Where do you draw the line between collecting and hoarding?

For better or worse (probably worse), I am a collector of many things. If you were to look around my room, my two most prominent collections would be license plates and computer parts.

A sampling of my license plates

Some computer parts I happened to have on my desk

I collect license plates solely for decoration and the fun of collecting. I don’t own a car, nor do I even have a drivers license! In total, there are about 50 hanging on my walls. Some are from

On the other hand, I collect computer parts for utility. Whenever I see an electronic device being discarded, I’ll disassemble it and remove any reusable parts that appear to be in working order. They are useful to have around for fixing or upgrading people’s devices. Since they typically come into my possession for free, I like to give them away at no cost.

If a random poll was taken and people were asked if either my license plates or computer parts constituted more of a “hoard”, I would bet that the computer parts would win, despite being the more functional of the two collections.

It’s odd where we tend to draw the lines between collecting and hoarding. Quantity, cleanliness, and organization seem to be some of the main deciding factors between collections and hoards.