Speculating on paintball markers/gear as an investment.

[Chuck E Ducky]

Paintball is terrible investment wise all the way around. Rare markers and quality gear no longer made hyped threw social media might make you a bit here and there. The majority of stuff your just gunna break even. Especially when you factor in shipping cost. Jt mask market is still super inflated. But it’s nothing your going to get rich off.

Most of the rare stuff holds its value at best. I have had some silly offers on some stuff I have no interest in selling. I have made a bit selling my flex collection on FBook but honestly it’s not even worth the trouble dealing with social media. I sold some hi ticket items and deleted my account. I don’t think I will do that again.

[FrankW]

I think Phantoms will have their day. They're relatively cheap still and a lot of people appreciate how good they are.

[Chuck E Ducky]

Phantoms were mass produced there are so many out there. I think certain phantom accessories will be worth a lot CCM grip frames, RTR slide triggers, Lever action adapters, Duck slides. The phantoms recent price increases has only adjusted due to the price of a new one going up after Mike sold the company. Rare Nelson like the Gargoyle, Carter’s, Ducks will always hold there value may even go up a lil. They are a better “investment” IMO. But the only phantom that will be worth more then they are today are fully kitted special Ano markers like the old Urban and Acid wash markers.

[KMDPB]

I would say pumps would be a good bet. Old pumps are dirt cheap and I foresee a big move to limited paint styles of play (magfed and pump) in the near future. one problem is the large bore barrels but that issue could be fixed with freak boring. Take the sl-68 for example, you can get one for around 50 bucks, shoots great and has plenty of character, couldn't see the value going below $50 but could definitely see the value going to $150.

I agree with everyone else on the old electros, need too many parts and maintenance, but there will always be a small market for them with people that love to tinker and want that old school cool factor. But the average person is going to have no interest.

But the paintball market is all hype related, so you're better off starting a youtube channel, getting a big following, then push how great some old gun that you have 100 of is. Also every market in America is high right now so not a good time to invest, now is a good time to sell, if you're holden...

[JeeperCreeper]

Ions will probably never jump in price. You could buy them new for around $200 back then, and now you can't find boards to fix them. Sure so then you just mech it, but then how much could you sell it for? You can buy a brand new and currently supported Emek for how much? The emek is going to be way more user friendly and consistent. You're gonna run into this issue with basically everything that's electronic from back then. And unfortunately paintball isn't exactly growing like it used to. Anyone that does want anything from back then (barring special editions and anything that was super rare to start with) probably has it already sitting in a box broken.

Basically you would only make money on certain items. It would really be alot of work to make it happen. Lots of time and research. You would need luck more than anything really, which isn't a wise investment strategy. If this is a serious plan, I would only use it to fund your own paintball habit, or to possibly save up a chunk of cash for a real investment opportunity. I wish you good luck.

[Pyrate Jim]

I wish you luck. I've been collecting (hoarding?) for 30 years now. Out of over 100 markers, only a handful have any significant value. Most are sentimental in some way.
Try getting your hands on a B.E. Barracuda, a TM11a, or a Wintek double Thunderbolt. How about a pair of Got-Ya guns (Ace & Deuce)?
My actual prize is a Sheridan K2 with the stock signed by Bob Gurnsey.

Is it worth it? Perhaps not financially, but it's fun to pull out markers most kids have never heard of, much less ever seen.

[gabe]

Paintball guns are NOT an investment. Probably the worst. Let's take my CCM Series 5 for example. Probably one of the highest appreciating guns it works like this: Purchased for $320 in 2006, is now worth about $1000 lets say. So that's a 300% return over 15 years. The S&P500 has done about 400% in that same timespan.

In short, there's no investment like actual investments. Paintball gear is like cars. You may get lucky and have one that appreciates but 99.9% of the time it's a depreciating liability.

[sniper97]

https://dqydj.com/sp-500-return-calculator/

Annual return of 10.483%, cumulative of 346%...hard to beat,