The Value of Specialist or Niche Stuff for Your Interest or Hobby

2ndeffort on 08/02/2019 - 16:30

Lots of people have some kind of interest or hobby involving expensive stuff. People involved in that interest or pursuit understand the value of various items of kit or components etc but sometimes that same stuff seems incredibly expensive to people not involved in that hobby. What are some examples of stuff for your hobby that you think is a bargain but you know that people not involved in that pursuit wont understand.

I'll go first with Road Cycling…my hobby. Before taking up cycling I would have thought anything more expensive that the $200 bikes i saw in KMart was ridiculous. I currently ride a bike that cost around $7K and I've bought expensive upgrades on top of that. I spend ages looking at bike stuff and regularly think I've found a bargain because I saw a cool cycling lycra top for $130 etc. Only last week I bought some new cycling shoes for $200 down from about $400 ….. absolute bargain!!!

Other hobbies I imagine would be similar are photography, drones, horses, collecting stuff etc.

General Discussion

Comments

  • oO0Dam0Oo on 12/02/2019 - 08:44
    +2

    Marine aquariums. Amazingly beautiful and amazingly expensive.

    • PAOK11 on 12/02/2019 - 11:37

      Tried fish myself absolute nightmare. respect

  • berger on 12/02/2019 - 10:44
    +4

    I do love Nandos, my loyalty card has $200 worth of free meals on it. It’s so good, $200 in free food is 10% of what I spent on Nando’s 😦

    • Ghost47 on 15/02/2019 - 21:34

      I currently have 1329 points on my card… I think that means I've spent $1329 on Nando's. Totally worth it.

  • dj69 on 12/02/2019 - 11:45
    +2

    Fishing, 50k boat and another 10k on stuff to catch fish..
    Hmmm now that i think of it, going to the fish markets would have been cheaper…

  • imurgod on 12/02/2019 - 12:01
    +5

    Wow, what a cool thread! It's so interesting to see what people are into!

    It made me think about all the hobbies I've gone through and still have the gear for…

    Bikes - I have 3 Italian bikes with one being a vintage and another is nearing that and out of production for some years (I would be lucky to get a short ride in twice a year)
    Music - Used to have a band and still have all my guitars, amps and pedals (Gibson, Fender, Marshall, Vox and various pedals, mics, etc.)
    Cars - AMG… I don't need to tell you how expensive everything is for these
    Gaming - I have every generation of Xbox and Every PS since the first but not PS4.
    Simulation racing - This is what I'm currently into. A high end gaming PC and Virtual Reality headset easily sets you back $4K+ and then there's my high end racing rig. I use Fanatec and I have all the upgrades for everything (dampeners for pedals, button boxes, upgraded paddles and various other stuff). I'd say my entire set up as it stands right now cost upwards of $7,500

    It makes me sick to think I have all this stuff and most of it isn't being used at all.

    I keep all the vintage/retro stuff because I'd like to give it to my kids.

  • curtturtle on 12/02/2019 - 12:49
    +1

    Target shooting and archery. I have spent tens of thousands on rifles and bows. I doubt there isn't a hobby out there that you can't drop big bucks onto if you get into them.

  • raptormesh on 12/02/2019 - 13:15
    +1

    Martial arts equipment and fees. The most satisfying hobby I've had however, this one is great for my mental health.
    Cello, a good one costs a lot not to mention classes.
    VR and flight sims - hardware and software costs are stupidly high. $600 HOTAS, pedals, etc.

    Luckily don't have or need a car for awhile now.

  • ronnknee on 12/02/2019 - 14:10

    I'm surprised no one has mentioned LEGO yet.

    • Milk tea on 12/02/2019 - 14:28
      +3

      Lego are for the extremely rich folk lol

    • OG Puppy Banana on 12/02/2019 - 15:53
      +1

      Haha, I dabble in Architecture and Creator sets :P

      Good activity with the missus!

  • bto2000 on 12/02/2019 - 14:37

    No sneakerheads?

    • BrewerHaHa on 17/02/2019 - 17:20

      Dat would be me. I mainly collect Jordans but also other basketball stuff which I wear to play in.
      As to the cost? I have no idea. I've got so many pairs of shoes and I can name the individual prices for each of them but not the total collection. Its worth is probably $5k. Other friends I've met through collecting have collections upwards of $100k. More pairs that they can fit in their homes and some with homes just for their pairs.

  • souleaterX on 12/02/2019 - 15:00
    +1

    Into console video games. Got into them after my dad used to go to markets collecting records. Followed in his footsteps.

    Got a tv from a friend after it was being thrown out from a local college. A Sony PVM. Not worth much to most as its a CRT but to gamers it provides best quality picture. Prices have been hitting $2k+ for these in good working condition.

    Forgot to mention it was the biggest one produced. The go up exponentially after a certain size.

  • Dual on 12/02/2019 - 18:03
    +1

    Gaming - High end PC and all consoles. Crap load of games.
    Audiophile stuff - 10+ pairs of headphones and a bunch of headphone amps and DAC's
    Archery - about 7k spent on compounds bows and recurves. 1k spent on arrows and fletching equipment. A bunch more money on releases, sights, stabilisers and targets.
    Folding tools/blades - 60+ collection. Mainly leatherman, victorinox, spyderco and benchmade.
    Drones - A couple of DJI drones and some DIY builds.
    Kickboxing lessons, maybe adding some brazilian jiu jitsu lessons if I have time.

  • juzzo2118 on 12/02/2019 - 20:01
    +3

    My hobby is playing badminton competitively. It's got a bad rap as being a cheap backyard sport but to actually play properly you need:

    Racquets: high-end ones are easily $200+, you will need a couple to switch out in case the strings snap during a game
    Shuttlecocks: A tube of 12 tournament grade goose feather shuttles will set you back $35
    Badminton shoes: $100-200. Extremely important to have lateral support and grip on the court.
    Re-stringing a racquet: $25 each time, strings usually break in under a month of play.
    Court hire: $20-32/hr

  • Pantagonist on 12/02/2019 - 20:50

    Sustainability and repurposing or repairing broken things.

    Doesn't cost much but takes up a lot of space given people's inclination to throw out perfectly reusable stuff.

    I probably meet a lot of OzBargainers without being aware of it.

  • PiStep on 12/02/2019 - 21:32

    I collect Australian stamps, both pre-decimal and decimal and Australian pre-decimal bank notes. I have not really added too much to my collection in the last 15 years, working overseas, marriage, kids etc… Spent a lot on it when I was younger, hopefully be worth a fortune when I retire.

  • Kyou mo Kawaii on 12/02/2019 - 21:49
    +2

    Anime Figurines - all imported from Japan. Started off with the cheaper ones (Nendoroids and figmas) which were around $50-$70 each then eventually moved onto scaled figures ($150-$250). Over a couple of years it added up to over 4k, most likely paid over 1k in shipping as they were all packaged in massive boxes.
    Doujinshi - every summer and winter Comiket I would buy a stack of doujins and get it sent over. around $15-$20 each, ~1k in total.
    Car - Bought brand new, over 10k in mods (lucky not a daily)

    Current hobby - Collecting 2D waifus and whaling in FGO and BanG Dream

  • ktek on 12/02/2019 - 22:35
    +1

    This is a great thread, glad to see that I'm not the only one suffering from this lol.

    High end PCs, which mechanical keyboards and audiophile equipment spun from, easily spent over $4k on gradually upgrading my current PC to where it is now.

    I'm more on the bang for your buck in terms of mechanical keyboards, currently using a Magicforce 68 with DIY'd mix of blue and green Gaterons switches and pudding keycaps to top it off. Didn't need anything fancy, spent around $100 on the keyboard and mods.

    Audio wise I've collect a whole bunch of headphones from Ozbargain and Massdrop, started with a modest Audio-technica ATH-AD500 for gaming, then got a M50x to try closed back, then the HD58x Jubilee dropped on Massdrop and got one to take over the AD500. Since I travelled often, I also bought a pair of QC25 back when Myers had decent sales and to top it all off, bought a pair of Airpods for around the house or when I'm out and about. For PC audio I'm rocking a Sennheiser GSX1000 as a DAC/mic input and for quick switching between speakers and headphones when I game, from there it also wires into a SMSL sApII Pro headphone amp just for when I finally decide to buy a harder to drive headphone.

    Also got a "basic" photography setup from back in the day, Canon 60D with three main lenses: Canon 50mm for that Bokeh, 18-50mm Sigma for general purpose, and a Tokina 11-16mm for star/landscape/indoor photography.

    Last but not least, I've also got a German car (VW MK5 R32) which I initially thought would be spending most of my money modding, but so far I've just been trying to keep it from falling apart on me (Coolant leaks, water pump going out, radiator fan failure, squeaky suspension, potential timing chain issues etc).

    Hurts just typing all of this out.

    • mini2 on 13/02/2019 - 08:47

      Last but not least, I've also got a German car (VW MK5 R32) which I initially thought would be spending most of my money modding, but so far I've just been > trying to keep it from falling apart on me (Coolant leaks, water pump going out, radiator fan failure, squeaky suspension, potential timing chain issues etc).

      Cracked thermostat housing? It's not that bad. The water pump is a bit pricey if you go for genuine otherwise they aren't that bad. Squeaky suspension when going up speed humps might just be your lower control arm bushes are gone and the timing chain…that repair starts with a 2 and it's 4 figures large. Touch wood I don't have your radiator/fan problems but my clutch and DMF are on their way out.

      • ktek on 13/02/2019 - 14:31

        Yeh it's not too bad, I've ordered a aluminium kit to replace all of the horrible plastic parts for the thermostat housing. Basically got all the parts on the way or already in hand, just need a weekend free and a lot of beer to do all of the coolant related parts. Might need to borrow my mates workshop for a day to do all the suspension bushings, tried to do the control arms in my driveway and I couldn't get enough leverage to pull the damn thing out. So far my clutch and DMF has been okay, might just be because it's a late model (MY09) and it isn't worn yet. But I'm also keeping an eye out on my ABS module, since it seems that this part was due for a recall.

    • DarthAntz on 13/02/2019 - 12:42

      Whats your opinion on the expensive headphones and DAC? At the end of the day, are they necessary?

      • ktek on 13/02/2019 - 14:45

        It all sort of depends on what you're after? I can say I'm happy with just the Jubilees because they're genuinely a step up from your standard headphones without the need for an expensive setup, everything else is optional unless you've gotten ahead of what your setup can provide (ie, DT990s or HD6xx/HD650 without an amp just means you won't reach its full potential).

        So to answer your question, no it isn't necessary, but I guess once you've gotten a taste for something better you will always wonder if there is any room for improvement lol.

        • DarthAntz on 13/02/2019 - 15:14

          thanks for the reply. Yeah I've been addicted to audio, and I got through the phase by enjoying audio opinions. A lot is really well marketed. But the sensation from awesome audio is undeniable.

  • afordprefect on 12/02/2019 - 23:45

    Have to limit myself to one expensive hobby at a time.

    Was looking to 'upgrade' my photography gear recently and came to the conclusion that a meaningful upgrade from my old DSLR would require ~$10k for a whole new system. Which is jarring when you took 15 years to build up the kit you have that cost only about $7k total, spread over that whole time. Settled on keeping my old gear and saving for other hobbies instead. (Would have no trouble spending that money if I used it very regularly, but I have a habit of only using it when travelling). All about the cost per use. I'd rather spend a lot on something I use daily or weekly than a little on something I touch one or twice a year.

  • gimme on 13/02/2019 - 06:29
    +6

    Spending way too much time on Ozbargain. Expensive hobby.

  • TightAssDude on 13/02/2019 - 08:16
    +1

    Soooo much cash floating around here. No chance of a recession hitting us anytime soon. Great thread BTW :)

  • LookAtMeow on 13/02/2019 - 09:01

    Electric Skateboards would definitely fall in that category for me… Even after the initial big outlay you're then looking at different gearing options, wheel sizes, bearings, bushings and just general customisations to make your perfect ride.

    Then when you're finally happy with that 1 board after it's all said and done you see another board made by another company and somehow you justify then having 2 boards and the whole journey starts again lol. Because you know, it's great to have a board for just street wheels and a different board for off-road…

    Oh and you know what's better than buying complete boards made by other companies? Building one yourself! So then lets spend hours upon hours on electric-skateboard.builders and /r/ElectricSkateboarding coming up with the perfect combination of board, esc, gears, wheels etc etc… Argh :-|

  • kungfupanda on 13/02/2019 - 11:10
    +4

    Is buying (unnecessary) stuffs based on the bargain posts in OzBargain considered 'expensive hobby' too?
    My present hobby is to open OzBargain and when I see someone posted $$$ bargain I immediately jump on it although I don't need the stuffs.
    My wife has been constantly criticizing me about the items I purchased which are still in packaging boxes …

    I still remembered the times when I didn't know about this website, I hardly buy things I didn't need.

    Should I change my hobby?

    • [Deactivated] on 13/02/2019 - 12:04

      Should I change my hobby?

      no

      • 2ndeffort on 14/02/2019 - 16:40

        Can never have enough stuffs. Until you have enough eneloops to build a lifesize replica of the Titanic and challenge Clive Palmers one you dont have enough Stuffs and need to keep buying!

  • [Deactivated] on 13/02/2019 - 12:14

    Rockclimbing. Almost $2000 worth of stuff but cost price is probably $3000 as I got a discount when working at climbing centres or just through knowing people who were sponsored by brands.

    Move to a place without good climbing spots and I reckon most of my rope/thread based safety equipment are >10 years old and should be retired. Couple of weeks ago I just dropped about $1000 on a kayak and associated gear. Depending on how we go we might end up getting snorkelling or camping gear as well.

    • star-ggg on 13/02/2019 - 17:04

      what do you need to buy for rockclimbing that add up to $3k? Do stuff wear out a lot?

      • 2ndeffort on 14/02/2019 - 16:38

        I reckon ropes, carabiners, climbing harness, those little wedges you put in cracks, bags, chalk, climbing shoes would all add up. Mates who've been into it used to spend a fortune on good ropes.

  • DarthAntz on 13/02/2019 - 12:40
    +2

    Making tortillas. Ive got 2 different types of frypans and I'll often find and buy bags of different types of flours to use. Its expanded to Dosa, chapati (I can't get ghee where I am) and all of the flat and fried breads around.

    Recently a friend bought me some blue masa from America to make the blue corn tortillas. delicious. Everytime I make them, they taste different.

    Spent about $35 so far on the two different types of frypans, and the flour is around $3 a bag here and there.

    • smartazz104 on 13/02/2019 - 14:58

      When is the dinner party?

      • DarthAntz on 13/02/2019 - 15:11
        +2

        If this encourages you, start by looking on youtube for all the amazing flatbreads around the world. flour tortilla is the easiest and the best. The timings on the pan, how long you let the dough sit, adding herbs and salts to the dough, and if you cover it once its off the pan will all make a difference.

        The world needs more tortilla enthusiasts. Flour, salt, warm water - go for it.

        • spacebanana on 13/02/2019 - 17:22

          This sounds amazing, I might give this a go!
          I love flat breads and this sounds like a great starting point, any particular videos to start with?

          • DarthAntz on 13/02/2019 - 18:00
            +1

            @spacebanana: Search parantha (pakistani), roti/chapati, and flour tortillas. Don't try corn tortillas until youve got the flour tortilla. Corn flour is not easy. Add some baking powder and mixed dry herbs to the flour and mix it up before adding warm water (half boil a kettle) and then a tablespoon of oil. Roll it out to the size of your flat frypan or griddle. those electric frypans are good. Don't venture into yeast mixes until you've had your practice. I make 4 tortillas from 2 cups of flour, but ive got a 26cm flat pancake frypan. I rarely put the dough in the fridge to set, i just cover it with a tea-towel for 15-20 minutes. Always watch the tortillas on the pan, 1 minute is usually good enough, but you can wait until you get the good golden colours. If it puffs up, thats a good thing. Anything can go in a tortilla, or you can cut them up and make nachos.

            Practice makes perfect.

  • kaleidoscope on 13/02/2019 - 17:00
    +1

    model trains

  • MaXcon on 13/02/2019 - 17:34
    +3

    Aviation - Pilots licence with all the trimmings 70k.

    Currently using a plane that works out to be $400 per hour to run.

    Many many $$$ over the years in annual medicals, flight tests, fees, subscriptions, documents etc

    A money pit that one day might pay for itself when I commit to it as a full time career. The people I've bumped into along the way and the stories I could share are priceless.

    What are some examples of stuff for your hobby that you think is a bargain but you know that people not involved in that pursuit wont understand

    Avgas around 2.20 per litre! Espically when a planned consumption rate is approx 80L/h

  • baldur on 13/02/2019 - 18:39

    would love to start collecting vinyls but seriously an expensive hobby.

  • congo on 14/02/2019 - 00:16

    Had lots of DVDs, then Blu-rays, then 3D and now 4K blu-rays :-(
    I've not enough shelf-space to store them all!

    Also have lots of headphones, speakers and mices :-(

  • Fobsessive on 14/02/2019 - 00:20
    +1

    Craft beer is expensive

  • Count Shagula on 14/02/2019 - 19:53

    I fish for sharks from the beach. Targeting 15ft+. I have 3 x modified Tiagra 130s with ~3.5km or so of 150lb braid on each. It’s roughly ~$3,000 for each rod, reel and line. It’s about $800 every time I replace the line on each reel which happens yearly, or when I get spooled. I have drone for flying out baits which was another $7000 and I recently spent $9000 on a Jet Ski and trailer so I can take baits out and release the fish without getting killed or further harming the animal. I also have a land cruiser with a winch that holds 300m of cable so I can walk through the bush to the beach and attach the winch to my game belt (I did buy the car for this exact purpose but it gets used for other things as well obviously). There’s also the bills from the Chiro when a shark turns my spine into a soft gummy lolly.

    Stick to $200 surf combos and fish for Salmon/Mulloway lol

    • PAOK11 on 14/02/2019 - 23:19

      Wouldnt it be easier to get a boat. Just saying

  • Ceilingcat on 14/02/2019 - 20:53

    For me the, the high cost was not any one individual hobby but the combined cost of moving through so many different hobbies throughout the years

    Stamp collecting
    Bank notes collecting
    Gaming
    Firearms / target shooting
    Motorbikes
    Flight simulators
    Trading cards (pokemon, cf vanguard, Weiss Schwarz)
    Collecting Blu rays
    Making laser pointers
    Sketching
    Aquariums

    Currently I'm into snorkeling XD

  • matthewperk on 15/02/2019 - 10:10
    +2

    I have a number of expensive hobbies… I feel they are a strong motivator to be successful :P

    • Skiing - My original vice. Multiple skis for different conditions, different boots for diffent uses (I also have different styles of skis that require different boots). The actual equipment costs a lot, and for years I got away wearing cheaper gear. Recently all my clothing and boots got stolen and I had to get new gear. It was both awesome to be able to get the best of everything i wanted, but at the same time I missed some of my rad old gear!

    • 4WDing/Camping - After years gaming very competitively online, I retired and decided I wanted to take up camping (like I'd done a lot of in my childhood). I needed a new car so a 4x4 was the obvious choice. Jump forward a few years, I got super into it, driving the tracks every weekend and even got a job in the industry. Fuel costs alone were huge! But add in the maintenance, repairs and upgrades/modifications i made to get my vehicle to the state it is and it was a real money pit.

    • Cycling - I was a casual cycling commuter for years, but after i tore my ACL skiing, I used cycling as a part of my rehab. I got really into it as my fitness improved. I got a nice road bike, a cheapish used mountain bike for joining friends into that, then I found cyclocross and gravel riding. Finally i discovered bikepacking. God help me its wonderful and mixes my love of camping with cycling. But it does mean more specialist gear :P. I also started doing my own repairs and maintenance. This meant buying all the tools. It's saved me plenty in repairs and maintenance, but it's also allowed me to make upgrades and do full custom builds to suit my requirements. This likely encourages me to spend more as when i find a bargain on parts i tend to grab them. Positive side i also use this for a little bit of cash building bikes and selling them for a minor profit.

    • Scuba Diving - Always loved the water and scuba was just a great way to explore. I did a few intro dives while on holidays and then when in Cuba decided to do a course. I started doing casual dives after that with shops and hiring all the gear - but it was an expensive thing to do. So a year ago i started building up my kit to cut down on the recurring costs of hiring gear. A couple grand later and i can head off whenever i want for a dive. It probably hasn't upped my dive rate hugely, but it does make it much more convenient, and in the long term should be cheaper.

    That's the worst offenders. At least I'm never bored on the weekends!

  • BrewerHaHa on 17/02/2019 - 17:24

    Used to be into audio but left stopped after I had the HD800.
    Went through so many amps, dacs and headphones all at the low to mid end. Sennheiser, AKG, Audio Technica for headphones and a whole bunch of amps which were meant to be technically impressive but to me were not impressive. If anyone's out there who gives a crap, if you know what you want, save and buy. Don't compromise along the way because you'll just waste your money.

    • congo on 18/02/2019 - 10:10

      What your recommendation? Just the HD800?
      Anything DAC/AMPS, speakers?

      • BrewerHaHa on 18/02/2019 - 17:59

        The first time I heard the HD800 and was impressed it was through a Chord DAC and a very large LaFigaro tube amp.
        Right now I'm out so I don't have much but go to audio stores and try out gear would be my recommendation

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