What's Your Collection's Net Worth?

[this_is_nascar]

I never understood what the big deal is about keeping your income a secret-- not saying anyone should brag about how much or be ashamed of how little they make but it just makes no sense to me.

Because it's called personal information, to be kept that way, not being anyone's business. It's shows how society has changed whereas the younger folks feel that their life is an open book, with nothing being private and being ashamed of nothing.

 

[Christoph]

More than a little but less than a lot.
c

 

[bykfixer]

It would seem to be a question of timing and relationship, as much as anything else: When the question of the value of my pocketbook - or flashlight collection - is put to me by someone I have just met or have little relationship with, I respond along the same lines as @bykfixer. Nunyabiznessboyo. However, when a long-time close friend puts such a question to me in the flow of a natural conversation, I may share such information.

That said, I agree with both @bykfixer and @Poppy that it is not a question to court if you plan to get on with people in this world. Usually it's perceived as a means of 'assessing' or prejudging a person, which can sour a relationship before it has even begun. I habitually choose to build relationship before casting big questions. Unfortunately though, some folks just don't pay much mind to getting along nicely with others.

My collection is now spread far and wide among family, friends, and strangers even, permanently. So while I suppose I could dredge my memories and records, and count up and value what I have spent, I'm glad to say I only have a few $k worth of lights and parts in possession. As much as I like lights, I'd biff it all out the window in the street tomorrow though, if it would get me an inch closer to a better goal: having a solid relationship with my wife and family as they grow up / old. That's priceless.

In my nearly 40 year line of work those who make the best deals make the most money. Money is rarely discussed amongst the ranks. We all earn at least X yet some make better deals. Skill set makes a difference so the cream rises to the top. It's actually a very satisfying way of making a living. It's about being invited back by the customer. A job well done reaps rewards. At one point some of my rewards were special made flashlights so that was pretty cool.

My collection is more historical in nature and not about the value. I'm sure some have increased in value as time passes. At one point the kids would bring friends over to see my flashlight collection. It's quite an honor when that occurs. When I perish someday I hope they can get a pretty sum on eBay or something.

 

[BVH]

About $28,000 give or take

 

[importculture]

Not sure how much my collection would be worth. Maybe in the tens of thousands if they were counted by their original retail price. I don't make a lot of money but i have been collecting flashlights for a few decades. My collection mostly bolstered by the many hds's I've purchased over the years. Along with my minimal time moonlighting as a surefire distributor in my thirty's. Mainly so i could buy them at a 25% discount. I've been through the HID light craze and was also very entrenched in the output wars between imalent and acebeam. So i have quite a few soda can lights as well as some big lights with max output runtimes in the seconds.

 

[M@elstrom]

More than I would ever admit

 

[Chauncey Gardener]

I read somewhere that you should - Never discuss your income with people that make more, or less than you do. It's been my experience that people who do are boring. I've long thought myself boring, but I won't bore others concerning my pocketbook*.

*Hat-tip to Fuzzywuzzies

As far as the worth of my collection - priceless, but only to me. My 13-year quest for all things 4Sevens & Foursevens has been a very enjoyable one and has introduced me to some wonderful people, some much more generous than myself.

^ A gift from my mother.

 

[jtr1962]

And well she should not. I am a bachelor, but it seems to me most married don't seem to understand what marriage is. These days, marriage is for procreation, to support the wife while she raises children, which is not a man's role. He only supports his wife. Otherwise, children get screwed up, and without children, there is absolutely no valid reason for a woman to marry no matter how in love she is, unless she enjoys being marginalized.

I'm single also but I hardly consider the sole purpose of marriage to have children. I can't stand children, but had I found someone I cared about enough I certainly would have considered marriage. I don't see why a childless marriage would marginalize a woman, either. Heck, I would even insist that they keep their maiden name. I think the custom of the wife taking her husband's name, effectively losing some of her identity in the process, belongs in the dustbin of history.

Was hoping to get some intelligent responses and MAYBE some honest debate but I can see this forum is like 99.9 % of all other forums-- populated by liberals

Hardly. This is one of the more conservative forums I frequent.

Honestly it's just a pretty private question Especially if you are discussing it with fellow worker. I know that doesn't apply here. I see it alot in the 50-60 year range of people. My twins came home one day in 12th grade and started telling me how much their teachers made. I was shocked when they told them. Then they told me who the teachers were. All were min 20's to early 30's. Told them next day to ask the older teacher. They got to the third one and stopped because they were getting scared of the responses. Lmao. Older generation doesn't like questions like that.

I hope you understand the reason why younger people (and some older people like myself) like to share how much they make. A big part of it is ensuring more equality if the workplace. If you and someone else are doing similar jobs you should get similar pay. However, you'll never know that if you don't share how much you make. I personally think companies should be required by law to post the annual pay of everyone working there (not publicly of course, but internally so every employee knows what every other employee makes). Doing this would end a lot of work place pay discrimination.

As for discussing how much you make with family/friends, I have no problems if asked, although I usually won't volunteer the information. Unfortunately, being in business for myself what I make varies drastically from year to year. Some years I've earned low four figures. Other years I earned six figures. I recall occasionally volunteering what I made in the latter case. Not because I wanted to brag, but rather because I got sick of a lot of my relatives acting like I was a loser.

Publicly discussing your net worth though is another thing. Not sure that's a good idea unless you don't have two nickels to rub together. People will start hitting you up for money if they know you're worth anything. Even a small three-figure bank account makes you seem "rich" to some people.

To me the question "how much do you make?" is like "what's your religion?" or "what's your political affiliation? The answer could steer someone's viewpoint.

Don't have any problems with any of those questions. Religion-none. Political affiliation-independent. I generally vote for the person. I've tended to vote more for one party or the other at different times, depending upon the state of things. If I felt we were going too far left, the Rs get my vote. If too far right, the Ds.

Back to main question-I joined this forum primarily due to an interest in lighting technology, as opposed to flashlights. I have a small collection, mostly given to me by people for favors I did them, but I'd be surprised if it's worth even four figures.

 

[Chauncey Gardener]

About $28,000 give or take

So, how much $$$$ do you make and how many ### does your wife weigh?

I joke.

 

[BVH]

That only about $1,500 a year over 19 years. That heavy iron is not cheap but tons of fun! My wife probably has that much in beads, stones and similar crafting supplies over 3 decades.

 

[Jetpowered]

I'm just surfacing but i'm sure the collection is over ten grand nowadays. i have every Mac's customs etc ever made

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Jetpowered, maybe you can take a moment to upload an image of your lights?

 

[Mr. LED]

More than I should, less than I want.

 

[M@elstrom]

Was hoping to get some intelligent responses and MAYBE some honest debate but I can see this forum is like 99.9 % of all other forums-- populated by liberals

Go on... call us a "basket of deplorables" if you want to have a discussion, denigrating your co-contributor is counter productive, rude and close minded from the outset 😜


BTW publically discussing you income is frowned apon in polite society, in addition to it could potentially compromise your employer due to disclosing such information to rival competitors as a factor of the tendering process.

 

[Dave D]

What ever my collection is worth in my head, in reality, it's only worth what someone else is willing to pay on a given day.

 

[bykfixer]

Go on... call us a "basket of deplorables" if you want to have a discussion, denigrating your co-contributor is counter productive, rude and close minded from the outset 😜


BTW publically discussing you income is frowned apon in polite society, in addition to it could potentially compromise your employer due to disclosing such information to rival competitors as a factor of the tendering process.

Polite? America hasn't been a polite society for a while now. Still there's some polite people, yes. But the society as a whole started losing the polite after world war 2.

I do agree with the post as a whole though. Some traditions remain despite all of the hoopla and angst. I did get a chuckle at the "populated by liberals" comment. I had to read it twice thinking "wait, what? liberals? where?"

My light collection increased by 2 recently. 2what? I dunno, it depends on what somebody else thinks those 2 more lights are worth.

 

[bigburly912]

At the apex my collection was just short of 100 bucks. Now that I've whittled it down I'd say about 20.

 

[Chauncey Gardener]

I recently added a treasure, which made my collection a little more priceless -

The Foursevens x Carryology collaboration, Preon Onibi.

Social norms are the binding agent that sustained a polite society.

 

[M@elstrom]

Polite? America hasn't been a polite society for a while now. Still there's some polite people, yes. But the society as a whole started losing the polite after world war 2.

I'm not American, polite society is simply the use of good manners, please & thank you plus the "do unto others" mindset, less common but hardly gone 👍



This thread made me consider my shelf queen Surefires and Streamlites 🤔

 

[IMA SOL MAN]

How much money have you invested into your light collection?
If you added up the numbers, how much would it cost to replace it all?



I know there are other threads that list models, but this one could just be total price.

So, are you an insurance agent, or work for the IRS?