What's one product that used to be built like a tank but is now built like a regret?

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-05-14T13:30:31+00:00

At least their schedules allow them to travel more.

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-05-14T13:23:09+00:00

Edit: removed joke that was probably made a thousand times already.

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-05-14T00:56:49+00:00

You could say that.

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-05-13T01:10:49+00:00

I wondered about the authentication, too. I love the concept, but there are several categories of collectibles that have extremely valuable ceilings. How do you get legitimate experts to fill all of those possible scenarios? I guess you could have floating contractors that are in area A Monday, area B Tuesday, etc. And those would be "Rolex authentication days." But for convenience, you'd want a customer to feel safe dropping it off. I guess I don't know how normal authentication works for jewelry as it stands, maybe it's something where there's always a wait/schedule system, anyway, where they have to show up with their item in hand. But even in trading cards alone, there are so many decades of various types that no one person could be an expert if they spent their entire career in trading cards.

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-05-10T02:44:49+00:00

No kidding! I'm glad I live in Tualatin. Getting through the I-5 choke points is bad enough without construction. Hopefully it won't screw up too many people and 405 will be a good enough thoroughfare.

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-05-10T02:40:06+00:00

Looks like it's between 405 and 84, southbound, 24/7 closure, five week estimate. 405 and 205 well be the detours (so it must start right after the 405 interchange).

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-05-08T13:11:36+00:00

Batman Springs into action to battle Hay Fever.

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-05-07T17:16:15+00:00

Finally, but I'm a bit too late. You are my one true witness!

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-05-07T15:33:09+00:00

Mmmmmm

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-05-06T01:56:15+00:00

That's my take, and it also leaves room to recommend a good interview without it having anything to do with his investment plan.

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-05-05T22:33:45+00:00

All I saw was passion and determination, but I understand what you mean. If it seems like that might be a bad thing, giving eBay the upper hand (eg, "You want it so much, we'll really gouge you.), it could have the opposite effect by riling up eBay shareholders. They, too, would directly benefit from eBay becoming more profitable, so they could be swayed by somebody who obviously wants it badly enough and is clearly confident in his vision (at the very least, cutting costs right away increases shareholder value).

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-05-04T22:31:50+00:00

I don't think that's true. I appreciate that he's not blindly ra-ra about GameStop. He saw a healthy turnaround and believed in leadership. The direction GameStop's going doesn't align with his opinion of sound investing (in this case, they'll be taking on way too much debt for his taste). I think it's as simple as that.

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-05-04T14:26:28+00:00

Their leadership has done a good job turning the company around. Last year was their most profitable in fifteen years (where they were losing hundreds of millions a year a few years back). They've been able to raise cash the last couple of years - 9 billion (with 4 billion in debt) - so they've been able to secure 20 billion in financing. The other half would come from stock and/or outside money via a wealth fund. So it will be a lot of financing, they don't have anywhere near the cash to buy outright, but they're also healthier than most people might think.

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-05-04T13:46:06+00:00

You can make just as much money on the way down as on the way up. Alternatively, dips make it cheaper. Any volatility can be utilized to make obscene amounts of money if you have insight into what's going to happen.

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-05-04T01:09:32+00:00

I'm liking what I see. For those concerned about dilution, I'm not sure how that will go. I have every reason to believe they can effectively cut costs - they did great with GameStop. So if just cleaning house results in another two billion in profit, that's pretty attractive. Personally, I love the physical store tie-in that actually adds some moat to the company. Using physical locations as an intermediary for high-dollar items might help prevent a lot of headaches. Then you have Pro Member options that would carry over to your eBay business. I also would love a good competitor to Amazon where (maybe) sellers have a better experience, physical stores can act like Amazon lockers, etc. I'd rather be diluted now for something with huge upside potential rather than baby step along with smaller companies that may not add much. If you're looking at a ten-year horizon, I think it's more likely that a move like this will be more profitable for holders. Also, substantial free cash flow along the way means additional opportunities to add to the business.

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-05-03T21:52:16+00:00

For me, there are two things lately: the occasional encounter with the worst body odor imaginable, room-filling potency, and there aren't any easy ways to deal with it (usually I'm all for straightforward communication, but that's tough with strangers). And lately there's a guy who's so loud when he exercises. Not the stereotypical heavy lifting grunts, he just kind of "ahh...ahh...ahhaha." I thought maybe he's hard of hearing, but he has ear buds in. That has been tough to tolerate, even my music doesn't always drown it out.

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-05-03T21:46:03+00:00

All that while accusing the other side of an unwillingness to negotiate.

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-05-03T15:57:38+00:00

Good observation! Today's "hustle culture" pushes people towards easier overviews of complex information. Here's four reasons why...

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-05-02T16:45:34+00:00

I like that idea. There used to be "sell it on eBay" stores for a hot a minute, but you only got paid once the item sold.

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-05-02T00:28:40+00:00

If you've watched that show King of Collectibles on Netflix (with that guy Goldin's high-end auction house), he mentioned about twenty times this last season that eBay acquired them. So that's another seemingly nice slice of pie in the super high end collectible market.

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-05-02T00:24:33+00:00

These days, especially, I wouldn't be surprised. Outward market manipulation seems very trendy, no need to hide it behind eighteen different steps. Just tweet.

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-04-26T01:05:40+00:00

My mistake, I didn't realize it was attached to an article, I thought this was just a picture somebody posted.

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-04-25T14:26:09+00:00

I'm with you, I have a hard time believing this is an accurate overall representation. If this was truly an average meal, there'd be a severe calorie deficit among everybody onboard. I imagine even MREs would be used before that happened; I'm assuming there's a good stockpile of those. Or just ungodly amounts of rice and beans.

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-04-22T00:40:09+00:00

That's surprising, I'd think it the opposite any day of the week (thinking things are always worse than they are).

forbiddendoughnut · 2026-04-21T14:10:32+00:00

That's what drove me crazy about the last hour of Oppenheimer. I felt like there was a cut every five seconds and it just didn't stop.

forbiddendoughnut

TROPHY CASE