Don’t collect “collectibles” unless you’re expert at it

My siblings and I are going through the sad and nostalgic chore of cleaning out the house I grew up in. We keep running into things where someone would say, “Mom was sure that would be valuable some day.” Like a Mr. Peanut, Peanut Butter Maker.

It’s used, and partly broken. I might possibly get $5 for it.

There are some lovely prints by an Annapolis artist, which Mom was sure were valuable. They don’t do well at resale. Some of the vintage 70s china and glassware is a little valuable, but it’s hardly worth the trouble.

I’m sure there are people who do well with collectibles, but I think you have to study the market and know what you’re doing. Just keeping old stuff in the hopes that it will be valuable some day doesn’t work out as well as you might hope.

6 thoughts on “Don’t collect “collectibles” unless you’re expert at it”

  1. Sometimes it breaks your heart to throw old stuff away, as if there were a benevolent spirit dwelling in it.

  2. And this is the flip side of that “Hidden Brain” episode we were talking about in the other post. Why people hang on to things and why things left to us seem to have some meaning, even when they don’t really.

  3. You might be saying that as a logical person who has to clean up. For the collector, they get some kind of joy out of it. They joy could come from the thing itself or the fantasy that it’s going to be worth money in the future. You can collect “collectibles” for the fun of it. If you’re way overpaying the value of something, maybe it’s not intelligent. But, say you pay $5 at a garage sale, estate sale, or some kind of thrift/resale shop… What’s the harm ? Unless it causes you to not put food on the table for yourself or your family, then it’s maybe a problem. Otherwise, it’s just a harmless hobby.

    1. Yeah, you’re right about that. I shouldn’t say “don’t do it,” because they might have fun doing it whether or not they ever make any money.

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