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Other than US coins, which collectible hobbies have the smallest buy-sell margins?
291fifth
Posts: 24,681 ✭✭✭✭✭
Guns, perhaps? (Though this is a market I know very little about.)
All glory is fleeting.
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I believe we've been saying this since
at least the '70's - - -
I'm not aware of any other wide collectable area
that has such close spreads as coins - even when
separating out Bullion spreads from numismatic items.
That doesn't mean there aren't big spreads on some items,
depending on costs, Certified grade, etc., but in general,
no hobby has such close spreads/margins in general.
I stand to be corrected...........(and probably will be !)
Based on what I have observed in Arizona, guns don't come close.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
In my experience, I have never encountered another collectible with such small buy-sell margins as US coins (and I am not referring to bullion items). Foreign and ancient coins have much larger margins. Margins for art/photography/oriental rugs are huge. It always gets me when watching "Antiques Roadshow" when the appraiser says "in a retail setting this would bring such-and-such." I find myself wanting to yell at the tv screen ... "How much will you pay in cash right now!"
gold - unless you collect the stuff you find
Many real hobbies like amateur astronomy have serious hobbyists buying and later selling quality used equipment without much of a profit motive.
Doesn't it sort of stop being a hobby when the buy/sell spread becomes important?
I would consider investing a hobby to some. The Bid/Ask spread on GE stock was $29.60/$29.64 at market close today. Can you imagine if silver eagles traded like this?
Lego, and all of its sets and figures. Much like coins, knowing which sets and figures to buy and keep with mint packaging, can make or break you.
Some sets gain value in multiples while others sell at minimal profit or loss.
Like with US mint packaging and papers, instructions and boxes can add value or ruin it.
When sets first come out the earliest sellers make a killing. Over time numbers fade. Or explode.
https://www.autismforums.com/media/albums/acrylic-colors-by-rocco.291/
Not to a LARGE percentage of coin collectors. Coin collectors are probably one of the most "profit" oriented groups of collectors around. This isn't new. It is what powered the great collecting boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s. When the market crashed in May of 1964 collectors dropped out in very large numbers. I lived through this so I don't have to wonder about it.
Oh I know. It's important to me as a coin collector too. I'm just starting to feel a bit like those who ignore grades, pops, pluses, stickers, and what the market is doing might be on to something. Those types have a hobby. I have a hobby that looks a little too much like something else at times. Still love it, but healthy to see it for what it really is.
Coins and guns are similar in profit margins.... each has an area with great potential... .and each has an area where break even is a good deal.... A major difference might be that firearms also have utility. Unless abused, firearms can always be sold, and usually at a profit - sometimes a significant profit. Cheers, RickO