This is a story of a man who bought over RM100,000 worth of collector’s items of rare crystals with the intention of selling them and making a profit, but spiraled into debt instead.
The story of how I started collecting figurines goes back to my university days in the UK. I had gone to a charity shop (their version of a second hand store) and bought a couple of items. It was mostly home deco things that I thought were beautiful. One of the items was a glass butterfly.
It was only 2 pounds and I wanted to gift it to my then-girlfriend.
However, when I got home I decided to look it up online just to see the value of it and I found out that it was a vintage Swarovski crystal. The design had been retired, but on Ebay collectors were willing to pay around ￡200. Within 3 days of listing it, the item had been sold. That was when I decided to go hunting for more.
I scoured the internet and the second hand stores, garage sales and bin discounts for other variations of the vintage crystals. As a university student, it was an extremely lucrative business.
Within one year I had made around ￡2000. That’s about RM10,000 at that time.
When I came home to KL, I had to look for a job, and what they were willing to pay a fresh graduate like me was around RM4500 for 50-60 hours a week. While working my 9-5 job, I kept searching for more Swarovski crystals.
I knew it was an easier way to make money. However, this time, being in the market for a while, I knew who to sell it to – namely auction houses and wealthy collectors. However, with this, they were mostly looking for pieces that were much more rare.
By this point I had already gotten a credit card and I figured I would buy it and resell it immediately to pay off the credit card. Three months down the line, I had already accumulated a debt of RM15,000 because after purchasing these rare crystals, buyers would back out.
Move fast or lose out
This cycle continued because in the world of collectors, you had to move fast or lose out. Many times I would bid for an item, thinking I would be able to sell it at a higher rate because the deal seemed too good.
At this point I was 3 credit cards deep in debt. Unfortunately at that point, I was still optimistic that being a collector was the only way to take myself out of the debt I had created. The sales were not only slow, but sometimes I had to sell it for lower than what I had paid for.
It had to come to the point where I found myself surpassing the RM100,000 mark of debts.
It was the wake up call I needed. I came clean to my family. Thank God for them because otherwise I do not know what I would have done with myself.
I took out a personal loan of RM50,000 and my parents and siblings chipped in the other half and I was able to pay off the credit cards. I have since stopped using all credit cards. I’m still paying off the debts to my family and the bank but it’s not as bad as the credit card.
It’s been a couple of years now but I still have a long long way to go.
I still have my collection of crystal figurines that I’m trying to sell off, and everytime that I do, I immediately transfer the money to pay off a loan.
I truly regret the hole I dug for myself but I’m glad that now, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. I have about RM60,000 left to pay off before I’m free.
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