How has the economy affected you?

Thanks Amy for sharing. I completely agree with your comments and ideas! =)

By now hopefully most of us have filed our taxes and hopefully received our refunds. =) And the major summer cons like AX and SDCC have come and gone. Just wondering has anyone slowed down collecting cels or completely stopped?

Seems like many people are just lurking now or no longer posting much in the RS community. Asking b/c haven't seen many AX or SDCC updates in RS which is rather surprising. Also it seems like the vast majority of RS thread posts during the months of May to August are now just for sales.

Wondering if I am the only one feeling the "squeeze" and slowing down collecting cels. Anyone else have thoughts on the matter or how about sharing tips on how to navigate the financial storm?

The state of the economy hasn't affected me one bit. I still work the same job for the same employer, making the same amount of money, and am not worried about something happening to it. What HAS affected me is the lack of cels from shows I collect being offered for sale. And a lack of buying spirals into a lack of interest in general. In fact, I only recently started posting cels again after a 2 1/2 year hiatus...but they are of cels I bought 4-5 years ago, and not recent purchases...because there aren't any. I can't buy what isn't being sold, after all.

If this bad economy has one good side for Rubbersluggers, it's that some new fresh cels are coming into the market since people are selling off their private collections to pay bills & such. I've also noticed that the ususal anime cel dealers are dropping their prices at Cons. For instance Bakshi had their usual $350 a piece cels for just $200 at AX and went down further to $150 each at SDCC 2 weeks later.

@ Gabriel: wow very happy for you! That is awesome your job is stable and you are doing ok. =) Totally agree how it can be difficult for some collectors if the series they collect from does not have many cels being offered. Hopefully some of the private collectors overseas will sell parts of their collections. Meanwhile, hang in there, we should all be so lucky to have such a "good" problem during these difficult times.

@ KahmCelWorld: Totally agree about how some fresh new cels are entering the market now b/c some people are selling their private collections due to the tougher economic times. I think many of us are feeling the pinch and are trying to stretch our incomes. You also raise an interesting point about dealers and how some are lowering their prices to stay competitive during these times. Personally very VERY surprised more dealers are not having a sale right about now before the holidays.