posted on March 4, 2002 06:11:48 AM new
What drives us to bid on something that is old? Can you imagine yourself walking into Kaufman's and saying, "Oh, I don't want that nice, new widget; give me an old, paint peeling, rusty one istead so I can hang it in my living room. And I will pay you 10x its' worth."
Is it the lump-in-the-throat, tug-at-the-heart feeling you get when you see something that gives you a flashback to your childhood? Why did I replace the shoes on my antique doll; why not sell the doll, make a huge profit and let THEM buy the shoes? Better yet, now that I have the original shoes, why not sell the whole thing and make even more $$?
I stumbled across Johnny & Jane West cowboy dolls while searching for something else. I immediately had a horrible urge to start tracking these dolls (& access & horse). Why? Just because I USED to have them. Didn't I donate them to charity because I OUTGREW them? I successfully resisted the urge to buy. All I had to do was ask myself, "Where will I put them," and that took care of that.
Maybe when we hit a certain age we need to recollect memories??? At what price? Why?
posted on March 4, 2002 07:59:21 AM new
You know you are perfectly right. I search ebay and find something that reflects my past and I think wow that would be nice. Then I look around my house and say oh where would I put this. Then I hit the back button and move on. Nostalgia is great but not any more for me. Just give me my picture albums and thats fine with me.
posted on March 4, 2002 10:17:01 AM new
People put more value into the stuff than the memories it symbolizes. The same might be said for those who buy almost anything: more value for said item than its utility or subsequent use. This is probably why not a few things I have bought on eBay have wound up for sale again there a couple of years later.
Stuff that really lights peoples' hearts is that old whatever that was in their family for years. Trying to find one just like it is a favorite eBay passion.
posted on March 4, 2002 10:47:37 AM newThis is probably why not a few things I have bought on eBay have wound up for sale again there a couple of years later
That's probably true for so many of us.
Stuff that really lights peoples' hearts is that old whatever that was in their family for years. Trying to find one just like it is a favorite eBay passion
Sometimes an obsession. It's easy to shop with your heart in your eyes and see that "old whatever" as something that would mean so much just to have it.
Now I try to picture that must-have widget as something I found on a shelf in my garage. It helps me see it more realistically.
Isn't it strange how our emotions can get tied up over an object? Wouldn't the manufacturers be surprised at what their 99 cent thing is selling for on eBay?
posted on March 4, 2002 01:50:44 PM new
Nostalgia & Collectibles can be summed up like this:
1.Passion,The Want,The Love of the Memory of things past,Memorabilia.
2.Hobby and Collecting,we all do this to some degree,some collect like museums,some like roadside stops.
3.Investment,some collectibles hold a better value then stocks and bonds,others pay a better % the most intrest in a year.Every thing has some value to some people,this is the being human.Stamps,coins,books,comics,toys,posters,glass,funiture all have a historical value collecting is a way to perseve this value.Money for all it is worth has to be backed by somthing,land,art,gold,etc...without backing it is just paper so we put value on items and this backs the value of money.
posted on March 4, 2002 02:19:39 PM new
ijusthaveit
I thought maybe I was trying to preserve childhood memories by having those things around me. Things I can touch.
It is also a nice thought that they gain a monetary value as they sit. Yes, I guess that is a kind of investment. Memories seem to have several different kinds of values.
I like the "do over" part.
Do you remember a little kid messing up at a game, and the big kids would give each other a wink and say "do over!". Little kid never knew that wasn't part of the rules.
