This is the weirdest thing I have ever heard....
...yes, I have seen the type of people you are talking about. They buy something (like oh, say a grey Hulk SS statue, an SSE Ardath Bey 1:1 bust, or a super limited Bowen piece) and then immediately turn it over and make a healthy profit just to do it again. I don't like the "speculator" market. It destroyed the comics market in the 1990's. These folks have no interest in the stuff other than $$$.
Now, I have "flipped or turned" or whatever you want to call it something over lots of times. I will give you some examples.
1.) I bought the Bowen Chrome Silver Surfer bust when it first came out. For $90.00. I had every intention of keeping it. I have a huge collection of Bowen Marvel junk. When I saw that some people were paying big bucks for it,however, I sold it. IMMEDIATELY. For $550. You know what I did with that $550? Paid for 15 other new release Bowen busts that I wanted more. The Silver Surfer paid for a huge chunk of my collection. But I probably should have just kept it because it makes somebody else upset? Because they didnt walk into a comic store and get to buy one for $90 to subsidize their collection? C'mon. I am not rich, and its nobody's business but mine if I decide to get rid of one thing from my collection to add a bunch more items to it.
2.) I am out of a job. I still want to keep up with whatever I can. Which at this point has only been the Ardath Bey bust (color). I hope to get a Dracula 1:1 and a Mummy PF. I also collect the X-Files figures. I bought Skinner and Krycek and I had no intentions of getting rid of them. Unitil I saw people were paying big bucks for them. Then I sold them. IMMEDIATELY. For $165-$175...EACH. I suppose I shouldve just kept them because...? In collecting it all balances out. Some things have to be sacrificed to keep your credit card or your wallet or whatever from being hit too hard by this hobby.
Unless you are independently wealthy. Which I am not.
3.) I went to the Flea Market one time. I saw 2 items for sale there. A Janus Dracula and Bride model, and a Jason part 3 12" Sideshow figure. I bought them both for $370. I planned to keep them. Didnt work out that way. Some family crisis hit... and they both were sold. For $600 total. Its very seldom that a profit can be made in this hobby. Add the fact that most of this stuff is overpriced garbage that only decreases in value later on and you are left with a valley of indecision.
What to do? Do I keep everything and just keep sinking dollar after dollar into this stuff? Or do I be smart about this and try to build a nice collection while saving as much money as possible? I have every PF Universal Monster as well as Nosferatu and London after Midnight. Do you know how I got them? Not with cash. I couldnt afford it. I did paintwork for other people to offset the cost. I have about $150 invested in the entire collection of 6. Not SSE versions for me. You don't like it when folks have to "flip" things to keep their hobby afloat? Me neither. But I don't see the prices going anywhere but up. So something's gotta give.
Anytime I can turn a piece over and make a profit to buy other pieces that I want more....I'll do it. And it's nobody's business but mine. Not everyone sells an item just to score a quick $60, and doesn't deserve to be grouped together with those that do.:maul