COLLECTORS CORNER by Jim Olson
Collecting for Investment
R
ecently I was asked into the home of a Collector to asses their collection. These folks wanted to liquidate their items by sending them to auction. They had been collecting for years. They believed in the philosophy of putting their extra money into collectibles as an investment. They were now at a point in their lives where they wanted to sell the collection, buy an RV and travel. It was great hearing the enjoyment they had over the years of searching out and buying items for their collection. Auctions, yard sales, flea markets, crafts fairs, they were excited when relating the differ-
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MARCH 2020
ent stories of procurement. hence this month’s article. Unfortunately the house was full of BradI am a big proponent of collecting. I have ford Exchange- and Franklin Mint-type of always said it is nice to be surrounded by items, including hundreds of plates. They your savings accountable while enjoying it were especially excited about their “Native in your home, instead of having it all locked American” collection, which consisted of away in a bank somewhere. However, when tourist type Navajo “Kachinas,” low end split collecting as an investment, we need to get stitch baskets (along with import baskets) educated on what we are doing! You would and dozens of signed prints by artists most not (or should not) invest in the stock people had never heard of. There were market, not having a clue as to how the knock-off bronzes and mass produced stock market works. You should not invest statues made of pewter. in real estate blindly or buy it just because I do not judge anybody, and this kind of it is “cheap.” As a matter of fact, a wise invesstuff is fine to buy if you want decorative tor does not invest in anything without items that do not cost much to decorate having a good general knowledge of what your home with. However, these types of he or she is investing in—and preferably “collectibles” are rarely a wise investment. also get some advice from an expert in They are decorative items, and home decor the field. is rarely “collectible” or valuable later on. An educated collector would not buy I did not have the heart to tell them that “collectibles” for investment that were made in my opinion, they had not “collected well” in China for a corporate giant. Or buy “crafts” as far as an investment goes and there was from road-side vendors near points of intervery little monetary value in the collection. est for the tourists or buy spurs made in And that the “tens of thousands” of dollars Japan from a western store. Remember, just they thought they would get at an auction because it was a “deal,” does not mean it was actually a couple thousand dollars was a good buy. There is “cheap” and there worth (at best) of yard sale or flea market is “inexpensive.” items. I politely declined the consignment. One of the first rules of buying as an This little exchange got me to thinking— investment is—don’t buy junk! Know the
