BIG Decision

Nothing really wrong with that decision. It IS a pain in the butt to advertise (not really if you use the OGR Forum), pack, ship, and deal with the back-and-forth aspects of selling, but the rewards ($), although not terribly great in many cases, are generally significantly better selling that way than selling through an auction house. Just depends on how motivated one is to dispose of things that are no longer wanted. There are many reasons for selling. ..just depends on individual circumstances.

Hello BOB SEVERIN

Are you leaving hobby ?  I am thinking of the same thing selling 3 engines and set of cars for each engine and Atlas tracks.  I need funds to purchase a engine for my car.  I am hoping to get least 2500 to 3000 for them.  Is auctioneer a hassle, dishonest as I never deal with them before ?

He who dwells in the secret place in the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  Psalm 91:1 NKJV

Tiffany

Bob,

Do you mind naming the auctioneer you have chosen? I am facing a similar decision in the near term and would like input from others. I too am located in Pennsylvania. Good luck with your sale.

Brad

I sent my inventory of all my trains to TRAINZ.  We agreed on a price, and they paid the shipping of 21 boxes to them.

Dennis

Before we moved several years ago, I decided to sell about 35% of my ("kinda" large) collection.  Pieces ranged from duplicate P/W pieces to MPC jewels to the more modern trains.

Like Dennis, I sent my inventory list to TRAINZ, we agreed on price, and I shipped nearly 30 boxes to them, freight pre-paid.

The process was about as hassle free as is possible - but, as Allan stated above, there IS DEFINITELY a cost.  It's all about trade-offs.

I am not getting out of model railroading. I just took a look at my collection, and decided what I want to keep and run, and what I probably will never run. So far I have found about seventeen locomotives, all Williams/Bachmann or Lionel. And, several sets of small to medium passenger cars. Then, there are the miscellaneous accessories and freight cars. The auctioneers will be Ambrose/Bauer.

Let us know how you fare.  Would be interesting to compare returns between the arduous DIY route and the low effort auction house option.  Know a fellow forum member who set up a website to sell his collection and shared his records with me (because I did not believe him) indicating he is clearing 80% of his original cost after deducting PayPal, shipping and web hosting expenses.

What, me worry?

I have managed to sell online at the 'Bay and usually at a reasonable price.  I have never been able to sell for a profit, but that has never been my desire.  This time, I just do not want the hassle of all the work.  I realize that what I have to offer are not the highly sought after items that bring big returns.  On the contrary, the things I own are at the entry end of the hobby, for the most part.  Small engines and cars that run on small diameter curves.  If there is sound and smoke, it is minimal.  So, I don't expect big returns.  What I will accomplish is a modest return, and a big dent in what I leave behind when I catch the very last train.

Well, I did it! I spent last week sorting, repacking and cataloging a BUNCH of train stuff. On Monday, and again today, I took several car loads of my personal collection to Drew Bauer, to be auctioned on his site (AmbroseBauer.com). He will charge me 20% of the sale price, but, at this point, the money has nothing to do with the fact that I have begun to unclutter my life. I still have approximately 25 - 30% of my O gauge collection remaining, and a couple of things yet to purchase. (See, it NEVER really ends until you're pushing up daises.)

I think I probably took about 150 train locomotives and rolling stock, plus miscellaneous track accessories and 30 or so Dept. 56 buildings to the auctioneer.

I won't miss any of it, now that is is gone, but it was hard packing and loading many of the things.

And, with the time I have left in this world, I plan to enjoy running my trains and tinkering with the layout. The major building is done, and I don't have any grandiose ideas for expansion.

I am content.

Bob, what you accomplished there is really commendable and a real object lesson for a lot of us who don't want to wish on our next of kin the task of cleaning up after us! 

Thanks Jim, your comment was spot on with some of the reasons to part with my lifetime collection.

Message for Tiffany,

Why don't you try the O Gauge Forum to sell your items,you won't have to pay fees to Ebay and the customer base is reputable.

Mikey

mikey posted:

Message for Tiffany,

Why don't you try the O Gauge Forum to sell your items,you won't have to pay fees to Ebay and the customer base is reputable.

Mikey

  I have to mostly agree. Here or even ebay wouldn't be as big of a pita, or charge you as much (I don't think).

  I could see using a consignment shop if you don't have/won't have an auction account or ability to ship easy. But you don't have that much to sell compared to Bob either. You may do better alone. 

 His auction choice is a good one for unloading all that stuff fast, with no real hassle. 

  I just wish I could partake in the sale; Bob has been great to deal with. I wouldn't had to think twice about responding to any ads he had posted. (i.e. happy for Bob because he deserves it, but selfishly sad because because I always liked what he had to offer. Those shopping but not paying close attention to him lost out on some great deals.  Just because he wanted to be that guy   (I've seen quite a few "too good to be true" offers posted by him to help newbies, etc.)

mikey posted:

Message for Tiffany,

Why don't you try the O Gauge Forum to sell your items,you won't have to pay fees to Ebay and the customer base is reputable.

Mikey

I start out this with the same as Mikey....but!  I recently purchased 2 items from someone here, getting out.  I thought his collection was large, this sounds bigger.  

When I look at the time he took to list what he had, not to mention the back and forth emails along with packing materials, shipping, payment and amount of single transaction, 20% looks pretty good.

Time is the currency of the 21st century, I think most of us are older than 21.  Tiffany has more than 20% bonus in time to venture and explore new fun stuff.  Just my thoughts.

Well folks, I have tried other venues in the past.  Most of the things I owned are not desired by forum members.  Low end  and small.  The folks here, from what I can see look for high end and large equipment.  My layout is small, and dictates the use of smaller equipment.  So, that is what I concentrated on. And, I have been most happy with it.  My choice offered me a chance to divest myself of a great amount of equipment in a single effort.  I didn't have to  take pictures, and wait for responses, that most often never came.  When I had larger equipment with lots of features, I had no problem selling it anywhere. And, as I said, I wasn't concerned about price or return.  I just wanted to reduce the size of my overall stock.