope he will turn around and sell it to someone else for more money.
How wrong he is in many of the collectors cases. When I buy something, I consider it all sunken cost. I have the knowledge that I can get some or all of my money back and in some cases even sell stamps for more than I paid for, but it will take me a significant amount of time and effort to do that. Anyway, the profit is not the point with most of us.
The main thing is the enjoyment, which one can put no price on (or else the Government would have come up with the applicable Enjoyment Tax)
I can sit in the warmth of my house, while snow is falling and winds are blowing and sort stamps, buy stamps, sell stamps, look at stamps, organize the, scan them, do research on them, or on the subjects depicted on them. Lots of interesting things to do.
But businessmen are usually short sighted - they do not see past their nose and past their investment.
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Jules,
Thanks for posting this. It is very interesting. On the whole I'm quite a fan of Warren Buffet. He makes a lot of sense on many things that I have heard him speak on. In this video when he passes a comment about stamps, I think he is thinking about stamps in the same way that he saw gold in that he saw it as an asset that doesn't in itself produce any financial benefit. I can see his point. I'd make the same comment about your house. I very much agree with you in your comment that the real value of stamps isn't in their potential for making money, it is in the enjoyment that they bring to us stamp collectors. I must say, I enjoy seeing the catalog value of my collection grow as I add more material to it, but it is not because I'll looking forward to selling it and making lots of money. I just like measuring things. It is just what I do. 
Have a wonderful Christmas/Holidays. We'll enjoy our hobby together in 2023.
Regards ... Tim.
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The problem with stamp collecting is that it can be seen as both a hobby and an investment. The latter drives up prices of stamps while on an upwards investment cycle and then the bubble bursts. It can be detrimental on what should be an enjoyable hobby.
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Cougar,DannyS and Tim you all have made observations that I personally can find no fault with yet I believe you are taking for granted a missed point. Though I agree with you all, the incredible value of our hobby and SOR in particular lies not in the monetary realm, but rather in the friendship realm. Here we connect with like minded folks, and forge friendships and bonds that can endure. Our own MT group puts in many hours/days/effort- why-there is no monetary gain at all, but the friendship/love is palpable.
Perhaps this is all too obvious to mention, and if so I'm out of line- but it is most important never to lose sight of.
Dan C.
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i am pro Buffett, he is old school...he does not flash his money around like many billionaires . His son has a farm in our locale (Ulster county) he is an environmentalist and generous to the community. Of course in my younger days i would say "never trust a person that drinks Coca Cola."
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Dan, you brought up another good point that I somehow missed above.
It is possible that investors or those in the investment circles forge relationships too, that they consider friendly relationships........till there is a mismatch in expectations and that relationship falls apart.
The interesting part for me is the assignment of value. It is entirely possible that the moment one brings the point of value in, the actual "value" immediately drops or even entirely disappears.
Let's say I am fishing and I have a day where I caught 1 steelhead, or maybe none. Another guy tells me he had 3. Does this mean the value of my fishing trip was three times less? Then, how about he had all three from one hole right by the highway, while I walked 20 kilometers through the wilderness to catch mine, which was three times the size of his average fish? Tough, isn't it? Few weeks back, a coworker has to work a weekend at overtime rates. I went fishing as usual. The way I look at it, I made a grand the first day, then spent it on a fishing trip. Second day, I repeated it and my level of enjoyment and success did not diminish. If I draw a line, I am way better spending the weekend the way I did. I can even leave the important part of health and recreation aside. Oh , and CRA got nothing out the imaginary grand I made that I then spent on the fishing trip.
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Phil,
I worked at ADM when Howard was there. 2 1/2 weeks after I was hired ADM was hit with the price-fixing scandal -- what a great start to my professional career! Shortly after the scandal broke, Howard resigned. Can't have a major supplier of high-fructose corn syrup to Coke dragging down the family! Matt Damon played the guy who was the head of my division in the movie "The Informant." Strange days...
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I have been watching some of the recent YouTube videos on the FTX saga , where a 20 some year old kid was given billions of dollars by, no doubt, greedy and stupid investors expecting to make a quick buck only to see all their money evaporate.
In one of these videos Warren Buffett provides his take on investing in non-producing assets even mentioning stamps. In his words, someone buys a collection with the only hope he will turn around and sell it to someone else for more money.
How wrong he is in many of the collectors cases. When I buy something, I consider it all sunken cost. I have the knowledge that I can get some or all of my money back and in some cases even sell stamps for more than I paid for, but it will take me a significant amount of time and effort to do that. Anyway, the profit is not the point with most of us.
The main thing is the enjoyment, which one can put no price on (or else the Government would have come up with the applicable Enjoyment Tax)
I can sit in the warmth of my house, while snow is falling and winds are blowing and sort stamps, buy stamps, sell stamps, look at stamps, organize the, scan them, do research on them, or on the subjects depicted on them. Lots of interesting things to do.
But businessmen are usually short sighted - they do not see past their nose and past their investment.
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re: FTX and Warren Buffett
Jules,
Thanks for posting this. It is very interesting. On the whole I'm quite a fan of Warren Buffet. He makes a lot of sense on many things that I have heard him speak on. In this video when he passes a comment about stamps, I think he is thinking about stamps in the same way that he saw gold in that he saw it as an asset that doesn't in itself produce any financial benefit. I can see his point. I'd make the same comment about your house. I very much agree with you in your comment that the real value of stamps isn't in their potential for making money, it is in the enjoyment that they bring to us stamp collectors. I must say, I enjoy seeing the catalog value of my collection grow as I add more material to it, but it is not because I'll looking forward to selling it and making lots of money. I just like measuring things. It is just what I do.
Have a wonderful Christmas/Holidays. We'll enjoy our hobby together in 2023.
Regards ... Tim.
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re: FTX and Warren Buffett
The problem with stamp collecting is that it can be seen as both a hobby and an investment. The latter drives up prices of stamps while on an upwards investment cycle and then the bubble bursts. It can be detrimental on what should be an enjoyable hobby.
Login to Like
this post
re: FTX and Warren Buffett
Cougar,DannyS and Tim you all have made observations that I personally can find no fault with yet I believe you are taking for granted a missed point. Though I agree with you all, the incredible value of our hobby and SOR in particular lies not in the monetary realm, but rather in the friendship realm. Here we connect with like minded folks, and forge friendships and bonds that can endure. Our own MT group puts in many hours/days/effort- why-there is no monetary gain at all, but the friendship/love is palpable.
Perhaps this is all too obvious to mention, and if so I'm out of line- but it is most important never to lose sight of.
Dan C.
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re: FTX and Warren Buffett
i am pro Buffett, he is old school...he does not flash his money around like many billionaires . His son has a farm in our locale (Ulster county) he is an environmentalist and generous to the community. Of course in my younger days i would say "never trust a person that drinks Coca Cola."
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re: FTX and Warren Buffett
Dan, you brought up another good point that I somehow missed above.
It is possible that investors or those in the investment circles forge relationships too, that they consider friendly relationships........till there is a mismatch in expectations and that relationship falls apart.
The interesting part for me is the assignment of value. It is entirely possible that the moment one brings the point of value in, the actual "value" immediately drops or even entirely disappears.
Let's say I am fishing and I have a day where I caught 1 steelhead, or maybe none. Another guy tells me he had 3. Does this mean the value of my fishing trip was three times less? Then, how about he had all three from one hole right by the highway, while I walked 20 kilometers through the wilderness to catch mine, which was three times the size of his average fish? Tough, isn't it? Few weeks back, a coworker has to work a weekend at overtime rates. I went fishing as usual. The way I look at it, I made a grand the first day, then spent it on a fishing trip. Second day, I repeated it and my level of enjoyment and success did not diminish. If I draw a line, I am way better spending the weekend the way I did. I can even leave the important part of health and recreation aside. Oh , and CRA got nothing out the imaginary grand I made that I then spent on the fishing trip.
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re: FTX and Warren Buffett
Phil,
I worked at ADM when Howard was there. 2 1/2 weeks after I was hired ADM was hit with the price-fixing scandal -- what a great start to my professional career! Shortly after the scandal broke, Howard resigned. Can't have a major supplier of high-fructose corn syrup to Coke dragging down the family! Matt Damon played the guy who was the head of my division in the movie "The Informant." Strange days...
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