There Is No One To Buy the Baby Boomer's Stuff

Baby boomers, on average, have lots of STUFF. They have china cabinets full of china, and porcelain pieces. Knick knacks, collectors plates, and Elvis paintings on black velvet.

They have 50 year old waffle irons with fraying asbestos insulated cords. They have drawers full of utensils, and ancient bottles of glue, degrading rubber bands and saved plastic bags.

Baby boomer also, often, have two houses. That vacation home out by the lake.

Many boomers i talk to are very proud of their collections, and often think they are worth a fortune.

However, as we get into the time, when everyone will be selling everything, because they need money for food (or the parents have kicked the bucket), they are going to find that there is no one to buy the stuff. No one can afford the price that these things used to pull. And so few want it.

Fine China

Imagine your mother's, or your grandmother's china cabinet. All those pretty plates. Plates that were almost never used. But, they are kept, protected in a case, waiting.

They will be waiting forever. China is no longer valuable. It used to be the best table settings. It probably still is. But the dollar store sells plates that are almost as good, and you don't care if they get broken, because they are a dollar.

So, these collections, which used to be thousands of dollars, are today, not worth anything. So many of them are being dropped on the market today. And yes, you can still go to Macy's and drop $100 on each dish. But, zoomers don't even eat meals together. Celebrations at the dinner table are non-existent. Maybe someone will do tik-tok about getting nice dishes at estate sales for cheaper than the dollar store prices.

Collectible Collections

Pewter salt and pepper shakers. Memorabilia plates from their drive through Oregon's wood bridges, or other tourist trap. All neat, all pretty, all meaningful only to the person who bought it. So very few want this stuff today. And there is about to be a glut on the market. Most of this stuff will go to the landfills.

Sometimes these baubles are kept in a display case, other times they are left on shelves to collect dust, a lot of dust.

The problem is, some of these memorabilia pieces were worth a pretty penny. People collect the darnedest things. However, today, not many want these collections / collectables. And further, no one can afford the prices that these pieces went for at one time.

So, grandmother has a pile of garbage, that no one will buy. Especially not at the prices the boomer think they should go for.

However, the silver will be worth a pretty penny. And it will only be valuable for the silver content.

Homes and 2nd Houses

The boomer's biggest asset. Their homes.

Real estate is only worth as much as you can get for it. And few are able to afford houses at this price. It is only staying high because this lack of buyers is matched with a lack of houses on the market. However, the boomers are going to dump 25% of the house on the market.

And, immediately, prices will start racing for the bottom. Prices will only level off when they are below what the majority of buyers can afford. However, the amount they can afford will be dropping as all other costs, like food, continue to inflate. So, the prices of these houses will continue to go down.

Basically, few boomers are going to sell their houses at the top of the market (last year), and they will instead sell them as the panic into the market.

(And this is without any of the other things, that i see crushing real estate, happen. Basically every other house will be on the market competing for the few buyers.)

The boomers have all this stuff. And, because of the way life works, they are going to dump it all on the market in these next 10 years.

Some network personalities call this "The greatest wealth transfer of our times". However, i don't really see it as a transfer. I see it more as the children of boomers getting a load of crap. The collections are going to be worthless. The houses are going to be worth less. And the children will be filling up dumpsters with all that stuff.

I have seen a few people advise that if you are a boomer, to ask your children which of the items they have, the children want. Most of the stories go like this: My children wanted a couple pieces, but for the most part, didn't want anything. And so, the advise goes, after asking, sell everything else. If you do not actually use it, sell it.

All of this assumes that these boomer aren't hoarders. If they are, then sorry, you will probably lose money trying to clean out the house to sell it. Maybe, at that time in the future, it would be better to allow the govern-cement to have the house. (when no one inherits it)

All images in this post are my own original creations.