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Raises hand (...halfway...) I'd been solidly in tech for the past ~9 years - DevOps software, eCommerce company, sales enablement software, etc. I also re-pic

by nlh 3y ago

Raises hand (...halfway...) I'd been solidly in tech for the past ~9 years - DevOps software, eCommerce company, sales enablement software, etc. I also re-picked up my hobby/passion of coin & currency collecting a few years ago and started buying and selling for fun. The stars aligned in such a way that fairly recently I've been able to focus purely on the numismatic world, and I'm now doing that full time (and then some). My life now consists of about 50% time on the road at physical, in-person coin & currency shows all over the country. I stand at my booth and buy & sell, run around the floor making deals, hunt other dealers cases for treasure in plain sight, and all that fun. So I wouldn't exactly call this "manual", but show days are very much in-person and 12+ hours of being on your feet brain fully-engaged. (I spend the other 50% of my time at home working on the software that powers my operation, buying & selling on eBay, going to and from the post office, etc.) But man, this is SO MUCH FUN. I describe my former life as "arguing with people on Zoom all day" and my current life as absolute heaven indulging in a super fun hobby that actually makes money. There's also an incredibly cool social aspect to it wherein you kind of see the same dealers at all the big shows, so it's a bit of a traveling circus ("see you next week in Phoenix?")

benkoller 3y ago
This sounds like a great story, congrats! Having the opportunity to go "all in" on a hobby in this way is enticing for sure. Would you mind telling more about how the opportunity came up to go full-time? Was it being in the right place at the right time, or what type of risk did you step into?
- nlh 3y ago
  For sure. A bit of luck in several places: I'd been buying and selling casually during my off-hours for the past few years, mostly as a way to keep my brain moving in other areas (some people watched movies in their free time - I bought and sold coins on the internet and went to shows during my vacation time). I'd kinda sorta proven to myself that it could make money, but wasn't sure how much and if it could sustain a full-time income. Lucky bit #1: My "normal" gig, co-founder at a software startup with some great wonderful friends, needed to cut costs, so my salary there went to $0 :) More time for coins now! (All is very amicable there - they were worried I'd be mad. Quite the opposite). Lucky bit #2: The rare coin market is super hot right now, so it's easier than it might otherwise be to turn a profit as a relative newbie. That won't last of course, but I'm using this as a chance to learn from the guys who have been doing this for 30+ years how to succeed in all types of environments. It's lucky and I'm grateful that while my training wheels are stil on I can actually sustain a full-time living. Onward!

by nlh 3y ago

benkoller 3y ago

This sounds like a great story, congrats! Having the opportunity to go "all in" on a hobby in this way is enticing for sure. Would you mind telling more about how the opportunity came up to go full-time? Was it being in the right place at the right time, or what type of risk did you step into?

nlh 3y ago
For sure. A bit of luck in several places: I'd been buying and selling casually during my off-hours for the past few years, mostly as a way to keep my brain moving in other areas (some people watched movies in their free time - I bought and sold coins on the internet and went to shows during my vacation time). I'd kinda sorta proven to myself that it could make money, but wasn't sure how much and if it could sustain a full-time income. Lucky bit #1: My "normal" gig, co-founder at a software startup with some great wonderful friends, needed to cut costs, so my salary there went to $0 :) More time for coins now! (All is very amicable there - they were worried I'd be mad. Quite the opposite). Lucky bit #2: The rare coin market is super hot right now, so it's easier than it might otherwise be to turn a profit as a relative newbie. That won't last of course, but I'm using this as a chance to learn from the guys who have been doing this for 30+ years how to succeed in all types of environments. It's lucky and I'm grateful that while my training wheels are stil on I can actually sustain a full-time living. Onward!