what insurance value of you collection

[hosie]

I know this is a touchy subject
No need to answer, just thought I would put it out there
As I am not trying to see who was the biggest collection or who has spent the most
I would love to own some of you collections
So here gos


What have paid for you collection ?
Now this has to include all book/display cases, binders , card sleeves , plastic boxes etc... shipping
everything you have spent

Have you got insurance on it .

& the worse part Whats it worth now ?If you needed to sell it in a hurry say 30 days

I know most of us if not all are not in it to make money its a hobby/ addiction etc..

What I am after is a way to work out what my (our) collections are worth

Well over the years I think I have spent 10k easy dam with just the cards cases & the pinball almost makes that .
20-30k I really have no idea .
been collecting a very long time

break down
merchandise 18+k maybe more
shipping 7k+?
storage 4+k



If I had to sell mine as a complete collection it could sell for 7k to whatever
30 days isn't alot of time .

selling it piece by piece or mini sets I could get more than 7k ( i would hope a lot more) & it would take me that much time to list the hundred of items or sets unless I just listed all magazines as a mini set , all statues as another etc
even then it would still take awhile to list them & get a fair price

very hard to work out what I collection is worth
I have mine itemized with prices to replace an item piece by piece or mini collection like a complete season 9 card set with all the autos etc...
& it scared me what it would cost to replace
Some things Included the cost of shipping
example all x-files comic i value at $10 each on average
Yet I know I could buy 20 for $15 sometimes on ebay plus $35shipping
or if I only need 1 comic say, selling for $1 it could cost me $15 shipping
So do insure for the 20 comics or 1 by 1
It is insured btw just hard to work out a true figure

is that how I work out what my collection is worth ?

What I paid or what it would cost to replace an item


would I get back what I paid . NO chance

I guess I also am asking was it or is it still worth collecting ?
would you start again if you lost your collection tomorrow?

[XFCollector]

Those are some really good questions. I know I've spent thousands over the years which tbh I sometimes wish I didn't when I look back. I used to keep track on how much but honestly what you pay and what the value is isn't the same.

If I were to get insurance, which is a really good idea for any large investment so I should get some, I'd value my items based on what they are "worth" (being sold for average, or a good estimate) at the time of getting insurance. I think that would be the only fair way of going about that. Can always adjust that insurance if value of items increases.

I would probably in case of items such as comics group their value instead of individually.

Now I want to go through the collection and start a spreadsheet of each item then determine value and place what I paid if known. Personally, I tend to include shipping in that value as well since I see it as a total for purchase. Depending on the item though.

As for selling I found grouping items together makes for a more appealing sale especially for items of low value. I was surprised to be able to sell a huge lot of those odds&ends of misc xf magazines for over $50. Even if it's a loss to the original value it's still more than its current worth.

Selling is tricky but I found lately that if I want to sell any that I rather list on a price I feel they are worth to a value I'm willing to let go on. Not budging from that price. If it sells then it sells. If not, I'll relist or decide to keep it. I rather sell for a price I'm comfortable with rather than to take a loss. But I'm also not in any rush to sell. If I was in a rush to get rid of items that would be a different story in which it would be impossible to do so in a 30 day timeline as suggested in theory and still get anything out of it.

Was collecting worth it....in ways, yes. In others, no. If I lost my collection now, I'd be really discourage to even attempt to try collecting again.




Sent from my portable telephone machine

[xagent]

Aug 4, 2012 3:48:00 GMT -9 hosie said:

I know this is a touchy subject
No need to answer, just thought I would put it out there
As I am not trying to see who was the biggest collection or who has spent the most
I would love to own some of you collections
So here gos


What have paid for you collection ?
Now this has to include all book/display cases, binders , card sleeves , plastic boxes etc... shipping
everything you have spent

Have you got insurance on it .

& the worse part Whats it worth now ?If you needed to sell it in a hurry say 30 days

I know most of us if not all are not in it to make money its a hobby/ addiction etc..

What I am after is a way to work out what my (our) collections are worth

Well over the years I think I have spent 10k easy dam with just the cards cases & the pinball almost makes that .
20-30k I really have no idea .
been collecting a very long time

break down
merchandise 18+k maybe more
shipping 7k+?
storage 4+k



If I had to sell mine as a complete collection it could sell for 7k to whatever
30 days isn't alot of time .

selling it piece by piece or mini sets I could get more than 7k ( i would hope a lot more) & it would take me that much time to list the hundred of items or sets unless I just listed all magazines as a mini set , all statues as another etc
even then it would still take awhile to list them & get a fair price

very hard to work out what I collection is worth
I have mine itemized with prices to replace an item piece by piece or mini collection like a complete season 9 card set with all the autos etc...
& it scared me what it would cost to replace
Some things Included the cost of shipping
example all x-files comic i value at $10 each on average
Yet I know I could buy 20 for $15 sometimes on ebay plus $35shipping
or if I only need 1 comic say, selling for $1 it could cost me $15 shipping
So do insure for the 20 comics or 1 by 1
It is insured btw just hard to work out a true figure

is that how I work out what my collection is worth ?

What I paid or what it would cost to replace an item


would I get back what I paid . NO chance

I guess I also am asking was it or is it still worth collecting ?
would you start again if you lost your collection tomorrow?

I agree that it's tough to work out an insurance cost. I used to log what I paid for things, but used to dismiss the shipping costs as some were pretty scary, but Krystal I take your point that they are very valid! I think value wise I am in the same ball park as you though, but in GBP Sterling of course!

It's sad looking at prices now to see what people pay for things, but ultimately I don't think it's just about what things are worth now. The problem is finding current costs, as so many things I have are one-offs or don't seem to change hands.

As an example I have some continuity polaroids, these are not commonly sold any more and the price varies greatly depending on the actual image. These are one-of-a-kind, so how would you value that? I can only think that you would have to reassess the value of things which you can still buy and consider a fair value for those things you can't. My understanding is that insurance is there to help you replace anything lost or damaged so surely that is based on what the item is worth to you assuming a replacement isn't possible? (I've never claimed on insurance)

My collection also isn't insured and I really don't know what I would do if my collection was lost or damaged. I would imagine I could claim on the general household insurance, but I think maybe now is the time to be sure...

Would it be worth collecting again? If you have such a huge draw and interest in something, then why not? As for doing it again, if my collection were to disappear, I probably wouldn't. What you can collect for The X-Files has changed dramatically over the years so starting now I'd never be able to s get some of the bits I have now. Collectibles in general seem to have changed and I would miss the Palz figures and Inkworks cards!

Now had I waited for the DVD releases I could have saved a whole load of money!

[xd]

I have no idea what it is all worth but our household insurance should cover most of it. If it was to all go I would not replace it.
I sometimes even fantasize about selling it! and having the space and not having to worry about it.( £12000 to £15000 or near offer)
XD

[lonegunman71]

I have enquired about this. Was told that my collection could not be insured as a collection, but rather as individual items. Then there would be a problem of proving that I actually owned the individually listed items, then the next problem would be agreeing value. Absolute minefield and I've decided not to bother pursuing it.

[hosie]

Aug 10, 2012 8:11:02 GMT -9 lonegunman71 said:

I have enquired about this. Was told that my collection could not be insured as a collection, but rather as individual items. Then there would be a problem of proving that I actually owned the individually listed items, then the next problem would be agreeing value. Absolute minefield and I've decided not to bother pursuing it.

weird that they wouldn't insure your collection as a collection . Most insurance companies I have asked do , but it has to be specified ,its like when you have more the $1500 worth of CD's/DVD's you have to tell them how many you own .
The insurance company I am with you can only have %25 (of the total insured sum) as specified items which includes jewellery, CD/DVD's & any collections, camera worth more than $1000 etc..

so if I wanted to insure just my collection (for 25k) as a specific item , I need 100k insurance but as I have more than $1500 worth of CD/DVDs & other specified items I need over 250k for my total contents insurance
Most insurance companies take your word for what this are worth so I have never had the trouble agreeing on value .
as for proving you own it that's easy . We all have pictures/scans of what we own , so that's all the proof you need.
I have around %95 of my collection with replacement cost on excels documents .Which includes the shipping costs .

The problem I have is I have over quoted on some costs mainly the trading cards .
Give you this example
I can buy a box of CCG cards for say $50 & say I get 60 rare cards out of it to replace 1 rare card it might cost me $5 (with shipping, don't forget I live in Australia)
so the $50 box just turned into a $300 box

I have itemised all my collection that way all/most magazines I have $10 on each . comics are $5-$10 each, postcards $3 etc......
Anyway you get the picture , magazines $2k comics $1.5k it soon adds up
If you did that for all collection its very easy to have a collection worth 10k or more .
I think its really the only way to value a collection is to itemise it
We didn't buy everything in bulk lots most items have been bought 1 piece at a time . sure I may have bought 20 magazines in one lot ( for $50) but out of over 160 magazines the average would be $10 each

I think it worth shopping around if your insurance company will not insure your collection as a collection

[lonegunman71]

I've just itemised and scanned everything - have nothing individually worth more than £1500, so each item is automatically insured under our home contents insurance. Things are obviously far more relaxed over in Oz than in the UK I guess the main problem I have is valuing autographed items - 1000 signed Star trek CCGs alone, almost as many X-Files signed items...

Just (for fun) playing devils advocate... Just because you have a picture of something doesn't mean you own it. And if I told you that something is worth $50, would you just believe me...?

In my experience, insurance companies will do all they can to wriggle out of a claim. Lets all keep our fingers crossed that no-one on here ever has to deal with one when it comes to our collections.

[hosie]

So true about insurance companies trying to wriggle out of a paying a claim.
I get your point about having a picture of items & not owning it .

I take pictures/videos of inside my entire house once every 2 years or so .
Which is way over due to do again.
I store them at another location either online or at somewhere else . I also keep my collections list there to.
I have more than enough content insurance to cover my contents .Most people under insure. I think the average insurance for content in Australia is only around $40k-$60 which is way to low.about 80% of people under insure

It is vital that you insure your contents for 100% of its replacement value, as underinsuring your contents can lead to reduced payouts in the event of a claim. For example if your contents was worth $50,000 and you only insured it for $25,000, the insurer would determine that you have only insured 50% of your contents. In the event of a claim, the insurer would only pay 50% of the claim amount even if it was within the $25,000 figure that you were insured for.