Is it worth buying an investment guitar ??

riffpowers

Cos if lockdown and changes with work I might have some money incoming from savings and selling stuff I might not need like my van . 
I wondered about investing it in a guitar . I thought this might keep the money tied up in an “asset” and keep relatives hands off the cash , I’m sure you know what it’s like , seems like soon as you come into money something happens that needs paying for !!

so I wondered if a guitar would be a good investment . It wouldn’t be for playing , just purely for an investment , which would increase in value and be easy to sell . 

I haven’t got a fixed budget yet . But I’m looking at somewhere between 5-10k . 

Has as anyone done this ?!!

Whitecat

I can’t really think of worse place to park your money, tbh. 

It’s only worth buying as an investment if you are going to play it. Because the guitar market is fickle and it’s really difficult to buy in low enough these days to make it worth it. 

If you really need to “own” something, buy gold, or fine wine. 

octatonic

Usually no.

RaymondLin

Put it towards a 2nd property.

Bennyboy-UK

RaymondLin said:

Put it towards a 2nd property.

This /\ or a pension contribution and make sure you claim back all the applicable tax. Boring I know..

gringopig

.

viz

Whitecat said:

I can’t really think of worse place to park your money, tbh. 

It’s only worth buying as an investment if you are going to play it. Because the guitar market is fickle and it’s really difficult to buy in low enough these days to make it worth it. 

If you really need to “own” something, buy gold, or fine wine. 

Or all 3

https://i.imgur.com/uRyD1ar.jpg

Blueingreen

For me, no.  I think the value of guitars is likely to peak at the time when the generation they're most culturally important is at maximum wealth levels.  Which I would estimate as being round about now.

Epsilon

If you can identify a clear and obvious bargain I think it'd be a reasonably safe bet if you're looking to hold onto it for a timeframe of years or decades, and something you can play in the meantime. 

If you're buying in at current market value from a dealer with the expectation that it would go up further over the next e.g five years then your money would almost definitely yield better returns elsewhere. We're at the beginning of a fairly major recession so I'd want to have a big margin to absorb the market for luxury goods like high end guitars taking a kicking.

If this is purely an investment strategy and the enjoyment of ownership doesn't factor into the equation (which for you seems to be the case), rule of thumb is to have investments across a variety of asset classes and levels of risk - equities, bonds, cash, investment property, other physical assets. Whether investing that amount in a single guitar is a good strategy for you would depend on the value and allocation of the rest of your assets. If you have a well diversified and funded investment portfolio already it may be that a guitar could be a good addition to that. If you don't and you're interested in investing I suggest exploring some of the literature on personal investing.

chris78

RaymondLin said:

Put it towards a 2nd property.

With the last few years of changes to tax rules? You’ve got to be joking

Musicwolf

Before even considering buying anything as an 'investment' have you got sufficient accessible savings to cover an absolute minimum of three months normal expenditure?

Next manage your debt down (you invariably pay more interest on money you owe than you receive from money you’ve saved) and look at your pension provision, have you maxed your allowance (£40k pa)?  You basically pay in before tax so you are saving between 20% or 40% depending upon your earnings.

Investing in things like guitars is usually for people who have done all the boring, sensible, stuff and still have money left over which they don’t know what to do with.

RandallFlagg

Invest in a guitar? no way.

Put it here, Baillie Gifford American B Accumulation Fund. It's up 55% this year to date, I put some money in on 17th March in the bottom of the dip and am up 77% so far:

sunshinewelly

I have bought a few expensive guitars not as an investment but to play and enjoy and recon I could sell the majority close to what I paid for them. One has gone up in value

To me a guitar is not an investment but I look at it this way. I can get to play it and enjoy it and if I needed to raise funds could sell it and not make that much of a loss. You can't say that about most consumable items ie you can buy a nice car use it but your likely to make a big loss when selling it 

Same with an expensive TV. In a few years that TV becomes out of date and depreciates massively. 

Most guitars don't 

Obviously some guitars to seem to lose value more than others. Prs don't seem to hold their value but the reverse of that is that the cost of a new prs is rising. Hence my custom 24 anniversary edition is now being sold second hand for the price I paid for it new

I know there is inflation to take into consideration 

It's one way to justify the purchase of a guitar. You should if careful with your purchase not lose money if selling but don't get a guitar thinking it's an investment 

prlgmnr

Are you asking because you've got 5-10k that you want to invest in something and you want to know if you'll get a good return if you buy a guitar, or are you asking because you want to spend 5-10k on a guitar and you want to justify it as an investment?

Because it's at the bottom of the pile as far as decent investments go but you can't play any sick riffs on another ISA so if you can afford it, go for it. You should at the very least be able to make sure you don't lose money if you choose wisely.

Edit: You've already said it's not for playing, in which case I would leave the guitar forum and head to the financial advisor's office.

guitars4you

In short, many guitar values can and do rise over a 10/20 year period  - Many investment portfolios can out perform the guitar, solely as an investment - But which is going to make you smile on a day to day basis

Of course you can buy other household commodities but
A guitar should be worth money than a hifi-home entertainment package as time goes on
A guitar should be worth more money than a fancy cooker as time goes on
A guitar should/can be worth more money than most cars as time goes on   etc etc etc

So a guitar can give you fun/pleasure and still retain a certain value, plus many guitars can give you more value when it is time to sell 

But I think you need to clarify what is an investment, what you need/want out of it and what other personal investments you have/need especially for the days when you are old 'n' grey , so where does the guitar fit in with regards to 'financial return' importance

RaymondLin

I bought a book 5 years ago for £43.

Today it is worth 900% more!!!! Beats the stock market lol

(I am kidding, total fluke.  Don't buy books or guitars as investments, buy it because you like it)

riffpowers

Thanks guys some good advice there !! 

designerseye88

My only issue with buying for an investment is in a time of potential world crisis / Recessions when you'd need to cash it in nobody has the money to buy it.

That being said I've bought a few guitars which I think will go up in value and probably already have but I bought them in a spur of the moment and because they rarely see the open market and because I really wanted to play and enjoy them. 

Personally I see the best value in high end replicas by very well respected builders (Yes I said it!), Vintage Japanese guitars and student model guitars from Gibson and Fender generally.  I'm also seeing parts also become very lucrative. Generally vintage Gibson and Fender parts. 

jeztone2

It’s a difficult one. I’ve made quite tidy sums on vintage film cameras in recent years. But markets for anything are hard to predict. 

Also the vintage guitar market took a massive hit in 2008 and is only just recovering now. So given we have the delights of a likely no deal Brexit in a post Covid world. H’mmmmm! 

Funkfingers

The only new/recent guitars with serious investment potential are extremely limited edition high end stuff and pieces with a proven connection to somebody famous.

The instance of “shh, you know who” buying a job lot of Dave Mustaine’s gear will really pay off after DM shuffles off. 

Any artiste with a loyal following will be the subject of equipment and memorabilia sales for decades to come. 

At the time of this posting, you have roughly seven years to prepare to cash in on the fiftieth anniversary of Elvis Presley leaving the building for the final time.

riffpowers

Thanks for the input guys , I think I’ve talked myself out of it !!