Memorabilia
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Is Autographed Sports Memorabilia Worth It?
by: Kelly Johns
I saw an article the other day claiming that sports memorabilia is
one of the top 10 biggest wastes of money. Chris Pummer, who wrote
the article claims that, "This market for the celebrity struck may
be the greatest separator of fools and their money ever."
He lists premium coffee to go and cigarettes as a few other "biggest
wastes of money."
I agree with Pummer that sports memorabilia is a waste of money if
you buy the wrong player or if you purchase something that is fake.
But the bottom line is that the market for autographed sports
memorabilia and collectibles is huge. Authentic autographs are tough
to get, expensive, and there are limited amounts available.
Take Pete Rose, who signs every weekend in Las Vegas. There is such
a demand for his autographed memorabilia that his jerseys, baseballs
and other items consistently bring good money -- no matter how much
he signs.
When Pete becomes unable to sign -- or he dies, his existing,
authentic autographed memorabilia will double or triple in value.
Pummer mentions how a $700 Barry Bonds ball is worthless. I have to
agree with him on that one. Sports memorabilia shopping is all about
picking the right player (and Bonds is not the right player). When a
Willie Mays autographed baseball currently sells for around
$250-$300, why would you spend $700 on a Bonds baseball?
Mays is proven, he is the greatest living baseball player on the
planet -- do the math. Even when Bonds surpassed Willie's home run
record, he did not become more collectible than Willie Mays. Bonds
will never be more collectible than Mays and his baseballs will
never be worth more.
Sports memorabilia collecting is similar to the stock market. The
athlete is the stock. You have to make sure the athlete has good
fundamentals, management, and you also have to investigate how the
market values them.
Joe Montana, for example, is one of the all-time best selling
autographs in the industry. He is a proven athlete, no steroid
scandals, and people love him. He does sign frequently, but there is
such a huge demand for Joe Montana memorabilia, it doesn't matter.
Sports memorabilia is not a waste of money, it is an investment if
you know what you are buying. Educate yourself on the market -- for
example, shopping on eBay if you don't know how to spot fake
autographs is a bad idea. There are tons of sellers on eBay that
still sell fake autographs even though a few forgers went to jail as
a result of the FBI's Operation Bullpen over 3 years ago.
If you educated yourself on authentic autographs, found good players
to invest in, and studied values of items based on what they are
currently selling for, then you could see better returns than your
stock market portfolio -- well, maybe at least better returns than
the S&P 500 and those horrible mutual funds!
About The Author
Kelly Johns started ALLAuthentic.com in 1998 by selling
http://allauthentic.com online out of his garage. Since then
ALLAuthentic.com has grown to be one of the largest, most reputable
sports memorabilia companies on the Internet.