When is it time to sell your anime?

[Vexx]

I tend to overbuy and then resell the models I like less. Somewhere there's someone who didn't have the money to buy it the first time. Then there's the "just making room and I'm not sure what attracted me in the first place.".

I've left post-mortem instructions to my sons on selling my stuff for best value though. If they ever pop online here under my account to tell you, been nice knowing people (not that I plan on blue-screening for the next 40 years or more).

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Vexx

I tend to overbuy and then resell the models I like less. Somewhere there's someone who didn't have the money to buy it the first time. Then there's the "just making room and I'm not sure what attracted me in the first place.".

Yeah, this is true -- I do tend to overbuy as well. But -- and I'm probably just lazy -- I've always considered the effort required to sell something to be way disproportionate to whatever you might make from it. I've always thought that some day I'd just try to get a booth in the merchant's room at a con or something and get rid of as much as possible in one shot. But that is if I ever decide to even go that far. For now I'm okay with holding on to it.

(And yeah, that "post-mortem" thought isn't pleasant... but you can't not think about it either.)

[aohige]

I'm the type that destroys the box figures came in, and display the figure in cabinets and cases.
With no intention at all of keeping it "mint condition in original box".

I don't collect for the sake of collecting, I collect only things I like, for my own value, and not value of a market. Which makes it a lot harder to get rid of.
Same with books, my collection of manga and books will only grow larger with time, never smaller.

When I first moved to US as a teen, I had to leave behind ALL my manga collection to my cousin.
But now that I'm grown adult, I will NEVER depart them ever. It's finally grown to similar size collection of what I had when I was in Japan, in a few years when I move into a larger house, I'll probably focus on growing the library. My goal? 2,000 manga volume library room in the next 3-5 years.

[Kmos]

I used to collect a ton of stuff: comics, manga, and toys. Now I'm big into collecting dust. I didn't think things like DVDs were considered collectibles and never wanted them to be. I kind of blame the whole collectible mentality in the US. I'm shocked to see DVDs going for more rather than less, especially since digital version existed and was & is more than likely to replace dvd/blu-ray sales. I hate the Star Wars scheme. When digital versions fully take over that'll be the end of collectible print and media I hope.

I no longer want to get into collecting things, it's a horribly expensive hobby. Towards the end I was buying print for reading and enjoyment only. I'm still holding onto the tons of stuff I have collected years ago, it's part reminder of not to do it again and part display for my room. If I was still a collector with intent to sell, I'd sell cause digital versions, if I wanted for keeps and display I'd keep.

[bhl88]

I don't think digital versions will fully take over. Still need DVDs/BDs to break even.

[Echoes]

Originally Posted by Kmos

I used to collect a ton of stuff: comics, manga, and toys. Now I'm big into collecting dust. I didn't think things like DVDs were considered collectibles and never wanted them to be. I kind of blame the whole collectible mentality in the US. I'm shocked to see DVDs going for more rather than less, especially since digital version existed and was & is more than likely to replace dvd/blu-ray sales. I hate the Star Wars scheme. When digital versions fully take over that'll be the end of collectible print and media I hope.

That's certainly a fair opinion to have, and one that more and more people hold, but I don't think there's much chance of physical media disappearing anytime soon. It's certainly on the decline, due in large part to exactly what you describe; the ease of access digital offers. Not a huge amount of people want to buy a show that they'll watch once, maybe twice. Which is the case for most anime, for most people. Our numbers are dwindling, but I doubt we will truly vanish in the foreseeable future. The market might slowly move to more of a "boutique" thing, with increased prices and more luxurious releases, akin to what Aniplex is already doing.

However, there will still be people like me. People who like to own physical media, and aren't content with streaming; or even a purely digital file, however convenient it may be. We want the box to put on our shelf, flip through the booklet and put that disc into our media device. There's a genuine enjoyment you get from that, and it's not all "look at my collection, I'm the baddest nerd on the block." Though I won't deny there's a certain sense of accomplishment associated with growing your collection. For me though, it's a very personal joy, it's not something I'd brag about, just something I'm personally happy I was able to achieve.

Most of all though, I like to be surround by things I love. A bookshelf next to my computer filled with anime boxes and dvds staring down at me is a joy that a HD full of fansubs can never match. It may be expensive (in fact, I'm quite certain it is), but if you're wired like me, you get a huge deal of enjoyment out of it, making it worth every penny.

Just to be safe, this is obviously just my own take on it; I'm not arguing that physical media is "better", merely "right for me."

[bhl88]

Originally Posted by Echoes

That's certainly a fair opinion to have, and one that more and more people hold, but I don't think there's much chance of physical media disappearing anytime soon. It's certainly on the decline, due in large part to exactly what you describe; the ease of access digital offers. Not a huge amount of people want to buy a show that they'll watch once, maybe twice. Which is the case for most anime, for most people. Our numbers are dwindling, but I doubt we will truly vanish in the foreseeable future. The market might slowly move to more of a "boutique" thing, with increased prices and more luxurious releases, akin to what Aniplex is already doing.

However, there will still be people like me. People who like to own physical media, and aren't content with streaming; or even a purely digital file, however convenient it may be. We want the box to put on our shelf, flip through the booklet and put that disc into our media device. There's a genuine enjoyment you get from that, and it's not all "look at my collection, I'm the baddest nerd on the block." Though I won't deny there's a certain sense of accomplishment associated with growing your collection. For me though, it's a very personal joy, it's not something I'd brag about, just something I'm personally happy I was able to achieve.

Most of all though, I like to be surround by things I love. A bookshelf next to my computer filled with anime boxes and dvds staring down at me is a joy that a HD full of fansubs can never match. It may be expensive (in fact, I'm quite certain it is), but if you're wired like me, you get a huge deal of enjoyment out of it, making it worth every penny.

Just to be safe, this is obviously just my own take on it; I'm not arguing that physical media is "better", merely "right for me."

Actually, digital media alone can't satisfy profit so I don't think it would die out (anime is niche so they'll need the physical media for profit).

And yes, there's a sense of accomplishment from collecting than just downloading (pride is involved).

[Kmos]

I don't have anything against physical copies. I still buy books cause nothing can replace the feeling of holding a book and turning pages or actual printed words not on a screen (even with errors sometimes ). Videos are different, they end up being watched on a screen so source doesn't matter to me, though I'm still buying dvds or the sets with blu-ray/dvd/digital all in ones. Main problem I have is pricing due to 'collectible' status.

Media isn't deteriorating into dust as it was before. Sure it costs money to print/press for distribution but now we can distribute the digital equivalent online. It just shouldn't give people a chance to jack up prices more than beyond retail just for box art or something. I personally hope it ends soon but know it'll be around for a bit longer. I'm okay with limited runs with autographs/signatures or lithos anything else is just repackaging the same material or worsening it (Star Wars).

(I didn't hate collecting in my past, it was great fun, and I still like what I have that's why I have some on display. Current me just looks at that stuff and can't help but calculate how much was spent doing it and how I have different spending priorities now.)

[Nightbat®]

I think it's time to put away your anime related items the moment you're done with them
wether it's by putting in storage, giving away, or selling

after 10 years of collecting, I fortunatly can claim I'm not done with it yet
I also never collected as "investment", seeing certain items now go multiple times above retail is only a 'bonus'
(and all the more reason to realize it's gonna be costly to replace them if I were to regret selling anything)

What to do with my figurecollection, if I still have it, after death?
Meh, either it's become trash, a goldmine, or keepsakes for relatives, I won't be losing any sleep over it by that time anyway