Elon Musk recently tweeted about how, in his opinion, "it is better to own physical things" than cash during times of high inflation such as we are experiencing currently in the USA.

Now, Elon went on to specifically mention real estate and stocks, and I will argue that the same reasoning applies to the various formats of media and collectibles. Your cash on hand is losing value through inflation. However, hard copy media and collectibles will appreciate in value, especially rarities and items within a category or franchise which continues to expand its fan base.

Disclosure: I am a reseller of vintage media and collectibles. This is my business.

It's certainly not an easy business, except that it's extremely easy to fail. I've been reselling for a long time. Before eBay I used to source books for several used bookstores, but Amazon put most of them out of business.

I got my start as reseller when the price of comic books went from 25¢ to 30¢ way back in my childhood. With that price inflation my comic book habit had become unaffordable. I had to adapt, and rather than give up on a series I began to sell comics and toys from a little stand I set up in my front yard. At one point I got a visit from the police after they had been informed that I was selling illegal fireworks, but that's a story for another time.

I began selling on eBay in 1998 with baseball cards and CDs. It went well until I had a buyer tank my rating with 80 negative feedback. He demanded that I send him a rare card for free or he would dump the negative feedback on me for every item he had purchased. I refused and eBay refused to help me. I had to start over with a new account in 2004 after eBay changed the policy which made that reputational attack possible.

Though it's not easy, I enjoy the business. Sales may be slow but profit margins are high, because I mostly focus on rare items, though I do sell other things as well. What I do is find overlooked value and transfer it to those who appreciate it.

I make collectors happy. Sometimes I help them complete a collection or track down a long sought after item.

A couple of months ago I told a friend that I had sold a rare CD for a great profit and he said, "people still buy CDs?" So I had to explain a few things to him, such as the concepts of collector's completist mania and out of print media.

He said, "why does it matter if a CD or DVD is out of print? Everything is streaming now." I asked him to look for a few artists on Spotify, to give examples of things that he knew of but which are not available for streaming.

Then, I mentioned how Netflix and Disney have been censoring and banning certain "problematic" vintage content. Disney has been doing it going back to the VHS era with removing certain scenes from their movies, which is what makes some Disney VHS tapes valuable (the tapes are not worth what some people claim, though; when you see Disney VHS tapes selling for tens of thousands of dollars that's money laundering). 

I also pointed out how movies and TV series may be only available for a limited time and can easily disappear from a streaming service. This is especially true if a few seconds of the content, or the creators themselves, happen to run afoul of the woke mob with the slightest bit of political incorrectness or a whiff of alleged scandal.

Hard copy media is uncensorable and you don't have to pay a monthly subscription fee for access to it. I asked my friend if he would rather spend $50 to $100 to own a rare album or pay $10 a month in perpetuity for access to less than half of the album tracks. I'm sure that everyone can think of a band whose music they enjoy but, according to the dictates of the corporate media overlords, only gets one track played on the radio or none at all.

People have forgotten about iTunes deleting their music files from local storage to make everything cloud based. Even rare alternate takes were deleted, leaving only one version of the song available.

"But, streaming is so convenient!" Sure, and convenience costs extra. It's not so convenient when you don't pay that monthly subscription fee. It's not so convenient when you are paying multiple monthly subscription fees to get access to what was once your personal music collection which cost several hundred dollars, if not thousands, to acquire.

Furthermore, I explained how many out of print movies will never be reissued on the latest formats (Blu-ray, Streaming, Bone Induction or whatever is next) without significant editing due to the excessive cost of licensing the music featured in the soundtrack, and some can't even get an edited release due to now famous actors refusing to allow their embarrassing early work to be licensed for re-release.

A few weeks later, my friend texted me to say that he had bought his first CD in several years. I asked why he bought it. He said, "because I love this album." I asked, "can't you just stream it?" He had to admit that he had searched Spotify, Pandora and iTunes unsuccessfully. Then he admitted his big shameful mistake; he had previously owned the album on CD and had given it to Goodwill. It cost him $40 to get back some music he loves and hadn't heard in years. Lesson learned.

In my business I cater to those who understand these things. I understand value is not the same as cost or price. What I do is find value. There is tremendous value in having something which brings you joy and can't be disappeared at the click of a button.

It's even better than that. What I do is more important than most people imagine when they hear the word "reseller."

I change lives for the better.

I've received messages from buyers who are grateful for my having been the only seller to list a particular item for sale.

From the mother whose autistic child was overjoyed to receive a set of long out of print books about their favorite characters. 

From the son whose father after weeks of catatonic dementia, stood up and began dancing, suddenly able to have a conversation and recall memories upon hearing his favorite record of decades ago on a rare and long out of print reissue CD.

From the music teacher who was able to inspire students with sheet music signed by a deceased composer as they prepared to perform one of his songs. 

From the grandmother whose granddaughter squealed with delight while watching decades old cartoons on an out of print DVD.

These are just a handful of examples of why I am happy to be a reseller, and more reason why you should collect hard copy media.

Music, literature and cinema are fantastic tools for bridging the generational gap. We may disagree on everything else, but the high points of pop culture are able to bring us together despite those differences.

Watching old movies with the new generation of kids helps them to understand not just pieces of the past which would otherwise be lost but also gives them a glimpse into the perspective of previous generations. These cultural touchstones reveal both how much progress has been made as well as how much people are still the same. This contributes understanding and a bit of empathy to the perceived conflict between the generations, and that makes the world a better place for all of us.

For these reasons, and more, I encourage you to save your culture and collect hard copy media.