Rarity is Relative!

I periodically refer to some things as being "rare."

Maybe they're not so rare after all because I often have quite a few of the things that I am talking about as being "rare."

Which brings me to the point that rarity in life is really a relative concept.

When I go beachcombing I occasionally find something that I consider a bit of a rare find. Could be a particular kind of stone or maybe seashells or driftwood for one of my art supplies businesses.

The point being that I'm delighted to find said item, and relative to how much time I spend on the beach and how many things I pick up that particular item is, indeed, rare.

Then I get criticized for calling something "rare" when I have multiples of it available but I have to remind myself that the person doing the criticising is somebody who perhaps goes to the beach three times a year and spends 30 minutes there... and so — to them — the fact that I have five or six of something they know as being rare seems "ridiculous."

But rarity is indeed relative: it is relative to how much time and effort you put into something.

For example, I have been a dealer in rare postage stamps and paper collectibles online for 25 years. My point here is that when an average collector says something "can't be rare because I have 10 of them for sale" that average collector spends maybe an hour a month working on their hobby.

I spend maybe 40-50 hours a week working diligently with the items they collect for their hobby (as a actual profession) so relative to the time I spend "rarity" is very different for me than rarity is for them.

It is a delicate dance, of course, because you have to be careful and mindful that just because you have a supply of something rare that you don't devalue it in the eyes of somebody who has a different understanding of rarity from you.

I would submit that art collectors experience something similar.

Somebody might dedicate their entire adult lives to a particular artist's work and they've spent 40 years accumulating a exceptional collection... and then a friend comes in their house and sees that they have 40 paintings by that particular artist — whose work is considered very hard to find — and suddenly that person (who knows no better) operates under the mistaken belief that what was rare is now common.

But the point is it is not common. It is simply relative rarity at play.

As a serious trader in many kinds of collectibles, I was considering this issue earlier today when I was looking through a major international auction house's sale catalog where I realized they had about 10-12 of a particular item for sale... an item 99% of collectors in that field have likely never seen.

Those items aren't suddenly "common" just because the greatest resource on the planet has 12 of them!

It's all situational... and relative!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your week!

How about YOU? Have you ever thought about what makes a thing "rare?" How would YOU define rarity? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 2026.02.17 22:08 PST
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