Reply to: Cornering the market for rare xyz?

[KentPhilip]

Go for pumpkins, the price over the last few weeks have shot up, my guess is at this rate by the end of February the price will have sky rocketed

And if you can wind the clock back before midnight it might turn into a beautiful carriage!

[SimonMac]

Go for pumpkins, the price over the last few weeks have shot up, my guess is at this rate by the end of February the price will have sky rocketed

[darmstadt]

I collect the junk mail that comes into my letterbox. Everyone throws it away which means that in the not too distant future I will have a unique collection of advertising and marketing material

[KentPhilip]

My father told me a story once, I don't know how true it was, that a bloke once bought two rare stamps that were the only two such stamps in the world. He then put them both up for auction.
As the first one came up for sale he walked up to the auctioneer, withdrew it from sale, and in front of the assembled bidders held up the stamp and tore it into tiny pieces.

Then he went and sat down to watch the progress of the auction of his second stamp, now the only stamp of its kind in the world...

[EternalOptimist]

The snag is every physical thing you own of any significant size has an ongoing cost in storage space. Also in many cases, including books, that is heated and dry storage space which costs even more.

Barring a massive World-wide plague, storage space costs will increase further in years to come, which will reduce the value of objects that require it. So assuming you haven't acquired a stash of early Picassos, you may find your books are almost worthless despite being rare (especially as most people will be happy to read ebooks by then, again to avoid storage and preservation costs).

To take another example, I know someone who had a beautiful solid rose wood grand piano. Forty years ago it was valued at several thousand pounds. But a year or two ago they were amazed to find it was literally almost worthless - Nobody has room for them these days (although with pianos, part of the problem is the labour required to maintain them).

I collect rare storage space

[cojak]

Unless you set off a nuclear bomb inside the bookshop, thereby increasing the value of your books many times. Mwahahaha.

Oh wait, that sounds familiar...

No Mr Maginty,

I expect you to go bankrupt and have all the other super villains laugh at you!

[OwlHoot]

The snag is every physical thing you own of any significant size has an ongoing cost in storage space. Also in many cases, including books, that is heated and dry storage space which costs even more.

Barring a massive World-wide plague, storage space costs will increase further in years to come, which will reduce the value of objects that require it. So assuming you haven't acquired a stash of early Picassos, you may find your books are almost worthless despite being rare (especially as most people will be happy to read ebooks by then, again to avoid storage and preservation costs).

To take another example, I know someone who had a beautiful solid rose wood grand piano. Forty years ago it was valued at several thousand pounds. But a year or two ago they were amazed to find it was literally almost worthless - Nobody has room for them these days (although with pianos, part of the problem is the labour required to maintain them).

[Ketchup]

Unless you set off a nuclear bomb inside the bookshop, thereby increasing the value of your books many times. Mwahahaha.

Oh wait, that sounds familiar...

You are better off finding new authors and buying first editions of their first novel. All books have an edition number printed in the foreword. Other things to do are to buy ARC's (advance reader copies) and signed editions.

I collect a lot of books, the jewel of my collection is a mint first edition of Philip Pullmans "Northern lights", and an advance readers copy of "The girl with the dragon Tattoo" signed by the late Steig Larsons partner Eva Gabrielsson.

[Bunk]

Once you pump your funds in and make it rare and bump up the price, the guys having the other copies will start selling to make a profit and bring the price back down and you will be left holding worthless crap.

Unless you set off a nuclear bomb inside the bookshop, thereby increasing the value of your books many times. Mwahahaha.

Oh wait, that sounds familiar...

[DodgyAgent]

I've often considered trying to corner the market for rare items. For example, there are some books about a subject I've been interested in for a while now, which are quite rare although not prohibitively expensive at the moment. It occured to me that maybe I could buy up a lot of copies in the hope that doing so would make them even more rare and thereby raise their value. I could then introduce them back into the market, one at once, at a higher price and hopefully make a nice fat profit for myself. I don't just mean books, although that is the specific example I have thought about. I suppose the principle could apply to other items.

Of course there is the risk that there could be far more copies of whatever book or item I decide to buy, such that I run out of money before I manage to significantly increase the rareity. There may be other risks that I've not considered.

Has anyone else ever tried this?

This is a better idea

:

BBC News - Mail order customers were victims of 'scam'

[fullyautomatix]

I've often considered trying to corner the market for rare items. For example, there are some books about a subject I've been interested in for a while now, which are quite rare although not prohibitively expensive at the moment. It occured to me that maybe I could buy up a lot of copies in the hope that doing so would make them even more rare and thereby raise their value. I could then introduce them back into the market, one at once, at a higher price and hopefully make a nice fat profit for myself. I don't just mean books, although that is the specific example I have thought about. I suppose the principle could apply to other items.

Of course there is the risk that there could be far more copies of whatever book or item I decide to buy, such that I run out of money before I manage to significantly increase the rareity. There may be other risks that I've not considered.

Has anyone else ever tried this?

Once you pump your funds in and make it rare and bump up the price, the guys having the other copies will start selling to make a profit and bring the price back down and you will be left holding worthless crap.

[Troll]

I've often considered trying to corner the market for rare items. For example, there are some books about a subject I've been interested in for a while now, which are quite rare although not prohibitively expensive at the moment. It occured to me that maybe I could buy up a lot of copies in the hope that doing so would make them even more rare and thereby raise their value. I could then introduce them back into the market, one at once, at a higher price and hopefully make a nice fat profit for myself. I don't just mean books, although that is the specific example I have thought about. I suppose the principle could apply to other items.

Of course there is the risk that there could be far more copies of whatever book or item I decide to buy, such that I run out of money before I manage to significantly increase the rareity. There may be other risks that I've not considered.

Has anyone else ever tried this?

You are Nelson Bunker Hunt and I claim my 5 pieces of eight

[northernladuk]

..and no one has ever thought of this before.

[lukemg]

whs, unless you know exactly what the market is, this sounds like a great way to lose money...

[eek]

A market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.