Having, collecting and hoarding

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

All three are very, very different.

‘Having’ means that you’re in possession of something.

‘Hoarding’ is the inability to throw anything away.

‘Collecting’ refers to acquiring specific sets of items without regard to their utility.

Of the three, hoarding is the only one that indicates a psychological problem.

By way of example, at any given moment, I have between 30 and 50 musical instruments in my house. But I’m neither collecting nor hoarding them - I trade them for money.

Boru

And those definitions are subject to perspective.


For instance - I have Saturns. Primarilly SC2s.

I currenty have 14 +. (Hard to say how many - as I have parted many out). 8 are drivable.

To me - it's simple - I like them, they are fun to drive and simple to work on. However - they don't make them anymore (almost 20 years) -and parts are getting harder to find. 

Some people think it's a goofy hobby. Some an obsession.

However - the latest one I bought - I paid $350. I paid my neighbor $150 to haul it home using my dolly and his truck (better suited than mine for longer hauls).

I put a couple days work in on it - using parts I had here. I could sell this $500 car easily for $2000. I have seen dealers asking $4000 for comperable cars.

It’s clearly not hoarding or collecting, as all those cars have a practical use - you’re using them for parts and to sell. If you had 14 Saturns just to look at them, it would be collecting. If you had 140 Saturns because you can’t bear to be parted from them and they have no practical use, you’d be a hoarder.

But I agree with you that the definitions are somewhat fluid. I tend to think of it in terms of postal stamps. I have stamps in the house for posting letters. Some people collect stamps because they’re unusual or valuable. If someone has 10 000 shoe boxes full of stamps and has to stack them in mazes in order to get to the toilet, it’s hoarding.


Boru