Cooking the Books podcast: Could you make money investing in luxury handbags?

Are handbags a viable investment option? Photo / 123rf

Each week, BusinessDesk and the NZ Herald’s Cooking the Books podcast tackle a different money problem. Today, it’s how alternative investments like art, wine, and handbags, actually work. Hosted by Frances Cook.

I’m a big believer that the world of investing is open to everyone these days, and you can start growing your wealth if you have just $5 spare.

But it is also true that the investing world has some interesting pockets where you get a glimpse into how the other half lives.

So it is with certain luxury investments, where people invest in art, watches, wine, or even handbags.

Can you actually make money on these? The answer is yes… sometimes.

The Financial Times even crunched the numbers once to find a 38 per cent return on some Birkin bags.

That’s certainly a lot higher than the 10 per cent you can expect from shares.

But when you get into this area, it’s a little bit art, a little bit science, and a little bit hobby, because you have to know your stuff.

It’s not every Birkin that will make you a lot of money.

You also need to treat these investments differently once you’ve got them.

For the latest podcast, I talked to Cat Emerson from Kernel.

For the interview, listen to the podcast here.

• If you have a question about this podcast, or a question you'd like answered in the next one, come and talk to me about it. I'm on Facebook here, Instagram here, and Twitter here.

• Listen to the full interview on the Cooking the Books podcast. You can subscribe on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.