to ask whether collecting anything is pointless?

I quite envy the idea of loving something so much you want to make a collection! To be so passionate about something, for yourself, lovely! X

Yep, I see stuff like that every so often.
A while back, a local charity shop was suddenly full of dolphin ornaments/plates/clothing/toys.

I was in a charity shop the other day. There was a group of over 100 small pottery or china owls. Clearly someone's prized collection which was no longer cherished.

I read a book called “The Great Beanie Baby Bubble,” about the history of that fad. People’s Beanie Baby collections largely ended up in one of three types of places - donated to daycare centers, donated to police stations to give to kids in crisis, or donated to military units, who gave them to kids in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I think it would be fun to break old china collections and put the pieces in cement paving stones as decorations. Not sure what to do with all those Hummel figurines, though…

I agree with this.

My Dad used to collect a certain thing. I used to talk to him when he used to go to the shows to buy them and ask him why he paid the price he did.

He used to say that he didn't really have much choice, because if he didn't buy it then, he might never see it again. He had a budget and if something came within it then he would buy it.

Then with the advent of the internet the market became a lot more "liquid" if that is the right word. Prices were driven down because people could actually find multiple sellers and see their prices against each other. It was no longer the case that you had to buy there and then if you wanted to collect.

The irony is that his entire collection that he thought was worth a small fortune is actually worth relatively little. And somewhat more ironically I sold a battered thing of the same kind of type that I actually had for far more than a substantial percentage of his stuff in total is actually worth today, basically because that type is deemed more collectable. He would be turning in his grave if he knew about that !

I would say with collections, generally quality counts. So if you want something and want it to appreciate in value, small amounts of high quality stuff is better to aim for rather than lot's of lower quality stuff.

I don't really care what happens to my stuff when I die as I wont be here.

If it brings you pleasure, then it is not money wasted.

In purely monetary terms I can't think of many things that would be worth a lot as a whole collection but not also have worth individually so not really sure what you're getting at.
E.g books, jewellery, pottery, boxed action figures,...if a high worth collection would still retain value if sold individually.

If you're talking about low worth items (e.g random paraphernalia with say giraffes on it, or fridge magnets) then as people have already answered, no it probably wouldn't have much financial worth but no more/less than any other possessions that weren't collections.

So dont really see how whether things are "collections" or not makes a huge amount of difference to any type of "worth"

Basically you can spend £100 on twenty fridge magnets, call it a collection and your kids will chuck it in the skip when you die. Or spend £100 on three cushions two magnets a mirror and 3 photo frames and your kids will chuck it in the skip when you die. Neither is ultimately "worth" more than the other, emotionally or financially!

If getting pleasure from something is not in itself of worth then many many things humans do have no worth.

My son has the collecting gene from his Dad. Has already started three different collections. So much stuff! It brings them both joy though:

I have accidentally started a small collection of large glass sand timers. I just love fiddling with them and they’re all different and beautiful (to me). Apart from that I am ruthless!

Sounds perfect @thenewaveragebear1983 an active choice, part of your home, a memory jogger of the past holiday and you in that location at that time.
May be your DC will split the collection or chose to revisit the places and build their own memories or maybe reframe in 2050 colours and decorate their own cloakrooms. Sounds great and not pointless.

I collect vintage black and white postcards of all the places we go on holiday. One came today of the windmill in Paston, Norfolk, which I could see from my holiday accommodation last week.

They do make me think though- who are these postcard dealers? The effort that must go into categorising and listing all these postcards, and the sheer joy they must feel when someone wants the exact postcard they have! What are the chances! This one came with a tiny pencil £10 written on it- I paid £2.59 on eBay- who would pay £10, I don't know?

I love them though, they hang in my downstairs loo and every visitor comments on them. I like the fact that these places don't change, even over 60/70/80 years. The same places we go and enjoy have been enjoyed for so long by so many people. I hope when my dc pack up all my stuff, these little postcards make them smile.

It was a big thing in the 'old days' before minimalism came into being. My paternal grandma collected things - handmade teddy bears which were a beautiful collection and cost around £300 each but mostly sold off at vastly reduced value once she had died. I have 'homed' all her Beswick horses and ponies but don't have anywhere to put them out so they are wrapped in a box in the loft. Likewise some fine porcelain ornaments, an ornate dinner service and also a beautiful tea service. Beautiful but so impractical nowadays. She definitely thought she was investing for the future when buying these but people just dont want stuff to display any more.

It's not pointless if the pleasure you get from it is enough by itself to outweigh any sadness you might feel at it being straight to the dump when you die. With some very valuable stuff, the equation is different as it's potentially an asset. But worth factoring in that not every collectible that has value now will hold it.

People collect because it gives them pleasure. Part of it is the owning but a big part of it is also searching out the items.

I would have thought the pleasure your loved one gained from their collecting would far outweigh any minor difficulty you might have disposing of it? I wouldn't think it a big chore just to get in the auctioneer/house clearance/charity shop to get rid of it.

My very elderly mum still collects things to do with her creative hobby which she hardly does any more. I'm happy to actively enable her because it gives her pleasure. It's her money. How mean would I have to be to tell her to knock it on the head because a few hours to get rid of it means more to me?

There are currently 406 unsold lots of Franklin Mint plates for sale on eBay. A total of 31 lots look like they have either been withdrawn from sale or sold in the last two months
Examples include £11.50 for 7 limited edition John Wayne plates.
£16 for imperial Japanese collection with stands and display case
And a Whooping £45 for the tall ships collection.

Quite tempted by the Diana, Princess of Compassion plate but realistically this inheritance is not going to even cover a spoons breakfast.

Collections go out of fashion - big game trophies beloved by the Edwardians are an embarrassment.
Stuff sold as collectables will rarely be worth anything like the original retail. It's the oddities, the genuine rarieties, the nostalgia for the current collecting generation. The original tupperware in the kitchen cupboard is worth more in practical terms and desirability than the Whimsy animal collection.
Everything else to the next generation, without the dopamine thrill is landfill.

Absolutely, I'm getting ready to dump collections that symbolise my parents worship of stuff over people.
We need to stop kidding ourselves that house clearance firms have a magical portal to a place where 1980s tea cards are revered. It all goes to landfill. The stamp collection where Stanley Gibbons earned more from selling the stationary than it did dealing the stamps. It's not worth my time to find someone who actively wants second class stamps from 1978.
The charity shops can have the plates, the tupperware, the vintage vase but the 'collectables' will be skipped. Not worth the head space.

If you're planning on paying for a skip, why not look at hiring a house clearance company will get rid of the stuff you don't want, or see if a charity will take it?

I remember getting rid of my mums ‘stuff’ not collections as such, but silver plated tea sets, the special dinner set for high days and holidays that wasn’t dishwasher safe…

getting rid of all that means that pretty much any time I think of collecting or buying a thing…I think nah.

@GenXit you're really going to dump things just because you don't like them?
A bit harsh.

I think ultimately, it is pointless.
My pre-war and Boomer parents spent far much time and energy 'collecting'. I say collecting but actually I mean shopping. Big sports halls full of men selling & buying toy cars, railway models, stamps. Magazines and exhibition centres devoted to china deliberately produced to be sold in magazines and exhibition centres. The commerce behind the industry so my parents could get a tiny dopamine hit.
When they were doing this, they weren't building friendships or strengthening family bonds, decades of shopping and ultimately left to me to sort.
Most of these collections are generation specific, 1950s cigarette cards are valuable to men born in 1930. Men born in 1970 want 1980 space Lego.
My way of sorting will be to get a massive skip and smash the whole lot in off the balcony, limited edition Franklin mint plates, model of yesterday year cars, the china from China produced for overseas export. All in one giant landfill container.
For the tiny dopamine hit they got, it cost far to much. And in retirement, the more friends and social activities they did, the less they collected and the more it all got ignored in the attic with just the odd ' it will be yours one day, if your lucky'.

Well you enjoy it when you're here, so what's wrong with that?

Let's be honest, most hobbies and pastimes are pretty pointless in the grand scheme of things, aren't they? But we enjoy them, so we do them, and it brings a little joy to our lives.

I have a similar collection - let’s call it a collection of vintage office equipment, as the specifics would be outing. If you showed the tiniest hint of interest I would tell you ALL about it.

It was not a huge surprise when I was diagnosed with autism a few years ago 😆

It's just a bit sad but I'm trying to work out whether individual pleasure in the collection is worth it.

Of course it is, if it brings that person pleasure.
Who is to judge what is "worthwhile" or not.

I mean, many people do jigsaws, and then, as soon as they are complete, they break them up again. Is that worth it by your criteria ?