As an exchange student, I lived in a nine-square-meter room for nine months. It taught me I didn’t need much to be happy. I learned about minimalism and, after I came home, got rid of most of my stuff.
I wrote about it and concluded:
It never takes long to buy things – therefore you should not think a lot about selling things.
It takes forever to sell things – therefore you should think a lot about buying things.
More than a decade later, I realize I got some lessons right. But in the meantime, I’ve also learned others.
Like that if you have space, filling it with things that bring you joy can transform how that space feels. You don’t need to cover your office in trinkets from floor to ceiling. But a few meaningful accents here and there? Sure, why not! For me, the Lego sets I’ve assembled with my fiancée fall into that category, for example.
Another lesson is that sometimes buying is the point. When you’re collecting Pokémon cards, for example. You have a goal you’re working towards. Completing a set is a journey, and if you deliberate for weeks about every single card, you’ll never get anywhere. Small mind, small decisions. Especially if you’re collecting something where prices rise all the time, sometimes, it’s better to obsess quickly, then finish early. Because while it does take time and effort, you can always sell later.
If what you’re buying gains in value, you’re making an investment. That, too, is the good kind of buying. The DVDs and BluRays I sold aren’t worth anything more than they were back when I got rid of them. But some of my rarer vintage games and consoles would fetch a lot more today than I received for them. Outside of the essentials and stuff that constantly depreciates, buying can be an opportunity.
In Pokémon cards, if you have the right items, they’ll also sell incredibly fast. Niche pieces can still be worth a pretty penny, but it might take you a while to find the right buyer. There’s also a tradeoff between liquidity and the market price. You can move anything a lot faster if you shave 10%, 20% off the market price. Few collector’s items ever sell at the official market value.
I’m still happy with my thesis from 12 years ago. Don’t worry about losing, selling, or throwing out a piece of furniture or equipment. You can probably replace it with a better one soon and cheap. And yes, selling can take forever—as I now often realize when I’m back at my parents’ house, managing my Pokémon collection. But everything has nuance.
Make rules for yourself—but remember when to break them.
