It seems like the pastime of collecting may have become an activity of yesterday. It used to be that you couldn’t visit someone’s Winter Park home and not find Stamps and Coins, Cookie Jars or a Pooh collection.
Winter Park baby-boomers loved collecting items. The movement today is to be a minimalist.
So when you’re ready to scale down or sadly when a collector relative passes where do you go with their Stamps and Coins, Paper Weights or Pooh Bear collectibles?
You could try to sell the Pooh Collection online. Some of the issues you might face when selling online include: setting up a payment account, figuring out appealing listing descriptions, locating 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 $80 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.
You can give it to a place like a Winter Park thrift store. They will take it. However, some people struggle with the thought of their Grandmother’s cherished collection being separated and sold for .99 cents. The plush could become a dog toy.
You could donate any plush to a Winter Park children’s place. However, many places only accept items that are new, in the original boxes and are 5 years old or newer. Plus, your Mother really took care of the plush and displayed them. Some people have a hard time with a plush collectible becoming a plush child toy.
Over the years I have been emailed by family members and asked if they can donate and if I will take Pooh Bear Collection.
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 Winter Park collector and owner I let them know which numbers their items will be in the Guinness World Record Largest Pooh Collection. Their items becomes part of history vs. being sold for a buck at a rummage sale. I let them know I will showcase their donated items 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 family members. 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 purchased 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 items. You can put a price tag on a T-Shirt or jacket but you can’t put a value on happiness.
By donating Pooh Collectibles to the Guinness World Record Pooh Collection the collection stays grouped and the memories are still there too. In fact, if the owner wants, they can even visit their collectibles when traveling from Winter Park to WI.
If you have a collection of Pooh Bear items to donate, feel free to call me and we can coordinate adding your Mother’s Pooh Items to history and the Pooh Museum.
Deb Hoffmann - 414-708-0633