Want It, Need It, or, On An Impulse… How Do You Justify Your Hobby Purchases?

Lots of wants... 

Very few needs... 

Limited impulse buying. 

I only have to justify my purchases to me. That makes it easy because everything I buy I want. I only buy what I like, no reason other than that

laid back and cool, neat!

you might like this, i did

http://agencypages.net/AgencyPages/11-52/

When I first got in the hobby I had to have it all! I'm more selective now and try to keep the impulse buy's in check.

you might like this, i did

http://agencypages.net/AgencyPages/11-52/

Yes, I loved it when I saw it live, 39 years ago, and I never get tired of seeing it again.

Gotta Love Rick Monday!

I don't consider hardly anything on the layout as a 'reward' of any kind.

While I don't 'need' anything on the layout, in the big picture sense, I set out with a very tighly defined goal on what I wanted for my layout, dictated by a specific listing of rolling stock on a non-interchange railroad, in a time and place that precluded a great deal of what most here would consider a requirement for their own layouts. Anything I have to have to meet that goal, I get. No one item is all that much, I think the most I spent on any one locomotive was about $160 (you can get decent deals on On30 sound locomotives if you're patient). But the stuff adds up.

When i was planning the layout, long before the first board was cut, I'd been buying at least one freight car each time I went to the local hobby shop. I painted. decalled and weather each as they showed up, so now I only have to weather the locos a bit and that part is done.

Same with scenery items and structures off eBay. The adage of eating an elephant one bite at a time, if you will.

Now that the benchwork and track are done, the scenery comes next. I'll be doing the same with static grrass, ground cover and the like, but I'm pretty sure the really expensive portion is behind me now.

Since most of my needs have been satisfied and I'm not an impulse buyer I guess it comes down to wants and my wants are very little.

so at this point in your life you see something that you really want and pass it by??

i am kind of impulsive, good bad or indifferent it is what it is i guess

now here is a fly in the ointment,  wonder if there are any railroad auctions where people try to outbid people, not the ebay thing but real auctions??

heck i was not even in the country, never knew it existed until a friend sent it to me,

I used to go to wrigley field and sit in left field bleachers (cheap seats)  thought i was so smart until i remembered my mother was a cub fan and would have the game on channel 9; yeah you got it she saw me sitting there and when i got home from school  she said "how was school?" of course i lied and said fine  then she said how come you did not get that ball the ernie banks hit.  i just sort of shrank down in "gotcha mood"

but it is a great video, and quite meaningfull, bet the comments from announcers were cool

Probably like most people, they have a list of what they want. I collect cars needed for trains I have started or buy stuff to expand my collection. I am planning on purchasing the MTH Railking SP GS-4 ether 4449 or 4436, that has been on my list for a while and I am about ready to pick one up. I buy every engine from ether Train world or Dealers that have good deals.

Most of my purchases have been sort of impulse buys.  I search forums, ebay, club sites looking for things I like that are listed as broken, missing parts or not running.  You can get things for a song if you are willing to put a few hours into making them right again.  This really helps me stretch my train dollars as well.  I just spent a few hours today with a Williams Brass Masterpiece Series Hudson.  It is a great runner and looks fantastic!

Rolland

 

I didn't say I'd pass on it but at my stage in life I have very few material wants.  I guess that just comes with age.

There's also a discipline within collecting that, if you can harness it, saves you a ton of money on crap you later find you wasted later on.

Been collecting non-train-related stuff for over 25 years now and have a world-class collection within a very tight subject type.

I'm not saying you can't buy stuff that's cool, but you'll find you spend a crazy amount of money and time on 'cool' stuff you never do anything with.

I've found there's no escaping that it's better to have 5 or 6 really cool things that you wanted all along than 20-30 so-so things you never look at and someday will take a hit on trying to get rid of.

Quality, not quantity, is the secret to enjoying a collection.

I have 2 criteria.

If it is an item that fits my modeling interests and era, then I'm interested in it. Very short list under that criterion now, but items do float to the surface now & again.

If it's an item I can have fun with building, restoring, rebuilding, etc. at a bargain price , then I'm interested in it.  I don't need anything beyond serious bargains in this area since once completed, it's no longer fun and looking for a new home.

"Justify". Funny. There's no justification. 

"Justify? There's no justification in train-buying!" ("Crying? There's no crying in baseball!")

Zen. I must find my Center.

For me, it's all visual.  If I like what I see, I usually "want it".  Then, price does play a part. I sometimes can't justify the cost versus value (to me).  Case in point, the GM Futurliner.  These things look FANTASTIC!  But, at $145 to $150 a pop, they certainly are pricey.  

Right now, they are a pre-order item, with an anticipated ship date of sometime this summer.  I absolutely love these things, but, then I would have to procure a specific train to pull them around.  I have the LionChief Boston and Maine set on order, and that may be my answer.  I would need a couple of nice flat cars for the buses to ride on.

That wouldn't be very hard to do.  Heck, I may have just convinced myself to send in my own pre-order for the Futurliners.  

Referencing another thread, see how the Forum influences someone to make a purchase?  

Excellent Replies Everyone…

Occasionally I will have something that will pop up that I didn’t know that I wanted, and that just happened! 

I love railroad

Paraphernalia and the Henry Commemorative 22 has tickled my fancy.

So this is not something that I want or need…it’s something I have to have, and I guess that is a category that is all on its own?

I Sure hope Allan Miller’s suggestion didn’t fall on deaf ears!!

Thanks..

K.C.

Ever since I was a newspaper delivery boy in Pittsburgh as a 12 yr. old (1956), I have worked my whole life. Thus, having earned the money doing work is all the justification I need.

Even my wife has gotten into the act by buying me locomotives (I have actually encouraged her to stop,) and she says her "justification"/motivation is seeing me happy.

K.C. Jones,

  I never need to justify any of my purchases to anybody, from good Bird Guns to Bamboo Fly Rods, to my O gauge Train hobby, I earn every dime I spend on them.

My Log Cabin in Potter/Tioga is the same way, all this is a life style, I have earned thru the hard, smart work of my life.   Learn to work smart & hard, earn good money and have a fantastic way of life.  With freedom comes the responsibility to make your own life style, a man must earn the life style he wants, here in this great country.

PCRR/Dave

Thanks for posting this Jim, my Dad was a  ww2 navy man, i served in the army at the tail end of Nam. I have no use for anyone who would dishonor this country's flag.

I don't buy much on impulse but if I do find something unexpected that I like and is reasonably priced I'll buy it. My grandson and I found a K-Line switcher at York a year ago with TMCC that was only $200 so we bought it. That's probably my largest impulse buy. 

I need very little but every now and then there's an item that falls into that category, especially if it is holding up completion of something else. Right now I need Z-Stuff crossing gates for a spot in the back of the layout. It's holding us up from finishing the things closer to the front of the layout. 

I want a lot of things - to convert our RMT Beep and a Williams GP-9 to TMCC for example. These are things I can plan and budget for. I recently did my first ever pre order - a TMCC gantry crane from Nassau Hobbies. 

usually something strikes me and I buy it so Guess I fall under impulse and there is always a few items I'm looking for at a very good price so thats how I end up seeing those impulse items lol

Justifying purchases is something I try to avoid whenever I can. I tend to think of it this way.  If I have the money to spend and I like the item, then I will buy it.  If I feel like I would have to give something else up to make the purchase then it is probably not a good idea to buy the item.

Sometimes though it also comes down to what I will call my "gut check feeling".  If I can't stop thinking about whether to buy and item or not, then I should buy it. It likely means that passing on the item will cause me later regrets.  The Lionel New York Central Sharknoses I bought at York last October are a great example of this.  I had been looking online for the Sharknoses for weeks leading up to York.  I saw them on the Friday at Nassau Hobbies booth.   They were being offered at a great price, but I decided at the spur of the moment to pass.  That evening back at the hotel, I could not stop thinking that I missed out.  I even asked my brother if he thought I was being dumb to pass on a good deal when I could afford to make the purchase.  He of course told me that if I was asking the question, then I was. So Saturday morning I went back and made the purchase.  And I am very glad I did, as I would have regretted it for quite a while if I didn't.