How much do you find in a Month and how much invested

[Michaeltime]

I look back at one Aug to Nov 2010 I found $14.00 plus Paid out around $640 for M6 and tools to hunt with it . Put it away until Aug of 2011. I started looking at what I find daily. Over a Dollar most of the time on up to $4.10 one day. I give Elly all the clad quarters for laundry. I have just latel invested $145 ? Pro pointer $99 TDK WR700 wireless headphones. If I am going to get my money back out I will have to go every day for a long time or hit better sites with bigger easy finds or some gold rings. I don't go for the targets that would be in the gold. I look on it all as investment in my health. I am pretty strong now comared to 2 years ago with doing little to workout. Good investment for better health. I got a free detector due to me talking to people, made friends I wouldn't have enjoy my time I normally would be bored with. I guess it all paid off getting back into detecting. I paid nearly $300 to get a old detector for memories of a old one I owned. I wouldn't want to be doing anything else with my time. The free RS Discovery 1000 hasn't been put to use other than showing it to family. But I know I could pay for one like it in a summer of hunting buying one used for $50. I like knowing how deep a target is and what it most likely is. If your doing this for a hobby maybe a ACE 250 is a good buy. I see them used for $200 and hear how people are finding things with them and think you will do as well with one as I do with my $600 M6 most of the time. I know they would find every silver and most of the wheaties I have.
M6 Mike

[Stile2112]

I don't look at a hobby as an investment... although i understand what you mean. I bought an AT Pro based on what i wanted a metal detector to do for the areas i would be hunting.

Would an ACE 250 have worked?? Maybe, but I've done enough hobbies in my life that I tend to skip the entry level products now.

[WVrelichunter]

Would an ACE 250 have worked?? Maybe, but I've done enough hobbies in my life that I tend to skip the entry level products now.[/QUOTE]

I like the way you think...

[NHKeith]

How much do you pay to go to a concert? how much do you get back?
how much to you pay to go bowling? how much do you get back?
If you were to go to a professional sports game, how much does it cost?
how much do you get back?
If you go out to a bar, and get drinks and dinner, how much more did it cost then eating/drinking at home?

If you go out fishing, what does it cost? what do you get back?

If you hunt, how much do the tags cost? Do you kill enough to make it worth the tags?

Its about time and space, we only have so much time, and we are confined to the space we have. Our only goal in life should be maximize our happiness, and to live as long as possible,,,

Keep things in perspective...

[Zofchak]

I've been detecting for just under 3 years and have "invested" about 4-5K in metal detectors, diving equipment and other metal detecting accessories. I don't keep detailed records of my finds, but I highly doubt my land finds have yielded even $1000 in that time and that's not even including all the money I had into traveling and lost income from not working those hours.

Water detecting has offered a better return, but it's still a loss when I compare the value of my finds to the income I would have derived from working those hours.

The one thing is I enjoy metal detecting, so the finds are just a bonus. If I was doing this just for the money I would have given up a long time ago..

[Stile2112]

Originally Posted by Zofchak View post
The one thing is I enjoy metal detecting, so the finds are just a bonus.

This is exactly the way I look at it.... well said

To me, it's about the process of finding something that has buried for 10, 20, 50 years. It's not always about what i find but the fact that i can find it.

Hope that makes sense.

[turtlefoot]

I will never make my money back, even though I only use an entry level machine. I do not hunt for coins or jewelry or even valuable relics for that matter. Pretty much all I look for is brass and lead, none of which ever leaves my collection.

Doug

[RDW]

If I were in this for the money I screwed up...

The most enjoyment I get out of this hobby is with my grandson, watching him dig with his tongue hanging out of his mouth is priceless. Seeing his eyes pop wide open when he digs up a matchbox car priceless.

Yes, I make him do the digging when he is with me in my yard or a field, he is not real neat about it, but he is learning. He is to small right now to handle the machine but he has learned to understand the ATPro sounds better than I do.
He will hear that grunt and say, that is just a nail pawpaw keep looking...

Grandchildren are Gods gift to you for not killing your own children when you reallllllllly wanted to....

[tater]

2 weeks of finds. Dont know how much its worth

[demyansk1942]

Some of the guys said it just right, If I wanted to make money I would just get another part time job or coach another team. I look at it as getting away from this damn computer and maybe I will find something in the meantime. This is hard work when you spend 5-6 hours on your knees digging little holes, you could be on a roof in the summer doing the same thing.

[Joves]

Well none of my hobbies has ever paid me any cash, except for this one. My photography maybe could but I have well over twice the money in it than I do with detecting.

[40acre1870]

Originally Posted by Joves View post
Well none of my hobbies has ever paid me any cash, except for this one. My photography maybe could but I have well over twice the money in it than I do with detecting.

I agree... Most hobbies cost money in the long run, or short run for that matter. Golf, bowling, softball, hunting... to name just a few.

This one has brought me the most joy, it is a gamble every time you walk out that door. Always hoping for that nice silver pull or civil war bullet, or an old Tootsie Toy, you just never know.

[andrewjames]

I've found about 5 cents per every dollar I've used to buy equipment. To most people a terrible investment, but I see it as an investment in spending time outside loving the mystery of every target I dig! It may sound crazy, but some of my best days I come home with a pouch full of junk! ...but I'll have my day (hopefully soon) with that heart stopping treasure that we all dream of! HH!

[zeemang]

I "make more" doing this than my dad does at golf....

[roob47]

Originally Posted by NHKeith View post
How much do you pay to go to a concert? how much do you get back?
how much to you pay to go bowling? how much do you get back?
If you were to go to a professional sports game, how much does it cost?
how much do you get back?
If you go out to a bar, and get drinks and dinner, how much more did it cost then eating/drinking at home?

If you go out fishing, what does it cost? what do you get back?

If you hunt, how much do the tags cost? Do you kill enough to make it worth the tags?

Its about time and space, we only have so much time, and we are confined to the space we have. Our only goal in life should be maximize our happiness, and to live as long as possible,,,

Keep things in perspective...

Yup!

[sonomian]

I've start MD October last year..start off with buy a White Prizm IV (used) from Ebay.spend about $200 just to see if I like the hobby..couple of months after I bought Etrac. propointer ..Leashe..etc. nearly $1500 total.. until last month I've found couple of gold rings and I've it appraised and guess what..I've got it made.. I have all my MD equipment all paid for itself.. so I guess its just when and where..

[GoGoGopher]

I find on average about $5 on a good week...I have about $1000 invested in my equipment...
To me, it is not about getting my money back...It is about the enjoyment I get out of the HOBBY...If I was in it for the money, it would be called a JOB...
and I dispise those...

HH,

[demyansk1942]

i talk about it at work and the people cant believe some of the stuff I find, I am hitting the beaches next week and I can't wait for some easy scooping

[daddydigger]

I went to Detroit and found $16,000 worth of stuff in only 5 days. Oh wait, that was an episode of American Diggers!

[BlueDuck]

I way behind in my other hobbies too. Boat, motor, tackle, guns.......