Seeking feedback from any who have had experience selling a collection of trains through an internet auction house.

The first thing to deal with is sticker shock, I would imagine. The big names are usually pretty accurate as to what they will bring. Like the big car auctions they can come pretty close to the amount of money you will see at the end of the day. The hard part will be to accept what they tell you.

Let us know how it goes, as there are many on here that are running it through their mind right now.

I sold my extensive O-gauge collection of Rock Island trains, many action accessories, and control gear through STOUT ACTIONS.  They sent a cargo van to my house with two guys who packed-up my stuff from three locations. They efficiently loaded it all in a half-day. At Stout HQ,  they photographed all items, posted my collection at their website, and presented pre-audition publicity. On a designated weekend, they sold it all and promptly sent me a check for the proceeds as per their upfront agreement.  IMHO, it doesn't get any better than that.

In an auction environment, you can expect to receive a net payment of about 33% of the value of items as shown in the standard Greenberg Price Guide.  The alternative path - doing the prep work in detail yourself and posting all your products on e-Bay - is time-consuming and exhausting, plus time and effort in packing and shipping. Although you'd probably make more money in the long run via e-Bay, it's a cumbersome process.

Mike Mottler
mottlerm@gmail.com 

I sold half my collection using Trainz.com. I think they were fair and reasonably efficient. I am an operator rather than a collector, so there wasn't much of high value. It took several months to wind up the process. They have several options: I took an auction option that did not require them to do any repair or cleanup. I would do it again.

When I became aware of Mike Mottler's good experience with Stout Auction House I wrote a letter addressed to the executor of my estate to contact Stout upon my death.  That letter is with my will and other papers.  The executor hardly knows the difference between a Sunset Northern and a post-war Lionel caboose.  John in Lansing, ILL

hookedontrains posted:

I'm considering selling my collection (or a large chunk of it) using a net based auction house.   There are several out there, but it's next to impossible to know how to identify the ones that are trustworthy and perform well.  Perhaps, someone on the OGR Forum can share their experience?  Any recommendations, suggestions, or warnings about specific vendors would be appreciated.  If there are concerns about publically sharing your experience, rather than posting to the board, please send an e-mail to the address given in my profile.  

Thanks

NOTe See if the auctioneer has:

Online bidding and access to see the auctions items for bidding.

Advertises to Model Railroaders

is Bonded [ Don't need another Nette Fiasco]

hookedontrains posted:

I'm considering selling my collection (or a large chunk of it) using a net based auction house.   There are several out there, but it's next to impossible to know how to identify the ones that are trustworthy and perform well.  Perhaps, someone on the OGR Forum can share their experience?  Any recommendations, suggestions, or warnings about specific vendors would be appreciated.  If there are concerns about publically sharing your experience, rather than posting to the board, please send an e-mail to the address given in my profile.  

Thanks

I sent you an email.

Mark