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Do you hoard things in the hopes that someday they might be worth something? Here are some tips sent in by a reader to help you decide what is worth keeping… and what isn’t.

• Figure out what will have more value in the future. If you are trying to collect something that can be easily reproduced in the future, chances are the value will be less than what it is now. Most media, such as music, movies and games won’t have high resale value in the future. Also, anything technology-related that will have newer and better versions in the future likely won’t be worth much, either. However, if something cannot easily be reproduced, it should have much higher value. Things in this area would be things like stamps and coins. In fifty years’ time, those current state quarters will be worth much more than just 25 cents.
• Know where to check prices. For movies, games and things of this nature… check eBay to see what similar items are currently being sold for. For coins or stamps, try checking out a local dealer in your area, or do a Google search for a reputable site online that will give you approximate values.
• Cars made today will not gain the popularity (and resale value!) of the old muscles cars. This is due to the freaky obsession that “car people” have with older models. When you think of a ‘gear head’, it’s generally someone who is tuning a souped-up engine, with a muscle car chassis. Most of the popluar cars will be the ones that were features in tv shows and movies. Newer cars just don’t have that “driving a monster” feel that classic cars had.
• Technology makes for bad investments. Even though a Mac might have a better resale value than a PC, it too will dwindle down when the newest OS no longer supports it. Ask yourself this question: when is the last time you saw an old tv, computer or CD player sell for a large amount ten or twenty years after it was replaced by something newer and better? There’s your answer.
• Keep your items in good condition. Time is the enemy of everything. It wears our bodies down, and it will wear down the items you’re trying to collect. If you take good care of your items and store them properly, they will be worth much more money down the road.

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Collectors Collect Collectables

Community member Roshan Patel asks a great question:

The perpetual stereotype of your standard “Geek” was always bad. From the sweaty appearance, bad hair and nocturnal tendencies all really made us Geeks lose out in most things. We were always the guys that would sit around a desk talking about how the new version of Safari compares to those previous, instead of what we did over the weekend.

But I pose this question: Are Geeks Cool?

I was in a Psychology lesson one day, nothing really interesting to shout about, when one student asked the teacher if he knew of a method that could get a recorded file from home to play on the school system. I was simply astounded by the responses! One person suggested media conversion websites, another suggested free programs, and others mentioned Codecs! These were people that were deemed to be “non-PC” in a stereotypical view, but they were genuine “Tech-Heads!” We spent the whole lesson talking about tech, and every student made a contribution in one way or another.

Looking at the facts, I suppose the evidence does support the growing number of Geeks in school and workplace environments. As we become more technologically dependent, more people will have knowledge on more Tech, or Tech related items, and therefore, will produce more Geeks. We are finally winning the “Coolness” battle in my opinion, and even the most “down-to-earth” individuals will eventually accept the idea that Geeks are Cool!

No doubt, we’re cool – always have been, always will be. However, it’s not our knowledge that makes us cool – it’s our passion FOR that knowledge. That’s what makes us geeky – and that’s what makes anybody a potential geek, even if their affinity is not quite tech-related. There are wine geeks, baseball geeks, quilting geeks, and shoe geeks to boot (no pun intended).

So, are YOU a geek? I mean YOU, the person who is reading this particular piece of content?

Are Geeks Cool?