profitable

Are you planning on investing on something scarce or collectible?  Do you already have substantial investments in hobbies such as stamps, comic books, rare books, objects of arts, statues of puppy dogs?  As long as you are getting enjoyment from the item, great.   I use to collect comic books and I loved to read them.  Once I thought, “I’ve an idea.  I will sell comic books.  That way I can enjoy my hobby and make money.” 

Well, my business instincts kicked in early and it was a great way to get jaded into the real workings of how the then current comic business ( late 1990s and it has changed somewhat since then) operated.  A lot of comic store owners (and some today) push comic books because they will be “hot” or they will be worth a “small fortune later on” or when the movie comes out it will “go through the roof”.  That hasn’t happened with a lot of comic books though some graphic novels have sold substantially because they were considered groundbreaking – like the Watchmen, soon to made into a movie or The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel.

Just because something is collectible, it doesn’t mean it is worth anything more to anybody else.  It isn’t profitable to collect items for the purpose of making money later on.  If you are hoping to do that, rent a warehouse in the desert and everything you ever own when you are done with it, place it neatly packaged in an air conditioned warehouse.  Twenty years from now there will be something in there of nostalgia value to someone.

Scarce goods tend to have more value but it depends on the object.  In the attached video, I talk about my comic book, Wiindows 12, and it is scarce but the demand isn’t there to make it terribly valuable.  It is collectible but it isn’t as collectible or scarce as the 1940′s Shadow comic I have in the video.

Ironically, that book is somewhat available and not that scarce but still worth something more than my comic book.  Twenty years from now will my comic be worth more?  Possibly since comic books may be a dying if not dead artform in the future.  Depends if everything goes digital and we still print on paper.

In terms of investing, same rules apply with scarce items or perceived scarce items like gold, oil and other commodities.  The difference is that in most commodities markets, the items are needed for commerce where items like art objects, coins or comics are valued for nostalgia an some collectors who have money may go far beyond what you or I would pay because they really, really want that copy of Wiindows 12 that I wrote.

Well, it is a great book.

My regular non-fiction and fiction books fall into the category of informative and entertaining (well, I hope they are entertaining) but because they are available everywhere, they aren’t scarce and there is no reason to collect them just for collecting sake (unless you are Kim Greenblatt book purist in which case let me know and I will autograph my books for you).

Bottom line – if you are planning on investing in something because somebody tells you that the price will go up, use some common sense before purchasing.  If you are buying something because you like it and want it, do it.  If it goes up in value later on, you may not have the heart to sell it anyways.

Kim Isaac Greenblatt

Kim Greenblatt asks if you are investing, do you know what is scarce or what is collectible?