What separates hoarding and collecting

[RanmyakuIchi's icon RanmyakuIchi RanmyakuIchi]

It's a few different factors for me. A collection consists of items you are passionate about or bring joy, while hoarding consists of things you have no emotional attachment to. Getting way too carried away with collecting to the point that it negatively impacts your quality of life also veers into hoarding territory.

Another thing, for me at least, is how presentable or "respected" the items in question are. Passionate collectors tend to take care of (or should imo) their stuff, keeping it clean and presentable, whereas a hoarder tends to just let them pile up and collect dust.

 

[SoraSquood]

It's a few different factors for me. A collection consists of items you are passionate about or bring joy, while hoarding consists of things you have no emotional attachment to. Getting way too carried away with collecting to the point that it negatively impacts your quality of life also veers into hoarding territory.

Another thing, for me at least, is how presentable or "respected" the items in question are. Passionate collectors tend to take care of (or should imo) their stuff, keeping it clean and presentable, whereas a hoarder tends to just let them pile up and collect dust.

I was just about to bring up that last bit.

A collector tends to keep it clean, organized. It could look a bit cluttered, but ultimately everything is in its proper place and there's still ample room to move around and look...well, normal.

A hoarder just makes their house look like a walk-in dumpster.

 

[fake-kun]

Simple. You collect because you want to, you hoard because you have to.

 

[chxshire22]

all great points which reminds me that i have to go clean my room lol it's definitely looking like a storeroom rn.

also one of the reasons i asked was because most of the stuff i want to buy or collect are what people consider "junk" like the nes console's condition is unknown but i wish to give it new life again someday, i have multiple psp consoles waiting to be repaired and given away or sold to a friend, i'm picking up 3ds consoles to repair as well to sell.

the boombox i was planning to buy doesn't turn on either (now canceled the seller raised the price by another $100 for literal junk because i showed interest), i wanted to do a repair and swap out the 8d batteries to rechargeable batteries from old laptop / phone batteries

i have a little hobby in tinkering and it feels like my room is turning into a minor workshop

definitely will have to keep in mind and make sure everything is neat and tidy, everything has its place, and purposefully kept.

i have a friend who i think has a hoarding disorder for tech as well - his room is a mess, he sleeps on a mattress that he props up against the wall when not in use.

he does the same thing - collects old junk from electronic dumpsites and repairs them, electrical bicycles, laptops, cameras, game consoles, even random cables, i saw him picking up a random 3-core cable off the trash. but he just keeps them afterwards accumulating at home.

i suppose i can do something similar, but as long as it's not in excess, and not mindless collecting it should be fine? just give old tech new life, and sell/give them away once i've satisfied my addiction to tinker with gadgets

 

[King Koopa's iconKing Koopa]

Collecting is the feeling of wanting something. Hoarding is the feeling of needing it.

 

[Antilocal123]

Idk man I don't do that nerdy shit. /j

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

They're the same but one is more socially acceptable.

 

[Another Iori]

Considering hoarders and collectors, perhaps both start from the same impulse, but what differentiates them is the control of their mind and intelligence.

A hoarder thinks irrationally like an animal and has no real interest in what they are going to purchase; for them the pleasure lies solely in making the purchase, not in using the supposed object of desire, in fact, once it arrives at their home, the acquired item ceases to matter and is neglected or discarded by their relatives.

On the other hand, a collector has internalized one or more concepts for which they would spend money and only buys items at a certain price based on their condition.

Then there is the type of collector who buys objects solely for their aesthetics or to boast about having a limited edition copy and the collector who actually buys only what they will use and what they might share with others.

 

[Nidoking's icon Nidoking Nidoking]

Collection is a desire to gain while hoarding is an unwillingness to relinquish.

 

[Retro Doomer]

Hoarding Vs Collecting ? well in my Opinion Hoarding is just keeping everything you can just because you can while Collecting is if you get stuff that actually interests you or that you are passionate about.

 

[Taukyrie]

I'd say the main difference between hoarding and collecting is that usually when someone is a collector, they want to keep whatever they display neat and tidy and ready to show others.

With hoarding, it's just random shit thrown around their room or house without a care in the world.

Yes, I am speaking from experience because my uncle is a hoarder who is moving his shit into other rooms at my grandma's house because his actual room is so full of magazines and books he never reads that we're scared it's gonna cave in. Also, his tendency to buy model kits of WWII battleships and never build or do anything with them. Hell, I found out they released the OG FF7 for the PC in the old days because I found its box in a pile of his stuff.

 

[Grumpy_Old_Man]

I think I am a bit of both, like collecting alcohol beverages bottles, some varied figurines, like Quixote ones and rag dolls.
While i Think I have the "adventure game syndrome", this bunch of crap will be useful later on my life.

 

[Skeetos]

As long as you are keeping your shit snazzy, not holding back cool shit from the public, and not keeping trash everywhere, you are good man. I know lots of people talk about need vs want, but we all have our vices. Try telling somebody today who smokes weed or cigarettes to stop because they don't need it, see how they react lol. It's different sure, but that's what I mean. Collecting games is not as extreme as one would think. Especially if you're like me and only go for stuff you know you want to have for sure. Like for me that's Crash Bandicoot stuff and hopefully one day the Japanese Yakuza releases. I still regret not picking up the Japanese Crash 2 Manga when it was still cheap. I had the money man, could've bought them.

 

[Antilocal123]

What Skeet Skeet said the fucking copycat /j

 

[Skeetos]

What Skeet Skeet said the fucking copycat /j

Nah, you know you can't come up with anything smart. Freakin cavewoman.

 

[Cuestionador]

I like to collect comic books, but always gave something to my friends, and i try to keep a strict sense of space: if i adquire a comic, i get rid of at least other two that i already have.