A poster of the Stranglers or a pin up of Wham may have been kept by you for sentimental value. However have you considered their investment potential as the generation that values those bands get older and have money at their disposal to spend on memories. Suddenly collectors are realizing that vintage original posters are worth something.
The high priest of rock memorabilia himself, Jeff Gold, who spent his career in the music industry before ending as a executive and Warner Bros. believes all it takes is carful but wise decision combined with good taste to buy a poster and see it appreciate in value.
With low interest rates which apparently are set to stay low for some time Investors are looking for new forms of investment that will give them a better return on their money. Rock posters and memorabilia can be one way to achieve this. They are also an interesting hobby for those who collect them.
Until 2008 the main investment that most people were considering was property. At dinner parties up and down the country people were discussing the money they had made in property. People came to believe that property could only go one way and that was up – the classic delusion in an asset boom. Most people now realise property is not the get rich quick certainty it was previously and so are looking for other investments.
With the bank reforms not set to kick in until 2019, and the Euro about to collapse at any minute, many people do not trust stocks, shares, bonds or even some of the banks themselves. Until stability returns to the banking sector, it’s time for some real innovative thinking for investment opportunities.
So the good news is it’s a boom industry for areas that people would have laughed at you for suggesting as an investment opportunity. Various collectors markets such as watches, wine, art, classic cars etc. As more and more people move into these areas, prices are rising artificially high, creating another bubble.
It’s time to go even further down the memorabilia road to other markets such as rock memorabilia, when a Beatles gig poster sells for just under $70,000 any investor will take notice. The poster in this case was an original 1965 Shea Stadium gig poster, a famous Beatles gig in New York.
There is also investment potential in far more recent items featuring the right artists. A $15 poster about White Stripes as an example sold for $1,600 recently which is an increase of over a thousand fold. By an standards that is a very good return although it has to be appreciated that not all investments will have such a high return.
The market for Rock posters has been around for some time. Indeed the Hard Rock Café (which celebrates its 40th birthday this year) gets a large part of its appeal from the selection of genuine Rock Memorabilia which it puts on the walls of its restaurants. What gives the current market such potential is the impact of the Internet in creating a worldwide market to buy and sell on a daily basis. This massive expansion of the market is driving prices up.
It is one of the fundamental rules of Capitalism that as one market falls; another will rise and takes it place, which is happening now for investment markets, as one set is displaced by others. Spreading your capital around into areas you would have been laughed at doing a few years ago is now common sense. So make the most and get ahead of the crowd and preserve rock history while making it profitable.
Marcus Selmon writes for http://Just CommercialMortgages.com the UK’s No.1 site for the latest commercial mortgage rates and commercial property finance news.
