Investing in Niche Collectibles? Would You Pay $28,400 for a Single Bird Feather? Someone Did!

Welcome back to Reserved Investments! This video is going to be a great segue into discussing shallow/niche markets that make up the antiques and collectibles trade. Believe it or not, someone recently paid $28,400 for a single bird feather at a New Zealand auction house. Here is a link to the full story as reported by CNN:
www.cnn.com/20...
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Disclaimer: Videos are NOT intended to provide direct investing advice. Please know that speculating or investing in the antiques and collectibles trade is inherently risky.

[@Kevin-fn1rn]

WATA execs right now thinking "it's time we start grading taxidermy pieces"

[@iFOMO23]

😂

[@aji3sales777]

😂😂😂😂

[@CatsMeowPaw]

Thank you for posting this. I had no idea someone could bid so much for a single feather!
Maybe it's a savvy investment for when we have the ability to clone extinct species. If there's any DNA left on the feather it could be worth millions.

[@Johndeplume.]

Thank you for alerting me to this, Shawn.
It makes a lot more sense to buy the feather from a now extinct, once living animal, than paying over US$5M for a Pokemon cartoon card, US$2.76M for a Star Wars R2-D2 Prop , or US$3.5M for an Action Comics #1.
I'd rather the bird feather be in a museum, for the benefit of all, than be sold on the private market.

[@bc3102]

Hi Shawn

[@ReservedInvestments]

Hi!

[@Exstend0007]

🤣

[@ParallelUniversity]

If it was the last known feather of that bird, then it could be worth much more than that, but it probably isn't the last one. It would have DNA that could potentially be used to bring back the species in the future, aside from being just a collectible. Aside from that, I can't imagine paying so much for a feather, unless it was part of a quill pen used to sign the Declaration of Independence or something like that.

[@lowrollerscratcher3563]

So Timmy and kimmy will be looking for death feathers to invest money. Since they can make a lot of money now in the future.

[@thewealthofnations4827]

Haha not just any feather. This is history and niche. Feathers like these have meaningful cultural and historical significance to Maori. It would have been worn in the hair of prominent chiefs or rangatira in Maori. Maori have solid oral traditions for geneology called whakapapa and who knows, perhaps this is a feather worn by a prominant chief of a major tribe in Aotearoa. That would render this feather priceless, and 28K a steal.
If you know your history you know the value of these items. NZ is a trove of treasures that is highly regulated to ensure treasures are tract and don't leave New Zealand.

[@custum18]

It was John Hammond. Keep your eyes on Dennis Nedry.

[@KeyKiller74]

Talk about niche market one has to think about how to preserve & take care of this delicate item.

[@Odinoian]

Interesting. The CNN article says only people with a permit could bid on this feather, narrowing the bidder pool. I assume a museum/archive or someone of Maori background bought it.
You'll probably discuss this in the in-depth video, but just in case - how do you view this "illogical" price jump compared to items of any other categories, say video games? Do you think this is a more natural result, and if so, why?

[@tomneijnens4048]

Thank you very much

[@joshpressel4930]

Well, it's definitely not manufactured scarcity...

[@ReservedInvestments]

💯

[@indivisibleman8596]

Well, with DNA extraction and cloning, maybe they can bring the bird back to life. That makes the price seem cheap.

[@user-gi6kq2wy4u]

Exactly my first thoughts $30k is nothing to companies such as 'Colossal'

[@miatakid2]

Wait a minute Shawn. This goes into a major hobby of fly fishing. And not to forget about how much money those guys spend on rare feathers. Or the fact that one of the largest museums heist was of exotic birds for fly fishing lures.

[@ComicCollectorGeek]

Wondering if they could clone the bird from the feather.

[@karmacutioner1]

just a weeeeeee bit niche, until it's time to clone that dodo bird!

[@brandonmetro7115]

if I was sitting on 20 feathers, yeah, I would buy it to drive up the price. This is your back thought of the buyer correct?

[@lowrollerscratcher3563]

Are psa going start grading feathers next. Since it is the new hottest commodity. So feather psa 10 will be worth millions bucks.

[@Carterofmars]

I was just reading about this. I think there's a mass hysteria among those that are super well healed. I'm not complaining, mind you. Tongue in cheek. 😉
As an aside, pertaining to slabbed PCGS and NGC high end investment grade material, if out of all coins submitted to CAC, less than half receive the green sticker, commonly referred to as the "green bean", where does that leave the glut of non stickered slabbed material out there? Are we to move forward under the premise that any given encapsulated coin may be unreliable? Or, that it's a coin flip 50/50 chance that is accurate? These green beans truly are a game changer- currently.
That said, who's to say that a percentage of the green and gold bean wont be dismissed a decade from now? I guess there are no guarantees. The best way to ensure one doesn't get burned it to do the homework required and make as sound decisions as possible.

[@mangoman9290]

Shawn, would you consider the feather from an extinct bird to be worthy of the term 'rare'?

[@ReservedInvestments]

At least until the cloning of extinct species becomes a thing…

[@paultroyer7105]

From CNN are you sure this isn't fake news?

[@ReservedInvestments]

No, that would be Fox News or Newsmax. ;)

[@paultroyer7105]

@@ReservedInvestments you seem like a very smart person I watch your channel all the time and your takes on investments and how money works that spot on. I'm shocked that you are not setting at the table with the adults in the room.

[@ReservedInvestments]

@@paultroyer7105 You came here and accused CNN of running a 'fake story' about a legit auction sale. Dude, don't try to gaslight me here. You chose your comment and words. Own them.

[@Todundmordschlag]

that was definitely a millionaire

[@patiencezero-xc9zl]

Not sure the bird feather is a good analogy. Perhaps the feather is going to be used to clone an extinct species? If there is not another genetic record of this bird out there, it could make this feather very valuable.

[@ReservedInvestments]

I doubt that was the purpose of the sale. We are not there yet...