Autographs as an investment

[baseball111]

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?

[travrosty]

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

[GrayGhost]

Don't you catch CARP Trav? haha.

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

[39special]

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.

[sdkammeyer]

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.

[Mr. Zipper]

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."

[baseball111]

Originally Posted by travrosty

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

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