Autographs as an investment
 

I'm a autograph collector in college and just started collecting single signed HOF baseballs. I love the feeling of adding to my collection and seeing an empty space on my shelf be filled as much as the next guy, but does anyone collect as a way of investing?

I didn't start collecting as a way of investing my money, but I would rather purchase a new baseball instead of stuff I would use for a few months and then find myself wondering where I spent all my money. Considering there is no sample pool as autographs weren't considered valuable 20-30 years ago, where do people see them at in 20-30 years?

its a carp shoot. dont collect to invest. its too volatile, just collect to have fun. if they go up in the meantime, great.

Don't you catch CARP Trav? haha.

I agree w what Trav said though. "Investment" is a scary word. Have fun at it.

I agree with Scott and Travis.Its my hobby and I enjoy it.If I were to do it for investment,it would take the fun out of it.

I'm not an autograph person myself, but as far as an investment I would agree with the others.

As a hobbyist I say that my collection is exactly that ....... my collection, and the money aspect of it means nothing to me.

As a realist (because this stuff does cost money) I see it more as a "really cool savings account" if anything.

I honestly don't see the market for baseball cards falling off anytime soon. Worst case scenario is I hold on to a $1000 card for 5-10-20 years and then sell it off for the same amount that I paid for it originally..... no different than burying $1000 in the back yard and digging it up 5-10-20 years later ..... except that I got to enjoy it for that 5-10-20 years :)

But as far as getting a substantial dividend off of your investment, collectibles is probably not the way to go.

I don't consider my collectibles as an "investment" either. But, when I spend money on something, it would be nice to get something back out of it down the line when it's time to sell.

With this in mind, for someone starting I would advise on avoiding mass-produced material as much as possible. By that I mean single signed balls of common signers, common signed flats, etc. Go for items that are less common. If you really want a signed item from someone who is in plentiful supply, get one with a less common inscription.

If I could tell go back in time and tell myself something 20 years ago, it would be, "one $200 item is way better than ten $20 items."

+++ for all of the above comments.

especially avoid speculation, buying 100 bryce harper signed baseballs now when he is hot. then next year he breaks his leg and is out of the big leagues forever, then you are done. at the minimum, buy nice, problem free, signed balls and photos of hof players like mantle, ruth, etc. established popular hof players who are deceased. because they cant sign any more legitimately and they are dead and their career totals wont change. speculation just kills the investor.

regfrigerator perry error cards were hot at 100 dollars apiece because they were a short print, proset football card. they later plummeted to the common bin for a dollar. jerome walton upper deck rookie cards were hot at over 20 dollars after his rookie season in which he went on a hitting streak. then we never heard any more from him and his cards are worth nothing now.

Rule #1 of collecting is collect what you enjoy because then it doesn't matter if it ever becomes "worth" something or not.

That said, I think autographs tend to hold their value than cards, with the exception of the old pre-war cards that are very rare and hard to find in good condition. Old cards have value because people didn't save them, didn't slab them in two-inch plastic, etc. They got put in bike spokes, thrown against the wall in games of War, clipped, thumb-tacked and eventually thrown away by mothers whose sons had gone off to college. In the 80s/90s, everyone and their mother was hoarding cards thinking they'd be a suitable replacement for a 401K account. That stuff was massively over-produced and everyone has it.

IMO autographs hold their value much better, though the return on investment might be slow for common signers. Deceased HOFers like Mize, Slaughter, Feller, Kell, etc. still can be had for next to nothing because they signed everything in sight. But even the $20 autos from 1990 are now approaching the $100 range in most instances. As more collectors enter the hobby, there will be fewer and fewer autographs on the secondary market, and eventually I think most have nowhere to go but up in value.

But always refer to rule #1! :D

JimStinson
 

I agree as a dealer for 30 plus years have always seen nothing but UP..Which is nice BUT...for investments contact a broker, accountant or investment consular. I was always told in the begining to buy the BEST you could afford ...and those items have so far skyrocketed. Will it continue ? who knows ...in five years your entire collection could be worth a cup of coffee and a loaf of bread (see CNN..smile), Collect what you like , autographs are not "investments" , its a hobby although some will tell you otherwise. History has proven that autographs overall have increased in value .....even over 100 years ..see George Washington, Abraham Lincoln etc., However I was told once that REAL ESTATE could NEVER go down because they have stopped making it which was eventually proven false. My "take" on this and it is strickly a guess is that the "crossover" autographs ....in other words the autographs that would be of interest to NON sports collectors ...for example BABE RUTH , JACKIE ROBINSON, will hold up in value no matter what , ...and cool to speculate on future Hall of famers who's value skyrocket after induction. But by gosh don't stake your future and that of your family on autographs.
____________________
jim@stinsonsports.com

I was told the same thing for single-signed balls by deceased players, but they started making most of those again also.

Just so I don't confuse anyone, I am surely not in the hobby for the money aspect. I love collecting and in my view, is an interesting and enjoyable hobby where I can spend my money and not regret it later. The reason I posted this question is because I was thinking about this the other day and how there is really no sample pool to judge the autograph market, as I said, they were not valuable 20-30 years ago. It was simply about a hypothetical situation about someone who has collected and no longer is interested in them and has no one to hand them down to. I feel as though my post suggested I was in the hobby for the sole purpose of investing my money, which is not the case. And Jim, I certainly have no family or home depending on the money I put into my collection, haha.

I have had a lot of fun with this hobby and plan on continuing to add for years to come. Thanks to everyone for your responses so far and happy collecting :)

:D

I collect because I love it but I also collect because if you find the right item at the right price you can make yourself some money. For example, I invested $480 in two autographed items that I was recently able to sell for a combined $3,300. You aren't going to get that kind of return on the market unless you're investing huge sums of money.

I also look at collecting as a way to save my money. I sunk some money into a T206 Cobb Bat Off. I don't think the card will ever be unpopular and if I were to sell it, I have no doubts I'd get at least what I paid for it. The money I spent on the Cobb would be gone today if I had not put it into the card, which I can liquidate any time I want, for a potential profit. Its not an autograph but a Cobb autograph would have the same principal. He'll always be popular amongst collectors.

As a person who has made a part time living from buying and selling baseball items for over 40 years there is one thing I can tell you, buy good stuff, buy stuff you know about, buy stuff within your budget and don’t leave that path or you will get into trouble. Good items will increase in value. Crap stays crap.

The gospel truth.

I totally agree with Jim and David on this.