Inherited a Train Collection - Advice on Selling / Values

[Richard -373652]

Good Morning All

This is my first post so be gentle :)

Sadly last year i lost my father and have inherited a Train Collection that i am looking to sell for a fair price. Ive been on the internet and had a couple of offers that have varied massively.

I am an Ebay user but dont really want to list quite a large number of individual items and incur the fees / postage etc that come with that.

I have a mixture of Engines and Carraiges, along with a number of EFE Buses. There are also quite a few lengths of track / buildings / people etc

99% of the trains are Bachmann and all bar 3 carraiges are boxed and look like theyve never been used at all - Some of the boxes have scuffs etc but generally VGC

Does anyone have any advice on selling / splitting them / joblot / where? Fair pricing guide.

I accept that the buyer will maybe want to sell so understand prices need to be realistic BUT also want a fair price for a much loved collection

I have a list of the trains ( im not a train person!)

Any feedback really welcome

Thankyou

R

RDS Mod Note: I have moved your post to this General Discussion section of the Forum.

[Engine shed 1]

You could try and get offers from shops depending were you are based in Sheffield there is a shop called rails of Sheffield or there is a shop in east Sussex called classic rail both have websites and both will be very helpful with advice and helping you to what to do and sorry for your loss

[atom3624]

Hattons, Colletts, and several others also provide this service - but don't forget, whilst convenient for you, they'll only give a value which helps them make something on it - including transport, postage, packaging, etc.

Look on Ebay - there are often collections there, but it's a lot of 'administration' for you, firstly to establish a fair price for each, and then to present and list.

It's always generally going to generate a better overall 'financial recovery' if you list / sell separately, but that takes a lot of organisation.

There may be a few fairs - model railway or general 'collectors' fairs, where you could feasibly make a few contacts, then get them to visit if it's quite a lot.

Al.

[RB51]

I successfully sold twice to Hattons. You do have to negotiate the price "up" though, and I believe they pay the postage once you've agreed. Well worth doing in my view. R-

[Bulleidboy]

If you pick up a copy of Hornby Magazine (there are others), there are numerous shops advertising that they buy "collections" - you might find one near to you. I doubt the track will have much value. You could also see if there is a model railway club/society in your town - just another option.

[John-L]

As others have noted, you will get a lot less of you sell them as a job lot.

If you have the time to sell them yourself I’d recommend eBay. Just do a ‘sold items’ search for each of the models you are selling and you will see how much they usually sell for.

I recommend listing them as buy-it-now prices but include the option for buyers to submit a best price offer, that way you can still accept a lower offer if needed.

[Rana Temporia]

Do a search on this as there have been lots of similar questions before. I am dealing with the same issue and I know about model trains and I’m finding it difficult. I sold some items to a dealer, I won’t go there again! I have had some success selling wagons in job lots but I suspect that none of them have ever been out of the boxes so I have been getting a good price for them. One dealer tried it on and didn’t get any, another gave me what i wanted so got them all.

I have been selling locos on eBay, I know what they should be going for so I am getting better prices but it’s a lot of work and eBay take around 20% on the selling price AND postage. I am still getting around two to three times what I would get from a dealer though so it’s worth it, especially as I know what I am doing.

It’s worth mentioning that currently there seems to be an increase in the number of idiots on eBay who don’t pay when they win something and don’t reply to messages. I always report them but eBay doesn’t seem interested.

[AndyMac1707817969]

Any retailer who is going to have to sell them on will need a much higher margin that the basic 14% eBay will charge. As a private seller eBay often give private sellers listing offers of 70% to 80% off fees, then of course charges are a lot less, circa 4%. Any business retailer will incur at least 10% from eBay (depending on the selling profile they have gone for) plus whatever margin they need to make, they have overheads and have to make a reasonable profit else there is no point in doing it. I am estimating most seller would not bother unless they are making between 50% and 100% on an item by the time the tax man has had his cut to be even worth their while. Larger retailers want to shift items on quickly so their selling prices are often closer to the bottom of the price range for buyers. I would say you should expect about 50% less when selling to a dealer than you could realise privately.

 

Of course people come off with really meaningless statements that an item is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. Well different people are willing to pay different prices so it’s really depends on how much time and effort you want to put into finding the right buyer. Faster sale means lower price but if they don’t owe you anything then it’s up to you. Anyone can sell anything as long as they are happy to give it away. People are always willing to pay what they refer to as a fair price, fair to them of course normally translates as ‘as little as possible’. In any buying / selling relationship there are two people the deal needs to work for both, not just one.

If you do sell on eBay avoid the 'Best Offer'. Vast majority of offers will be a waste of time, surprising how many think they deserve at least 50% off. If you are willing to take less then advertise for less. You will find anyway even not having a best offer option does not stop the timewasters sending you messages with ridiculous offers anyway.

[John-L]

If you do sell on eBay avoid the 'Best Offer'. Vast majority of offers will be a waste of time, surprising how many think they deserve at least 50% off. If you are willing to take less then advertise for less. You will find anyway even not having a best offer option does not stop the timewasters sending you messages with ridiculous offers anyway.

 

 

Sorry Andy but this is terrible advice. I do a lot of selling on eBay and I can tell you that having a ‘Best Offer’ often makes the difference between selling or not.

The way to avoid ridiculous offers is to use settings on the ‘Best Offer’ to automatically reject offers below your minimum price. That way you will only get offers that are in the ballpark of what you are willing to accept.

[Simmo009]

Seek out your local club. They can help identify those you are unsure of, and also give an idea of value / saleability. If they run a show, they may even offer to sell them for you, I believe the usual fee is 10%. The club stand at any show is generally a busy place.