Insofar as my digital buddy Chet hasn't tried to kill me yet, I thought it might be safe to ask him a few more questions. Over the past weeks, his replies to my queries have been defensible and thought-provoking — not that I agree with every one of his techno-utterances.
So, with that in mind, this week's request was to come up with a list of five of the most overvalued collectible categories. There are plenty to choose from, many of which in my opinion should come with a "caveat emptor" ("buyer beware") warning in lieu of a certificate of authenticity.
In any event, below are five to avoid. Read 'em and weep.
Rather oddly, Chet's top-of-list category is the backside of one of our most undervalued winners from last week: contemporary trading cards.
If certain old or rare cards have an upside, however modest in most cases, modern cards of every variety have flooded the market in recent years. Common to all trading cards, they have no intrinsic value, but they also lack the rarity and age that might otherwise propel value. Yes, there are the rare exceptions, but those are single grains of sugar in five-pound bags of salt. Forget about them.
Chet's runner-up category strikes me as almost risible: collectible sneakers. As near as I can tell, most of these are your basic tennis shoes with a slash here, a color panel there and a name that is somehow supposed to add colossal value. That there are merchants who actually try to make a business in buying and re-selling such shoes I find absolutely amazing. Only in America could something that ridiculous become a business model. If you have 'em, you might as well wear 'em. At the end of the day, that's what they're for.
Number three on the list at least has the virtue of some intrinsic value: one-ounce novelty medals and bars imprinted with popular culture insignias. The better ones are silver, either sterling or pure, but there are many with thin veneers of silver over copper or some other metal. Their value is in the metal, not in the imprint, and to pay excessive premiums for what basically is a commodity doesn't make a lot of sense. Today's price of one ounce of .999 silver is around $61, and that's what those things are worth.
Items four and five on Chet's list are ones we've heard about before. Number four is sealed boxes of trading cards, the idea being that you might get indescribably lucky and find a rare card among the dross. Maybe, but your chances are probably akin to buying lottery tickets. That's why lottery ads are always exhorting you that "you gotta play to win." That's unquestionably true but completely ignores the million-to-one odds of doing so.
And last on Chet's list is the general category of "meh" collectibles: ordinary stuff that you find in abundance at flea markets and garage sales. If you like it, then buy it … but keep in mind that usually an old vase is … well … just an old vase.
Mike Rivkin is the former proprietor of Antique Galleries of Palm Springs. His new venture will open later this fall. Contact him at scmcorp@sbcglobal.net.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Are you a collector? Here are five overvalued items to avoid
