Comments on: Why People Stop Collecting – Part I

By: zac

zac — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 04:12:54 +0000

I’m always churning my stuff, buy a clock, sell a clock, buy a lamp, sell a lamp. My house is my store and my inventory is the stuff I use every day. I have so much vintage cookware and have sold so much more. I’m sitting in my room with my stuff and nearly every object, from the vintage t shirt I’m wearing, to the Wasilley chair I’m sitting in (15 bucks at Goodwill), to the Harmon Kardon 930 with Bose 901′s I’m listening to has value and I bring in stuff every day. I have a 30 year rule. Things are at their peak of value at 30 years old. Right now for me, the 1970′s is hot. I’m always looking to improve the quality of my collection over time so I’ll sell the inferior object if possible. I do this for money and some times that’s a priority. I’ve sold a ton of vintage t shirts and sunglasses but it’s like the football guy up there said, corporations dilute the collector’s cache to the point where a cool vintage t shirt looks like old navy or vice versa. They kill the goose every time. I’ll never quit collecting but I’ll always be selling as well. Otherwise it’s too much stuff.

By: Michael Maclaire-Hillier

Michael Maclaire-Hillier — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:11:44 +0000

‘Why I stopped collecting’
I owned antique shops here in the UK (over 20 years ago now) and dealt in Meissen porcelain, French clocks, French cabinets and fine antiques. I loved collecting and sometimes bought a piece that I could have sold for 20 to 50 times what I had paid. In those days I did need the money but I loved the piece more than money and kept it as my staff who combed the country would buy items to sell and we could re coup the money quite quickly. I still love my collection and it is full of rare and very expensive (nowadays) items. I stopped collecting as with the amount of burglaries nowadays I realise how dangerous it is. I have burglar alarms, hidden cameras, electric gates, every window is barred with serious metal to stop people getting in and I still do not feel safe. I do know that a burglar will go to any home for a television or computer or any salable electric item but they will usually not be ‘serious and dangerous’ burglars who have fire arms. I was burgled over 20 years ago by intruders with guns and I was tied up but after that I still kept on collecting.
I have now stopped collecting and am very seriously thinking of selling my collection as I wish for a ‘normal’ life and do not need the added hassle that a fine collection needs nowadays. Also where I spent vast amounts of money on acquiring items I would now rather go on a very fine holliday (as I cannot afford both).
For a collector eBay has in one way spoilt things as you can find vast amounts of items where years ago it was not possible but the internet has done that as well.
There will always be room for shops selling very fine and expensive rare items but for ordinary collectable items eBay has in one way spoilt things although if someone wants to but an ‘instant’ collection and has the money to spend, eBay is fantastic. The whole point of collecting was fun and took time and you had to travel but nowadays it can be done with your fingers on a keyboard.
Michael Maclaire-Hillier

By: Lisa

Lisa — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:06:50 +0000

Love your musings, Harry, and look forward to what ever-else you have to say. I’ve enjoyed the other readers’ responses, as well.

I’ve collected horse figurines since I was about 7–51 years. I now have hundreds, in every manner you can think of, such as salt & pepper shakers, door knocker, pens, bookends… and in a huge variety of materials (the first was copper. Now I have jade, blown-glass, horsehair on wax, etc). I still buy one or two a year for myself, but kind of stopped a few years ago when I started receiving unicorns (not the same!) and my darling mother-in-law gave me a tacky, LARGE (of course) horse and carriage that I have to display prominently. I think that cured my horse collecting.

Many of the “good” ones are behind glass doors in a cabinet. I am leaving the collection to my granddaughter, whether she wants them or not.

I have also collected creches (nativities) since about age 7, and receive about one a year. I still love them, and “absence makes the heart grow fonder”? as I see them only at Christmas time, so unwrapping them is great fun. I intend to do a book about them. I have quite a few. 100?

I’m sort of collecting salt & pepper shakers, now, and adding to my paperweights, and then I have lots of items from my parents–Chinese snuff bottle collection, stuff from a great-uncle circa 1900, and I don’t even know what else. I’ll collect or keep anything, if left to my own devices.

We have a 4 bedroom house for the two of us, and to me, that looks like a lot of space for collections. Unfortunately, my husband thinks things are too cluttered. I think it looks sterile, like a hotel. I have my own room where I keep most of my stuff, but I am literally tripping over things. I’m trying to sell some things on eBay to keep the peace, but seem to smuggle things in as another goes out the door. Sigh. It’d be easier to get a divorce than to change my ways. Then I’d REALLY have to downsize, and I don’t know which would be worse!

By: Don

Don — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:29:50 +0000

A contributary cause for neglect of collecting is the brazen commercialization of antiques by such venues as “Antiques Roadshow,” and other similar value systems. While the information from experts is often fascinating, the underlying premise–your stuff is possibly worth a fortune–turns me off. Collecting to make money seems somehow corrupt (I may be the only one who feels this way) but a hobby should not be about making money. If I buy a bass boat, I should not be expected to catch sufficient fish to pay for the boat. Similarly, I have never made money on my old cars–they are fun to work on and to drive. The pleasure of a hobby–the enjoyment–is for me its own reward.

By: fongbong2

fongbong2 — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 04:18:48 +0000

Collecting is part thrill of the hunt, part thrill of the item itself. And today, many are financially hurting, but money aside, I realized I have all I need. So now I’m going back through my 3 collections item by item, and re-enjoying each piece all over again. It’s just as thrilling today as they day I first found it. Why buy a piece, hold it in my hands as I look it over for the fist time, then relegate it to storage, rarely to be seen again?

I’ve stopped collecting the items themselves, content with recording (collecting) the current SALE PRICES of them by auction houses.

And the inevitable bad purchases I’ve made as part of the learning process, I’ll sell.

By: Benjamin

Benjamin — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:06:26 +0000

I collected glass paperweights with a furious passion until my wife asked me to move some of that “clutter”. I packed it all up into boxes and stuck it in a corner of the studio where it remains. No more clutter ,but I still see something once in a while that I cannot resist and I add it to my stash of “clutter” in the studio. Heh, heh!

By: Debbie Miller

Debbie Miller — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 13:47:40 +0000

I don’t believe I’ll ever stop collecting. I get collections just by organizing my belongings and putting like items together.
Some things I stop collecting and know I will never recoup my losses (such as the tubs and tubs of Ty dogs). I may even start giving them away or selling them when I can.
Some things I just stop collecting but keep, admire and love them although I don’t add to them. However, I’m not yet ready to part with them and may even add to them at a later time.
Some things I start collecting by obtaining another by chance or purpose. I consider a collection to be at least three.
So, I suppose I’ll always be in a state of flux. Stopping, starting and on hold with all of my collections.

By: John Pasiut

John Pasiut — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 09:02:51 +0000

I, already for many years feel, the main reason for losimg interest in aquiring things is the internet, particularly ebay.
Now let me just explain, I have collected a lot of things and of different themes, and there was always something on my mind that I wanted to find and buy.
But then suddenly this item was available on ebay not only one no 27 pce. and in all varieties, and they had a price, no they had no price they were auctioned off and the highest bidder worldwide got the item.
I stopped then and there, meaning I still have not bought this item I am talking about just now and I never will, and should I change my mind its there on ebay, always!
And this applies also to the auctionhouses with their liveauction features. How many times have I sat in an small lonley auctionhouse on a sunday afternoon waiting for that item to be next, and I bought it mostly cheap but sometimes I paid more than it was worth because of the time and effort spent and the opportunity might not arise so soon again.
In short the hunting sucsess can not be fulfilled by combing through lines and lines and pages and sites and what have yous on this blasted media, and its bad for your eyes not to mention your psyche.
Off course I have been with it very early and there are advatages and one of them is this story right here.
Thank you.
Johann

By: Nancy

Nancy — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 01:23:08 +0000

I stopped collecting bluebird dishes because they got more expensive than I was willing to pay, and when my mother died, I took her bluebird collection.
I’ve almost stopped collecting hats because I’ve almost run out of room.
Time for collecting and enjoying the hunt is scare at this point, as well.
And, I’m getting older. Guess I fit all your criteria for one who stops collecting.
Drat, I used to be a lot more fun….

By: jame

jame — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:55:45 +0000

The things I collect are the things I love: teapots, Native American fetish carvings and jewelry. My acquisitions came to a halt when my job security vanished last year.

By: Carla Gordon

Carla Gordon — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:53:19 +0000

I’ve lost interest in collecting primarily because I do not have the space to keep things. Second, almost all of the antique shops I used to browse through are closed.

By: mimi

mimi — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:15:38 +0000

This is not so romantic an observation, mainly because it has been my own personal dilemma when it came to terminating my collecting. The economy. Everyone is getting so tired of using that as an excuse for just about everything, it has become cliche. I lost my house, which I had owned outright, after listening to some stupidly bad advise. Had to move to a tiny home to rent, and realized that I just couldn’t afford to pay for 2 large storage sheds to hold all my worldly possessions. Sold most, am trying to sell quite a few more and have stopped scouring for the time being There are many people in my situation, but we just hate to use that damn cliche.

By: Mike Mattis

Mike Mattis — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:53:03 +0000

I know it’s early in your assessment of collecting vs non-collecting but here’s a response.
I started collecting fotball memorabilia about 25 years ago. I specialized in game advertisement, posters, ticket stubs, programs and cards, the ephemera of the game. It was a kick to find some gem stashed away or meet some old player who didn’t mind sharing his stuff and/or his memories. I didn’t then think about the possible financial return but of course as time went on, I found there just MIGHT be a net return.
Then along came the big business guys like Topps, Fleer, Upperdeck,Sportflicks and all those many, many thousands of player cards with fancy borders and slick finishes. Card manufacturers came out of the woodwork, flooding he market with their sets, subsetes, sub-subsets and specialty cards.
Then along came those guys who “evaluate” a card and all of a sudden the card that I paid 50 cents for was being sold for $50 or $100 — just becuase it had been “evaluated.” You know what I mean.
Then along came the not-quite fraudulent purveyors with so-called “game-worn” uniforms and “game-played” balls, and people lining up to get an autogaph from some star player — only to sell it for a profit.
The joy went out of Mudville for me about that time. So now my collection sits in a room, with the door shut, out of sight, out of miind.
I will say that one good thing to come out of this — and I still look for them — is my collection of old football board games from 1950 and before, especially those from the 1920s and 1930s. I like the graqphics, they dispolay well and I don’t spend a lot for them and don’t expect to get a lot for them when the time comes.
So now I’m moving on to look for old nautical things — items that I know are at least true to the time, have not been bastardized and probably will hold their value for a while — at least the good stuff will (I think).
I will be looking fordward to your upcoming columns on this subject. As I do have a space in a collective, I see some trends — right now, of course, everyone is holding on to their buckswhile we undergo this “financial adjutment” period. Some joke, eh?
Thanks for the read,
Mike Mattis
Davis,CA

By: CAP'N JACK

CAP'N JACK — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:32:41 +0000

2 MANY OF THOSE I HAVE ENJOYED TRADING,COMPARING, LEARNING WITH, HAVE DIED OR QUIT & MOST YOUNGSTERS DON’T SEEM INTERESTED. ALSO THE INCREASE IN FAKES & REPRODUCTIONS IS MOST DISCOURAGING 2 ME AS WELL AS THOSE I TALK WITH WHO R AFRAID 2 BEGIN COLLECTING 4 FEAR THEY WILL B READILY DECEIVED.
ALSO, I MISS CAROUSING THOSE SMALL OUT-OF-THE-WAY SHOPS THAT E-BAY MAY HAVE PUT ASUNDER.
AS I BEGIN 2 PREPARE 4 MY INEVITABLE DEPARTURE FROM THIS EARTH, I AM HAVING TROUBLE DECIDING HOW & WHEN 2 BEGIN UNLOADING THE TREASURES I HAVE SO ENJOYED ACCUMULATING OVER MY LIFETIME. EACH TIME I DECIDE IT’S TIME 2 UNLOAD, I INADVERTENTLY COME ACROSS ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL,OLD RARE,TREASURE.
TOMORROW IS A “DEFINITE-MAYBE”