Patch Collections Are Valuable

I want to remind everyone today that patch collections are valuable. In fact they are probably more valuable than you realize. Unfortunately though some collectors who have been collecting for decades end up giving their collections away, or selling it for a fraction of what it is worth after they decide to stop collecting. I want to warn people against this, because you are devaluing the market price for patches for everyone, and also missing out on a big sum of cash for yourself. Furthermore, you are giving your prized collection often to people who don’t understand their true value, or appreciate them for all they are worth.

In fact a friend of mine recently sold his collection, which mind you was very large, for a small fortune. He really took pride in his collection and understood their potential value, so he made sure he got the market value for the collection, and sold it to someone who truly understands their value. He spent more time than many want to, and sold many of them individually on ebay, however it really paid off. He took the cash that he sold his collection for and used it to move to Colorado and to purchase a hot tub in Fort Collins where he ended up settling down. My friend said the hot tub dealer gave him a great deal on the jacuzzi, but mind you, hot tubs typically sell for around $10,000.

I’m not suggesting that your collection is worth thousands of dollars. It took my friend almost three decades to accumulate his collection and he was rather obsessed with the hobby. So I don’ think many people have collections quite of this magnitude, but I would bet that your collection is worth more than you think.

In fact the value of your collection is often growing over time, simply because of supply and demand. Many of the collectible patches are no longer being produced making them more rare, and thus more valuable. Obviously that makes sense, but another big factor in the increasing value of your collection is the fact that more people are getting into collecting police memorabilia, which is increasing demand, and thus driving the prices up.

It’s not growing in popularity like some trendy thing, but there is more interest by youngsters in the nostalgia of police collectibles, including patches. Not to mention large collecting organizations are putting patches into their collections and into museum style collections. There has also been a large amount of foreign traders buying up domestic patches on sites like ebay. Just as many of us in the U.S. are buying foreign patches, especially world war 2 Nazi patches. All of this goes towards decreasing the supply and increasing the value of your patch collection, and creates all the more reason for you not to simply give it away.

I’m not saying their is not a time and a place for giving your patch collection to another collector, family member, or friend, but don’t underestimate what you have. I see too many friends and collectors walk away from small fortunes, even if they are in need of money. The process of selling your patches has become so much easier with modern technology and online trading and selling sites.

In addition to commonly thought of sites like ebay and amazon, there is also a couple exclusive patch and badge trading selling sites out there, my favorite being badgeswap.com. There are also hundred of private sellers and buyers who have websites that you can contact them on, and offer to sell your badges directly to them. You might not be able to offload all your patches immediately for a large sum, but with patience you might be able to sell small batches and eventually get a good return on your years of collecting.

If you are someone who is looking to sell your police patches feel free to contact me for further advice.