Elizabeth, you left out one other category ... GIVER. For the most part, I'm a little of all three, but more toward SELLER if possible. If something has real market value ... meaning I can get roughly 50%-60% of new, then I sell it. Like Foster_9 said, I like to use the proceeds from the sale to fund new purchases. That way, every major component is in use in one of my three systems.
I also have a couple of extra PC's, and a few I/C's that I keep just in case. Most of my tubes are keepers just because if they're rare and good, it's the reason to have them; and if they're cheap and not-so-good nobody would buy them anyway!
But if something really doesn't have a solid market (even on EBay), I'll sometimes just give that away. Most of my old main system - CDP, receiver, speakers/cable, I/C's - is installed at my daughter's home. Recently I gave away my bedroom system - Denon, Oppo, Polk, Bluejeans I/C - to a friend to make room for tube integrated with digital wireless front end.
Have I sold or given away something and later regretted it? Yeah, but I get over it and life moves on. It holds down the clutter and makes for an interesting hobby.
I also have a couple of extra PC's, and a few I/C's that I keep just in case. Most of my tubes are keepers just because if they're rare and good, it's the reason to have them; and if they're cheap and not-so-good nobody would buy them anyway!
But if something really doesn't have a solid market (even on EBay), I'll sometimes just give that away. Most of my old main system - CDP, receiver, speakers/cable, I/C's - is installed at my daughter's home. Recently I gave away my bedroom system - Denon, Oppo, Polk, Bluejeans I/C - to a friend to make room for tube integrated with digital wireless front end.
Have I sold or given away something and later regretted it? Yeah, but I get over it and life moves on. It holds down the clutter and makes for an interesting hobby.