Dealer? “Dealer”/Collector? Or Collector only!

[GeoPoto]

As soon as you decide what your collecting focus is, you will start buying items that are inside the boundaries of that focus. The immediate opportunities facing you will be a pyramid of choices -- few high-end items at the top of the pyramid and more items as you progress down the quality scale. So lets say you buy a large number of items and really get your collection rolling. As time goes by you continue to monitor the "deal flow" and add to your collection. You soon realize that many of the items you bought before are less enticing than the same items from higher up the quality scale and those more enticing items are now being offered for sale. So you buy the more enticing items and swell with pride in your collection. Except, you now have items you don't really want -- they are the earlier acquisitions that have now been displaced by more enticing finds. But, those displaced items have value on the market which now exceeds their value to you. You need to sell them and recover that value. Even if you began planning to be a "buy and hold" collector, you find that you are also an active seller. Does that make you a dealer?