Did you know that you can make money by buying paintings that you love? If you buy a rare or an original piece of artwork, there’s a decent change you can resell that a piece at a tidy profit.

There’s something you have to always keep in mind with art investing though. Fundamentally, you are playing a ‘greater fool’ game. The art piece in of itself has no economic value. The Mona Lisa isn’t a business that makes a profit. Artwork is based purely on what people are willing to pay for it; artwork has no intrinsic value.

Because it is fundamentally a ‘who will pay more for it’ game, investing in art is generally a bad idea. It’s better to buy what you love to have in your home, rather than view art as an investment. However, you may happen to buy a piece that becomes popular and you can resell at a profit. Another scenario is that you are torn between two pieces of art, and a deciding factor over which to buy may be which will likely appreciate in value. Here’s a few tips:

1. An original piece is always going to have more appreciation value than anything resembling a replica.

2. It’s difficult to guess when an artist will ‘blow up.’ If you’re going to gamble though, might as well buy somethign from a young artist or someone with a newer career. If an artist hasn’t become popular after 20-30 years, he or she probably will never.

3. It’s better to sell art during economic good times (especially when the stock market is going up). People feel richer and are more willing to spend cash on frivilous items.

Remember, not only is their high volitility in art prices, as well as the fact that artwork has no intrinsic value, you have to pay commissions to art brokers and other ‘costs of trading.’ While art can be potentially profitable, it’s generally not wise to view it as a major investing strategy.