Cards Collectors are Different 5/5 (2)

Collectors have different preferences and attitudes that determine their behaviour within the collecting process. To buy, sell, and swap effectively, you have to understand the patterns of collectors’ behaviour and use this knowledge to empower your collecting habits.

There are four different behavioural patterns exist, and recognising them guides you out of the uncertainty and illusions:

• The predominance of logic or emotions (Systematic Collector vs. Passionate Collector).
• The preference for classical cards or new ones (Collector-Traditionalist vs. Collector-Innovator).
• The permanent or casual engagement into the collecting process (Regular Collector vs. Sporadic Collector).
• The time horizon of an investment (Collector-Investor vs. Collector-Speculator).

And they collect in different ways:

• The Systematic Collector carefully cataloguing her or his decks, being very careful and skilful
• The Passionate Collector collects from emotion, sometimes paying unreasonably high prices.
• The Collector-Traditionalist collects only canonical decks (as a rule, in RWS or Marseille tradition).
• The Collector-Innovator looks mainly for new decks, not especially taking into consideration canonical Tarot traditions.
• The Regular Collector observes her or his collection every day and is ready to buy, sell or swap regularly.
• The Sporadic Collector is a person at the beginning of the collecting hobby.
• The Collector-Investor is a person who regards the Tarot cards collection as part of her or his asset portfolio.
• The Collector-Speculator is driven by the hope of finding decks that will increase in price quickly.

However, all patterns are not stable because collectors’ behaviour can change during long-term collecting through the processes of attention and understanding. In this way, a passionate collector may become more systematic, a traditionalist starts collecting new decks also, and a sporadic collector may collect items more regularly. Broadly speaking, the more experienced a person is in the collecting hobby, the more rational her or his behaviour becomes. A knowledgeable (as a result of the long learning) person never proposes an insane price or purchases something at a price essentially higher than an average market level.

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