ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — With concerns over a shaky stock market, many people are finding unique ways to invest or even make some extra cash.
Old pastimes and collectibles like watches, trading cards, handbags, and even vintage bottles of wine are fast becoming money-making opportunities. Since the start of the pandemic, experts say markets for these items have exploded in popularity.
If you want to talk timepieces with anyone, Jeffrey Hess is the guy. He wrote a literal book on it and has been in the business for decades as CEO of Old Northeast Jewelers and Hess Fine Art in St. Petersburg.
“You and I both know you don't need a watch to tell the time. It's more of a jewelry and investment thing now,” Hess said.
For the vast majority of watches, they are just jewelry you buy and wear and won’t be worth what they cost, down the line. But for a select few, from brands like Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and of course, Rolex — those watches can make you money.
Business Insider reports Rolex watches have “outperformed gold, real estate and stocks” in the past decade.
In recent years, more people are trading watches, buying low and selling high, while others are investing in them like artwork.
“Watches are the perfect combination of science and art. A lot of the vintage, old artistic items are bringing fabulous amounts of money today,” Hess added.
"One of the nice things about watches is that you are able to wear it, it's a piece of jewelry. It serves a function, you can tell the time with it, but you can't always count on it going up in value," Hess said. The one outlier he adds is the Rolex "Daytona."
“I started buying them in the 1980s in St. Petersburg, and we were advertising in the St. Petersburg Times, as it was called back then, to buy them for $2,500. We were selling them for $3,500 a nice quick, modest profit. Well, today, those same watches will bring in $100,000,” Hess added.
Right now, it will cost a lot to get one yourself, unless you have one as a family heirloom, or get lucky rummaging through your attic or at a garage sale.
And while you’re there maybe check for something else...
“There's definitely been a pretty significant upswing in just the value of cards,” Ashton Vail, GM of Titan Cards & Games in Pinellas Park said.
Baseball and trading cards are also having a renaissance of sorts.
“We've seen a big uptick in the number of people that are getting into this hobby, and physically coming to stores now that they can again,” Vail added. “The card market is designed, especially the sports card market, is designed with a rarity built into it.”
Rarity is helping drive up the value of cards as more people take up an interest or get back into an old hobby.
Individual cards from iconic sports figures are regularly selling for thousands of dollars, and old packs of Pokémon cards are bringing in hundreds of bucks themselves.
The point of entry, though, can still be low. Sure, you can buy an old Mickey Mantle card at a premium and hope it increases in value over time, or you can buy a pack and try to find a future star.
“You only need to pay eight bucks for a pack and if you hit the autograph out of it, that's what anywhere from $100 to $200. Minimum. Like that's pretty good. It's a real easy way to make quite a bit of money very quickly,” Vail added.
Vail says social media has added to the lore of collectibles. Titan Cards & Games are among many who livestream "pack breaks," so people can watch the opening of rare or valuable packs of trading cards. Content creators are making money on the same cards they are investing in and websites like eBay make it easy for people to sell to prospective buyers.
But before you take a financial plunge into any of these unique money-making opportunities, experts urge people to do a lot of research and make sure you know what you're buying, before you do.
"Knowledge is very, very important," Hess said.