A positive mindset, offsets costs.
As some of you know I recently purchased a new turntable minus a cartridge/stylus. I like to change my hi-fi around often, via small tweaks & small changes to try to get the best sound quality possible, without spending a fortune doing it.
It can be changes as simple as connecting cables (interconnects) or speaker cable. In the case of the turntable I wanted some cartridges to be able to change around, to compare the sound.
I had my own hi-fi shop back when I was 26 for a year or two, so know the brand names well. Some of the German brands sell well in the UK, like Thorens (turntables) and Klipsch (speakers) - These have always sold well in the UK and around the world.
So how does this fit in with the title of my post? I had a brainwave that there are 1000's of used Thorens turntables here, as we are next door to Germany. So I went online, here on the interweb and purchased a vintage (ish) Thorens td 280 TT from a local auction site similar to eBay for £65 with a now hard to find Shure me75d cartridge fitted.
That cartridge now sits firmly in my stock of tweaks. The turntable I sold this morning to someone in Italy for £110.00 plus £30 postage. After we deduct 10% eBay fees and the 2 or 3% paypal charges, we are still in profit with a free cartridge you see.
The Italian buyer is happy as he owns many cartridges and did not want to pay extra for a cartridge, when he already has a collection of them. The average price for one of these turntables on eBay was over £160, so in his mind he save £50.
We are both happy, Well all three of us if you take into consideration the original seller to me.
Anyone that knows me, knows I do the same with motorbikes.
"Money comes to money" my mom says to me. Well the statement is true in part, though made to happen by our own choices. Take my ever expanding motorbike collection. A large part of that collection is paid for with effort alone, How? Allow me.
Where possible after setting my heart or desires on a certain motorbike, and knowing it is going to need repairs or restoration. I buy 2 of them if possible. I do all the work myself including painting/mechanics.
A motorbike in parts is worth more than 1 whole 99% of the time, so I use the second one to cover the cost of buying 2, and sometimes even cover the restoration cost with regards to paint etc, all I use is "time"........
This is how I manage to not have to pay for things. A positive outlook, a little time researching that thing you want or need and voila, have it for effort alone.
You can apply this to cameras or anything else. I once bought a used digital camera, Nikon, with 5 lenses. I sold them all individually and made enough to buy a brand new in the box 5300 with 2 year guarantee.
Positive thinking gets positive results, be positive my friends.
@shepz1 buggers off to treat my ladies to some xmas shopping.