Where Does Picking Begin And Hoarding End?

[nitrous]

So I'm sitting around with my remote switching back and forth Between A&E's "Hoarders" and History Channel's "American Pickers" On each show the camera guy comes across people who collect a bunch of junk. Both people of stuff stacked to the ceiling, both have stuff that is probably worth at most $20 per item. And yet one show praises the collection and the other vilifies it. I know that on Hoarders there are people that don't even live as a human being and that have god knows what in their houses but I'm talking about the neat Hoarders. The kind that collect toys or just stuff. Not the kind that have poo all over their house. So my question is where does a hobby like picking or collecting begin and where does it end in Hoarding? or are they both one in the same?

[square_duck]

Coming from a family of hoarders, I can say the difference seems to be one hoards "stuff' for the sake of having it out of insecurity (?) the picker gathers and buys 'stuff' to be able to go back and sell it for a profit, not to keep..unless it's something that the picker likes for thier personal hoard!

I have my collections, being I am a model builder(ish), I have lots of models I 'plan' on building into what ever project I intended. I guess I hoard models too...I just like miniature stuff.. I also hoard diapers never being able to get enough I guess. I have a sizable stash which could be embarrassing but it's my stuff so it is what it is I guess. I could sell many of my models, since I have several duplicate kits....but why??

[jbz2079]

I hoard music, I have 15 years of vinyl albums, a few thousand CD'S , a thousand or so minidiscs and a computer with extra hardrives just to store music.

I seem to add to my collection all the time but I do actually listen to music often, both in the house and the car.

I tend to get annoyed by the radio because they tend to play the same one song by popular artists all the time and you always think there is a better songs on that album, this usually leads to a listening session, where you play the track you were thinking of and a few others.

The problem these days is finding either something new you like or something from the past you have missed, but as there is so much music around you do sometimes get surprises.

[bbgirlmichelle]

I honestly can't say, other than important documents and our dvd/blu ray collection we have a 6 month rule, if we haven't looked a an item in 6 months then we don't need it and it gets tossed. I went went through 2 moves where the same unopened boxes got moved from house to house and never opened, that made me decide to institute the 6 month rule and they were tossed on move number 3.

Most, if not all of the people I've seen on hoarders live in discusting situations and do need help to change if not just for their health.

*huggles*

Michelle

[LILJIM]

I hoard somethings I plan on using.(One day)..lol I have used some of the stuff off & on fixing things for myself & others. One guy in the town near me; did models too. He had some put together & some still unopen. After he died they autioned them off after the family got their picks. They cleared over a million for the older models no-one seen in years.

[beallucanb]

I think you hit the nail on the head when you said the difference is the kind of objects, some can someday be worth a few bucks where something that poops will never be worth anything they just make more things that poop.

I buy and sell sports car parts sometimes I have a basement full of parts and it looks like I'm hording, and a week or a moth later I might have 1 item left.

I never feed my things maybe I wash and polish but that is all the expense I run into.

I don't make a ton of money, but sometimes I do turn a small profit and meet interesting people.

I think I like meeting the different people more.

[Aina]

I don't have the money, once bills etc are paid, to buy to hoard! As a child I did collect comics. I wish I'd kept them now hehe

[Creepymouse]

I'd say in a lot of cases, the Pickers are buying from Hoarders. Hoarders are not in business to sell stuff, whereas the Pickers are.

[Dirty Diaper/Maxipad Lover]

Hoarding: Obtaining and subsequently retaining several random items that could never be construed as a "collection," and which lack any actual or perceived value. Hoarders do not collect, but merely obtain the items that they hoard. A fan, some bubble wrap, a couple of toys, a used tissue, and a CD player does not constitute a collection. Several fans, a specific line (or specific lines) of toys, and several types of CD players constitute collections, while the used tissue is trash, and while the bubble wrap may be useful, it's not a collection.

Collecting/Picking: Collecting several items with a consistent "theme," that could be considered part of a collection, even if it's an obscure one. The items collected by collectors/pickers have either actual or perceived value, or both. It's worth noting that in the case of picking, there's a good chance that the picker will see the items he or she has acquired, although this is likely untrue of the collector. It's also worth noting that it's possible to have multiple collection and not be a hoarder. A collector will be able to distinguish between the items in his or her collection, while a hoarder will treat everything as part of one collection.

Hoarder: One who obtains items without any rhyme or reason. Hoarders tend to have a negative outlook on the items that they've obtained. (I'll get to why this is important in a moment.) Hoarders, real hoarders and not just what A&E (inaccurately) depicts as "hoarders" accumulate items that cannot be grouped/quantified as part of a collection.

Collector: One who collects items that are specifically related to one an other. It's possible for a collector to have multiple collections, but unlike the hoarder, the collector will distinguish between the collections. Collectors have a positive outlook on the items that they've collected--in other words, they're proud of their collections. This is in contrast to hoarders who are ashamed of their hoards. It's also worth noting that collectors can collect obscure things that may not generally be considered "collectibles." Year's ago there was a contestant on Jeopardy! who had a collection of (unused) "barf bags" from airlines around the world.

Picker:A collector who collects with the intention of selling the items in his or her collection.

I'm a collector, I have multiple collections, and many items are indeed in storage. Unlike a hoarder though, I'm proud of my collections. I occasionally do sell duplicates of items from various collections, but that's admittedly a rarity. I generally purchase two of any given item (again there are exceptions,) in my collections, one to keep sealed in the box, and one to open and display. My most obscure collection is probably my diaper collection, which you can read about in my DD Blog. With the exception of two items, every item in my diaper collection is sealed. Every bag of diapers is "new," and there are obviously no used diapers in my diaper collection. The diapers that I intend to use are generally stored in a different location then the diapers in my collection. (There are one or two exceptions, but even then, the diapers that I intend to use are in a separate box from the ones that I do not intend to use.) I have other more mainstream collections as well, but as I mentioned before, I know what's in them, and I know what they're worth.

As for History's "American Pickers" and A&E's "Hoarders," look at the difference in the channels, as well as in the items and people they're depicting. The History Channel is known to have a certain level of journalistic integrity, not to mention class, and in the case of "American Pickers," they tend to praise people who have unique, rare, or interesting collections. In contrast, A&E is almost infamous for their "trash TV" reputation, they're purely an entertainment channel, and as such, they're focus is purely on ratings. (Yes, The History Channel needs to bring in decent ratings as well, but they tend to be more tasteful in the way that they go about doing so.) With "Hoarders," A&E tends to pander to the lowest common denominator, by going for shock-value and focusing on people who hoard gross things like dead animals. (The one episode of "Hoarders" that actually involved dolls was highly controversial and sparked quite a bit of outrage from A&E's viewers. Some questioned whether or not what was shown even constituted a "hoard.") This is in contrast to The History Channel, which tries to bring in viewers by showcasing interesting/unique/rare collections, and the people who own/maintain the interesting/unique/rare collections in question.

[sarah_ab]

was wondering where you got those definitions from?