Archive for May, 2012

Baseball Collectibles as Investments Part 2

Posted on May 18th, 2012 by admin | Posted in Baseball Cards, Bats, Uncategorized

(Continued from Baseball Collectibles as Investments Part 1)

Baseball Collectibles as Investments Part 2

Part one discussed current and future players that baseball collectors should consider “investing” in, as their value will more than likely increase over time.  This article will continue to delve into baseball collectibles as investments, but in this case providing five principles to consider when investing.

As stated in the previous article, the economy isn’t in the best of shape right now, making investments in places such as the stock market very risky, with drastic changes occurring more often than not on a daily basis.  A great way to diversify your investments is to consider baseball collectibles that will increase over time if kept in the right condition.  Here are five principles to keep in mind if you are trying to invest in baseball collectibles.

Price

It is important to realize that price plays a considerable role when it comes to baseball collectibles.  What makes baseball collectibles such a great investment is that there is an up-front cost to purchase the particular collectible, along with any sort of protection for it such as a case.  After that though you don’t have to do anything, just sit back and watch the item appreciate over time.  Therefore, make sure to keep this in mind when purchasing a baseball collectible.  It may cost you more upfront to get the added protection, but it will be well worth it in the end.

Buy and Sell at the Right Time

Like the stock market, there is a time to buy and a time to sell when it comes to baseball collectibles.  In order to get the most money off of the baseball collectible you must buy it when the player is the least well-known.  Perhaps and injury occurred or this particular player had an offseason.  Whatever the case, it is always best to avoid buying collectibles of a player when they are in their prime, as there will be potentially less room for appreciation.

Buy Genuine Collectibles

What do I mean by this?  Make sure that the collectible is authentic and real before even considering buying it.  If you really want to build up sound investments of baseball collectibles, all of them will have to be authenticated in some way or another, so as to allow their re-sale value to be as high as possible.  If you don’t buy a collectible that has been authenticated you run the risk of it being a copy or a fake, which not only means a loss of money but a loss of time and effort as well.

Less Signing is Better

Generally speaking, it is always best to buy autographed collectibles from baseball players who rarely sign things as opposed to players who do it often?  Why?  It is simply a matter of supply and demand.  If there are a lot of autographed collectibles out on the market by a particular player, the value of them will more than likely be low, whereas if there are few the prices of them will go up considerably.  Remember, less signing is better when it comes to players and autographed collectibles.

Focus on High Quality

Last but not least, in order to have a sound baseball collectible as an investment it must be of the highest quality possible.  There are some instances where there are collectibles that will be in fair condition no matter what due to age, and that is okay, so long as you know it is one of the best-conditioned collectibles out on the market today.  Only buy from the most reputable dealers, and as stated earlier always make sure that it is authenticated.  If you follow all of these principles you should do fine for yourself when using baseball collectibles as a form of investment.