• A collectible is an item worth far more than it was originally sold for because of its rarity and popularity, as well as its condition.
• Collectibles aren’t always as common or as great an investment.
• The term collectible is sometimes applied to new items that have been mass produced and are currently for sale.

Understanding Collectibles
As mentioned above, collectibles are items that usually fetch more money than they were originally worth. Many collectibles can go for a pretty penny if they’re rare. The condition of a collectible also has a great deal to do with its price. Having a collectible that’s in pristine condition means the price can definitely goes up. But if an item has deteriorated over time, there’s probably a good chance it won’t be worth much—if anything at all.

Collectibles aren’t as common or as great an investment as marketers would have you believe. If the product is still in production, the company eventually sees the market signal and produces more to supply the market. The store of value that makes a collectible usually doesn’t come into play for many years, and for the vast majority of items, it never comes at all. As the number of a particular product dwindles through attrition after its production run is over, some items become collectible due to their relative scarcity.

The term collectible is sometimes applied to new items that have been mass produced and are currently for sale. This is a marketing gimmick used to stoke consumer demand. Items currently for sale may run into supply issues that drive up the price asked for by resellers, but this is a different phenomenon from what drives the value of true collectibles.