Lionel Ore car collection

Paul, I think you should let me pick the ones I like for $20/each.  Then sell the remaining ore cars as one complete collection. 

On a more serious note...  there really is no right or wrong way to proceed.  The trick is to get a sense for the desirability of these gems, and see if it's worth breaking your collection to get maximum $$$.  Of course, that's more work for you in terms of processing individual orders, and shipping individual or small quantities of cars.  Then you'll eventually reach the point where you'll be left with the cars that nobody else wanted after letting folks pick through the collection.  At that point, you'll probably consider "blowing out" the remaining cars for $5/each... or something like -- just like dealers/distributors do when they gotta make room for more new inventory.

On the other hand, selling the entire collection will get you cash with minimal effort -- providing the collection is deemed "desirable" for somebody ELSE to grab all the things YOU liked over the years.  And like selling real estate, it may take some time to "find" that buyer who wants YOUR collection.  If you REALLY need the quick cash, then you might find a dealer who will buy everything... but they'll probably offer you pennies on the dollar -- maybe netting you $10 or less per car -- so they in turn can sell them for a profit.  I know a few dealers who'd be grinning ear-to-ear as they offer you $5/car to take everything off your hands.    It's all part of the game of risk vs. reward.

If I felt the collection I owned was immediately "desirable" by lots of different enthusiasts, I'd bite the bullet and sell things individually.  More work on your end for sure, but you'll get maximum $$$ for those cars you do sell.  The trick is to disassociate yourself from YOUR collection, and take the emotion out of letting it all go.  Be realistic about things, and try to be as objective as you can.  People's tastes change over time.  So what may have been desirable 15 years ago might not be as desirable now.  Take Atlas-O reefers for example.  They were all the rage about 10+ years ago.  Today?  Perhaps not so. 

To combat that, you might consider MERCHANDISING and PACKAGING your collection into multiple "lots" to catch different geographical markets...  say all the ore cars in the Southwest as one "lot", all the cars in the Great Lakes region as another "lot", etc...  Then you'll perhaps reach a happy midpoint of moving ALL the cars across a few buyers, without waiting for any one person to shell out $1,400 for all of them. 

Just thinking out loud.  Hope it's food for thought.

David

For maximum price sell each one on eBay auction by bids.  This is also be maximum effort.

Charlie

"keep the collection together or sell it off piecemeal?"

Do your homework on previous auction house and Ebay results to determine what the current market will bear, of course, selling the entire collection to one person would be ideal. I have always enjoyed the TTOM cars, very colorful. Good luck...

If you still lived in Butler, you could’ve sold the entire collection to Jack Sommerfeld at Sommerfeld’s Trains just a few blocks away. (I know that no matter where you live in Butler, you’re always a few blocks away from anything in Butler. )

Most of those ore cars are selling for less than $20 on eBay, and are not quick sellers even at that price level, so you might want to factor that into your decision.

Jim R. posted:

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Most of those ore cars are selling for less than $20 on eBay, and are not quick sellers even at that price level, so you might want to factor that into your decision.

Interesting observation in that many of these "club cars" are often priced at a premium initially due to their being marketed as limited-quantity collectibles.  Sometimes, they're offered with a fund-raising component as well.  In any event, the newness of the offerings often draws us in for the purchase.  But when we in turn decide to sell them, more often than not -- buyers aren't necessarily knocking down our doors unless you're having a fire sale.   

Just gives us cause to realize what it's like being a dealer.  Fun when stuff is flying off the shelves.  Not so enjoyable when it's time to move old inventory at blow-out prices.

David

You can also call Stout Auctions and auction off your collection in lots. They have a place in West middlesex, pa which is in driving range from Butler, PA. Auctions seem to be every month.