Looking back on things, I think one of the very best pieces of advice I may have gotten — when it comes to collecting things — is to collect because you enjoy collecting, and not because you are trying to accumulate asset value.
I used to collect Southwest indigenous art pottery
Experience has taught me that collecting things because "they have value" is often a trap that leads us to disappointment.
Coin collectors would likely argue with me there, stating that gold and silver coins always have the metal value, and that's certainly true.
But very few collectibles are like that.
And many categories of collectibles have very little objective value... only the value ascribed to them by collectors.
I should know, as a long time trader in rare old postage stamps and letters. What value could a small piece of paper — maybe two inches square — really have?
Different piece of pottery from my years in Texas... I got to know the artist quite well
That said, collectors pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars for such things.
But those collectors can also be fickle... what was considered valuable and worth chasing after this year may have fallen out of favor... just five years from now.
The reason I ended up thinking about this was a sudden memory I had, dating back to my years as an art gallery proprietor, and the significant number of people whose primary line of inquiry when looking to buy a piece of art was wanting to know "if it would be a good investment."
Heck if I know.
If you want to invest, go buy gold. Or go buy truly rare art, created by artists deeply established over time. Even then, there's still no guarantee.
This old folded lettersheet from 1856 has "value" to the right person. But it's just a piece of paper...
Many collectibles can become not unlike what we sometimes mention in the context of the Cryptosphere: "Tulip Bulb Mania."
It's something I have personally seen cycle through a number of collectibles areas: Stamps, coins, old fountain pens, collector plates...
"Trouble in paradise" — ironically enough — begins precisely at the moment some person decides to stop thinking of something as "a thing to collect" and instead starts thinking in terms of investment.
And here's why:
As long as you are genuinely collecting something, the motivation to sell that thing is almost completely absent. But once you start investing in that very same thing, you're suddenly motivated by profit, and that profit can only be realized through the sale of whatever your "thing" is.
A fairly "valuable" antique fountain pen
What happens is that the balance between buying and selling — and the reasons for doing so — are thrown out of balance by the profit motive.
Heck, we can even observe that happening in something NON-collectible we deal with, almost every single day: Real estate.
When the majority paradigm shifted from real estate as shelter to real estate as investment, market prices lost touch with the reality of what real people can actually afford to pay for a place to live.
We like to pin the blame for the surge in homelessness on "the economy," but it's probably more accurate to pin it on treating housing as an asset, rather than shelter. It's really not that far removed from — for example — the collectible postage stamp market.
When "investors" flocked into the market, an estimated 80+% of collectors were driven out of the market... and they never came back. And when the investors wanted to realize their profits (in the early 1980s) the market crashed... hard... because it was all sellers and no buyers, and that 80% of the original market that had been driven out was no longer there to provide a "soft landing."
Another antique fountain pen
45 years later, that market is barely back to its original levels where it was, before the "investors" came in.
So my advice remains, just collect stuff because you have fun and enjoy what you're doing. If it turns out that your collection is worth something, treat that as a bonus, not an expectation!
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great Friday!
P.S.: All the items pictured here are/were my own at some point.
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Created at 2025.03.07 00:12 PST
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This was interesting to read about the world of collectibles, @denmarkguy. One which I have essentially no experience, as it never made much sense to me. As you point out, the fact it is far more subjective than objective seems quite clear.
This was amusing:
Here is the heart of the matter, I think. Mixing the idea of investing, with collecting. If subjectively, one really "loves" something, for its own sake, whatever that may mean to them, that should be the end of it.
Makes perfect sense to me!
Maybe an interesting corollary post would be what leads a person to "love" an object, as it sounds like, from your experience base, you might have some very interesting thoughts on that.
Absolutely. Anyone with any experience in attempting to trace their family history would likely perk up reading this part. There are many sad stories about valuable information being collected and stored for long periods of time, only to end up in a landfill or trash heap somewhere. Taking with it stories and information which may never come to light again.
Different topic, to be sure, but thought I would point it out, upon reading this in your post.
True, you have to collect things that you love and have a connection with you, The value isn't just the things but the moments they represent.