Any successful collector in ANY collectible category will tell you that the cheapest items they ever bought were the ones they paid the most money for.
How can this be, you may ask?
The answer is simple. The finest quality, rarest and most desirable collectibles only become more so with each passing year. The Best just keeps getting better while run-of- the-mill will never elevate into anything more than that.
As the years pass, the old saying “quality is remembered long after price is forgotten” starts to kick in. Yesterdays record price slowly and steadily turns into today’s bargain, or in many cases steal. Yesterday’s bargain turns into today’s unimpressive and boring yawn.
That’s the way the collectibles markets have always work and that’s how they will continue to work in the future.
In regards to posters, if you are simply looking for something “cool” to put up on your walls (and there is NOTHING wrong with this motivation), you can buy THOUSANDS of different issues that are available as reprints or original copies in damaged condition. Posters of this type are available in quantities that run into the millions.
There are millions you can buy now, and there will be millions more for the next guy to buy, years down the road. This is the type of material that most collectors buy and when the time comes to sell they find that there is no one that has the slightest bit of interest, enthusiasm or inclination to take their collection off their hands. Whatever funds you place into this common, unexciting material is SPENT, gone for good, just like the money you used for gas to fill the tank of your car today.
Successful and sophisticated collectors understand that the OPPORTUNITY to buy something is often even rarer than the item itself!!
How can this be, you may ask?
The answer again is really quite simple. The best material resides in long term collections that are held for decades, or in many cases, from generation to generation.
Experienced collectors understand this and are therefore eager to pull the trigger when an item of importance does finally surface. The price paid at this point really becomes secondary to the opportunity at hand for two reasons. 1) No collector ever assembles a World Class collection unless they are willing to be the top buyer today. 2) Sophisticated collectors know that the they, as the new owner, are entitled to name THEIR PRICE when they wish to sell as their special and unique items are rarely, if ever, offered for sale at any price!
This past weekend I met with Donald Trump in New York City (photos to come). Trump built his entire career on this very point. Trump believes that there will always be people that want The Best and he has built an empire catering to this very group.
So next time you think about what your next acquisition will be, think ahead to how desirable it will be in the future. By properly answering this very question, you can avail yourself of the best bargains available in the marketplace today.
