A good time to invest in collectibles?

One of the scarier posts I've seen in a while!

Be careful - very careful!

High End is going to start at app $25k & go up rapidly. You cannot buy a 'fraction' of a stamp! (Though some folks have tried this, with little success as far as I know...)

High end has certainly demonstrated a consistent increase in value overall, but it is very stamp-specific. An extraordinarily risky & very illiquid market... 

My heart is with you, during these tough times.  Hope hubby is feeling better!

This is always a tricky thing, as with any investment. Can only tell you what historically has not worked well:

-- investment group pooling money for a single high-end stamp or a portfolio, as mentioned by mdroth (it may work in real estate and other stuff, but hasn't worked out well with stamps)
-- flipping stamps (not talking about buying a collection/lot and selling off what you don't need), this works for dealers because they know specific clientele or interested parties, but if you have to go through consignment/auctions you will lose a big chunk

I have no intention of investing in stamps, but if I did, I would certainly consider the following:

-- very selective group of high-end stamps with clear high appreciation history (you don't have time to follow market for too many different stamps)
-- expect to hold onto for 5-10 yrs (there's a reason why these stamps don't appear on the market frequently)
-- commission/insurance costs are significant and add on comparative ROR for other investments, if you don't expect your stamp to appreciate by 30% + 10%(annual), you will lose money compared to other basic investment
--  avoid the popular items in the mid-level market (e.g., US Zeps);  they might hold value, but you won't get much profit (if any) in a 10 year period

Obviously not an investment counselor, but if you follow the philatelic news about investment failures/successes...

Best wishes if you pull the trigger! I'll just settle for enjoying the stamps and trying to avoid too significant of a loss when my collection gets liquidated!

The very real danger in investing in any collectibles is their very low intrinsic value. A stamp's maximum intrinsic value is its face value, and that is only true if it is still valid for postage! Any value above that is a function of the number of interested collectors competing for a limited number of stamps, so at best you are speculating against that curve when there are certainly many other safer and more reliable long term investments out there.


Of course, that certainly didn't stop me from buying up as much as I could at auction when this whole COVID thing hit... Auction realizations 3 months ago were stupidly low, and they seem to have already recovered. But I now have enough material to keep my collecting addiction at bay for the next couple years (at least) as I plow through what I found!  ;-)

I shy away of looking at collectibles for as investment at any time. Collectibles can be a fad due to lack of intrinsic value.

Live long and stamp!

No no no - I’m NOT suggesting that you are guaranteed a return on stamp purchases! 

kasvik said what I was trying to say quite well. The point I was trying to make is that you might as well enjoy part of your nest egg. Even if you sell down the road for less than you paid, you had a chance to own something wonderful. And  ameis33 mentioned sports etc,  do we get anything back from money spent on those enjoyments? That would never cross our minds when we shell out big bucks for tickets, travel and so on. At least with our stamps we can sell them down the road and let someone else have fun with them for a while. I don’t think there is much of a market for used Hamilton tickets! LoL! 

My philosophy is that it is important to “invest” in your happiness once in a while otherwise why did you work so hard all of those years? You can’t take it with you and I don’t have any family members desperate to inherit anyways. 

 Life is too short as Covid is teaching us. I am going to take a VERY SMALL  percentage of my savings and purchase things I’ve dreamed of owning. I will NOT be risking my financial security in any way. 

Last time there was a stamp crash, it was because I stacked my plastic shoebox bins too high. When they toppled over, I ended up having to re-sort 5-7 bins of stamps!

But that's OK, as playing with stamps is fun!

You are so right, Theresa !!
Hope test is negative and if not, well the science is there (and Hospitals too when needed) 
My late dad never invested in stamps, even when he bought his Canada Seaway Inverted at a price (1985) of $10,000.00....it was all out of passion......but I still managed to make a profit of $5,000 on selling it and never re-buying (thank God !!)

Be well and happy - René

I really don't like the people who only look at a hobby as a way to make a buck. Even podcasts like Stamp Show Here Today are talking about investing in stamps as a hedge against inflation, with the idea that "you want to get the money that you put into your stamps out again".

Not me. I will never sell my stamps or any of the other collectibles I've accumulated over a lifetime. My collection is probably worth a pretty penny but I don't care. It's going to remain in my possession until the day I die and thereafter... it's someone else's problem. They can do with it what they want. If they want to throw it in the trash or light it on fire, it's not my concern anymore. This was never about the money. It was about the enjoyment. If I needed the money, I wouldn't have spent it on stamps.

Think of stamps as entertainment expense but you have something to show for it unlike many other leisure activities.

Years ago, when I dealt in the antiques trade, a wise mentor told me that we never own these things, we only rent them. I've learned he was exactly right. Whatever we collect, most of us will never be dealers. Buy what appeals to you, and if you don't profit from a sale later in life, then you have just paid a small fee to enjoy them.

hdm1950
I like your reflection and most others in this thread

I father (late dad) had put his Stamp Collection in his will and I was executor - I was surprised he was "open" about it. After talking with my Accountant/Fiscaliste(fr)-TAX Specialist, he convinced me to have my father take out the Stamp Collection from the will as this was subject (upon his passing) to my obligation, as executor (for Revenue Canada) in having 1) collection appraised 2) pay a substantial amount of taxes to IRS - Revenue Canada !!
When the owner disposes of an item – be it upon death, sale or by gift – it is subject to capital gains taxation rules if that collectible is worth more than $1,000.

My late dad having bought the Stamps and multiple collections with after tax dollars (and not his Company), we rapidly decided to modify the will. At the end some years before leaving us, transfer of the collection was done gradually, outside a will, to me. The other members of my family did  not make any fuss as they knew I also collected stamps since age 12.

My stamp collection is not in my will, it is in my wife's head and she knows what to do. My brother is also informed. They also are informed who could appraise it in Canada.

At times   it is wise to seek an opinion - my reflection !!

René