Music Collectibles

More than 150 million people in the U.S. own musical instruments. The market for resold music memorabilia, such as guitars, sheet music, concert tickets, ticket stubs, albums, and so forth, is truly profound. According to certain econometric surveys, more than $10 billion of audio CDs alone were retailed in 2003. Sales for gear, instruments, and associated products topped $6 billion that year as well.Yet despite the burgeoning music collectibles market, fans need to beware of counterfeits and misrepresented memorabilia. According to surveys, 99 percent of memorabilia supposedly signed by members of the Beatles is fake. Musician autographs are notoriously easy to counterfeit. To protect yourself, a good rule of thumb is to ask for verifiable, guaranteed proof of authenticity when spending more than $200 on an item.Create a business plan for your music collection. Be the CEO of your own hobby--know precisely what you want to get, how much you want to pay for your collectibles, and who you should deal with. The more educated you become in terms of memorabilia trading, the better off you'll be when pricing resold merchandise and bartering with other collectors.Competition for certain collectibles can spike suddenly, without warning. All commodities markets sometimes overvalue or undervalue objects for no real reason. It's your job to learn about these spikes and troughs in the market and hedge them for your benefit. With the proper savvy, you can expand your music collection and accumulate valuable stuff without paying an arm and a leg.