New research reveals the true cost of tech‑heavy hobbies

New research by Compare the Market shows exactly how much your newest tech obsession is costing you.

A 2023 Allianz survey found that 45% of young Australians are unsure of how much money they spend on their hobbies, and more than half don’t know how much the items that make up their hobbies are collectively worth.

We all are guilty. One of your mates, or perhaps your boss who runs EFTM.com recommends you try a new hobby. One that he has just discovered and can’t wait to share. It may start out requiring only a modest initial outlay but just like a gateway drug you soon find yourself requiring just one more roll of filament, one more reel of material or just a series of accessories which are a must-have if you are going to take your new tech passion seriously.

How many times has your partner asked “how much did that cost, and do you even use it anymore? ….. and it’s taking up space”

The Compare the Market analysis puts a dollar figure on Australia’s tech-hobby fascination and provides the top 25 most expensive pastimes, ranking each activity based on initial cost, ongoing costs and the cost of upskilling.

So if you are into Woodworking, welcome to the exclusive club of the most expensive hobby Aussies sink their hard-earned into

The research showed that it scored 8.91 out of a possible 10 when judged against those three criteria. Firstly you are going to need power tools such as drills and lathes as well as traditional hand tools such as a claw hammer, measuring tools, chisels and a hand saw.

Not content with scoring high on both counts of initial outlay and ongoing costs, hobbyists are guilty of then pouring their cash into classes, workshops and community programs.

Coming in at number 2 at a score of 8.62 is DSLR photography. Initial investment ranks extremely high and those must-have lenses don’t buy themselves. Add in consumables such as storage cards, backup media and of course editing software and you are well on your way to challenging the woodworkers for top spot.

Rounding out the top 3 is Digital Art with 8.37. Although the initial outlay isn’t in the same realm as DSLR photography it is still quite high as you need a tablet plus decent software, brush packs, yearly subscription software and cloud storage

Plus we know what comes next right? The newer version the stuff you already have gets released so you embark on what is known as the “Upgrade Cascade”

Adrian Taylor, Executive General Manager – General Insurance, says “Hobbies can bring a lot of joy, but unexpectedly replacing the equipment behind them certainly doesn’t,”

The full list is below

Rank	Hobby	Initial cost	Participation cost	Skill cost	Index score/10
1	Woodworking	$700.07	$752.47	$456.14	8.91
2	Photography	$1,611.21	$673.05	$207.01	8.62
3	Digital art	$776.75	$1,014.64	$78.46	8.37
4	Electronics	$144.42	$840.81	$414.42	7.54
5	Pottery	$101.25	$1,921.02	$239.29	7.54
6	Glasswork	$364.87	$641.23	$183.23	7.21
7	Sewing	$544.06	$549.90	$147.80	7.12
8	Vlogging	$277.15	$563.75	$277.56	6.87
9	3D printing	$641.80	$348.33	$51.96	6.17
10	Trading cards	$48.91	$2,195.78	$16.25	5.50
11	Drums	$559.21	$279.75	$68.78	5.04
12	Jewellery making	$151.94	$295.50	$88.21	4.75
13	Violin	$396.99	$281.88	$56.17	4.58
14	Embroidery	$72.94	$303.13	$124.28	4.25
15	Model trains	$417.87	$236.64	$18.31	3.91
16	Keyboard	$467.94	$179.95	$56.33	3.87
17	Coin collecting	$106.89	$307.55	$0.00	3.83
18	Model building	$82.26	$330.48	$0.00	3.79
=19	Painting	$77.74	$246.16	$91.83	3.58
=19	Guitar	$344.27	$176.09	$85.46	3.58
20	Astronomy	$324.92	$137.77	$69.13	2.79
21	Calligraphy	$26.88	$156.75	$126.99	1.96
22	Stamp collecting	$76.01	$204.41	$0.00	1.87
23	Drawing	$36.57	$65.95	$171.01	1.83
24	Knitting	$61.24	$64.76	$73.81	1.21

So it is clear. If you want to take up a hobby and don’t want it to cost a fortune, Nana was right all along. Take up knitting. It’s at the bottom of the list

The full report can be found here at the Compare the Market website