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Greetings,
Anyone who reads the newspapers, watches the news, or listens to speeches by our new president or various political pundits would expect that luxury items such as Civil War collectibles would have already crashed and burned. One would expect that collectors might be wholesaling their lifelong collections for pennies on the dollar by now. One might imagine that relic hunters could no longer afford batteries for their metal detectors, or that Civil War and militaria shows would need barkers on the sidewalk to entice customers to pay admission.
Nothing could be further from the truth—thank God.
Shows are an excellent barometer of the Civil War collecting economy, and I have seen positive results at Richmond, Virginia, last November; Nashville, Tennessee, in December; Charleston, South Carolina, this past January; Dalton, Georgia, in February; and Fredericksburg, Virginia, and Baltimore, Maryland, this month. Dealer-to-dealer sales are as strong as ever, public attendance remains stable, and sales to the public are still unaffected, in my experience, at these past six shows in five different states. (This past weekend at Baltimore, the line was already well over a hundred yards long an hour and a half before the doors opened to the public.)
Some shop owners have reported that they are not doing as well as they were overall a few years ago, but Internet website sales are still strong from the sources I’ve spoken with recently, as well as from my own experiences. I believe erratic and extreme gas prices, rather than diminished interest, are the major cause for shop sales flatlining a bit in some areas.
I have heard that Civil War sales on eBay are not what they once were. I can’t comment on that from first-hand experience because I haven’t used that site in quite some time. But such news doesn’t surprise me, all things considered. I suspect that part of that is the novelty of eBay, coupled with the unique opportunities the site once offered for hot deals, are no longer in play. Other factors such as rising fees and elimination of specific categories have contributed to the diminished allure of the site.
In any case, my overall assessment of economic factors within our field is that all is still well --- in fact, in comparison to many other areas, it's booming . As a fellow collector and dealer, I urge you to maintain a positive attitude and encourage you to continue to enjoy this great hobby. In other words, buy, dig, and collect!
Sincerely,
Steve Sylvia
President, CWDCA |