There are three words you never want to hear after giving someone a present:
“You shouldn’t have!”
Translation: “That is the ugliest and most useless [fill in the blank] I’ve ever seen.”
Based on a recent study, the average adult receives about $60 worth of unwanted gifts per year. That adds up to about $8 billion per year. Yikes.
So today, I’ll show you three presents you can give that are guaranteed to please.
How can I be so sure? Simple:
Not only are they great gifts, but they’re also great investments.
What To Avoid
First of all, let me explain what gifts not to give.
According to the “Unwanted Gifts Report” from Finder, gift-givers should steer clear of clothes and accessories. Of those surveyed, 49% said clothing and accessories were the gifts they least like to receive.
After that came household items (29%), and then cosmetics and fragrances (24%).
Here’s the full list of gifts to avoid, courtesy of Finder:
I don’t know about you, but this list includes everything I was planning to give. The only thing that’s not on there is the puppy I was thinking about getting my niece.
So, what should we give instead?
Gifts that Appreciate
One idea is to give gifts that double as investments.
In particular, “alternative” investments — i.e., any investment that’s not a stock or bond.
This includes collectibles like fine art, baseball cards, vintage sports cars, even tequila.
Historically, such collectibles have performed very well as investments. For example, according to the Motley Fool, over the last decade, wine has shot up 127% in value; classic cars have gone up 193%; and rare whisky is up an astonishing 478%.
And many of these alternatives can make excellent gifts. Let’s look at a few options.
Gift Options for Every Budget
On a platform called Rally Road, you can buy “shares” of everything from an Andy Warhol print of Marilyn Monroe, to a 1965 Ford Mustang, to a 1960 game jersey worn by Mickey Mantle.
Most shares start at about $20 or so.
Then there’s wine…
At Vinovest, you can buy someone a high-quality bottle that’s likely to appreciate over time. And you can leave it up to the recipient to decide whether to sell it in the future, or drink it!
Or how about vintage concert posters…
As you can see in this chart (courtesy of Alts.co), over the past few years, the average sales prices for the world's most valuable concert posters have nearly doubled.
Generally speaking, concert posters are meant to promote upcoming shows.
But around the year 2000, perhaps because of nostalgia for the “good old days,” posters from the 60s and 70s started growing in popularity. And now they’re starting to explode in value.
Some experts recommend buying posters today from the band Nirvana. They believe their posters will become classics by the 2040s, at which point Nirvana will be a half-century old.
Nirvana’s 1994 posters from a tour in Germany are of particular interest. For each city in Germany the band toured in, they created a slightly different poster. Here’s an example:
You can buy them today for about $400 at ClassicPosters.
From The Rolling Stones to Luxury Handbags
What else can you buy?
The only limit is your imagination.
On the internet, you can probably find the perfect gift for everyone on your list…
From classic vinyl records from The Rolling Stones or Fleetwood Mac (try Discogs.com)…
To luxury second-hand watches or handbags.
No matter what you go with, these gift-investments will be appreciated for years — and hopefully, they’ll appreciate over time!
Happy Gifting, and Happy Investing,
Best Regards,
Founder
Crowdability.com
