Who buys collections?

Trainz in Georgia buy collections.

https://www.trainz.com/

In my opinion, Stout Auctions is the best!

There are a number of ads in the TCA National Newsletter offering to buy collections.

Don't let anyone come in and cherry pick the good stuff. You will be left with a large amount of stuff that won't move. Get bids for the whole collection.

Also, don't let her expectations get too high. By the time you get it all sold it will be a small fraction of what she thinks it's worth. Good luck.  

I'm here in RVA and buy collections or can recommend direction to take. Be glad to help in any way!

The majority of mine went to Stout Auctions. My collection was already inventoried by me, so time was saved from that aspect. Someone from Stout Auctions came right to my house and loaded it on a trailer and drove back to their home base. Stout has been doing this for a very long time. They are here on the OGR web site. Reach out to them. They are a stand up good group of people. I am very pleased with their auction results!!

Mark

Best route depends on what you mean by a "big" collection and the quality of the items.  For a truly large collection of rare and/or nice stuff, Stouts would be an excellent choice - a good return for minimal effort.  Trainz also seems like a reputable operation.  A good inventory with honest assessment of condition goes a long way - helps the buyer make a fair offer, and helps the seller set their expectations.

And as mentioned in a previous post - don't let anyone cherry pick - sell it all at once.

Prepare her for disappointment - "but, he spent thousands of dollars every year on those trains..."

I sold mine through Ambrose Bauer. They picked up and actually got me more than I expected. Drew Bauer is First Class all the way.

Brad

For those who have sold collections, did you have to pack the trains in boxes before pick up?  I have a number of Rubbermaid containers but most of the boxed items are loose in stacks and on shelves.  I am thinking of trimming down to a reasonable core of engines and trains so I have room for an bigger layout.

Almost all of my collection was in their original boxes. About half were still taped in their shipping boxes. I had a few pieces that had no boxes so I wrapped them in tissue paper and then with bubble wrap. The gentleman from Stout Auctions brought maybe 75 large plastic covered bins with him. I had a few helpers and we loaded the plastic bins with rolling stock and engines as well as buildings and then placed them in the trailer. So. To answer your question. If you go with Stout Auctions request them to send plastic bins. I think you will be very happy with Stout!!

Mark

Thanks Mark.  My collection is very much like yours with most in their original orange and blue boxes and many, mostly engines, in their original shipping cartons.  I dumped all the random Lionel shipping cartons dealers use to ship mail orders.

My question was about bulk packing them for transport - which you answered.  Thanks again.

@peter allen 072518 posted:

Asking this for a friend of a friend.

Long story short, a co-worker has a friend who's Pappy passed away. Pappy had a big  "Lionel" with boxes?,  collection now  Me-ma wants to sell it  but does not know what to do. This is in Richmond VA, any service or dealer down there that some one could point me to would be welcome. 

The owner has to decide how much work he/she want to put into liquidating it.  Does he/she want to maximize the net revenue or get rid of everything by the end of the month or roll the dice with an auction house?  No valid answer can be offered until you get some feedback from the owner.

John

Also be aware that non-train relatives often have much higher expectations of the value of this stuff.

Sometimes if you help them, you might end up being the bad guy for not getting enough money.

@rattler21 posted:

The owner has to decide how much work he/she want to put into liquidating it.  Does he/she want to maximize the net revenue or get rid of everything by the end of the month or roll the dice with an auction house?  No valid answer can be offered until you get some feedback from the owner.

John

Need to keep one's eyes wide open regarding the time and effort involved.

I sent a few items to Stout, and the auction was recently completed.  Prior to sending them off, I checked the sold listings on ebay for similar items to provide a reasonable expectation regarding value.  The sum of the hammer prices on my items was very close to my ebay estimate.  After Stout takes their cut, my net should be very close (around 90%) to the net of selling on ebay, without the hassle. 

Edit:  I got my check today - everything went as expected.  Very happy with the process - no need to mess with listing the items on ebay, no dealing with individual buyers, and no hassle for shipping.  I netted about 40% more than what I would have been willing to sell the lot for.