by Tom Spruce
Have you ever looked at a piece in your collection and thought: "I'd never sell that." And not because it's worth millions or because it's particularly rare, but because it's yours?
Maybe it's a commemorative coin from a title-winning season, a signed shirt from a childhood hero, or a programme from that match you'll never forget. Whatever the item, the strange thing is, its value often changes the moment you get it.
Before you owned it, it had a retail price. But once it became yours, it became part of your story. Objectively, nothing’s changed. The item hasn’t aged, it hasn’t gained rarity in sixty minutes, and it hasn't altered in form.
So, what did change? You did.
The moment an object crosses into your possession, your brain completely rewires its value. Psychologists call it the Endowment Effect. But collectors simply call it being unable to part with something we love.
And, if you’re reading this, chances are you’ve experienced it too.
In short, the Endowment Effect is a psychological bias that causes people to assign greater value to something simply because they own it.
First coined by Nobel Prize-winning economist Richard Thaler in 1980, this classic economic theory suggests that Humans are supposed to be rational calculators.
Meaning that if you value a card, stamp or other collectable, for example, at £50 before you own it, you should logically be willing to sell it for £50.01. But human psychology doesn't play by the rules of spreadsheets.
To prove this, Thaler, alongside researchers Daniel Kahneman and Jack Knetsch, conducted an experiment involving simple university coffee mugs. They gave mugs to half the participants (the sellers) and left the other half empty-handed (the buyers).
Logically, the price should have balanced out. Instead, the study found that those in possession of a mug priced theirs at double the cost of those who were trying to buy it.
But why does this happen and how has it left its mark on us collectors? Well, there’s two areas to consider.
Psychologists have spent decades trying to figure out why our brains do this. Ultimately, it comes down to two primary evolutionary triggers: loss aversion and identity integration.
Loss aversion is the principle that the pain of losing something is psychologically twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining it.
When you sell or give up a collectable, your brain doesn't register it as a fair financial trade. In fact, it registers as a loss. To protect you from that psychological sting, you artificially inflate the item's worth.
The second trigger is what scientists call "psychological ownership." The moment we take possession of something, we make it part of who we are.
This isn't just a theory; it’s actually visible on a brain scan. In a neuroimaging study published by the British Psychological Society, researchers scanned participants' brains while they categorised items into baskets labeled "mine" and "someone else's."
When looking at the “mine” items, researchers saw a massive spike in the medial prefrontal cortex. The exact same area of the brain that lights up when we think about our own personality and traits.
This explains why we feel such a special connection to our collections. But why does the endowment effect work super well us - from famous collectors to normal everyday folk?
The thing is, most consumer goods are bought for utility: A kettle boils water, a laptop helps you work and a car gets you from A to B. But collectables operate differently.
Their value is rarely tied to practical function. Instead, we connect them to memories, identity, nostalgia, achievements and belonging. That makes us collectors particularly susceptible to the Endowment Effect.
For example, when a football fan buys a limited-edition piece commemorating a historic victory or era for their club, they aren't just purchasing metal, paper or fabric. They're getting a physical reminder of an experience or emotion.
This could also explain why we all remember our first collectable so vividly. Whether it was that programme from your first live game, the first sticker album you completed or maybe a gateway collectable like your first sleek Pokemon card, for example.
When that happens, the item’s market value and its personal value begin to drift apart. But let’s explore that theory a little more.
When someone asks what your favourite collectable is, you probably won’t point to the most expensive item. Instead, you’ll tell a story.
You’ll probably eulogise about where you found it, who you were with at the time, what it reminded you of and why it mattered so much.
This is because collectables accumulate meaning over time. Researchers have found that the longer we have an object in our lives, the more attached to it we become.
A commemorative coin acquired today may be treasured in ten years for reasons that have nothing to do with scarcity or resale value. The object remains the same while the lore around it grows.
But that’s not all, did you know that physical touch adds to the value again?
Of course, ownership is a powerful thing on its own. But there’s also a physical catalyst that acts as fuel for the endowment effect. This is known as tactile interaction. Which is just a scientific word for “physical touch”.
Studies have shown that when we handle an item, our brains process the weight, texture, and fine details. This sensory feedback helps to instantly pull the item into your personal "endowment."
This is why we all love the physical experience of collecting so much. It’s also what we previously explored when breaking down the concept of haptic value and what that actually means.
The physical weight of a minted coin or the detailed texture of a mirror-polished proof finish isn't just a premium design choice, it is a physical trigger that tells your brain, "This is quality, this is real, and this belongs to me."
It’s the exact reason why, as we suggested in our assessment of the boom in physical collecting, the sensory buzz of collecting creates an ironclad bond that digital-only assets struggle to mirror.
Now, before anyone accuses us of starting another "physical versus digital" debate, that's not where we're heading.
What the Endowment Effect reveals, however, is something particularly interesting. It suggests that physical possession plays an important role in strengthening our feelings of ownership.
Simply holding, storing, displaying or interacting with an object can increase the sense that it belongs to us. And the stronger that feeling becomes, the stronger the Endowment Effect is.
This helps explain why us as collectors often develop powerful attachments to physical objects. It also further explains why tangible collectables continue to hold such huge appeal despite us living in an increasingly digital world.
At its core, the endowment effect shows us that collecting is far more than just a hobby or a job for financial gain. It’s an emotional agreement and a psychological explanation for why our collections feel like an extension of ourselves.
That's why a commemorative coin can become more than metal, and why collectors often value certain pieces far beyond their market price. They're not just possessions; they're physical reminders of our favourite moments, passions and identities.
At ColleXable, we're fascinated by the psychology behind collecting and the objects that become part of our personal stories. If you're like us, why not subscribe to our email list for more insights into collecting culture, exclusive updates on upcoming releases, and the odd prize giveaway.
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