What are some items that have recently lost value?

[quadcitypickers]

Polaroid cameras really seem to have fizzled out.

A lot of collectibles don't move like they used to, I think mainly because more and more people of my generation want less and less "stuff".

What is something that used to be your bread and butter and is now pretty much worthless, within the last few years?

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

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@moondogblues wrote:

please interject 'worth' in the appropriate place...

It's been a bad day for us, we had to give away a much loved but large and uncontrollable dog today.

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Oh no moondoggie, hubs just finished reading Marley & me. That's a tough one, so sorry.

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

I guess Thomas Kincaid just erks me as he claimed he was such a loving Christian and look how he ended up. I never was into his style but many are. When those mail order companies such as Hamilton, Knowles, Franklin mint start mass producing all this stuff, it loses something for me.

     One poster mentioned the over production of Pokemon and sports cards, so true. There is just too much out there.

[assortedcollectibles]

I think things that were hot and now are not is kinda cool.

Would not surprise me if lot of it experience an uptick in value.. after all those things won't be produced again and they are quite rare and will remain rarer than most modern stuff that is placed inside a graded plastic container.

For instance those plates that are being discussed.. some of those could have been made for certain events that somebody has a memory of or is familiar with in one way or another. I have seen quality plates made specifically for the opening of hotels, cafeterias, infrastructure and what have you that is no longer around.. very limited production run and made by a reputable brand. Those things are probably worth a lot more to the right buyer if one is willing to wait.

Somewhat related to all of this is how these collections as in the example a few posts earlier were a relative had the walls filled with plates only for them to be unloaded on the cheap, sold individually on auctions.. I feel that it is a shame that they end up in such a fate because together they tell a story about the person that collected them. Things of that nature would be extremely cool to see in for instance a museum dedicated to that sort. For instance i bought a rather large glass jar with a whole bunch of soaps from hotels all around the world a while back for next to nothing.. nobody saw any value in it, but i feel that things that someone cheerished and put lots of energy into collecting deserves to be preserved and shown even if the monetary value is next to nothing.

I would totally go to such a place to see what people have hoarded if it showcased type-specific collections be it whatever.. together the items tell a story.

Pictured is a collection of 123 different frogs that somebody spent a lot of money on and collected over a long time only for them to be sold for $35

[katzrul15]

Have noticed the plates with the reticulated edges and kitschy sayings often go for quite a bit.   We sold one recently for $40 that we paid 35 cents for.  

[a_c_green]

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@quadcitypickers wrote:

Polaroid cameras really seem to have fizzled out.

A lot of collectibles don't move like they used to, I think mainly because more and more people of my generation want less and less "stuff".

 Well, our daughter has been shooting 35mm film using cameras donated to her by relatives. I guess she likes the challenge of working the machinery to get the shot, something like that. But for Polaroid cameras specifically, can you get film anymore? I've got a complete leather-bound SX70 Land Camera setup stored in the basement, largely a paperweight unless it's possible to still get film for it.

[b86fiero]

Some collectors have reached the over-bought threshold.  Me for example.

I love multi-layered cased glass.  Especially brightly colored, signed by the artist.  Cobalt blue, bright orange, blood red, bright sunny yellow, bright green.  Mainly large display pieces.  Then I bought some beautiful glass paperweights for accent pieces.  What started as a desire to add bright pops of color to my home décor has ended up as a collection of 88 pieces right now (honest!).  Some of the pieces weigh up to 8 pounds, a couple weigh more.  Sizes from a couple inches high to about 3 feet.  I tried to limit myself to those 5 colors, but, I bought a couple pieces in deep almost black purple and burgundy.  I bought from antique shops, flea markets, barn sales and garage sales.  The two pieces I bought on eBay from different sellers both arrived filthy with the outer layer crazed, so they went to Goodwill after I cleaned them.  Very disappointing and I have not bought any more here.

My plan was to rotate my pieces every few months, bringing some out of storage and packing others away.  Well of course that hasn't happened yet.  At this point I don't remember exactly what is stored in the attic.  It'll be a treasure hunt when (if) I unbox them, or a royal pain for my children when I'm gone.

Another collection gone crazy is pairs of Bernard Picture Company air brushings from late 1930's to mid 1950's.  Many signed in pencil by the artist who worked for the company.  Pretty Oriental women, women in hooped skirts and men in their finery, florals and turn of the century depictions.   These are 18x20" or larger sizes.  I currently have 64.  (5 hanging, 59 in storage).  There's probably a few listed on eBay.  Have no clue what they're worth, if anything, but I like them and that's what counts.  (Another pain for the kiddo's to dispose of at some point).

Also have a decent size collection of Laurel Burch jewelry from the 1970's and 1980's.  Egyptian Cats! 

I've pretty much stopped adding to and creating new collections.  Sorry to my fellow sellers.  When buyers stop buying, items naturally decrease in value.    

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

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@a_c_green wrote:

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@quadcitypickers wrote:

Polaroid cameras really seem to have fizzled out.

But for Polaroid cameras specifically, can you get film anymore? I've got a complete leather-bound SX70 Land Camera setup stored in the basement, largely a paperweight unless it's possible to still get film for it.

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Yes of course you can, here's one on the bay as well as several others..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/203154128544

[mtgraves7984]

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@2013grotz wrote:

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@div_style wrote:

Now CDs in any language are pretty much dead.

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When I've put CDs up, I wouldn't call them "brisk" (failure rate on that is around 40%), but they're usually one of my more successful items to get rid of.

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@2013grotz 

I used to work on the fringes of Nashville's Country Music 'Biz' and was on every Artist's SWAG Promo list.

When I began selling (2007, maybe), I used CDs to fast-track the new seller metrics. I'd run $.99 Auctions with Free Shipping. (Free product, Media Mail... I couldn't lose.) I had the 25 sales # the first month, $250 sales $ the second month... then simply had to wait out the mandatory 45-day period.

That was then, this is now, though. You are right in that CDs are not nearly as 'brisk' today. Dang it. 

[yuzuha]

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@annadryl wrote:

Also, beanie babies were just given to babies and small ones, they really loved them. We could never sell them.

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I've actually sold a surprising number of Beanie Babies here, but they don't go for that much. People just buy them as toys for kids these days, there's no collectable value to them anymore.

[unemployed_husky]

Millennials like to mass buy stuff every time someone makes a "tweet" about it.  They buy everything in big orders and dont care about what the cost is. Polaroids, Goosebumps books, anything you can find at Goodwill for 25 cents to $1 they will pay $90 for on eBay, buy it, and then 2 months later when their short attention span forgets about it - sells it.

[unemployed_husky]

Why would you do that?  Aftershave doesn't go bad.  I just bought Hummer aftershave from 2003 as a gag and use it, it still smells good. and works.

[bigdeals.etc]

My attractiveness

[annadryl]

After decades some of that stuff can go rancid, believe me! Not all of it does, but the bottles have to be emptied to be recycled. It's really kind of a shame considering they might have been someone's prize once, but we received stuff that would have been much more valuable such as wedding albums, pictures etc. No heirs, I guess.

[2013grotz]

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@mtgraves7984 wrote:

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When I began selling (2007, maybe), I used CDs to fast-track the new seller metrics. I'd run $.99 Auctions with Free Shipping. (Free product, Media Mail... I couldn't lose.) 

 Most of what does move these days has to be "name" stuff and/or rare.  .99 auction without free shipping almost usually works even these days.  (in today's Ebay it's usually fixed price of some flavor, but same kind of range.  You can actually look at my sales list and get some idea of how the CD market works these days since I've moved enough of them recently)   But most of the time, it's commodity level stuff, even since you can pick up a lot of used CDs for $1 a piece these days and frankly a lot of people aren't going to willingly get rid of good stuff they like.