You aren't "investing" your money, you're spending it.

[Torak]

I hate it when people say they are "investing" in the purchase of some sort of pricey consumable item.

I'd be interested to see your ROI on that £500 baby sling. 🙄

Gifting is another one I hate. But today I'm irritable about investing.

You sound like a fucking delight polly - maybe your next investment should be into something that makes you actually happy

Higher end jewellery tends to hold its value better.

Yes, it's a bit like wine isn't it. A cheap bottle of wine has most if the cost in the bottle, the cork, the duty, the cost of shipping, etc. The wine is a relatively small proportion of the total price.
Cheap* and mid priced jewellery is similar, the cost of the raw materials, which is really all it's worth if you sell on, is a smaller proportion of the overall cost than if the stones themselves were very valuable. Worse if it's lots of tiny stones rather than a single bigger one.

*cheap in the sense it doesn't contain a £50k precious stone - I don't mean it in a derogatory way.

OP I think one can invest in things other than money. I "invested" in a good watch, not because I thought it would increase in value, but because I wear it to work where it contributes to my professional appearance and gives me confidence, and these support my career (which does increase in value). In business one invests in machinery or equipment whilst for me my career is the equivalent.

@MargosKaftan

Oh and buying consumer goods not to use them, but to hold onto them as you are certain they will go up in value and you can resale for more is not vastly different to buying and selling shares.

Its a risk that tastes might change, or that some external shock could effect the value (like the company re-releasing a particular style that is only highly priced due to rarity, or the brand itself becoming unpopular /unfashionable) but someone who is investing that way would obviously follow trade information and would aim to sell before prices fell.

Eg. Theres issues now with Elvis memorabilia collectors - prices of rare records and Elvis owned /signed items have often being very highly valued and priced, but over the last few years, priced have slowly started coming down. The problem has been that the bulk of the Elvis fans are now getting very elderly and beginning to sell their collections to pay for care / their families are selling after death. There aren't enough younger collectors who are willing to pay the very high prices to keep them inflated. Beatles collectors are beginning to look at this and trying to establish when the peak might fall for them. It was fascinating reading about this !

Oh that is interesting!

@LimeSupper
"Dictionary definition of investment: the action or process of investing money for profit."

That isn't the only definition.

The origin of the word is interesting. It became linked with money during the 16th century when people could grab a share of the profits from conquering exploiting the countries in the Empire, by buying shares to fund said capture.

Now if someone could start a thread on “wait list” before I invest in some ear defenders so I don’t have to listen to myself screaming…

I've never bought a luxury item to see an increase in value to realise a profit, but it's definitely a good "investment" when I spend a lot and then use the item for many years to come.

If I were to buy some of the classic jewellery, watches, bags I bought 20 years ago (styles I still love), they'd cost 3 times more than I paid years ago. So it's a win for me, as I'd just be buying them now 😂

Yeah our BD team like to use that phrase
Wankers

It’s amazing I’ve stuck in business for this long

I buy lego as a investment. I buy limited edition sets and keep them unopened.

I recently sold 1 set that i think i paid about £100 for nearly £500. It can be a bit hit and miss though and somethings i dont sell for more.
I am in the process of selling the Simpsons house for 3 times what i paid for it as well.

So yeh it can be done.

@PollyPage

We have 12 rolexes, worth about 10 to 20k each. I have 4 1980s chanel bags, one owned by someone famous and dead, total worth around 30k. I'm not saying it's the type of house I would care to live in but a house none the less. Do you really care enough to want photos? I can't really be flagged to offer proof to someone who clearly has no idea of assets as they probably don't have any.

Pretty sure the OP didn't aim her post at you.

I really did enjoy the insanity of the wait list Rolex thread Cuck00soup

It felt like it should be narrated by David Attenborough.

Ha ha. Are you my brother?

See also...

"It's not Spidermun, Didymus. It's not his surname. He's a Spider MAN"

The only material thing I consider myself to have invested in is my China. Sure, I bought it because I like it and it’s pretty, but the value has quadrupled in the time I’ve owned it.

It’s nice to know I’ve got a fair few grand sat in the cupboard should I need to realise the cash relatively quickly. I ‘source’ the items from eBay or auctions, and am willing to pay the lower end of the value or in job lots so I have to be quick!

I’ve just made a short term investment in a chocolate muffin this morning. It was a tough choice between that or some carrot cake.

Knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing, springs to mind

Yup. You sound ridiculously pedantic and ironically materialistic OP. An 'investment' can be for pleasure alone. And as people have explained over and over again you can also invest in ways to make your money go further (£500 vs £100 boots), get you advancements in life (good clothes for an interview) or allow you to not have skill gaps (childcare etc).

Even for things that will wear or go out of fashion at the same rate talking about investment can be about usage as well. Far better to spent £50 on a handbag you use for 300 days out of a year than £10 on one you use for 30 even if both will go out of fashion by the end of that year. That's 16p a use vs 33p a use. Not to mention the pleasure you get out of using a bag you really love.

The most materialistic people are the ones who spend big money on things simply because they cost money and they want to be able to brag about how expensive their things are. Not people who genuinely get pleasure from one type of bag/car/cooking equipment they love and use.

If you think investments are only about how much cold hard cash you get back from them and place no value on enjoyment of life or happiness you truly do know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

I’m ridiculously invested in Wordle ❤️

@MrsClatterbuck

Tbf new Rolex watches are now hard to get and there are waiting lists at a lot of jewellers hence 2nd hand ones have really upped in value atm. But at the end of the day what anything is worth is what people are prepared to pay for it. Antiques that were worth a lot of money in the eighties and nineties have slumped in price. Tastes have changed and lots of people don't want that stuff in their homes. The only thing that has held out is gold. If de beers were to put on the market all the diamonds they hold the price would drop dramatically.

You are absolutely correct about certain types of rolex watches. Dh bought a rolex watch last year as ‘ an investment’. He paid £12k for the watch. I was dubious about the whole investment idea and thought that he was using it as an excuse to buy a fancy watch. He sold that watch two weeks ago for £20k. I have a lot of gold which was inherited. If I was to sell that gold I could easily make £60k.

Yabu, your use of the word “investment” is far too limited.

Well clearly money doesn’t buy you class
(I have neither)

It always used to make me laugh when people told me they were ‘investing’ in a brand new car.

If you bought some shares that instantly lost thousands of pounds in value, then continued to lose thousands of pounds in value each year, you wouldn’t call that a good investment.

That is probably its value for insurance purposes. If it was stolen then you would get the value back ,as long as it is mentioned as an individual item of a particular value on your contents insurance. If you sold it back to a jeweller it would not achieve anything like that value. After my divorce I took my wedding and engagement rings to a jeweller . They weighed the gold and added on a bit but that was it. Nothing like what they had cost.

I'm a jeweller and would agree (in most cases) with this. Both diamonds and metal have increased in value very recently but in majority of cases you would get scrap value. Insurance valuations are what it would cost at todays price (full retail value) to replace what was lost or stolen.
Exceptions include palladium (this used to be a cheaper alternative to platinum but now is around £45/g scrap) or very rare/high quality diamonds or coloured stones, but the majority of jewellery I don't think you would get back anything like what you paid.

My husband frequently insists he is “investing” in Lego. It’s his spare money, I just leave him to it

I'll "invest" in a good quality thing as it'll save me the time and headspace having to shop for it more frequently that I'd have to do when a cheaper version broke/wore out/ became obsolete - as well as the money.

I see where you're coming from, OP. Vintage Rolex watches which appreciate in value to the point where you can buy a house with the proceeds are very much an exception.

To be charitable to people who talk about "investing" in more expensive gear, perhaps this is related to the "Vimes Boots" thing. Up to a point, buying more expensive stuff rather than the absolute cheapest cardboard-soled boots which, only last one winter. You won't gain money, but you won't lose as much as you would buying more items of poorer quality.

I actually think @PollyPage is getting a bit of stick here. Why does it matter if she has x Rolexes and x Chanel bags.

It’s her money to do with as she pleases.

As a pp said a few years ago the sling 'market'was very buoyant (I think is the right word) and you could pick up a sling cheaper or new, use it, break it in and sell it on at a higher price.
Things change and now I see the same ones that would have sold for over £100 still for sale at half the price.
I dont think many people bought them to male a profit more that they loved the design and they are useful etc and there was a abit of trend and hype among certain brands