to ask whether collecting anything is pointless?

I used to know someone who collected slide rules. He had about 200 I think he said. I expressed a mild interest just to be polite and he proceeded to describe his favourites at great length.

In fact I got a bit worried he might be about to ask me back to see his slide rule collection and I wasn't entirely sure what his intentions were so I hastily dropped DH in to the conversation.

Dh collects art that he likes.
He's slowly filling my walls. I like it too so not complaining.
Nothing mega ££££££ but not cheap tat either.

He has a folder with print outs of what he's paid so the dcs don't just up and donate it to the local charity shop when he pops his clogs.

I collect vinyl records. Researching and finding records, looking at the artwork and of course listening to them brings me a lot of joy. My DD (10) has started to show an interest in my collection, which will pass to her when I die if she wants it, just as my DF's records were passed on to me. Even if she doesn't want it and sticks the whole lot on ebay I still don't feel it will have been 'pointless' as I will have gotten so much pleasure out of my collection during my lifetime.

In my family at least, I think collecting has been very much a response to general increased disposable income over the years. For people who had literally nothing as children, the ability to collect anything in later life was and still is a real luxury. Souvenirs meant that you had been somewhere. That was a luxury

For my generation I guess the question is where do we stand with it? My parents have a collection in their loft of things that are both bulky and fragile, moderately valuable, but neither they or we want. I think they're just going to leave us to sort it out in the end.

For me... I do try to ensure that that most things we acquire are either very functional/very beautiful or both. I like to hang onto things for a looong time. I don't want to leave the next generation with a load of stuff to sort out.

Swedish Death Cleaning all the way for me!

I think it’s pretty pointless collecting “collectibles” - that’s just an exercise in selling to the gullible. Pokemon cards have more point - at least they’re tradeable.

But anything where you collect from places not trying to sell you a collection is worth it for the stuff you find out on the way. I used to collect English coins that turned up in change (pre decimalisation), and therefore know all the more recent kings and queens and their dates, foreign coins (more history), sea shells (lots of natural history and the rudiments of taxonomy), sugar cube wrappers and other ephemera from my father’s trips abroad, labels off melons, and inn signs (in a train spotting way) in the days when inn names had a history and weren’t a figment of a marketing man’s imagination.

I gave one of my collections to a young (20s) collector who was very pleased to have it. I wouldn’t have made much money selling it, and it was good to meet someone else with an interest in it, and see some of his collection.

I don’t really collect anything, I don’t like ornaments or things without useful specific function so don’t have much in the way of ‘stuff’. Already dreading my dad dying as he has such a weird random assortment of army memorabilia and no one else to deal with it.
Unless he leaves specific wishes it will all be going in with the other house clearance stuff I will organise. So not really dreading it after all I suppose as I won’t be dealing with it!

I like the hunt. Going to charity/antique shops, collectors fairs, car boot sale.
I like the online communities where I can talk to people with the shared interest.
I like doing research and learning the history about certain things.
I don't collect because I think things are worth a lot of money or because I want to sell and make a fortune. I collect because I like what I am collecting.
Yes one day I will be gone and my various collections will need to find new homes....but then that means the next generation of collectors can have that fun.

Yeah, how dare your MIL spend her short time on this earth doing something that brought her pleasure. What a bitch, eh?

I’m not a big collector, as such, but I certainly don’t decide what to own based on whether other people might like them when I die. I acquire things because I like them and enjoy them, not because I think they’ll be valuable, or of interest, to other people when I’m dead.

Life is really fucking short, you know. Spend it doing as much of what you actually enjoy as possible. If that’s collecting random stuff that isn’t worth any money and which nobody else likes is what makes someone happy, that’s absolutely fine, because this is the one and only life we’re ever going to get and nobody on their death bed ever thinks “You know, I really wish I’d spent less time on small, harmless pleasures.”

I've got a collection of obelisks. I won't say I collect them now because I rarely see one that interests me but I would buy it if I did. I've got a large marble Victorian garden one, a small Tunbridgeware one, two by David Linley, a Versace one and lots of others. I really like them.
My mum had collections of paperweights, samplers, Victorian card cases, a particular children's book which were probably late Victorian, writing boxes .... I don't own any of them now

My mil collected stuff we've inherited , Toby jugs, figurines, teapots, Beatrix Potter figures and silver spoons.

We haven't go a clue what to do with them. The Toby jugs are out of fashion and I think we have a couple of rare ones. The teapots are mainly those " collectible" ones shaped like buildings.

The silver spoons may be worth something as there are some antique Dutch ones but we need to get them valued and there's far too many to take to a valuer.

Please don't collect things and leave them to your children to sort out.

Everything we do in our lives becomes pointless once we die.

Studying for qualifications and achieving a first class honours degree or a doctorate in your passion subject are all pointless once you die. They have no value to anyone or anything once you're dead. Does that mean nobody should bother with education either?

You could spend hundreds of hours and thousands of pounds decorating your home to make it just right for you, so it makes you feel safe and relaxed. Once you die someone will paint over it all because they think it's ghastly. Is decorating your home pointless and you should just live with bare plaster and bare floorboards?

While you are alive, the point is that what you are doing makes your life worthwhile to you in some way while you have your life. Who cares if it has a resale value after your death?

I used to collect a certain type of ornament my ex husband bought me loads as did his family it no longer gave me pleasure so I car booted the lot I kept a few pieces I was attached too the rest went

I collect funky potted plant pots - the cute, weird, more fun, the better. A lot of people who collect things don’t collect for the point of it being financial, it’s something for yourself and inner happiness. I love the fact that I collect the plant pots and people associate it with me, so if they see one they think or me and quite honestly people who collect things are easier to buy gifts for. My home is covered in them with tiny little plants in and it just makes me happy and everytime I get a new one it’s exciting (my life is boring, it’s the little things that count)

I think the point of collecting is the pleasure it gives to the collector. Most collections won’t make money. Deliberately collecting assets you believe will appreciate in value is better thought of as investing.

When I was at secondary school we had this teacher who used to swear at us all the time and absolutely stank of stale sweat and cigarettes. He used to just fiddle around in his desk with these matches boxes. One day we were in class before him and looked in the match stick boxes and they were filled with dead flies. That was a pretty pointless collection to have.

I started collecting Barbies a few years ago and Rainbow High dolls in October. I’ve actually learned a lot about the history of the modern toy industry, and about dyeing different types of fibers from customizing dolls. I don’t really care what they’re worth - they make me happy and brighten up a dull wall in the family room.

I suppose in the case of the silver vinaigrettes someone might see how impressive the collection is as a whole and it may spark that desire to start their own collection (even if they will need to do it over a number of years because of the cost).

You can analyse whether anything in life is worth the time and money involved. With collecting and hobbies it probably is never worth the money spent except to the person doing it. I cross stitch a lot in my spare time and am aware that I'm spending time and money on something which will be a problem for someone else to dispose of when I'm gone. If you look at in terms of will someone eventually recoup the cost of the materials and time spent making it the answer is definitely not!

I limit myself to only collecting things that remind me of travelling. So, I'll pick up a few carefully chosen things (and a lot of them are functionally useful too in the house), so I guess you'd say travel souvenirs. But they have to be good quality, I have to LOVE them, and I have to let go of things I don't need when I feel the need to purge things from my house every year or so. I try to keep the baseline amount of stuff the same, so new things in will mean old things have to go.

A relative used to collect these pottery models of pastoral scenes, tractors, animals, farms etc. Each one cost hundreds of pounds, and each one took up about 12 to 18 inches square of space. They expected us to fall over ourselves to take them when they moved and they couldn't keep them.... No one wanted any of them. They weren't a thing we liked. So literally thousands of pounds spent and I don't hink they aren't worth much now. But, they did enjoy finding them and buying them, I guess. Looked like a lot of stress though from the outside, when they had to get rid of them
.

I collect antique plant pots. Would they end up in the charity shop when I'm gone? Likely... but I get enormous pleased looking at them.

I agree with this.

I suppose the question is if a collection of something gives you pleasure during your life, it is worth collecting?

Of course it is. It is pleasure for that person.
Like anything any of us do for pleasure.
I mean, some people collect train numbers, which they don't actually 'hold' other than by ticking them off in a notebook. Some people spend money traveling the country to visit every {insert Cathedral or football ground or} whatever your interest is - they don't have anything tangible to hold either, but it gives someone pleasure, so it is a good thing.
Very few collections are collected for their monetary value.

I collect vinyl and memorabilia for two 80's bands. I don't have any other hobbies, or anything else I really spend spare money on. I completely get that once I'm gone my kids are going to be left with stuff they probably won't want, and who knows if it will be worth anything?
Either way, if they can sell any of it then great, if not then it doesn't matter. I love collecting it, that's the main thing to me.

You can buy quantity, but if you are looking for rarity and that item you need to complete a set you still have to hunt and pay the price.

For stamps you can buy any number of Victorian penny reds cheaply, but there are some incredibly rare numbers (the later penny reds all have numbers on the side design). Or if you want a Victorian £5 orange stamp you will pay many thousands for a good quality one, and beware of forgeries! The thrill is still in the chase and the finding of that special one hopefully at a good price but maybe not perfect if you don't have very deep pockets.

Quite often avid collectors buy whole collections at auction to get one or two valuable bits they want for their collection and sell on the rest, either in another auction or bit by bit to collectors on Ebay who are collecting less valuable items.

If you inherited a collection I would get an approximate valuation either professionally or just by looking up prices and put into auction with a modest reserve. Don't just dump to landfill someone will probably want it.

I know or have known people that have collected the following

Coins
First day postage cover envelopes with stamps
Cigarette cards
Cereal boxes & the toys inside
Comics
Motorcycles
Food wrappers
Dolls
Bookmarks
Sew on badges
Dolls
Vintage
Books
Clocks
Bags
Shoes
Plants
Cookery utensils
Sand
Sea glass
Seashells

Almost an endless list !