Horseshoe Sample Discussion. Good investment? (1 Viewer)

[Trihonda]

So I collect samples sets. I will sometimes pay more than market value for a cool set I really like, or to complete a set.

I snagged two HS sample sets, and these will be my most expensive samples to date. I didn't do so to flip them. I like having a set to display, and a backup set. I have think the price was fair, and I was willing to pay it. They certainly have value to me (and others) over and above any finanacial value. I'm in no way complaining or arguing that these were overpriced. Obv they sold out quickly. Ha!

However, I'm curious to hear discussion on what the value of said chips might be moving forward? Financially, were these a good investment?

I know that there was some discussion in a previous thread about how the $25k chips made up the lions share of the value. Off the top of my head I recall that if you added up other chips, this came to around $38, which. Valued each of the $25k chips at around $25 each.

I'm excited to get these chips. I can't wait to display them. Having $25k chips is ballah imho.

That said, my fave design in the sample set is the primary $500. It's like a unicorn chip. It shouldnt exist. How do they get those spots, lol

 

[upNdown]

I'm gonna go ahead and guess yes.
What's the market for a $25,000 casino chip? I can't find a single one that's sold on eBay. This is the closest I can find, which is notched and is actually a sample, with a Paulson sample inlay on the other side. And this sold for $50.
What will these individual horseshoe 25k's fetch on eBay? I'm guessing a whole lot.

 

[atomiktoaster]

I just got one set, but it felt kind of uncomfortable dropping that much on it. I would probably have just gotten one of the $25ks if that was an option, and maybe skipped out on some of the other oversize denoms. If I was a little more ruthless, buying two sets and flipping one seems like it would have been a safe bet. Might have paid for both. Whoever got the last set can thank me, I guess.

 

[DJ Mack]

Big fat zero here. Hoping more get offered with the regular sale. I've done some contemplating on what I'd be willing to pay. A bit more perhaps but not significantly more.

 

[links_slayer]

lol chip "investments" - bad life strategy all around, in general. sure people strike gold from time to time but it's certainly not the norm.

curious why you bought 2 if you didn't want to flip one to try and pay for them both (like you "joked" about in another thread).

 

[Psypher1000]

Is it worth it? In a word, yes.

Frequently $500 chips are in the $5-$7 range on the aftermarket. Going conservatively, $500 chips x2 = $10
Frequently the top value chips in a set sell for $10-$20, if not more. We'll consider the $1k as the "top" chip equivalent in this set. Going conservatively, $1000 chips x2 = $20

So if the $500's and $1k's alone are conservatively worth $30, that means the nearly unheard of $5k and $25k chips have to be worth $59 collectively, and that's assuming we ignore the value of all the lower denoms. Given the relative scarcity of those denoms and the condition of the chips, I think that's a given.

 

[manamongkids]

I got a full 1000ct set, figured it was worth the investment to see if i like them. If not, I can always resell.

I got a $500 primary because I love love love the design and wanted to use as a card cover, no intention of flipping for profit, though

 

[upNdown]

I did the same with the $1,000 - I know that color's gonna pop a whole lot more than in the illustrations.
And I threw a handful of primary $500s into my cash set, not because they'll ever see the felt, but because they're gorgeous.

 

[Big Jilm]

lol chip "investments" - bad life strategy all around, in general. sure people strike gold from time to time but it's certainly not the norm.

I think Jim would disagree. I think I will too. I sit here and look at all my chips and I can't find a single one that hasn't at least doubled in value. Some have even tripled. Perhaps I am just buying the "right" chips. However, it is only an investment IF you sell them. I just don't see that happening! I love them too much and they are too hard to come by to just sell. At least, that is where my head is currently.....



Did anyone else snag the max on sample sets? The most I have seen anyone admit to is 2. I think they are worth it for the $1-$25k chips. If you got 5 sample sets we are talking #10 $25k chips!!

 

[links_slayer]

I think Jim would disagree. I think I will too. I sit here and look at all my chips and I can't find a single one that hasn't at least doubled in value. Some have even tripled. Perhaps I am just buying the "right" chips. However, it is only an investment IF you sell them. I just don't see that happening! I love them too much and they are too hard to come by to just sell. At least, that is where my head is currently....

Agreed re: Jim, obv

I guess it's true that value is in the eye of the buyer and/or seller.

 

[Trihonda]

lol chip "investments" - bad life strategy all around, in general. sure people strike gold from time to time but it's certainly not the norm.

curious why you bought 2 if you didn't want to flip one to try and pay for them both (like you "joked" about in another thread).

Why buy two? Well, because I really like the idea of having one on display, and then being able to use some of the spare set chips as baller card cappers. That, and I just wanted to force @gopherblue to change the orange PAD 1k chip graphic. Lol

If I were buying with the intention to flip a set, I'd have bought three sets.

I have never bought a chip that I intended to sell later. But I've sold many chips, as personal tastes and finances dictate.

Down the road, if there are some of these sample chips that don't see use, they may hit the market, but that's a big if, and way down the road.

 

[GoStumpy]

I can't wait to see the chips in person... I have feelings that they are worth something decent, I am looking forward to seeing what the market will start indicating. I can't see the 25k chips going for any less than $40, probably $50+... And the $1k and $5k would be around $20-$25 ish

Always will keep a set for myself though!

 

[GoStumpy]

lol chip "investments" - bad life strategy all around, in general. sure people strike gold from time to time but it's certainly not the norm.

Certainly 'collecting' for investment is not a good overall idea, but there is something said for certain things that have value that are far more gratifying to 'collect' than a bank account with a certain growth rate

Like collecting valueable anything, (Cars for example) you need to know what you're looking at and what the market is doing...

Pretty sure these sample sets will be worth 50-100% more than we paid for them in a pretty short time...

 

[ChaosRock]

I'm pretty sure after this thread Jim's gonna limit the number of sample sets per customer to '1' on his next pre-sales

 

[links_slayer]

on his next pre-sales

"next pre-sale" - i like where you're head's at

 

[BGinGA]

I'm pretty sure after this thread Jim's gonna limit the number of sample sets per customer to '1' on his next pre-sales

And very surprised that he didn't do it initially.

 

[ChaosRock]

"next pre-sale" - i like where you're head's at

Even better than that ^^^^, Josh... I used plural!! Hahahahahaha...

 

[Ronoh]

Did anyone else snag the max on sample sets? The most I have seen anyone admit to is 2. I think they are worth it for the $1-$25k chips. If you got 5 sample sets we are talking #10 $25k chips!!

I was going to... one for myself and Christmas gifts on the others being that it's my home casino. In the
end I only had two people on my xmas list that would appreciate them as a $90 gift so I dropped to three sets.

 

[Trihonda]

I'm pretty sure after this thread Jim's gonna limit the number of sample sets per customer to '1' on his next pre-sales

I think limiting to one or two is a good idea. In a different thread, people were talking like these would be worth big bucks. One or two sets is feasible for a collector. 5+ sets screams flipper... Unless of course someone is trying to build playable quantities of the 25k chip... Lol

 

[luckbox]

on 1/13/2008 i bought 10 fabulous las vegas 50 cent paulson chips for a total of $6.23 (i used to keep records) to shuffle while playin online poker....still have those btw

then started buyin chips and kept track of price paid and all that, i would sell off some usually at a profit most times to buy more, then repeat for about 5 or 6 years.....

then i stopped keeping track of the dollars and just bought what i liked/wanted or thought was a good deal to maybe sell in the future, but had a rough idea of how much i had "invested"....so i got up to about $5k invested into about 7,000+ chips probably.

a year or so ago so i started to thin the herd and sold off almost a bunch and fine tuned things down to about 4,000+ chips that make up 4 sets, some extra racks and various singles and limit my purchases to add on's or chips that i think are a "deal" that may be worth more in the future or chips that are just cool looking....not spending crazy money.

i think my net cost is down to about $2,000 - $2,500 and the overall value is maybe $8,000 or more if i decided to liquidate them all.

investment?...not really, its a hobby if you factor the time spent hunting down chips, buying and selling, reading forums, you lose money but have fun doing it....

my opinion, the single chip market is the serious money....i glance over there once in awhile as there are some pretty cool looking chips out there but i dont want to try that game.

 

[courage]

I didn't do so to flip them.

Kind of a pointless thread then. Enjoy them.

 

[Big Jilm]

Having excess high denoms doesn't necessarily mean they will be flipped. They will be extremely useful for trades down the line too. I am still wanting a 20 player set up of these. Having extra high denoms may increase my chances of making it happen. Plus a set of that size will allow me to actually use the $25k chips

 

[luckbox]

this sold just under $1,000.00

not really a high denom...so there is a bit more to it

cool looking chip no doubt

 

[JFCJ]

Every chip I own is for sale... but no one can afford them.

Yet.

 

[upNdown]

Now we're getting it on.
I think I understand the generally negative attitude against chip flipping here. I get that we're a community here (AND I'M GLAD TO BE A NEW PART OF IT BY THE WAY - THANKS GUYS) and that nobody wants to deprive somebody out of a playable set or a collection piece, just to turn a profit. And also that while nobody is opposed to selling things at market value here, we frown on somebody who exists just to profit off this community. I think that's about it, and I generally agree with it, ideally.
But in the big picture, it's quite subjective and far from black and white, right?
These sample sets are certainly falling in that grey area, right? I mean I think we'd all agree that if somebody bought 5 sets just to flip all 5 on eBay next week, that's not cool, right?
But what about the guy who bought two sets, hoping to keep one in his collection, but planning to immediately flip the other on eBay to pay off the first? (I honestly couldn't afford any sample sets this weekend, but I would have liked to have had one, so I have a hard time finding fault with somebody who went that route)
And what about the guy who bought 5 sets to "collect" them, but in reality, knows he's going to sell most or all of them off in a few years, if they've appreciated in worth?
And what about the guy who says, I'm going to trade them down the line for other chips (sorry big jilm, I promise I'm not calling you out here, just looking for some honest discussion) - does it not count as flipping if your profit is chips instead of cash?
I think we're all playing nice on this thread, and I hope we continue to, but I'd like to hear people's thoughts. My thoughts are that outside of the blatant extremes, this is a big gray area, and I'll be careful not to make broad, sweeping statements against flipping, since I feel like pretty much everybody here engages in some level of flipping, from time to time, unless they sell everything for exactly what they paid for it.

 

[GoStumpy]

I bought extra snappers with plans to sell them later knowing they'll be worth far more than I paid for them.... I hope... everything helps when I try to repay the thousands I spent on chips Ideally I would like to sell enough of the set to pay for the rest, essentially a self-sustaining chip addiction I don't want to turn big profits, but I do want it to pay for itself over time if possible...

 

[BGinGA]

nobody wants to deprive somebody out of a playable set or a collection piece, just to turn a profit.

It would be nice if this were true, but reality is far from it.

One of my biggest peeves is people who buy hoards of chips merely to sell at a profit (nothing wrong with that) but by doing so, deprive other people an opportunity to buy ANY of those chips for personal use (not cool in my book).

If done under the guise of being a community member or because of opportunities presented by being a community member, I consider them parasites --- not really members of the community at all, but rather people who look at the community members as a feeding opportunity, and a way to make cash at the expense of the members here. Those people know who they are..... and so do most of the more active members here.

Nothing that anyone can really do to stop it, other than via chip karma..... but there are lots of folks here who keep a mental list of who deserves favors and who doesn't. The back channels in this community are pretty transparent.

 

[Big Jilm]

Ultimately, I think that everyone played by the rules set forth by Jim. I am definitely not sorry for buying 5 sample sets. I saw something I wanted, I played by the rules, AND I GOT DEM CHIPS! Is 3 the official number of acceptable sample sets to own by a respectable degenerate? lol

It is kind of a weird topic actually. You are right, we have ALL made money here or there on certain chips. Us not liking flippers, or even defining flipping - then shunning those people out is not going to stop it. The chips are YOUR property that you paid for with your money to do with as you please.

FWIW, in the big picture; I certainly have not profited chipping. I am in the hole 5 figures. Some guys around here are down 6 figures....crazy hobby man. I have no problem with selling chips for more money if that is what someone is willing to pay. I don't like it when people do it immediately after a sale and never even wanted to own the chips or use them in their home game. I love my chips!! My chips will hopefully be in play at my next home game and many more beyond. Hopefully, I will have enough to host a 2 table tourney sooner rather than later. :

 

[GoStumpy]

I definitely see a difference between flipping solely for profit and buying to enjoy and sell later for market value... If value went up during ownership that's a bonus

I want to have dozens of sets and thousands of chips, but there's no way I can afford that.. But by buying at a good price that I know I can sell for profit later, I get to enjoy, clean, and play with chips I would not ordinarily have.

This horseshoe sale is a good example of that, no way can I afford all those gorgeous chips, they will be released into the community again at a later date after I have enjoyed them for a little while.. And I hope the market increases while I own them to allow me to buy other chips later

I sure hope that doesn't make me look like a bad community member

 

[Big Jilm]

Not unless you see this in the mirror: