The beginning of collecting

There can be various reasons of why somebody starts and pursues usually long path of assembling his or hers desired collection. Collection can consist of almost anything. It can range from stamps, coins, vine bottles, paintings, various sort of art… to almost anything we can think of. There has even been case of man who collected and amassed obituaries. And still does so, well at least until he gets his own space in the papers. The point being is that a person can collect anything. The reason for doing so or the reason for starting a collection can be various, such as liking of something or someone, or trying to own something unique and valuable in order to receive prestige and recognition.

Apart from usual reasons like enjoyment and relaxation, finding a hidden treasure that others have overlooked and getting rich fast and easy is one of the main drives that incite a prospective collector.

Also, it is very common that initial reason for someone to show interest in any type of collecting is inheritance that is left from the deceased member of family, usually in a form of an antique or vintage object, and foreseeable trying of new owner to evaluate it.

In order to do so, a person will seek to gain more information about it, eventually increasing knowledge about the subject. In the case of further interest on the matter, it sets the ground for that person to become a collector.

PSYCHOLOGY OF COLLECTING

Understanding ourselves, collectors or buyers if you will, it is essential to determine what drives a person to buy things in the first place.

In short, few elementary keynotes form basic drive for collecting:

• HUNTING 

A treasure hunt, a thrill to seek and find, feeling that is closely related to the sense of excitement that person experiences similar to that of gambling.

• OWNING

Accumulating gives a satisfactory sense of ownership, giving a person feeling of satisfaction of being in possession of something valuable.

• STATUS 

By acquiring rare or exceptional items in our collection we win the respect of others and certainly get the recognition and status along the way.

• CONNECTING

Human need for socialization i.e. socializing and meeting new people should also be well noted as one of the main factors in determination of what drives collecting. Exchanges, talk, comparison, opportunities for buying or sale, seeing friends and getting new ones, meeting interesting people all constitute to this.

• LEARNING

It is in human nature to seek knowledge and to learn new things. In the process of learning about particular subject of interest, a person will inevitably acquire and accumulate different objects related to the field researched. This often results in amassing considerable amount of material, usually in a form of memorabilia or actually with anything else associated with the thematic that sets ground for prospective collector.

Advice

I would like to make a personal recommendation to parents who are visiting this site, in regards to collecting, to make initiative and suggest your children to start collecting things they show interest to. Advice is to start with something simple and interesting. As much as it is advisable for them to exercise mind developing games or to do sports, collecting as a process is much more than simple acquiring of things. It is learning life. It gets us to better understand human behavior as encounter with all sorts of people immensely develops “skills in trade” that can be especially useful in future. Rip-offs, selling junk, overpricing etc. are unfortunately all things regularly encountered by collectors, and gaining experience with such dealings can truly be of great importance later in life.