When is it "time"?

[Too Much WW1 Militaria]

It's time now....... The more I look at these tubs, the more I hate this stuff! LOL To heck with 80%, its ALL going!

[BrianS]

As my wife told me, "If you use it, keep it", "If you like it, Keep it". "If you don't use it, and you don't like it- sell it". Easier to apply to camera collections on the "using it part".

 

I'll add- if it is going to increase in value, think about keeping it as an investment. If you are going to miss it, and it will cost more in the future to replace it- keep it.

 

I was bit by the camera collecting bug at age 11, I am now 57. The value went up for lenses- I sell equipment if there is something I want.

 

I bought Robert Taylor's "Victory Flyover" for the 50th anniversary of the end of WW-II. Figured my Dad was somewhere in the background, the B-29s flew over for the signing. It is the Publisher's Proof which included a second print of the Missouri on it's way to Tokyo. Have never looked at what they sell until recently. Not a bad way to spend money.

[zotig111]

There is a lot of good advice in here. I have had several instances of selling off things to pay bills, fund home projets, etc. The thread is the same as mentioned here, sell off the stuff that can be replaced before the rare or historically significant. Focusing your collection on a specific topic or era will also help you downsize. While selling off whole collections or sections of collections, I have driven myself to become a more focused collector. Plus as you mentioned, with SOS coming up, you won't get distracted by the cool things that are outside your collections scope - thus saving money...

[1SG_1st_Cav]

15 years ago I had two large bedrooms on the 2nd floor of my house. It was full of mostly 1st Cav uniforms, sets of field equipment [WWI, WWI, Korea, Vietnam], a 2,000 piece collection of collar insignia, a 2,500 piece collection of DUIs, hundreds of pictures, maps, books, etc. I started selling it off slowly, and after 15 years I'm finally down to just a little bit of "STUFF". My knives and my 1st Cavalry Division DUI/Collar Insignia Collection is about all that's left. I just sold my Engineer Insignia Collection and I trust it will stay together. But, it is no longer my worry.

For the member above who said he is taking his with him "fugitaboutit!" As the Captain of my Color Guard Detail for the last six years, we have yet to see a hearse towing a U-Haul trailer behind it. IMHO, the most important things we can take with us are: 1: The Love of the Lord.

2: The Love of our Family. and 3: The love of our Friends. Any thing beyond that is superfluous. Stay thirsty my Friends!

[Brian Dentino]

Well said 1st Cav......well said! Things come and go, but the 3 loves you list NO ONE or NOTHING can take away.....thank you for putting it in such a correct perspective.

15 years ago I had two large bedrooms on the 2nd floor of my house. It was full of mostly 1st Cav uniforms, sets of field equipment [WWI, WWI, Korea, Vietnam], a 2,000 piece collection of collar insignia, a 2,500 piece collection of DUIs, hundreds of pictures, maps, books, etc. I started selling it off slowly, and after 15 years I'm finally down to just a little bit of "STUFF". My knives and my 1st Cavalry Division DUI/Collar Insignia Collection is about all that's left. I just sold my Engineer Insignia Collection and I trust it will stay together. But, it is no longer my worry.

For the member above who said he is taking his with him "fugitaboutit!" As the Captain of my Color Guard Detail for the last six years, we have yet to see a hearse towing a U-Haul trailer behind it. IMHO, the most important things we can take with us are: 1: The Love of the Lord.

2: The Love of our Family. and 3: The love of our Friends. Any thing beyond that is superfluous. Stay thirsty my Friends!

 

[jbassmaster18]

I've sold a few things thus far and am well on my way to getting my finances in order to begin house hunting in May or June!!

[MT247]

I am in a similar boat but I want to start selling things in my collection so that I can fund things that I want more in my collection. Room was also an issue so I try to collect the smalls (medals, ribbons, some helmets...). I have started collecting uniforms but there is a lot of taken up space. I would say sell what you need to to take care of the family, plus maybe down the road, you will get back into it.

[kammo-man]

Burn your collection.

 

Its just stuff.

 

Keep your favorite bit and burn it last .

 

owen

[BOLO]

Burn your collection.

 

Its just stuff.

 

Keep your favorite bit and burn it last .

 

owen

 

Thats probably a good idea, especially if you run into those types that want your collection for nothing, they low ball you with such low offers so they can resell it to somebody else

 

I would rather burn it or destroy it than let them have it

[Custermen]

So much depends on the person. There are some people who can keep things forever...I'm one who can't. It's probably because I have "generational ADD" (something prone in the Gen X'ers and Y'ers) and like to switch things up a bit routinely. My last "big" collection was my WW1 uniform collection. It was fun...but eventually it started running my life and I was spending FAR (like FAR) more time with it than my family. So I dumped it all and got into antique cars. Then I sold those because I needed the cash (can't eat an antique car...) and eventually wound up with the very few prized possessions from my collections over the years. These are things that are either irreplaceable (truly one of a kind historic pieces) or ones that mean something to me...uniforms (and other things) of the namesakes of the ships I served on, as well as everything that's been given to me over the years (I can't, in good conscience, sell things that people have given to me...just one of those things...and I have some really strange stuff because of it...)

 

 

Your comments is much like a few of the collectors I met in my local collector's club. They would get interested in one subject for a few years and then find another interest. So they were always buying and selling---hopefully with a profit. I'm sure they kept a favorite collection but if the market for that Japanese helmet jumped high enough, it was time to sell.

 

I'm at the opposite end of the original post. I'm down-sizing and preparing to retire. I had hopes to reap some profit from my collection. Okay I won't sale all of it at once but surely not give it away. I have pretty much given up with e-Bay. I just can't attract any bidding even with my photos and descriptions.

Most of my collection was purchased at the "retail" price. Maybe some were great buy's or trades. I wasn't planning for my collection as my retirement investment but I did expect that after 10 or 15 years, the price would inflate in value. It is a cold fact that collectibles can be influenced by the market and the public interest at the the time.

 

Then there is the difficulty in selling a large collection of several items, let's say DUI pins. How do you sell it? If you sell it as a collection, you expect to drop the price to draw a buyer. If you sell them individually on ebay, then you are basically competing against yourself---meaning a buyer looking for one pin will have to choose which one or maybe two.

 

I have one 100-year old item that I am ready to sale. I am really expecting this one will sell at 60% to 80% more than what I paid for it some 12 years ago.

[VladimirBerkov]

Investing isn't collecting. That's the trouble. You can speculate on what will increase in value but often it won't, or not as much as you would have expected. I'm not sure there is a real point in militaria as a store of value. If you don't enjoy it as-is why have it?

[b_hinch]

Interesting thread. I've only been collecting about five years, and have been very lucky to build my collection a great deal based on items I have bought and sold for a profit, mostly on ebay. I sell things that I don't care so much about to buy things I am most interested in and always look for deals on things I can "flip" for a profit. I have had a few regrets on things I wish I could get back, but all in all, my method has served me very well, because every item I buy and sell is at least a learning experience.

[268th C.A.]

I agree with b_hinch, I told my wife 30 years ago, I'm not taking any of it with me, I will give a few things that are family heirlooms to nephews. the rest is an investment. If we need money its gone! I know the other type too. I remember an acquaintance that ate tuna fish for 3 months to buy a uniform he wanted. Crazy. But that was 30 years ago when tuna was five cans for $1 LOL. I still enjoy the hunt it gets into your blood.......