I digitize all the CDs. I do not then sell them, as the CD *is* my legal ownership of that music, ripping cds and then selling them is not okay. I’m more than happy to rip and store.

With the vinyl, I’m trying to let go of as much as I bring in. My early collecting was DJ focused, and quite scattershot. I’m trying to focus on specific labels, styles, and media types. Things that don’t fit into one of two buckets: I love and will listen to over and over, or specific to my current interest.

My advice only collect what you love and don’t think about ever recouping a cent from it.

http://blog.archive.org/2011/06/06/why-preserve-books-the-new-physical-archive-of-the-internet-archive/

I intertionally kept my collection to one particular (and relatively inexpensive) kind of kimono, and also required that it be wearable by me, so that u could enjoy them as fashion as well.

I’ve built a respectable collection and have spent a relatively modest amount over ten years. Ive gained a tremendous knowledge of kimono, and also japanese culture and aesthetics.

The connections that collecting allowed me to make were the most precious, but as a result of my collection, I’ve taught a couple university courses, and curated a show of my collection at a museum.

I’m not sure If I could recoup my money or not, but my collection has been a wonderful experience.

The good thing about “collecting” this way is that I actually make enough off doing this so that my hobby is (more than) self-funded. The rules about purchasing prices still apply though – I hardly ever pay retail for anything (even parts), and tend to get my best buys at garage/yard sales.

Another good rule, when buying anything used: know the value (at least roughly) before you buy. I spend a few minutes each day perusing Craigslist and online bike shops – partially to hunt for good deals on stuff I know I need, and partially to develop/maintain an awareness of value.

In order to save money in the course of collecting, I created rules for myself. I couldn’t buy a DVD for myself if it cost more than $10. I couldn’t buy a book unless I’d already read it and knew I wanted to re-read it. And so on and so forth. These rules have helped me maintain my budget while still satisfying my inner materialist.

Through Ebay I was able to purchase many of them, but most came in collections with other books.

My best source was estate sales and thrift shops (the creepy kind in old churches), followed by garage sales and library sales. I would haunt the local used bookstore, but no way was I paying $25 for a 1950s Golden Book.

The only problem was, I had grown this inexpensive collection into a monster that filled many large plastic tubs.

I finally broke down and spent several evenings going through the books. I found doubles and triples and quadruples of many. I found a lot were current reprints of older ones I already had.

It took me several trips to drop them off at a donation center where I hope they went to good use (the place was later flooded in the recent East Coast storms).

I still look, I still buy and I’ll suppose I’ll still be redonating them later.

Now, who wants to buy some fabulous dolls made specially for me by Diana Effner?

For one, hoarding implies filth.

As such I do not horde what I buy, but instead maintain a constant state of flux. I pass on books to friends if I think they will enjoy them and sell on or donate things I no longer value.

This keeps my collection manageable and actually makes it nicer to own as it serves a purpose and the average value (emotional, not monetary) value of the items remains high.

Using the author as an example, think which is more special – 500 comic books stored away or 50 on display, each of which has been chosen and kept for a reason.

Depending on your definition, I also collect books, music, movies, and clothes. I don’t ever think a collection is finished, but I can think it is big enough. Once it gets to a certain size, I just get a lot more picky both about what I acquire and what I keep. My coins fit in one notebook (and a couple of booklets). My books, games, and movies fit in two giant bookcases. And my clothes fit in two small closets and a large dresser (plus some boxes in the garage of things that don’t currently match anything or aren’t my current size).

Maybe I also collect hobbies. I sure do have supplies for way more hobbies than I have time for at any given time, but I do keep going back and forth between the hobbies, so I do like keeping the supplies. For example, I hadn’t knitted anything in over a year, but it was nice that when I figured out a perfect present (after my friend complimented my hat for the millionth time and insisted on trying it on–I’m a little slow), I had my fabulous bamboo circular knitting needles and the pattern still there in my knitting supplies box.

There’s a Girl Scout badge on collecting (at least there was back in the 1970s) and one of the things you had to do is to find a good way to display or store your collection. I think this is an important part of using, sharing, or enjoying your collection. And if you don’t want to go through the trouble of properly storing and caring for your collection, that’s a sign that it’s not that important to you. (Or maybe real life is intruding a lot right now–could mean a lot of things!)

Now I realize people find happiness through different ways, and sometimes that can be through collecting. Who am I to say what makes other people happy in life?

I was born in the 80s and when I was a kid in the 90s I used to love reading The Sweet Valley Twins series, The Baby-Sitters Club series, Nancy Drew, and Little House on the Prairie. Even today I still love to read a lot.

Now that I’m in my 20s, I’ve been trying to buy the entire collection of Sweet Valley Twins which is about 200 books and same with the Baby-Sitters Club.

I’m trying to buy the sweet valley twins and baby-sitters club books that were out in the 90s and not the reissues that were updated for the 21st century and came out in the 2000s.

The nice thing is that the Nancy Drew and Little House on the Prairie is still in print so I don’t have to worry about those. They were a huge part of my child hood. I’m the type of person that loves re-reading books. The Sweet Valley Twins and the Baby-Sitters Club sell for less than $20 each.

A lot of times they sell for $2-3 dollars on Amazon. My plan is to scan the sweet valley twins and the baby-sitters club books into my computer and back them up on a disk or USB stick, so I’ll have them forever to enjoy.

Then I plan on selling the physical books back into the used market so other adults who used to love them can read them. When I was a kid we didn’t have a lot of money, so I used to get books from the library.

Nowadays I can buy my own books anytime I want, although I usually buy
e-books since they’re so convenient. People might think its juvenile and cheesy to be re-reading childhood books but I honestly don’t care. I’m not trying to impress anyone.

I love to read and its fun to look back at the different stages of my life and see what books I’ve read. Yes I will be re-reading the entire SVT and BSC series. There’s no point in buying something unless you’re going to enjoy it again

P.S. As for how much is enough. That’s easy for SVT and BSC books, because they’ve only published about 200 in each series I believe. Both series have spin offs but I’m not interested in those since I didn’t enjoy the spin-offs as a kid.