Where is the antique market headed as the millennials become the dominant economic force in the United States?
I keep hearing about how they are not going to be big spenders because they are being crushed by student loans, can’t find decent jobs, and are living at home. Or that the gainfully employed among them are choosing urban (small-space) lifestyles.
Apparently the housing market and stock market are at risk because this age group doesn’t have the income to invest in them. However, I would expect that at least some of the employed millennials would still buy houses and stocks.
But what about antiques? It seems like the kids these days like vintage, but what about the oak secretaries and 100 piece sets of dishes? Is the IKEA generation interested in that sort of thing?
(And yes, I know there will always be a few who will. I’m just wondering if there is likely to be a whole lot of them willing to shell out for the sake of nostalgia, they way the Boomers do).
I always associate those kind of antiques with the senior crowd more than the Boomers. (Yeah I know lots of Boomers are already seniors.)
I would challenge the idea that millennials are becoming the dominant economic force in the country. As a demographic they trail these generations:
Seniors
Boomers
Gen X
And it’s not by a small margin.
Yes, there’s a lot of talk right now about how many of the millennial generation there are, but they’re far from their top earnings years. Right now that’s the Gen X folks - of which I’m a part, for disclosure - that are hitting their earning and spending stride. The buzz about millennials - and that’s a huge cohort to make any generalization about - is because it’s a group that hasn’t locked in any spending pattern yet.
Then again, that was said about every generation. Just like each generation has no respect for their elders, or tradition or whatever.
You can see a comparison here. That’s in euros but I doubt it’s much different in the states. The group in the 20-29 age bracket is dwarfed in spending power by all brackets above them in age.
You’re right, and I probably didn’t word the OP quite right. I guess what I mean is that as Seniors/Boomers/Gen X start to die/downsize, the millennials are what’s left, by default, to try to drive the economy. Assuming our economy doesn’t get particularly better or worse than it currently is, are they gonna want to acquire collections of milk glass?
There’s a rule of thumb that people want most what was popular between ages 6-10. Judging from what I see in the marketplace, not a lot which was hot 10-20 years ago is hot now. You can’t give away 1950s cowboy stuff and depression glass. Stamp collections are more valuable as postage.
What I believe what might happen is that Boomers will all try to sell off their baseball cards and comic books in a relatively short period of time and there will be zero market value. Couple that with millennials who are staggering under student loans, and the collectible market will disappear.
I could see things like well-built furniture and kitchenware with a function retaining their value.
