are you buying - selling - both or neither?

Over the past few years I have seen most of my fellow collectors move from buying to selling. people who I would be trying to outbid on ebay or race to the fairs are no longer competitors but is this a common trend?
I would love to hear from the pot heads here we need lots of you to post here so we get a good cross section, otherwise nothing will be gained from this thread.
A one word answer will do if you're too busy so BUYER SELLER NEUTRAL is better than no comment

 please get actively involved with this thread

Buying with the intention of selling which tends to end as hoarding!

I buy items I like, and items I know nothing about to research and extend my knowledge. As I buy more I sell some to make way for the new items. However, I do find items which I know I can sell well on Ebay and will buy them and sell on to give me more money to spend on the items I like.

Wot they said  Altjough I seem to be collecting vintage glass beer bottles atm, maybe because they're cheap and local

I started off with my father collecting Barnstable pottery a friends of his introduced him to in the early 1980's. Naturally after a while you get to want to get rid of the not so good and the mistakes for better examples. By 2000 we were doing a few fairs a year at Alexander palace just on the Barnstable pottery, nothing else. To be honest sales were not good. When you specialise to that extent it can be tough. So by 2006 we have stopped selling and only added one of two bits to the collection every year.

Roll on to 2013, I find myself with a lot of spare time and a nest egg to spend. So I end up dragging my father back in to selling and start buying to sell items in the same era as the Barnstable pottery we used to specialise in. Now its 2017 and the area I buy and sell in is much much wider, not just pottery. If it interests me and has some quality of construction or design then I will probably pick it up. I don't make my living through this as some do. But I constantly try and improve what I have around me. To do that you need knowledge, you get that by buying, selling and researching items. I have found it is the best way.

My tip for the moment early 20th late 19th century Japanese ceramics. They look great alongside English art pottery and are being given away online. Hand painted vases of exceptional quality £10-£20 on ebay. If I am not hunting for arts and crafts ceramics then it is those I am picking up.

Ps
I think most people that have a genuine interest in something gravitate to trading it. You want to meet people like your self, see better things and introduce your passion to new people.

I've slowed down with the buying , tho can't resist a bargain and end up selling stuff about once a year , selling my own stuff is going quite well can't produce enough 'planets' recently started collecting thimbles ( metal not ceramic)as they don't take up much room but give me something to look for when theres not much pottery around

collecting thimbles doesn't fit with that avatar Paul

They are METAL thimbles!

I buy British studio pottery by makers that I like. This tends to be almost always at auction, as this is the only real way of getting them,as most of ther makers I collect have stopped making, or have had limited production. It makes the whole process of collecting more interesting, as I often have gone to view days and see and handle pottery that is from other people's collections built over many years.
I sometimes find myself buying large mixed Lots just to get my hand on one or two pieces I really like. I also find myself getting tired of some pieces, or some potters I collect. So I have a clear out and winnowing on Ebay before Xmas.

Mordeep wrote:They are METAL thimbles!

Don't get me started Dan! Us old school collectors are an endangered species.

Although I might have classed myself as a collector in the very early years of being interested in pottery, I have been buying to sell for 30 years. Although what I buy has changed and how I buy it, I still continue to buy to sell and it hasn't slowed down. These days I look for more specialist items and buy almost exclusively from collectors wanting more room or getting to the age of needing to downsize.

My days of boot sales/charity shops & fairs have passed, although if I am passing a charity shops I usually can't resist popping in. For me these options are not sufficiently productive for what I wish to find.

I haven't bought from auction for around 3 years, as they have become places where people pay top retail prices, often more than I would have the nerve to ask for a pot.

I'm grateful to Dantheman for starting this thread because it gives me a perfect excuse (admins permitting) to give an outrageous plug for my new book Random Treasure - Antiques, Auctions and Alchemy, which will be published on 28th August.  

In the book I use many examples of remarkable objects bought and sometimes sold over a lifetime of collecting, including a unique jug made co-operatively by Bernard Leach and Michael Cardew.  I try to examine what qualities the collector needs to find and research objects, and what criteria might be used for decisions about keeping or selling. And there's a handy chapter to help readers to analyse their own behaviour: are your collecting habits within the normal range or are you in danger of tipping over into dangerous obsession and compulsion?

You can read more about Random Treasure and see my blog on my website here.

At the end of the book in the acknowledgements I mention this forum. I describe you as "the collectors and experts who are always willing to help to identify the odd bits and pieces whose photos I post in the hope that they might turn out to be random treasure". Thought I'd better include this bit of flattery to make it less likely that the Admins will delete this posting .

By the way, some members of this forum were very helpful a few months ago when I was looking at alternative cover designs for the book.  Here's the final design (note Wallwork).

the best of luck with the book, please keep us posted

And that was an advert break!

Thanks Dantheman and Philpot. So, in answer to the original question that started this thread . . . I'm selling!

more literally than I meant but okay