Are you a collector of 'things' whether for money or fun?

For those who are already collectors, you will know many of the 'unspoken rules', but beginners won't, so I will review them for those who are just starting out. 

Once you have chosen the item you want to collect, you must decide how much money you are willing to spend to get the items.  If you are struggling to make ends meet on a regular basis, then it wouldn’t be prudent for you to spend the rent money on a collectible that won’t be worth anything for many years to come; if you can keep it safe for that period of time, that is.  Smaller items are easier to store away, but they are also easier to damage, so care will have to be taken.  Whatever you decide to collect will have to be stored somewhere until their value has increased; use common sense for this step.

They can be stored in plastic card sheets that can be stored in binders.  Binders don't take up much room.  They can also be stored in boxes, sleeves, or even small totes because they are so small.

Such as elephants, bears or bunnies.  These are cloth and therefore extremely difficult to protect.  In fact most stuffed animals don’t come in a box of any kind, making them even harder to protect.  For the best protection, store in a clean, dust free, pest free environment (the mice like stuffed animals, too).  Keep the tags on them to increase their value and purchase specific name-brand animals with dates or special names.  Be careful, however, because most stuffed animals, even if dated or named,  are not collectible items and won’t be worth very much in the future. 

While frogs are great items to have in the garden, or bathroom, etc. they don’t usually lend themselves to be a collectible.  Frogs are everywhere and will probably be around for many years to come.  It is rare to find a unique frog, but if you do, snag it.  That unique frog might actually be worth something in the future. However, frogs ARE fun to collect.

Furniture becomes more valuable as it ages, in most cases.  However, furniture is large and bulky making it difficult to store.  Furniture is susceptible to moisture, dust, dirt, grease, scratches and other damage.  Furniture also tends to break apart when it gets old.  Extreme care must be taken to protect furniture if you plan to collect it.  Also, furniture that is new to you, won’t be considered antique until it is 100 years old and still in good condition.  If you chose to collect furniture as an investment, you might want to go to yard sales and auctions to find furniture that is already well on its way to becoming valuable.  Be prepared, however, because you will have to dish out some money when trying to make an investment in collectible furniture.

Are excellent collectibles, provided you have a great deal of money to invest and a safe place to store them.  However, these cars are hard to come by.  To buy one and rebuild it is also very expensive because the parts for it are no longer made and must be custom built for your particular vehicle. 

Guns are a great collectible item; however, they can also be very dangerous.  If you are collecting guns, you need to keep them unloaded and in a locked cabinet especially if there are young children around.  Children love the lure of guns and can harm themselves or others because they don’t know how they work.

Sometimes we find that things we have had all of our lives have suddenly taken on some kind of value, like that old bean pot your great-grandmother used.  You didn’t know what to do with it, so you put it in the attic.  Now you are trying to clean out the attic and you find it sitting in a corner.  Before you throw it out, check with several dealers because that pot isn’t made anymore and might now have some value to a collector.