So many ponies - how do you decide?!

[nollilols]

Hey all,

I'm currently watching a whole bunch of ponies on Ebay, some fairly common and cheap, one or two expensive and bordering on grail status. For some reason, a whole load that I want have all come up at once - and I'm faced with a decision. Do I buy one expensive pony, or several less expensive? Quality or quantity? Decisions, decisions...

So I was just wondering, how do you peeps decide things like that? If there are several available ponies and you really have to make a choice, would you take a rarer one you like slightly less because you might not see it again for a while, or try to get as many ponies as possible for your money, or pick the one you love most regardless of cost?

What's the ultimate deciding factor for you when making your pony purchases?

[Lollipop]

Hmm that's a good question I'd say hmm... It Depends on how many that you really want in that bundle. If it was a fair few I wanted I would go for the bundle. Tbh actually most of the time I would go for the bundle because I always seem to be out bid on the individual 

So I would say go for the bundle.... but if you really really really want the individual and can't wait a moment longer for her or him then go for the individual

[nollilols]

I'm actually thinking of going for the fewer (it's a bunch of individuals being sold by the same seller, as it happens) - but it includes one of my childhood ponies and some I've never owned! The semi-grail is a Brazilian Baby Gusty, which I've owned before, and I'm not really dying to spend over a hundred quid on her but I've also only seen her like twice in 4 years.... decisions! I'll probably go with the group from the one seller.

I'm still curious about what everyone else would decide in similar situations, though! Do tell!

[Lollipop]

O yeah I say that Gusty hehe so cute but for me I wouldnt buy anything of that value from anywhere outside europe just because of custom charges it's so low here in the UK its only £15

The group sound gd if you can get combined postage hehe

Good luck with whichever you decide to go for

[Griffin]

Well, if you've owned Baby Gusty before and decided to let go of her... To me it sounds like you're currently more interested in those other ponies.

I'm rarely in such a situation since my budget is really tight and I don't browse sales ads or eBay that often, and pricey ponies are pretty much out of question (otherwise that Baby Gusty would be mine, mwhahaha ). I have a wantlist that works as my guideline when shopping ponies. I'm a rather pedantic collector in the sense that I want to collect complete sets, so my wantlist is made up of ponies that are missing from the sets I have already started. I try not to buy ponies from the sets I don't have, although I may end up with some through swaps, lots etc. and I do welcome every pony - it's just that focusing on the narrowed down list helps me decide which ponies to look for and not go on a buying spree. Though I allow myself to buy ponies outside the list to save in shipping costs if I'm buying a wantlist pony from the same seller. And occasionally if I just really, really want something or get an awesome deal... For swaps and such I of course have a much longer wishlist, including all kinds of ponies and sets I like regardless of whether I have started collecting those sets or not.

Btw, childhood ponies were the starting point for me - those were the sets I wanted to complete first. Some ponies are still missing but I think I've managed to complete most of the sets. Childhood ponies are special so I'd certainly recommend snatching that one first! Nirvanas may be hard to come by but with some patience I'm sure you'll be able to find them when the time is right. Well, whatever you decide, I think you'll end up with some great ponies!

[nollilols]

I've actually never paid custom charges on anything coming into Ireland - including that Baby Gusty the first time I got her. There's also a Mimic (or was, dunno if she ended) on Ebay - she IS a grail of mine, but the 'import charges' in the listing were massive - and I've never even seen those before! So I am now wary of buying expensive ponies from international locations.

I rarely buy ponies from outside the EU, most come from Germany, France and the UK. The bunch I'm watching at the moment are in the UK.

As for selling Baby Gusty - I had no choice, I needed the money at the time, though it killed me to let her go because Gusty (in all her variants) is my  favourite pony. I sold my entire collection of 45 ponies (including that Baby Gusty, the entire set of 7 Tales girls, and a bunch of UK exclusives, so I got a good chunk of money out of them all) for rent.

Working on building the collection back up now - I'll go just over 20 if I win all the ones I want today!

[Lindsay1988]

That's a hard question, when I read your post I immediately think: Quality!
But it depends on my situation, this month I went a bit crazy and did both.
But if I really HAD to choose between a bunch of beautiful ponies and a grail (let's say baby/daddy meadowsweet), I would immediately buy the grail :p.

[invaderhorizongreen]

The way I am going about it due to buying a house, is that I am going after the cheapest on my list first. The most expensive will wait till the house is paid off.

[Sugar]

I'm a very impulsive collector.  I don't really follow any set pattern to my collecting; it's basically, if a pony strikes my fancy, whether I have her set/year/generation or not, I'd like to add her/him to my collection.

That said, I'd probably go for the big bundle (moar ponies!).

[nollilols]

Haha interesting to see the variation in approaches!

I've gotten two of the ones so far - Bunny Hop and Princess Tiffany - these are both girls I wanted last time I was collected but never managed to get. Missed one - Tales Clover, but there's a BIN of her so maybe.... Few more to go over the next couple hours! (Sorry if anyone else just lost those to me!)

....I'm livetweeting my ebaying on a pony forum. What has my life come to?

I think at the end of the day it comes down to a gut feeling for me. Do I really want Baby Gusty? Yes. Can I really justify a minimum of 123 euro plus shipping on her right now? Not even remotely. Is she worth that guilt? No. Not when there are loads of other affordable ponies I can get. I'll get her again someday, and if not - there's always custom bait waiting to be transformed

[Griffin]

I think at the end of the day it comes down to a gut feeling for me. Do I really want Baby Gusty? Yes. Can I really justify a minimum of 123 euro plus shipping on her right now? Not even remotely. Is she worth that guilt? No. Not when there are loads of other affordable ponies I can get. I'll get her again someday, and if not - there's always custom bait waiting to be transformed

That sums up nicely what I tried to say, sorry if it came across differently. That's also my approach to collecting - get the affordable ones first, look for your more expensive wants later.

[nollilols]

I love your avatar by the way Griffin - there's another (green) one around the place isn't there? They're so festive!

[hathorcat]

When I was still adding to my collection on a significant level, I had a top 20 or 30 list and worked to find them only. Only if someone super rare and impossible to find came up did I stray outside that list. As and when I found a pony or two from that last I scored them off and replaced them with another pony or two I was looking for.

If I was you, unless one of the ponies you are considering is the kind of item or pony you simply never ever see or only see once in a blue moon, then I would go for the quantity. All those pony parcels! And its simpler often to spread your buying over multiple sellers and a larger period of time - it will feel like you get more for your money.

[Lucky_Ladybug]

I definitely like buying multiple Ponies from the same seller whenever possible, especially since S&H is generally involved! (Unless I get a rare seller in my state and near enough to personally visit!) Money is so tight that I just cringe at S&H costs taking away from the fun money, so I try to cut down on that as much as I can.

[nollilols]

I bought 4 from the one seller in the end, not sure what the combined shipping will be but I'm pretty sure it's gonna work out fairly well on average for each pony.

My list of wants is so vast that I wouldn't know where to start; but that said, Bunny Hop and Tales Patch -  two of the ones I won this evening - are ones that would definitely be on my top 20 list. I'm really happy I decided to go with a few rather than the one.

I used to have a list but it doesn't seem to be on my laptop anymore... I'll have to make a new one!