2004 Video Game Expenses

[dbdynsty25]

Speaking of selling stuff on eBay. I got a report in the mail from ebay that showed my entire profile. Apparently I sold $2,750 worth of stuff last year alone. I had no idea...

As you can see...you guys might think I spend all kinds of money on gadgets and whatnot, but 9 times out of 10, the money comes right out of my papal account because of funds that were generated on Ebay.

I personally don't agree with your thinking Leebo. If I sell stuff I currently have to get new stuff, that's a push...at least in my economic views.

[Leebo33]

I personally don't agree with your thinking Leebo. If I sell stuff I currently have to get new stuff, that's a push...at least in my economic views.

Of course it is a push from a cashflow standpoint. But the new stuff wasn't free. You gave up something else you *could* have bought with the money.

Opportunity cost

The cost of passing up the next best choice when making a decision. For example, if an asset such as capital is used for one purpose, the opportunity cost is the value of the next best purpose the asset could have been used for. Opportunity cost analysis is an important part of a company's decision-making processes, but is not treated as an actual cost in any financial statement.

[mixdj1]

Opportunity cost

The cost of passing up the next best choice when making a decision. For example, if an asset such as capital is used for one purpose, the opportunity cost is the value of the next best purpose the asset could have been used for. Opportunity cost analysis is an important part of a company's decision-making processes, but is not treated as an actual cost in any financial statement.

Wow, it's like I've traveled back in time and I'm sitting in my Introduction to Microeconomics class at Illinois State University.

mixdj1

[dbdynsty25]

Of course it is a push from a cashflow standpoint. But the new stuff wasn't free. You gave up something else you *could* have bought with the money.

Well yes, that is true, but like PK, I ONLY use Ebay funds to buy new toys. I could have bought a new car, I could have bought a house, I could have bought whatever...but the fact of the matter is, I wouldn't have bought X Video game, had I not sold Y Video game. Therefore, I wasn't going to bring in the money if it wasn't specifically for the purpose of buying another one to replace it.

[Brando70]

I personally don't agree with your thinking Leebo. If I sell stuff I currently have to get new stuff, that's a push...at least in my economic views.

Of course it is a push from a cashflow standpoint. But the new stuff wasn't free. You gave up something else you *could* have bought with the money.

Opportunity cost

The cost of passing up the next best choice when making a decision. For example, if an asset such as capital is used for one purpose, the opportunity cost is the value of the next best purpose the asset could have been used for. Opportunity cost analysis is an important part of a company's decision-making processes, but is not treated as an actual cost in any financial statement.

I tend to look at my purchases/expenditures as coming from a pool of video game capital.

I usually only sell video games on half.com, and then only to finance the purchase of other video games. So if I spent $50 for a game, sell it for $25, and bought another $50 game for my hobby, then I have only spent $75 on videogames. At some point, this pool was populated with a few hundred dollars of expenditures, but since then, it supplies probably half of my yearly money for gaming. Also, I gain ground when I get games for presents and then sell them when I am done.

I think the better way of looking at PK's method is that he spends almost none of his income on gaming. He is obviously spending money on videogames by selling stuff online, but those assets don't factor into his household budget. It's just extra capital sitting out there that he would otherwise not use.

[ScoopBrady]

Is it just me or does this conversation seem to be steering towards the "If a game is resold to someone else then it was never sold in the first place" type vibe?

And in the off chance that my wife stumbles upon this thread I won't divulge my info.

[Leebo33]

Of course it is a push from a cashflow standpoint. But the new stuff wasn't free. You gave up something else you *could* have bought with the money.

Well yes, that is true, but like PK, I ONLY use Ebay funds to buy new toys. I could have bought a new car, I could have bought a house, I could have bought whatever...but the fact of the matter is, I wouldn't have bought X Video game, had I not sold Y Video game. Therefore, I wasn't going to bring in the money if it wasn't specifically for the purpose of buying another one to replace it.

Let's assume I just started gaming today. I go nuts and buy 10 games for $500 in 2005. I don't buy any more games for the year and I sell the games off for $300 as I finish them and keep the money in the bank. IMO, I spent $200 on video games in 2005 not $500. Then in 2006 I decide I am only going to use the money in the bank generated from the previous sales to buy new games. I buy 6 for $300. IMO, I had expenses of $200 in 2005 and $300 in 2006. Maybe I didn't spend cash in 2006, but I could have kept that money in my bank and then I would have spent $0 in video games.

You have decided to keep buying and selling toys with the same funds. That's cool and it's nice from a cashflow standpoint. But the bottom line is that you are using the sale of assets (your toys) to buys some more toys instead of using the money to buy something else. That is the cost of your toys.

When I sold my first PS2 to buy an XBox, that new Xbox cost me $249.99 plus tax. It didn't cost me $249.99 less the price of the trade-in. It cost me the full price because I could have sold my PS2 and kept the money in the bank. Maybe having a PS2 worth $150 in trade in made we *willing* to trade it in for an XBox, but that doesn't change the cost of the Xbox. Having stuff to sell can make you willing to fund your hobbies, but it doesn't make it free.

[Leebo33]

I think the better way of looking at PK's method is that he spends almost none of his income on gaming. He is obviously spending money on videogames by selling stuff online, but those assets don't factor into his household budget. It's just extra capital sitting out there that he would otherwise not use.

You can look at it any way you'd like as long as you don't use the word free

I just enherited some really expensive golf clubs. I'm not an avid golfer, so these are really assets that I wouldn't otherwise use. They are sitting in my basement. If I sell them and buy a nice new TV, was the TV free? Did I spend $0 on the TV. No way.

edit: OK, that's a bad example because you could say that I was just exchanging the free clubs for a TV. Let's assume they were my old clubs, but I gave up golfing...LOL

[dbdynsty25]

I just enherited some really expensive golf clubs. I'm not an avid golfer, so these are really assets that I wouldn't otherwise use. They are sitting in my basement. If I sell them and buy a nice new TV, was the TV free? Did I spend $0 on the TV. No way.

edit: OK, that's a bad example because you could say that I was just exchanging the free clubs for a TV. Let's assume they were my old clubs, but I gave up golfing...LOL

To use your terrible example...would you sell the clubs if you weren't looking to scrounge up some money to purchase the TV? Probably not...so you don't have the money when they are just sitting in your basement. By finding things that you no longer use/like, and selling those, you are using your existing capital to finance future capital...it's not free money, since you're giving something up, but it's not like you're going to see a dime if those clubs are sitting in your basement.

[Leebo33]

would you sell the clubs if you weren't looking to scrounge up some money to purchase the TV?

Actually, the golf club example is even worse because I am a golfer and I can't wait to try them out next year

OK, I'm off to sell my old baseball card collection so I can pickup something free.

[pk500]

Bottom line: I'm not using any of my <b>income</b> to support my hobbies, as Brando said.

Capisce, Fredo?

Love,
Michael Corleone

[Kazuya]

would you sell the clubs if you weren't looking to scrounge up some money to purchase the TV?

Actually, the golf club example is even worse because I am a golfer and I can't wait to try them out next year

OK, I'm off to sell my old baseball card collection so I can pickup something free.

Don't do that... you'll hurt the baseball card industry.

[Brando70]

Alright, so let me get this straight. I sell a pint of jizz to the fertility clinic and use that money to buy Resident Evil 4, but now my wrist hurts so badly, I can't play the game. Did it actually cost me anything?

[Leebo33]

Bottom line: I'm not using any of my <b>income</b> to support my hobbies, as Brando said.

Capisce, Fredo?

Love,
Michael Corleone

I'm not really sure I understand the Fredo reference as it relates to this thread, but OK. I'll buy that.

[webdanzer]

Alright, so let me get this straight. I sell a pint of jizz to the fertility clinic and use that money to buy Resident Evil 4, but now my wrist hurts so badly, I can't play the game. Did it actually cost me anything?

You wasted a jizz of opportunity.

[dbdynsty25]

Alright, so let me get this straight. I sell a pint of jizz to the fertility clinic and use that money to buy Resident Evil 4, but now my wrist hurts so badly, I can't play the game. Did it actually cost me anything?

Yeah, it does...cuz you weren't smooth enough to get the nurse at said clinic to take care of that for you. Real men don't jerk their own junk...