It seems like the love of collecting may have become a memory of yesterday. It used to be that you couldn’t walk into someone’s Unity home and not find Art, Books or a Pooh Bear collection.
Unity baby-boomers were obsessed collecting things. The craze these days is to be a minimalist.
So when you’re ready to scale down or sadly when a collector family member passes away what do you do with their Precious Moments, Books or Pooh Bear collection?
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, creating 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. Grandmother may have paid $60 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 significant amount of time.
You can give it to a place like a Unity Goodwill. They will take it. However, some people struggle with the thought of their Mom’s adored collectibles being separated and sold for .99 cents. The plush could become a dog toy.
You could donate any plush to a Unity 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 Grandmother really took care of the plush and displayed them. Some people have a hard time with a plush collectible becoming a plush child toy.
Many times I have been contacted by family members and asked if they can donate and if I will accept Pooh 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 Unity 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 donation of collectibles along with mine. I consider their items as THEIR collection in my database.
When someone donates Winnie the Pooh 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 collection. You can put a price tag on a mug or statue but you can’t put a value on happiness.
By donating Winnie the Pooh Collectibles to the Guinness World Record Pooh Collection the collection stays together and the memories are still there too. In fact, if the owner wants, they can even visit their items when traveling from Unity to WI.
If you have a collection of Pooh Bear items to donate, feel free to reach out to me and we can coordinate adding your Mother’s Pooh Collection to history and the Pooh Bear Museum.
Deb Hoffmann - 414-708-0633