Global Beer Cans

The market for collectibles of any kind – including alcohol and beer collectibles – is as susceptible to economic whims as any market. The surprising thing, perhaps, is that collectibles in all formats remain solid in our current recessed economy. Like other markets, the emerging one here is Asian. Like other markets, the solid one here is domestic. The collectibles market is estimated at $7 billion per annum.

The fact is that many people forget this market. eBay was built on collectibles and has become de facto the world marketplace for collectibles – and one of the most consistently successful websites in the world. Alcohol, wine, and beer collectibles are a significant part of the market in themselves, yet still, they remain well below the threshold of “what’s hot.” You never know when that can change, of course.

Beer Collectibles Tell The History

Beer collectibles are underrated as beer signs, beer advertisements and much other beer paraphernalia tell a lot about our past and many items have interesting stories to tell in themselves. For example, when you read magazine ads from the past there are many subtexts about the roles of men and women, attitudes toward family, attitudes toward alcohol, and lifestyle issues that are iconically displayed here.

Items such as cone-top cans display and use technologies that are no longer used but explain how they were made for an interesting story. Similarly, the history behind most beer steins is also very interesting and full of stories. Many posters and ads from the pre-prohibition and prohibition eras help fill in the history of this increasingly forgotten yet very fascinating era.

An Aging Population, A Growing Market

Industry estimates note that collectors are generally an older demographic. Observers expect the size of the collectibles market to double over the next 30 years as wealthy baby boomers turn to collect as a hobby and a fun way of investing. Growth in foreign markets will also be appreciable for Western items.

Value Is A Bonus

Not only are these antiques and rarities interesting they also possess and accrue value. High-quality items can increase by as much as ten percent in value every year. As we have seen in recent years, not all investments are great – investment in collectible goods, though, has value beyond its investment. It can be interesting – and of course fun.

Many of these items fall into the realm of relevance, interest, and value and so they make a very interesting way of spending your money on an investment. Make sure to use the best Orlando Pest Control to insure the cans are pest-free.

Most beer cans have a relatively recognizable design – the classic Budweiser can is an excellent example. Once a brewery hits on a good design for their cans, they’re usually pretty wary about making too many changes to it. That makes a lot of sense. A good design is immediately recognizable to the company’s customers and makes for good advertising. Changes can lead to confusion with buyers and can even make it hard to find the beer on a store’s shelves. However, with that being said, quite a few companies are making changes to their can designs.

Budweiser is once again the most obvious example here. The brewery has not ditched its usual can design completely, but they have added a lot to its lineup. They’ve taken great pains to keep some things in common across the board, though. Consider their standard can design: the colors are red, white, and blue. The limited edition Memorial Day can design capitalizes on that color theme by wrapping the beer in a semblance of the American flag to appeal to patriotic buyers and to celebrate the holiday.

The company has done a few other things as well. Flag Day will be marked by a happy-hour event held all around the country. Anheuser-Busch has also started a program that donates to the Folds of Honor Foundation. For every home run made in MLB, Budweiser will donate $100 to the charity, which helps families of veterans disabled or killed in action by providing scholarship assistance.

Bud is not the only company capitalizing on patriotic sentiment, either. Miller is getting in on the action by continuing their donation program started in 2010. For each specially marked bottle cap returned to the company, they will donate.10 to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America charitable organization. The program is getting more attention this year as Miller has added a yellow ribbon to the back of their cans and has undertaken a TV marketing campaign highlighting their donations and charitable work as well.

Of course, there are other patriotic marketing programs run by breweries that seem to kick off during the summer months. Most craft brewers seem not to have taken advantage of this trend, though that might simply be because changing packaging for beer can be enormously expensive and the number of hoops that must be gone through to get governmental approval is immense. Contact the best Orlando Pest Control.

Estate sales can be wonderful places to hunt for antique items and collectibles that can be grabbed for decent prices. Don’t think it’s always going to be easy to take home the item you desire, however, because it can be very competitive as well. Other buyers and professional antique dealers are also trying to get to the treasure before you do so they can resell them.

Do not let that scare you away though as professional antique dealers will usually stick to finding antiques in their specific area of expertise, such as paintings or books. Keep in mind that sometimes estate sales shoppers will get to the home hours before the doors even open. This is because some estate sales only allow a certain amount of people in the door at the same time. This means you need to get there early if there is something in the home you truly covet.

If you are new to buying antiques at estate sales and want to try to break into it at a reasonable price point try your hand at collecting some of these suggested items. They are highly collectible and are pretty easy to resell.

Mettlach Beer Steins are collectible oversized German beer mugs that are typically sold for anywhere from $10 to $50. They are often mixed up with other steins that have been reproduced and are then sold for less value than what they are worth. These steins were produced between 1885 and 1910 and are often sold on sites such as eBay for hundreds of dollars. These items are great antiques to look for because they have distinguishable marks that make them easy to identify, there are a lot of reference books available for them, there is a steady market and their prices of them are pretty stable.

Sterling silver is very common in estate sales even though a lot of people may not even know that they have sterling silver on their hands. Sterling silver can be in forks, jewelry, knives, and more. Typically sterling silver will be marked with the purity of the silver and sterling silver is 92.5% silver with 7.5% being other metal. The letter “S” or “SS” could also mean that it is sterling silver. Sterling silver is not magnetic so you could keep a magnet on hand as well to wave over the pieces. Alternatively, you could take the silver to a jewelry shop to get a second opinion if you are unsure.

Hummel figurines are usually priced around $30 to $100, but there are rare Hummel figurines that can go for hundreds and thousands of dollars. What you want to look for on these Hummel figurines is the marking “M.I. Hummel” and the trademark on the bottom. There are also marks of authenticity that tell which year the figurine was made and serve as a collector reference. The best way to find out the true value of a Hummel figurine is to send it to a certified appraiser or look it up online to determine what they have been recently selling for. Make sure to use Orlando Pest Control before storing your beer cans.