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Are you a "flipper"?

Lord Blackadder

Lord Blackadder

macrumors P6
Original poster
May 7, 2004
15,684
5,516
Sod off
Over the years I've noticed plenty of people on this forum (and in the "real world"), who seem to have a tendency to sell things quite often. They'll buy a Mac and sell it after a few months and get a different one, for example. Or buy a new car and keep it for only a short time before selling it.

Upon reflection, I realized that I'm the direct opposite of this. I almost never sell anything I buy, ever. I still have every Mac I've ever owned, for example. I'm a huge pack rat.

So , do you "flip" your possessions often? or are you a pack rat?
 
I'm neither, really.

I don't "flip", but neither do I collect. I research everything I buy, so I don't have to flip stuff, nor collect stuff because the needs wasn't met. I'm a minimalist and I try to adhere to the principle of KISS.
 
I always do a lot of research before buying, myself. I'm a salesman's nightmare, because I often know more about a given product than they do. It's just a habit I have.
 
No way! I keep most of my junk. Even got plans for my 2006 iMac once I can afford a high end PC.

If I bought something just before a new revision came out then I might be tempted to trade it. Think I planned on selling my iPod for a Touch since I only bought it months before they were released in the UK. But I kept it, mostly for capacity reasons :)

edit: but it's kind of good in doing so. My grandparents recently moved house so we were blessed with the task of shifting through their years of junk. It's a gold mine. Alien-like radios from the 50's, cinefilm cameras, some of the earliest electronic calculators, health and lifestyle books that got it so wrong. Won't somebody think of the grandchildren? I've even inherited some of my parents stuff like ancient EQ's and film cameras that tickle my gadget pickle. *but only good if you have the room to spare*
 
I don't like selling my stuff, I have several macs at home, none really serving any purpose, but I keep them because they're mine, and one day, when I'm not lazy/at uni (same thing really :rolleyes:), I'll find a use for them.

I guess I should sell my G4 Mac Mini, as that is literally doing nothing, although I sliced a tiny bit of the power cable a while back and patched it back up with electrical tape, all works sound, but even if I told the buyer 100 times that it was there, I'm sure they'd come back saying they knew nothing, and want their money back...
 
I probably hang on to stuff longer than I should - I still have my first laptop (a Dell Inspiron 1100 :eek:) that I keep simply because I tell myself I can use the HD or, since I used the Windows License key to get XP on my Mac, run Linux or something. That's been my idea for over a year and it hasn't been turned on in all that time.

My iPod I'd keep just because it was a gift and has sentimental value. My Mac, I'd keep because it was the turning point of the Switcher Revolution for my family...

...actually, I don't have that much stuff but what I do have I intend on keeping. Mostly. :D
 
I guess I am a bit of both, but trying real hard to downsize because I have no plans of staying put in the distant future.
 
I'm more than happy to throw something in the bin if I don't use it anymore, or if has been usurped by a shinier, newer model. I guess I've collected clothes I don't wear anymore, but I do dump a few shirts every few years, or donate some of it to charity.
 
Abstract said:
I guess I've collected clothes I don't wear anymore, but I do dump a few shirts every few years, or donate some of it to charity.
Click to expand...

That's one are where I try not to be a pack rat. I seem to have a 75% success rate with clothes. Three quarters of what I buy works out well, and the other 25% are "what was I thinking?" clothes that get donated.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
I always do a lot of research before buying, myself. I'm a salesman's nightmare, because I often know more about a given product than they do. It's just a habit I have.
Click to expand...
I do that but find that family members say I'm indecisive , bah- it's called research say I, my stuff generally lasts longer than theirs HA.

I flip computers only to stay reasonably up to date but most everything else stays
 
Ill sell something if it is something I dont use anymore and it has some value. I donate a lot of things to goodwill as well. That said if I buy something I buy it with the intent of keeping it a good amount of time. So I would say I am not a flipper.
 
My iMac G5 is four years old and my MacBook is approaching three. I'm hoping to get another year out of both of them. I don't expect they'll be worth selling after that.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
So , do you "flip" your possessions often? or are you a pack rat?
Click to expand...
If this is any indication...a punch card that I created in 1975.

Punch Card.jpg

Definitely pack rat.
 
I should hasten to add that I don't think there's something wrong with selling things, but merely observed that some people do it and others don't.

I find selling things to be a pain, that's another reason I don't get rid of stuff often. If I do get rid of things, I usually just give them away.

sushi said:
Definite pack rat.
Click to expand...

A tendency to retain things, perhaps to an excessive degree. A milder term might be a "person disposed to collect things"...
 
I tend to be more a packrat, but if I know something will have absolutely NO use, I will likely get rid of it - usually during some large life event like moving and I'm totally running out of boxes or room on the van. ;)

Mostly, I have problems getting rid of sentimental things that have no practical use, but have lots of memories attached to them. I have to really fight myself on such things.

"Have you used this in the last 2 years? No? Then get rid of it!"
 
I'm a minimalist and definitely a flipper. I don't like redundancy. I like everything to have their purpose.

I generally flip my Macs once a year, even though I keep trying not to. Maybe this iMac will last longer than a year :p
 
I'm in awe of the punch card. I don't think I can beat that. :eek:

I have a lot of manuals for stuff I know longer own though. That's pretty bad. I also have some stuff that I could sell, but want to keep for no good reason.

Books are probably the worst for me. I find it nearly impossible to throw away or otherwise get rid of a book.
 
Just thought that www.freecycle.org may be a useful link in this thread , it's a littl bit like ebay but everything is free......

You just list items you no longer want and folks send emails stating why they would like 'said' item, you can also browse for items and ask for them.

It's pretty cool actually, I've give away loads of surplus stuff, you know stuff just too good to trash but surplus to requirements ........ got some great items too, saved me a fortune.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
So , do you "flip" your possessions often? or are you a pack rat?
Click to expand...

I would say that I'm neither. I usually keep something until it wears out and then I trash it. However if I do buy something and happen to not like it I usually sell it but do not buy a replacement.
 
I don't form many lasting relationships with anything I buy. It's all just "stuff," and if I can flip it and not lose a lot of money, I'll do it. However, I find that as I get older, I don't even want to change things that often.
 
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