Collecting is a Ball Vol. 4: Postcards from the Edge of the Collecting World

Discover Your Hidden Worth

I have commented in the past that collecting is not dying. This is contrary to what many are saying; the belief is that younger people do not collect. First I have to laughingly try to define “younger.” For the sake of arguing, I will define that as people younger than me, which is younger than 50.

I totally disagree with the thought process that they don’t collect. I do believe that they:

• Buy differently than we have in the past. For example, they generally do not want to drive all over the countryside to find one item. Thus, as we saw at The Original Miami Beach Antique Show in January, they will go to shows where a large group of quality items are in one place. They also shop online, as it is quick to find a group of items that they are interested in and they are comfortable making online purchases.
• They buy different items then we did. This should not come as a surprise as this happens with every generation. Styles and tastes change. Also, furniture trends have been bad for years, as first home sizes shrank and the amount paid in mortgages went up. Thus, smaller collectibles and antiques became increasingly popular, especially things that could be put in the mail and paid for out of next week’s paycheck.
• Typically, for those in what I call the “hormone years,” collecting stops. People in the 18-35 age group, are chasing each other and put their collections aside. Once they catch each other, they start collecting again, filling their dwelling with things that will tie them to their past. When I reached this stage in life, I resumed my collecting with Lionel trains and coins, both of which had ties to my youth.

Collecting is in people’s genes and is not removed in a generation. And it will always tie a person securely back to a point in the past.

As a dealer, I must also remember that I am also, by definition, a marketer. This means I need to look for groups of buyers and determine how much money they have to spend and how to reach them. I then need to translate that knowledge into what I buy for resale. If you see me in your booth or shop, you will also see that I ask a lot of questions as I am always trying to learn about something new.

Looking at potential customers aged 12 to 40; what are they buying or collecting? I have seen a host of items. Some might associate a younger audience with a collectible such as PEZ dispensers, and others would just scratch their heads when you tell them there is a market for Sandinista rebel art. Personally, I did not know the latter existed. My best PEZ buyer is 14 and I learned I could also sell a certain PEZ dispenser for more than $1,000. Other items younger people collect are Civil War accoutrements, Marilyn Monroe, Japanese Manga art, Transformers, inside door knockers and postcards. I am always asking young people what they collect. Glass seems to be fading, but it has also been dropping from everyday use for some time and that would partially explain why.

I spend a lot of time in Columbus, Ohio, where WorthPoint has it’s tech facility and, consequently, spend several nights a week living at a hotel. One of my favorite 20-something cocktail waitresses there, Krista, is a collector. She collects postcards, which was something that surprised me. But it should not have, as I have a 13-year-old who collects them too. Post cards were once a way of life, first popularized at the Columbian World’s Fair. They were hugely popular up into the 1960s, but are disappearing from the shelves of the news stands at the airports and hotels. Pretty soon, we may not be able to find current postcards, as they are disappearing from our lives, along with all the other paper items. Postcards are quickly being replaced with digital photos I take from my cell phone and e-mail. The latter is quicker and I can send the photo I want to for free.

Krista brought her collection of postcards in for me to see. I have included some of these with this article. They fell into various groups of subjects, and they spanned about 80-plus years. (I have included some that I took pictures of with my cell phone.) Subject matters included;

• Hot looking guys. (Why not, men have collected their pin up photo postcards for years of hot girls.)
• Photo postcards of art she enjoyed. It is always priced more reasonably than original works of art. The artists ranged from the 1920s to modern.
• Humor
• Geographical. Krista is Hispanic and many of the cards tied her back to places she had been to in the Caribbean.

I had a blast going through her collection and it took me more than an hour to go through it with her, as her attention was interrupted by paying customers wanting service. I also learned a lot more about Krista as a person. It is always fun to do this and to make new friends this way. It helps make new customers, which expands my sales and helps to grow an industry I love. I now have a new postcard customer in Krista. She will join my younger 14-year-old PEZ collector in my group of “younger customers”. When you start to realize that the 14-year-old kid in your booth may lay out $1,000-plus for a PEZ dispenser, your view of these kids takes on a whole new vantage point. Just take the time to ask the kids what they collect. You may help yourself to a new market and also help build new collectors for the industry.

Will Seippel is the president and CEO of WorthPoint.com. Will has been an avid collector since 1974 and dealer of just about all things—with a emphasis on ephemera—antique since 1984.