How can you obtain greater value for your money if the stock markets are declining and savings accounts only give safe but modest returns?
Like charitable giving, money-making investing now starts with the things we all want at home: start with the games, like Lego, handbags, and even whisky!
My favorite items are handbags. Only reselling particular arm candy from designers like Hermes, Chanel, Gucci, and Dior generates exceptional returns.
Luxury handbags experienced an average annual value gain of 13 percent in 2020, according to research from the Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index, compared to only a 5 percent return on paintings.
Hermes bags, notably their Birkin type, are in first place for performance, followed by the Kelly bag. And the numbers are astounding. A Hermes Birkin sold for about £301,000 in a Hong Kong auction in 2017.
In the last 35 years, the Birkin’s value has increased by more than 500 percent, and luxury analysts like Knight Frank predict that within the next ten years, that value might double.
The black model with gold hardware is the Holy Grail of Birkins. Even the most basic Birkin will cost you at least £4,000 at auction.
The Hermes Kelly bag benefits from resale value if it is in good condition, which has increased by 129 percent in the last 10 years and is slightly more affordable for new collectors. At auction or on a vintage website, a good Kelly bag should cost you a few thousand pounds.
The second best brand for investment bags is Chanel. The cost of a 2.55 Chanel handbag has climbed by 70% in just the previous six years, according to the upscale online retail site Bag Hunter.
You can purchase designer handbags at regional auctions, at national auction houses like Christie’s for the more expensive ones, on antique marketplaces like Vinted, or even on eBay.
Even though eBay has increased its Authenticity Guarantee service to cover handbags costing more than £500, be cautious since it’s simple to be duped into purchasing a fake.
Keep the bag in a safe place, and if you use it, have it cleaned by a pro.
The well-known Lego set is a pleasant purchase that is somewhat more affordable.
The compulsive Lego collectors that we all remember as kids have evolved into wealthy collectors with websites devoted to Lego as an investment. One of them, Brickeconomy.com, analyzes how the value of Lego sets has increased and projects future growth.
It’s all in the details, much as with purses. For instance, the 2007 release of The Ultimate Collector Millennium Falcon will shake the money tree. Its worth, if left unopened, will have increased by 528 percent to £2,150.78.
The Statue of Liberty, which was published in 2000, has increased by 1483.73 percent, reaching £2,489.79 for each unopened set.
The secondary market prices of even the more basic defunct Lego sets increase by 11 percent on average each year, quicker than gold, stocks, and bonds, according to experts at Moscow’s HSE University.
Lego beginners should start with kits that are themed after well-known structures and movies. Keep limited edition sets in their boxes so you can sell them for more money if you don’t open them.
And lastly, investing in a drop of the hard stuff is preferable to buying wine. More than 500 million people drink whisky globally, and the industry is showing no signs of slowing down. According to Knight Frank’s Wealth Report, rare whisky was the best-performing collectible over the past ten years, with an average annual value increase of 582 percent.
According to VCL Vintners, a four-decanter lot of 1950s Glenfiddich sold for £1,037,500 at a Sotheby’s auction in December. A single bottle of The Balvenie 1964 sold for £175,000 at the same event.
Since the whisky should be uncommon and in high demand, investing in the appropriate whiskies takes research and sometimes even professional advice. It is important to consider the wine’s age, origin, whether it was produced in a single cask, reviews, and other criteria.
The website Whiskystats.net lists the most profitable whisky varieties, and RareWhisky101.com provides historical performance indices.
Try Whiskybase.com, which has access to buyers and sellers from all around the world, to buy and sell whisky.
The British are making every effort to reduce their fuel consumption, such as getting rid of the second car and walking and using bicycles whenever possible.
Therefore, it’s a fantastic moment to profit from services that encourage car use.
You can let locals who don’t own cars use your car for an hourly rate through Hiyacar.co.uk. It claims that users can earn up to £650 per month and that hourly car rentals range from £2 to £5.
Through the carpooling website blablacar.com, if you go by car to work every day, you may split the cost of gas with others traveling in the same direction.
There are ride-sharing websites like liftshare.com and gocarshare.com for one-time cross-country excursions. According to Liftshare, members who use the site save about £1,000 annually.
Joining a car club like zipcar.com can make sense if you reside in London. It covers the cost of insurance, parking, congestion charges, and fuel.
Depending on your membership, membership fees range from $0 to £15 per month, and charges range from £5.50 per hour to £79 per day.
Enterprise Car Club offers car rentals outside of London starting at £3.23 per hour.