We asked Harry Rinker: Have you ever made a conscious decision to stop collecting in a collecting category? If so, what were the reasons?

Here is his response:

I own multiple collections. Depending on how you organize and count them, the number exceeds over two hundred. While I never consciously decided that I would stop collecting a specific collecting category, there are collecting categories within this number that I no longer pursue with the same vigor that I once did.

Collecting is the most fun when objects are plentiful and affordable. The disappearance of either causes a collector to pause.

Think of a collecting category in terms of levels that form a pyramid: (1) common objects, (2) harder to find objects, (3) upper echelon pieces (the top 50 to 150), and (4) masterpiece or ultimate units (the top 5 to 10 objects). When building a collection, the collector buys the common and harder to find objects first. He occasionally may buy an upper echelon piece or even an ultimate unit. But, these are expensive and acquired as collecting knowledge and taste about the category become more sophisticated. It takes three to ten years, depending on the collector’s commitment, to acquire one or more examples of the common and hard to find pieces. Once accomplished, the collector now has no choice but to spend the “big bucks,” something not all collector are prepared to do or can afford.

Collecting categories can price themselves out of the market. Lunch kits (lunch box and thermos) are fun to collect when the average unit cost is under $25. When the average unit cost reaches $75 to $100, the fun vanishes. There is a price at which every antique or collectible will no longer sell. This price point has been reached in many collecting categories. Dealers asking prices beyond this price point are not moving merchandise. Collectors love to buy. When prices reach a point where they cannot, collectors will turn their attention to something else.

Time and tastes change. Older collectors, those above sixty, focus their collecting attention on one to four major collecting categories. They devote a lifetime assembling a major collection in these areas. Such collectors are the exception rather than the rule today. Today’s collectors have a short attention span, rarely focusing on one collecting category for longer than a decade.

Collectors can run out of space. I own thousands of jigsaw puzzles. The collection fills an entire classroom in the former elementary school building that I own. While the shelves that hold the puzzles do not go all the way to the top of the ceiling, they are tall and now full. The jigsaw puzzles have spilled out into the hall, my office, and a storage room in the basement. While I can always find space for “one more” puzzle, the truth is that I am out of room. I no longer buy jigsaw puzzles in quantity.

The economy and/or a supply change also can cause a collector to shift interests. While the current economic crisis appears to be a good time to buy antiques and collectibles since many are selling well below their values five and ten years ago, the truth is that collectors are experiencing long-term economic worries and are not parting with their money. Add to this the oversupply, i.e., flooding of the market, caused by eBay and other Internet sources. Surprisingly, buying is much more fun when objects are harder to find than plentiful.

While some collectors assemble their collections in isolation, most enjoy the camaraderie and competition of others. A decline in the number of collectors, especially the failure to attract new enthusiastic younger collectors to the collecting category, discourages collectors from continuing.

The true collector dies collecting. When this happens, the decision usually is not a conscious one.

Copyright © Rinker Enterprises, Inc. 2009

Please note that the opinions expressed in this post are that of the author, and not necessarily of Ruby Lane.