Best way to sell collection?

Henning's Trains buys collections, you might talk to them.  Ask for Harry.

I sold some of my hoard through Ambrose Bauer auctions . Drew Bauer is great to work with and he sent a truck to pickup my stuff at my house for a modest fee.

Brad

I highly recommend Forum Sponsor, Stout Auctions. I had them sell everything I had, with excellent results.

An OGR Forum sponsored auction house.

I used Stout Auctions several years ago and was very satisfied.

Neal Jeter

Lefty.

Why don't you put your email address in your profile?  That would probably help.

John

@Craftech posted:

Lefty.

Why don't you put your email address in your profile?  That would probably help.

John

Why would that help? This isn't the For Sale or Trade Forum, he is simply asking a question.

@Hot Water posted:

Why would that help? This isn't the For Sale or Trade Forum, he is simply asking a question.

If someone who buys collections frequents the forum they could contact him is all.

John

The O Gauge Forum has a For Sale Classified section. List them here free with no fees if they sell.   You may even post a price for the entire collection.           j

No easy answer to this question.  You will get more for your stuff by attempting to sell it either here or on a certain popular selling site but the shipping just kills you.  And not just the cost of shipping that seems to go up every time you sell something but adding in the time to find boxes, pack things up for safe shipment, and trucking it all over to the shipper.  And it will take time for you to sell it all.  And if you sell it yourself on that certain popular site there are added fees just for using the site.  

If you use an auction site such as Stout, they need to be able to deal with all the cost and hassle so you won't get as much for your stuff but  you won't have all the hassle.  And it will all be gone at one time.

Not an easy decision.  

The bottom line is you will get more if you sell it yourself.  But, it will be a huge headache and hassle.

If a broker buys your entire collection to sell for you, expect about 25% of what you paid.  Much easier for you but less money.

Toy Trains and Collectibles in Manassas VA buys collections. Dan and Hope are great folks and may be a useful resource for you.

Most cases, expect about 12 to 15% of purchase price. IMO, Mike CT.   We (Fort Pitt Highrailers) spent a couple of days helping a member's wife disperse his collection.  Ambrose Bauer was local, south hills, of Pittsburgh, PA.  They sent a box truck, which we loaded. We then rented a truck, for the remainder of the collection.   We made the trip to Bauer's warehouse, and helped unload both trucks.   Note: all related labor and travel expenses, except our donated time, were part of the disbursement.  I went back to Matt's home, one more time, and dismantled the basement layout, a neighbor took the majority of the lumber.  Remaining material, scrap, was put in my truck, and eventually burned at my shop.

Without knowing how much you consider a small or medium sized layout.

Are you in a big hurry to sell?

Why not consider posting it here on the forum? You could post 10 items at a time on the for sale forum selling at your leisure,to keep it manageable.

Take good photos of engines and rolling stock. Track items would probably sell without photos.

You won't get rich selling it on your own, but your return will be much better than an auction house.  They have to buy well under market value in order to turn a profit. Use USPS priority shipping if you can ,and the cost will be predictable,plus you get all the free boxes you need.

Like alot of things. You only get out of it what you put into it. Good luck!

Depends upon what your timeframe is for selling. If you are planning to thin your collection little by little over a number of years, you are best off doing that on your own through this forum, the TCA, train meets and shows, eBay, etc. You can also charge for reasonable shipping, boxes and packing materials costs, so that is not an issue. If you are planning to sell your entire collection or a large chunk of it immediately, then the auction house route or a private buyer is the way to go. All of these options have advantages and disadvantages.

Pat

if you want help listing here on the forum I can help. drop me a note. 

Here in Arizona our TCA division holds two auctions a year and to make it attractive to buyers and sellers, we charge a flat 20% commission to non members.  We are all volunteers so our costs are basically the hall rental.  We charge $5 for the catalog, which is needed to bid and which is just above its printing cost.

We’ve been doing this for 30 years and have sold several deceased folk’s collections  In fact, for this December’s auction I have two such consigned.  

So, bottom line is to check to see if you have a local group that does that.  This is particularly true if you do not have a lot of high end or super collectible items. You will probably not get the National market and prices but the convenience and lower charges may make this a consideration

Mr. Muffins train auctions; it's new, but it looks promising.

Someone suggested to use USPS priority that the cost would be predictable.  Yes for packages over five pounds they will be predictably higher than the other two major carriers.  In December of 2019 you could almost count on it that they would have the lowest prices across the board by the end of January 2020 that was no longer true. Fedex and UPS as of now are almost always cheaper on Locomotives and packages over ten pounds. Shipping cost is a moving target so you have to constantly adjust your aim. It pays to have a link to each web site and check all three before you quote a shipping price.   Today shipping fees and TAXES are a serious chunk of the total price.  If a professional train liquidator sells them they will collect tax if you sell them on a forum like this you don't have to and your prices will look more inviting.  As for selling on eBay they give a discount off over counter prices as long as you print your labels on their site. Their shipping calculator is only correct if you use their label printing service. If you sell on eBay put all three carriers in your shipping calculator and let the buyer choose. Most go with price but some need a particular carrier for their own reasons.   I sold a very large collection for a friend starting in 94 that filled a three car garage from floor to ceiling. This is before eBay was a household name.  I went to train meets and to York and used the TCA Interchange. Around 2000 I started selling on eBay. I was worried about the cost of packaging supplies and put out a call to all my friends for them to save all their packaging materials for me. boxes, peanuts, bubble wrap, etc. and as it turned out the only thing I had to purchase was tape. In less than a month I had all the materials I needed and they continued to come in faster than I could sell trains.          j

Between early 2019 and early 2020, I sold about 1/3 of my large collection entirely through the OGR For Sale forum.

I checked the prices that my items were selling for on that big auction site, and priced my items at about the lowest price I saw them being sold.  I required the buyers to pay shipping...for people who bought many items, I was willing to make deals and share the shipping cost.

It was a lot of work to photograph everything, create the For Sale posts with the uploaded photos, and then to box everything and ship.  I was in no big rush to sell and listed about 10-20 items at a time to keep from being overwhelmed.

If I charged myself for my labor, it might have been better to sell everything to a dealer or auction house. 

I seem to go through cycles:  buy trains , then realize I don't  use them, have enough space for them, and/or want to buy upgraded versions, e.g., PS1 to PS2, better detailing, etc.  Consequently, once every year or two, I pick a group of trains to sell.  I have been selling them to Trainz since 2003.  I've been happy with the transactions.  However, as TV commercials often say, "Results may vary."

As previously noted, you may receive less from an auctioneer than if you were to sell items on the OGR Forum, ebay, Facebook, etc.  Also, as mentioned before, by selling to an auctioneer, you are paying for convenience.  One reason that offers from Trainz might seem low is because Trainz pays the shipping.  Nonetheless, on one occasion, after inventorying my trains, Trainz paid me substantially more than the original offer.  Naturally, I was surprised.   Had Trainz paid me the amount originally offered, I would have never known the difference.  I appreciated their honesty.

Selling to an auctioneer has one huge benefit:  Not having to to deal with potentially, unhappy/angry customers.  When I have sold trains individually on ebay and the OGR Forum, I made sure that my photos and descriptions were detailed and accurate.  My ads always stated "no returns" and "sold as is."  Nonetheless, some customers will always be unhappy.  I would rather avoid unreasonable, confrontations.

My answer: Do nothing and enjoy trains, because my son has the "train gene" is very responsible and can oversee disposal of my collection after I am  at the final roundhouse (scrap yard?).  Although I am healthy now, I am have been making videos of my trains, so if I end up in a home, I will press a button on my laptop and still enjoy my trains.  Mark

About a year and a half ago (prior to the recent run-up in prices), I sold a modest amount of common LGB items through Stout's.  Prior to that, I reviewed SOLD listings on ebay to see what similar items were bringing.  After the dust settled, the net proceeds were about what I expect I would have received by listing the items one-by-one on ebay, and I didn't have to deal with creating the listings, packing and shipping each item, and dealing with the possibility of a dissatisfied buyer.  To me, this was a clear win.

As others have mentioned, the right choice depends on one's timeframe and willingness to deal with the details of selling.   

There are a few folks in the DC area that would buy it but you'll get more if you take the time to sell it piece by piece on eBay or on OGR. Reach out to me via profile email if prefer to sell the whole lot.

Selling a collection piece by piece either here or on the bay might produce more money (and I say might), but that is basically a part-time job.  I've sold 100's of pieces that way and wouldn't do it again.  Such an incredible pain to collect boxes and packing material, weigh and measure each box, take photos,  create the online listing, and ship.  I would use an auction house.  I'm also going to leave instructions to my survivors to contact one when I die.  If you have a local store that will buy or consign the collection, that might be a viable alternative too.

Lefty,

The Washington D.C., Northern Virginia, Southern Maryland metro area is one of the wealthiest in the entire country.  Tons and tons of engineers, tech people, collectors and others who are interested in trains.  Fairfax County alone now has more than one million people living in it.

Take your time, and put a very thorough description and set of pictures on Craigslist for the DC metro area.  I have sold $6,000 tractors this way in less than 5 days!     It costs you nothing, there is no shipping or packing or delivery to worry about, no sale commissions, no sales taxes, no nothing.    Accept cash only.  No checks or Postal Money Orders .  (Yep, people count out $6,000 in hundreds for me , and then drive the tractor up onto a trailer.)

Just make sure that you go to Staples first, and buy a counterfeit bill marker pen, so that you can check every bill that is handed to you to make sure it is real.

Also, go online to ValleyTrader.com.   Valley Trader is a newspaper that comes out once every two weeks, and is distributed for free up and down the east side of the Blue Ridge, the entire Shenandoah Valley, Northern Virginia, and the northern part of West Virginia.    It is a thick paper that only carries private classified For Sale Ads or Wanted to Buy Ads.  It costs Nothing to list your sale in it.  They are in stacks for free at small stop-and-goes and gas stations everywhere.   You can find them in Manassas and Warrenton.  When you go to their Website, you just type in the category that you want your ad placed in (from a drop down list), and type in your description.

I have sold dozens of things using Valley Trader over the past 10 years.   Because it only comes out every two weeks, you often hear nothing for about 3 weeks after you do your listing.  Then, your phone will start ringing.

I would do all of this first before dealing with any auction house.  True collectors and enthusiasts in the DC area always check Craigslist and Valley Trader religiously.   

Trainshops are only going to be able to pay you 50 to 60% of the value of your items, and the value is determined from a pre-printed value book, which you have no control over.  So, they would be absolutely may last resort.

Hope this helps.

Mannyrock

@Hot Water posted:

I highly recommend Forum Sponsor, Stout Auctions. I had them sell everything I had, with excellent results.

Did Stout present you with a per item price or a total price and settlement?  Thank you, John

@rattler21 posted:

Did Stout present you with a per item price or a total price and settlement?  Thank you, John

They took everything, sold each individual item in various auctions. They sent me checks after each "batch" sold, plus a full accounting list of each "batch". Overall it took awhile for them to sell everything, but I was EXTREMELY pleased with their professionalism and final results.

@Hot Water posted:

They took everything, sold each individual item in various auctions. They sent me checks after each "batch" sold, plus a full accounting list of each "batch". Overall it took awhile for them to sell everything, but I was EXTREMELY pleased with their professionalism and final results.

All of the above.

When I sold my small lot of LGB through Stout's, I was astounded at the hammer price on several of the items, especially considering that the buyer was also paying the premium, sales tax, and shipping.

Honestly, I think we are talking to ourselves here as the OP (Lefty) hasn't returned to this thread since he posted it nor even acknowledged the help.  But it's OK.  It's a great conversation anyway.

John

@Craftech posted:

Honestly, I think we are talking to ourselves here as the OP (Lefty) hasn't returned to this thread since he posted it nor even acknowledged the help.  But it's OK.  It's a great conversation anyway.

John

LOL! Right you are. But that's SOP here on the Forum. Along with resurrecting 8 year old threads, often for no apparent reason.