posted on January 29, 2001 01:50:34 PM newRemember:
What makes a collectable pay off is;
A) Rarity
B) condtiion being better than most you'll find, and
C) bought cheap
Think about these points, then apply them to beanies---which are;
A) Not at all rare
B) mostly kept in mint condition (someone's even made a fortune selling those plastic cases!)
C) No one paying 50-100-300+ dollars for a beanie will ever see that money again---at any point in time--unless you're talking about 2300 A.D. when today's dollar will be worth 4 cents.
posted on January 29, 2001 07:04:40 PM newfigmente:
I disagree.
True "rarity" is what makes certain collectables valuable.
The perception that an item is rare and/or in demand is what drives artificially high priced collectable markets.
In time, people will find out the hard way that their precious stash of beanies (or pokemon, etc.) is actually not all that uncommon, thus not all that rare.
P.S. When I stated "rarity" as a point in what makes collectables pay off, I was refering to actual rarity, not a manipulated perception..
posted on January 29, 2001 08:35:58 PM new
I don't think there is very much to disagree with here.
Rarity alone does not make a collectible valuable, it must be combined with demand.
Demand alone does not make a collectible valuable, it must be combined with rarity.
The mistaken impression that a specific collectible is rarer than it actually is can drive artifically high prices, subject to very abrupt correction.
Beanies and pokemon have each enjoyed faddish, mania levels of popularity (demand)the in last 2 years. This has made for some extreme cases of artificially high priced markets due to a false, manipulated, or exagerated perceptions of rarity. The Princess Beanie being an outstanding example. Both are well off from their highs, but still have enthusiasts buying lots of common, inexpensive items and paying significant sums for the scarcer items. Their high demand makes them among today's highest price collectibles for any particular level of rarity. As a long term investment both are very dubious, as maintaining such a level of interest (demand) for the long term is almost astronomically unlikely. However, specific styles (such as the cited Billionaire Bear) truly are rare, and always will be, and so if any significant number of collectors at all retain interest will always retain some value.
Yes:
"In time, people will find out the hard way that their precious stash of beanies (or pokemon, etc.) is actually not all that uncommon, thus not all that rare."
Most have already noticed that, as market prices are already a small fraction of those from last year.
posted on January 30, 2001 04:15:00 AM new
well, even though there are beanies being kept in pristine condition, I think there are a lot of kids that are playing with them. every time I go to a thrift store these days I find 3 or 4 thrashed beanies, missing tags and possibly ears/noses/tails too. That means that 20 years from now, whoever abandoned those beanies MAY be looking to replace them, and willing to pay top dollar to do it. From that standpoint, even the common beanies will have some value, because that is what most kids will remember- the common beanies that they played with to death and enjoyed.
I've already decided that when I have kids I'm going to buy duplicates of their favorite toys to keep new in the boxes, to present to them on their 30th birthdays...so they never have to go through the madness that some collectors I've seen go through! LOL!!
