Yes there is a lot of money to be made...... However, it's not the owner or the restorer.... Ebay walks away the winner everytime! Go to a classic car auction... the buyer AND the seller pay huge fees to transact business. That's were the money is! Good luck.

I agree with the general consensus that the info in this article is highly suspect, however, I disagree with the assertion that the only way to make money in collectibles is to take advantage of unsuspecting sellers. Follow market trends, do your research & stay ahead of the curve. I tend to look for items that trade frequently, but mostly between collectors, often traded straight across. Generally speaking, by the time someone has written and published a "price guide" the golden age for bargains for that genre is over. It hasn't been that long ago that original comic art by Kirby, Romita & others sold for $50.00 a page and a couple hundred for cover art. I used to be able to buy 50's-60's robots, rayguns, & other space toys for next to nothing. Antique firearms are another good example. Now, the high cost of good examples for any of these has taken the fun out of collecting them. However, there are always new and interesting areas emerging to feed my addictions. I'm not suggesting that you need a crystal ball, but what has worked well for me is to find something that interests me, research it, learn everything you can, buy the best examples you can afford, become an expert, have patience. Later, I will keep the very best pieces and sell the rest as my tastes change. most of the time I can recoupe my entire initial investment and keep the true gems in my collection. Depending on what you need to get for your items, I don't think that the "flipper" mentality really works for collectibles(unless, of course, you really have bought something undervalued). In my experience, the really good transactions are a result of research, collecting what you like, careful purchases, and patience.

First thing I would like to say is that it is almost impossible to make "easy money" I spoke with an automotive expert new years weekend, who has been in the auto business for over 30 years. He told me he goes to auto auctions anywhere from 5 to 15 times per week, & what you see on Barrett Jackson is more often than not, one millionare trying to p--s off another. Sure, American muscle cars from the 60's & early 70's are HOT right now, but the norm is considerably less than what Barrett Jackson's cars bring. You also have to realize that Barrett Jackson only accepts about 1 out of every 50 cars that are offered to them. The people making "reasonable" money from this new found classic car craze are the shops doing the resto work, because I'm guessing they are only giving an "approximate" cost of the restoration at the beginning. These are long term projects & are probably a good guarantee for the shop owner to keep his workers occupied for months rather than days.

Well let's see: one 1950's era truck, a '41 Plymouth, a '65 Mustang coupe, a '66 Mustang Fastback, a '32 Model A, a '22 Model T and not a dime made on any one of them (quite the opposite in fact). The payback comes in enjoying the challenge of putting them back together and sharing your experiences with others who share your interests. The heartbreak comes in selling one only to find out later that either #1 - the car was in an accident or #2 - it's just sitting unmaintained in someone else's life, all that work unappreciated after the inital glow of the purchase wears off. Oh well, there are lots worse hobbies that my husband could have. :-)

Ebay, Aol, Paypal..are affiliated, right? I just received an email from Ebay saying that they are hiking their prices, which include Ebay motors. Now Aol is telling us to buy and sell on Ebay....hmmmmmm.

I can see collecting useful things. However, most things people collect are not useful at all.
Old refurbished cars may be useful in the film industry, but I doubt their utility to the average Joe just wanting a vehicle. Collect money instead!

Froget collectibles...the real investments are in dot-com (domain name) properties. Where else can one turn $1000 investment in 2002 into a $2000-per-day cash generating machine. You make $2000 if you feel like working or if you do not, it's an automated process.

With properties such as GraduateStudies.com, TransportAutos.com, BransonVacations.com, HodgkinsLymphoma.com, 401KRetirementPlanning.com and 25,000 others...this is the real deal.

Tell me one othet investment that a simple $7 (domain renewal fee) can generate over $3000 a year in revenue...simply said a $2993 annual profit on that investment as some domains in our portfolio generate.

Best Regards,


Jason

any vehicle, running or not, must be titled within a certain period of time and a sales tax is charged by dmv. in most states and it can be as little as 3% or as much as 10% depending on the statein which you will do the title

investors might try used or vintage american made guitars

Dave's right about the cost of restoring old cars even back then the cost was outthere.

Gary - nice little article. Count us among the ones eBay shoved out the door. I do think the online selling remains at only perhaps half of its potential. No one has completely figured it all our yet!

One thing to remember is that different states have different regulations. We bought a used car off eBay a couple years ago from a seller in our same state. We did have to pay sales tax on it, but that is a minor thing for very old vehicles... also, the car was okay, but not what I had hoped for. We still use it though!

As with all purchases, online venues are like any place else - it is buyer beware. Just know what you are looking for, so you know if you are getting what you really want. There are still bargains to be had, but they are not as plentiful.

One other disturbing trend is the overall lowering of value for many items sold at venues like eBay. Why? Because of stolen goods! I know of one seller personally who deals with a lot of pricing competition due to the ones who have stolen shipments directly from the loading docks/ Even yesterday, our movie rental place said they were broken into late last year by a former employee, and every Playstation and XBox game was stolen. Gee, I wonder where they'll show up next?

The legitimate sellers can't compete with five-finger discounts on the merchandise price. That in turn pulls down the price/profit margin for everyone selling the same item, but especially the legitimate seller who paid up front for the merchandise.

yeah its getting harder and harder to make a buck on eBay so I smell a rat since they are telling us how to do just that.

funny how they need to keep raising prices more than the percentage of inflation, but then this should go on the eBay story.....maybe

They didn't make a Datsun 240z in 1963. If you had one it would be worth a million dollars.To cut to the chase, the entire idea can be summed up as BuY LOW sell HIGH, and remember don't use your own money. There I just saved you 4 years of business school.