QUESTION Vaulting Pins?

[PIN & POP Jenn]

One of the saddest post I see is when someone says they are selling their collection and then a few years later that are sad they got rid of them and then try to replace the collection they once had. I was thinking about a solution for this. Do you think it is worth figuring out how to store someone's collection for a long period of time (vaulting it)? Or do you think they really want out of the hobby and want to get some monetary value from their collection? Do you have other ideas of a solution for this?

 

[Cicada]

Seems like a tough one — everyone may have different motives for leaving the hobby or getting rid of their pin collection, though I suspect a majority are getting out either out of necessity (needing the monetary value of their collection), or simply losing interest; in both cases, money seems like a driving factor.

The interesting thing about it, though, is is you "vault" it for a long enough period of time, some pins can rise in value, almost making it an investment....so if one is simply losing steam and is no longer interested, but may not need the money, it may be worth it for them to store the collection, step away for a few years, and see where things are at later on down the line.

 

[alanfalcon]

One thing digital collectors are sometimes able to do is basically take out a loan against their collection. In some ways it lets them "sell" their collection to someone else but retain an option to buy it back (with interest) by a certain time or to walk away if they find they are fine without it (and then the loaner receives the collection free and clear). To do it with a pin collection you'd need some trusted third party intermediary to act as the vault, but could be kind of interesting especially if it's fairly common for someone to sell because they need money right now but then regret not having the collection later. Wonder how hard it would be to find someone/people interested in taking on the lending side of that.

(Come to think of it, I kind of described a pawn shop, haha, which I guess would work in a pinch, but I was thinking more specialized to pin collectors who understand and appreciate the value of the collection.)

 

[Cicada]

One thing digital collectors are sometimes able to do is basically take out a loan against their collection. In some ways it lets them "sell" their collection to someone else but retain an option to buy it back (with interest) by a certain time or to walk away if they find they are fine without it (and then the loaner receives the collection free and clear). To do it with a pin collection you'd need some trusted third party intermediary to act as the vault, but could be kind of interesting especially if it's fairly common for someone to sell because they need money right now but then regret not having the collection later. Wonder how hard it would be to find someone/people interested in taking on the lending side of that.

(Come to think of it, I kind of described a pawn shop, haha, which I guess would work in a pinch, but I was thinking more specialized to pin collectors who understand and appreciate the value of the collection.)

That’s something I hadn’t thought of either, and an interesting angle.

I believe @Pin & POP Jenn’s site works by facilitating live online pin trading as well as being the broker for those online physical pin trades (forgive me if I’m wrong, just joined the site and that’s my understanding) — so being an intermediary holding the collection may be something they can figure out

 

[Jabberwocky]

Seems like a tough one — everyone may have different motives for leaving the hobby or getting rid of their pin collection, though I suspect a majority are getting out either out of necessity (needing the monetary value of their collection), or simply losing interest; in both cases, money seems like a driving factor.

The interesting thing about it, though, is is you "vault" it for a long enough period of time, some pins can rise in value, almost making it an investment....so if one is simply losing steam and is no longer interested, but may not need the money, it may be worth it for them to store the collection, step away for a few years, and see where things are at later on down the line.

I've never seen pins - or anything else I've collected in my life - as an investment that will rise in value. They're something I love as I collect them.

Maybe it's because by the time I'm ready to pare down any older collections of stuff, they've lost all monetary value I've put into them and I generally wind up just donating stuff to charity because by the time I'm ready to let go of them, they're not worth anything (see: action figures, beanies, and anything else I've collected previously lol).

So I never advise "investing" in any collection for anything beyond the love of them.

Or maybe I just make really bad choices in what to collect.

 

[Cicada]

I've never seen pins - or anything else I've collected in my life - as an investment that will rise in value. They're something I love as I collect them.

Maybe it's because by the time I'm ready to pare down any older collections of stuff, they've lost all monetary value I've put into them and I generally wind up just donating stuff to charity because by the time I'm ready to let go of them, they're not worth anything (see: action figures, beanies, and anything else I've collected previously lol).

So I never advise "investing" in any collection for anything beyond the love of them.

Or maybe I just make really bad choices in what to collect.

Oh 100% — you generally have to sit on things for a long time, and even then it’s a crapshoot.

With collectibles, anything you just happen to still have that ends up being worth something years on down the line is generally just a pleasant surprise. And the stars have to align — increased public consciousness/interest about a particular thing, scarcity, etc.

Had I known 20-30 years ago that some of my Magic the Gathering and Pokémon cards would be worth ridiculous amounts of money today, I’d have kept them locked away in a vault and just waited Hindsight 20/29 and all that.

 

[Sithathoriunet]

I guess that I've lucked out in that I haven't regretted the pins that I sold when I took a break from collecting. I was able to use the money from the pins I sold to fund a new and continuing collection (art) and can't think of a single pin that I wish I still had.

 

[PIN & POP Jenn]

One thing digital collectors are sometimes able to do is basically take out a loan against their collection. In some ways it lets them "sell" their collection to someone else but retain an option to buy it back (with interest) by a certain time or to walk away if they find they are fine without it (and then the loaner receives the collection free and clear). To do it with a pin collection you'd need some trusted third party intermediary to act as the vault, but could be kind of interesting especially if it's fairly common for someone to sell because they need money right now but then regret not having the collection later. Wonder how hard it would be to find someone/people interested in taking on the lending side of that.

(Come to think of it, I kind of described a pawn shop, haha, which I guess would work in a pinch, but I was thinking more specialized to pin collectors who understand and appreciate the value of the collection.)

That is a very interesting thought. Solves some of the "I need money now" problem. Some great things to think about.

 

[PIN & POP Jenn]

I've never seen pins - or anything else I've collected in my life - as an investment that will rise in value. They're something I love as I collect them.

Maybe it's because by the time I'm ready to pare down any older collections of stuff, they've lost all monetary value I've put into them and I generally wind up just donating stuff to charity because by the time I'm ready to let go of them, they're not worth anything (see: action figures, beanies, and anything else I've collected previously lol).

So I never advise "investing" in any collection for anything beyond the love of them.

Or maybe I just make really bad choices in what to collect.

Lol....I'm bad at deciding what to collect too. Pins that I think are going to be super popular but they never are. Then my son just picks one and it turns out to be one everyone is looking for.
I always just feel so bad when people start to collect again and regret selling or even giving away their collection.
I definitely feel like collecting should come from the love of the item.

 

[PIN & POP Jenn]

I guess that I've lucked out in that I haven't regretted the pins that I sold when I took a break from collecting. I was able to use the money from the pins I sold to fund a new and continuing collection (art) and can't think of a single pin that I wish I still had.

It helps when you replace it with something you love more.

 

[alanfalcon]

I definitely feel like collecting should come from the love of the item.

Exactly this! Especially when you have a story attached to how you got it, or what made you fall in love with it, etc., that story attached to _your_ collectible makes it priceless so who cares what anyone else would value it at!

Then again, sometimes your house is overflowing and you do have to decide which ones you love _less_ than the others to make room for more

 

[firechief18]

If you have the space and the money, then vaulting pins would be feasible. You would have to figure out the vaulting cost and if the person would need to buy the whole lot back or if they could make payments to recover their pins.

 

[-em]

I think it’s a problem when people instead of starting slowly and building a collection over time when all their money obligations are met- instead jump in spending way more money than they should panic and try to get that money back only to realize they are in the same circle..

99.9% of Pins will NEVER hold the value assumed of them. Yes there is the 1% that may increase but they will never be a guarantee..

Do collections change and become less important? As one whose recently sent full complete collections to sell/trade recently

Like I owned everything single Contemporary resort pin and decided to sell it off- i can't even get $10 a pin off most of them. Its sad