Donating Your Great Aunt’s Pooh Bear Collection

It seems like the hobby of collecting may have become an activity of yesterday.  It used to be that you couldn’t go into someone’s Sleepy Eye house and not find Comic Books, Vinyl Records or a Pooh collection.

Sleepy Eye baby-boomers took seriously collecting items.  The craze today is to be a minimalist.

So when you’re ready to cut back or sadly when a collector family member dies where do you go with their Comic Books, Paper Weights or Pooh Bear items?

Selling Winnie the Pooh Items

You could try to sell the Pooh Bear Collection online.  Some of the problems you might face when selling online include: setting up a payment account, figuring out inviting listing descriptions, figuring out postage, packaging materials and weighing each item, answering question messages from potential buyers, handling returns on damaged items, etc. 

Also, figuring out pricing can be challenging.  Great Aunt may have paid $90 for an item but the online going rate is only $2.79.  You need to ask yourself the question “is my time worth just a few dollars”?  Online selling can take a lot of time.

Donate Pooh Items

You can give it to a place like a Sleepy Eye Goodwill.  They will take it.  However, some people struggle with the thought of their Great Aunt’s cherished items being separated and sold for .99 cents.  The plush could become a dog toy.

You could donate any plush to a Sleepy Eye kids place.  However, many places only accept items that are new, in the original boxes and are 5 years old or newer.  Plus, your Great Aunt really took care of the plush and displayed them.  Some people have a hard time with a plush collectible becoming a plush child toy. 

Donate Your Grandmother’s Pooh Collection to the Guinness World Record Largest Pooh Collection & Make It Part of History

Many times I have been emailed by family members and asked if they can donate and if I will accept Winnie the Pooh Collectibles. 

My answer is with great excitement!  I am always honored and humbled to – in my words – “to take care of their collection”. 

If I am talking to the Sleepy Eye  collector and owner I let them know which numbers their items will be in the Guinness World Record Largest Pooh Collection.  Their collectibles becomes part of history vs. being sold for a buck at a rummage sale.  I let them know I will showcase their donation of collectibles along with mine.  I consider their collection as THEIR collection in my database.

When someone donates Pooh Bear Collectibles I think it makes people feel better which I am happy for.  Letting go of “things” can be hard for a collector and owners and even sometimes for relatives.  As much as we don’t want to be labeled as “materialistic” – things we buy and collect can have sentimental attachments and it’s those feelings that we are attached to probably more than the items.  People remember where they were when they received an item, who they were with or even where in their life cycle they were.  They don’t want those memories to vanish with the collection.  You can put a price tag on a mug or poster but you can’t put a value on happiness.

By donating Pooh Items to the Guinness World Record Pooh Collection the collection stays entact and the memories are still there too.  In fact, if the relative wants, they can even visit their collectibles when traveling from Sleepy Eye to Wisconsin. 

If you have a collection of Pooh Bear items to donate, feel free to reach out to me and we can coordinate adding your Mom’s Pooh Items to history and the Winnie the Pooh Museum.

Deb Hoffmann - 414-708-0633

Deb@MostPooh.com