I am an inveterate packrat in games as well as real life, but it is in the realm of Harvest Moon and Rune Factory that this characteristic actually can be positive, provided always that one can find storage space for everything.
First of all, however, it is important to realise that one must create a perfect balance between shipping and storing items in these games. In Rune Factory 4, shipping at least one of every item has particularly positive effects, as it will allow the item to appear in local shops or in the menus of merchants such as Raven, the Fish Merchant and the Gem Merchant. You always should ship the very first 'Material' that you obtain, whether as a War Trophy or otherwise, as it then has the potential to appear in Raven's knapsack where you can purchase it. Purchase prices for Items are far higher than the price you will obtain when you ship the same item, but that is of little consequence really compared to the ability to lay hands upon the item without going into a dungeon to fight the same Monster again and again in the faint hope that it will be dropped as a War Trophy.
Furthermore, you can obtain valuable Items early in the game but when they are Materials that can be used at the Forge or Crafting Table, you will not be able to use them until your Skills at those activities increase enormously. When then store an Item you cannot use?
Once you have shipped an Item, you can begin to collect it for your own future use. Storage space always is a problem for me, but there are ways to mitigate the problem if you know where an Item can be stored. Most Items are defined rather rigidly in terms of storage. Crops, Fish and Cooked Dishes can be stored only in your backpack or in the Refrigerator. Materials, Ores and Gems only can be stored either in your backpack or in the Storage Bin. There are some Items, however, that can be stored either in the Refrigerator or in the Storage Bin. These include Herbs/Grasses, Flowers and Ingredients. Ingredients are those Items like Flour or Chocolate that can be purchased at the General Store as well as some Items crafted at the Medicine Bench that are used in Cooking, such as Sour Drop.
Finally, Seeds and Nutrients can be stored either in a Refrigerator or in the Storage Bin, giving the Player more flexibility with respect to storage.
As in any Harvest Moon or Rune Factory game, options to expand storage space, whether in the form of your Backpack, the Refrigerator or Storage Bin do exist. In Rune Factory 4, however, expansions depend upon a new option in the form of Prince/Princess Points, abbreviated as pp. To make expaansions or engage in building projects, go to the Order Board in the throne room where Ventuswill resides. You then will find all available expansion projects with their prices. Storage expansions are listed under 'Development'. It is here that you will find a fundamental difference between Expansion of a Refrigerator and Expansion of a Storage Bin which can make the flexibiity in storage of certain items very important in a practical sense.
To expand your Refrigerator, you will need Material Stone. To expand your Storage Bin, however, you will need Lumber. For example, the cost of expanding your Refrigerator size from 450 to 570 is 1500 pp, 500 Material Stone but to expand your Storage Box from 450 to 570, you will need 1500 pp and 500 Lumber.
I find it easier to collect large quantities of Lumber than Material Stone for one reason alone. When various types of Rocks drop upon your Fields, you cannot charge your Hammer to smash them all at once without destroying any tilled spaces. You can charge your Axe, however, to deal with every Branch and other source of Lumber to the maximum without destroying tilled Squares. It therefore is easier to clear the Fields of wood as well as easier to collect Lumber.
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