I have viewed other collectors "trade stock" in their homes and what they have for trade /sale and stored away, (like a Hamster,
that would be a Horde) is at times more mind boggling than their actual collections. I know people who have piles of stuff that
they just sit on and pack away and that's fine, I don't begrudge them that. The Internet is a Whisker (a group of Shrews) full of
sites selling Beer Cans and related stuff, just go
take a look. If you took all the cans, (and other
breweriana for that matter) that the people
carry around (or horded away) from show to
show, well.... just saying there is lot of stuff
out there.
I have met people who want to sell their
collections and almost every time, the owner
thinks they have their retirement fund sitting
on the shelves and it very rarely turns out that
way. Of course the owner never accepts
reality. The market for a vast majority of Beer
Cans is, in my view, gone and I don't think
anyone realizes it nor wants to accept it. The
value just isn’t there anymore. How many
times have you seen piles of quarter/dollar
cans for sale? I'd say, every show I go to.
The EXCEPTION, is for the highly desirable,
rare and minty cans. These will probably
always hold their value. The "good old days" of the 1970's and 80's are gone and they ain't coming
back. The days of every collector putting thousands of beer
cans on your walls is (who does that anymore?) for the most
part is over and the prices being put on a vast majority of beer
cans, (and certain Breweriana) far exceed what they are
worth. The reason being is that there are way more Beer
Cans than there are collectors. There are very few new
collectors coming into this hobby and the BCCA membership
(and other organizations) is declining and will most likely
continue to do so.
I think the bottom will fall out on can prices and I'm
wondering if anyone else can see this? For how long do
you want to haul totes and car loads of beer cans to
shows or try and sell your collection and very few are
buying? If someone wanted to build a collection today,
just go online or stop in at a Canvention and if you have
the money just start buying, it sure would not be
difficult. I picked up a 500 can collection (for free) just by walking
the
streets of our neighborhood. I also just recently had another local call concerning a beer
can collection, the owner died and the family wanted to get rid of it. I looked, told them I
would pay nothing. They let me cherry pick what I wanted and the rest got recycled.
The idea that you have, let's say, a 4000 can collection and you think it's worth a dollar
a can, is complete fantasy. I see tons and tons of beer cans at shows and online, year after
year and more and more beer cans are always being added to this Glut (word for an
excessive abundant supply of something). Of course this viewpoint will be refuted by
many, because reality and delusion are not compatible. So, to end this, there are 2 things in this life that I do know for absolute
certain. #1 is that, I don't know what will happen in the future and neither do you. And #2, there is a pot load of beer cans out
there!!
Jay #16605
Page 5