Well, the response to that inquiry is one that numerous sports memorabilia collectors would like to know, including me! Even the most adept collectors may not understand what item in their collection is going to become worth the most money. Naturally, the way I view sports memorabilia is you had better believe the items you genuinely want for your collection since they might not appreciate, but on the other hand, it does not take a lot for a relatively obscure player to become a champion overnight and his items to turn collectible.
As a matter of fact, you’ll be able to step-up your odds of acquiring the best sports memorabilia for investment by following players that hold a lot of potential, including the starters. By the time a player gets famous, many of his souvenirs, autographed items or T-shirt* and uniforms have already doubled in price! Not everybody might be an expert at discovering a good find, but you can run into rare sports memorabilia at estate sales event* and auction sale* because successors may not know what each is worth, especially if they have no interest in sports!
These can be the best finds, if you are looking to make a good profit, but there are many opportunities to find investment quality souvenirs that might appreciate sometime in the near future. You will be happiest with your sports memorabilia collection if they are pieces that are special to you and you might end up with some that are worth considerably more than you thought. The best appreciation of your collection might come with an untimely death or a sudden rise to fame of a player and this is a “wait and see” type of scenario.
There are a few people that actively purchase and sell items that have already gone through this type of appreciation and on occasion, getting in with a reputable sports memorabilia trader or dealer is the better answer. As a matter of fact, if you are a collector that’s actively seeking certain items or mementos of a certain player or team, sports memorabilia traders are likely to keep an eye out for you because they stand to earn by finding you a good deal!
This is the tactical maneuver that investment sports memorabilia dealers take most often, as a matter of fact. As you toy with it, they will be the ones that are asked to calculate values for clients or estates and they might hold a few good leads on collector-standard sports memorabilia. Because holding onto your collection till the time is appropriate could represent part of the investment strategy you had better look at, you want to add items as you can afford to and trade in items that you have held onto for a long time, if the appreciation is beneficial enough.
Naturally, if you’re like I am, there are a few pieces of my sports memorabilia collection I do not believe I’d dispense with easily. If you’re in the hobby for investment and profit, the market could find out whether an item is a fine investment that enjoys demand.