In the 1980's and the 1990's Longaberger Baskets were highly collectible. At that time country decorating was the popular choice in home decor in the United States. I myself decorated my kitchen with baskets and greenery in the 80's. I never did own a Longaberger Basket as they were very expensive but I had an acquaintance that collected them and I was awed at her collection and the value of the baskets she had throughout her home.
The Longaberger Company practices direct marketing through home consultants. With the diminishing popularity of the basket craze the Longaberger Company now sell pottery and special foods among other things along with the baskets.
I briefly attended an auction last week that had several Longaberger Baskets and while the company sales might be down people were paying large amounts of money for the older baskets. They were bringing top dollar, the cheapest one went for $100 while many of the others went for several hundred.
If you are a collector or a dealer you probably know Longaberger Baskets are dated and signed by the basket maker making it easy to identify the older baskets. Each basket is handmade, many have themes, some have inserts, some do not.
I hate pushing eBay all the time but you can get lots of good deals on Longaberger Baskets, at least they go a lot cheaper than they did at the auction. There are also several dealers that have websites with direct sales. Some of these websites are very informative and are well worth looking into if your are a serious collector. Dealers will want to check out which baskets bring the big bucks to educate themselves on what to buy.
Longaberger Baskets are an investment, who knows what each basket may be worth in 20 years. Like most investmenst, it could be outrageously profitable or totally valueless. On the other hand collecting is always fun no matter what it is.
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