"Collectibles" may not be worth keeping

15 August 2012

Every now and then, I run across collectibles in clients’ homes. They’re usually packed away and rarely on display. And the client usually has high hopes that if she hangs on to them long enough, the items will end up selling for a good deal of money. I don’t know much about collectibles and offer no counsel when they come up.

Today, I came across article about collectibles on TheStreet.com called 9 Completely Worthless Collectibles that confirmed my suspicions that these collectibles do little more than take valuable storage space. The article was written a couple of years ago, but it’s hard to imagine that conditions have changed.

If you collect Beanie Babies, Precious Moments figurines or Norman Rockwell plates, or other such collectible items, you might want to take a look at the article.

My favorite line is this:

“I tell people that keeping collectibles is like storing money under your mattress,” says Lou Kahn, head of the Bakerstowne Collectibles appraisal and consignment service in West Hempstead, N.Y. “You’re going to have the same amount of money next year, but it’s going to be worth a lot less.”

Tagged with: clutter, collectibles

Comments

Great to have a comprehensive list; thanks. A client of mine has many Hummels… Yes, all in boxes in the basement. The positive experience of acquiring them seems to outweigh the fact that they don’t have value on the secondary market. Together, we can work with our clients to build awareness and insight. Thanks, Janine!

Stephanie Rasley August 20, 2012 09:56 PM

Thanks for your comment, Stephanie! I’m really happy to have a source to quote to clients who are hanging on to the collectibles thinking they’re value (at the expense of storage space needed for stuff they actually use). Building awareness and insight is a good thing!

Janine Adams August 24, 2012 06:53 AM