Have you ever heard of someone taking a loan or taken a loan yourself to buy Pokémon?
I’ve heard a few times about it. I get if it’s like PayPal installment plan or a payment plan with a seller but I’m not sure about taking a big loan for a card. But everyone has different circumstances so I wanted to hear efour’s thoughts on this.
Ive used credit to buy cards, but i probably wouldnt do a payment plan or take a loan for the express purpose of buying a card
There’s two scenarios where one would use a loan to buy Pokémon cards.
I don’t usually look at cards as an investment, so its not something I would consider, but if I could go back to 1999 I’d be taking out a loan for sure! lol
That’s my guess but was curious to hear other possible reasons
Opening a business is a pretty good reason I think. Even if you wanted to start a small time Rip n’ Ship thing on TikTok, a small loan could probably pay off.
This is very true
Here in the UK ebay offers loans via something called YouLend, if you have a consistent sales history they’ll offer you an amount based on your turnover, and then they take repayments directly from your ebay sales turnover. I decided to try it out as the ‘interest rate’ (idk if thats the right word for it as it didnt accrue over time, I basically just paid £100 to borrow £5000 with no time limit, anyway…) was quite low.
The cash injection was really nice, but because they take the repayment directly out of your sales, I was getting like 65-70% of the sale price of a card deposited back to me. Not so nice. Overall it was good for me at the time as I was trying to grow quickly, but I wouldn’t want to depend on them all the time.
That’s really interesting. I’d be open to that if I sold often. PayPal has the same with eBay except it’s over a certain amount of time and it’s not taken through sales. You just pay it and have to qualify for it
My thought process on this is; if you can’t buy it outright, then you can’t afford it. A loan on a Pokémon card isn’t logical.
Going into debt (for whatever reason) is to be avoided if possible. Most people don’t understand a debt’s implications and consequences, they think it’s merely borrowing money from bank.
The same reason I support selling Pokemon cards/products* to generate cash for a rainy day. Because it beats going into debt.
*“If your hobby can bring you cash on a rainy day, why not?”
Idk if it’s a loan, but I love PayPal pay in 4. Only for the fact I buy expensive cards and prefer to spread out the cost of them over 2 months instead of paying the whole amount upfront. Do I need to do that, no. Could I pay for the cards outright, yes. This way feels better though like I’m buying with opex rather than capex.
When I hear “loan” and “Pokémon” in the same sentence:
The owner from my LCS told me a story about a couple who purchased a bulk lot of cards from him at the height of the pandemic boom.
At that time, in Australia, the government was allowing people to withdraw money from their superannuation. That’s essentially your retirement fund which your employer automatically pays a % into each week and normal you can’t touch it until you are 60. But because a lot of people were struggling financially in the pandemic, the government let you withdraw up to AUD $20,000 without any real checks on what you were using it for.
This couple withdrew the full amount (AUD $40,000 combined) and used it all to buy sealed modern Pokemon cards.
Apparently the shop owner tried to tell them it was a bad idea but they were certain it would pay off. I think about that story occasionally and wonder how it all turned out.
I don’t like debt at all. I would never take a private loan to buy a card. I’d rather save up or sell off cards in my collection.
True not technically a loan but it fit the theme of the discussion.
I was told they didn’t buy any slabs. It was predominantly ETBs and other packs which they intended to keep sealed. It would have been mid to late 2020.
That, Affirm, Klarna, whatever they’re called- yes they’re loans. The reason they are all 4 payments over 2 months is because the regulations around those terms are much looser than they are on typical loans. They are gross- just pay it off. One mistake and you’ll get nailed with fees/interest. Why leave it hanging over your head?
Hope they bought ES ETBs at least. 
These are the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) providers. Not a fan of them as I really don’t like how their “low” value financing play on the psychology - sometimes downright predatory
Short answer is budgeting preferences. I know they are not a good idea for everyone, but it compliments how I manage my money. They are only ok if you already have plenty of money and are responsible with money. I am not who they are designed for.
Let’s say I have $100k in my bank account, I want to buy a card that’s $500, but my pokemon budget is only $200 per month. Assume my current budget for cards is balanced.
I can buy the card on pay in 4, set autopay, and now I know I can’t buy anymore cards for 3 months until my plan is paid off. I stay in budget (opex) without having to dip into other buckets or savings (capex).