John Doe was a widower and didn't leave a plan for all his train stuff. The kids and grandchildren didn't want it. And they didn't think (or want) to do a bit of research and offload it to a club or LHS. Rather than toss it, they ncluded it with the estate sale. This is just a set-up to say that I wondered last night if estate sales are a reasonable option to acquire anything that I might otherwise find at a swap meet or on a consignment shelf at an LHS. I googled estate sales here in the area and out of the dozen this weekend within driving range, one had a picture of what was evidently some model railroading cars and other items. You wouldn't believe some of the other stuff that folks hoped would sell! Then again maybe you would.
How many out there occasionally dip into this source, what success have you had, and what effective strategies do you employ in the process?
John
I was looking for Type 21 tankers and found a set of three as an estate sale on eBay. It was a great deal for new in the box cars. I got an old streamliner passenger car the same way.
I hope I do well by the spirit of an old modeler. I feel like I owe it to him.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I've never chased down any estate sales, as I find plenty of things with out going through all of that. Occasionall, I'll stumble across something at a rummage sale.
There is a hobby shop in the Milwaukee, WI. that does, and sells the stuff in his store.
I've picked up quite a few items over the years, very cheap, including NOS blue box kits. Haven't been there in a while. I have stuff now that I haven't looked at since I stashed it, you know, future projects?
Good luck, and happy hunting !
Mike.
My You Tube
I went to Lamberts estate sale, yeh it was great.
At the estate auctions I've attended the models was sold in lots and train show dealers drove up the lot prices since they ended up bidding against each other..
Sadly the majority of auctioneers perfer some items like "toy trains" be sold in lots in order to keep the auction moving.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I haven't been to very many estate sales, but have yet to see trains at one.
Frankly, most of the stuff I see at these aren't that great. Usually, the family has already picked out the best stuff and it's mostly junk left. Or it's really a flea market sale of overpriced poorly made stuff.
I stopped going because the really good stuff is auctioned on line.
Paul
There was a very strange estate auction near me that we talked about in the Diner Last month. There were pictures of boxes of not only Atlas engines or rolling stock, but boxes containing brass engines. Maybe 8 or 10 brass engines.
There was no adequate description and you could see that it was an Overland box, but you couldn't see the label and there were no pictures of any of the brass.
The other weird thing was it was entirely on-line. There was no place you could go to see what was for sale, and there was a one day window to pickup your purchase at a place that was to be announced after the auction was over.
It might have been the deal of the century or it could have been a total rip off. The whole lot went for $1,400 I think. If it was truly an legitimate auction, it was incompetently done to bring value for the seller.
edit As Jack Parr used to say, I kid you not.
https://maxsold.maxsold.com/auction/14066/item/trains-a-1337870/
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Sometimes estate sales offer things that the sellers have no idea of the value, but want to see what they can get. Getting a few dollars for something is better than paying to have it hauled off to the trash. If they have set prices you can always make an offer for what you're willing to pay.
If you know what you are buying they can be excellent. On occasion, if stuff is grouped you might have to buy more than you want, but can recoup some of your expenses by sellng it.
Went to one where there was a group of Lionel offered. When they came up the auctioneer announced that there was a bid for the lot. They would offer each item up for bidding, if the total was more than the mailed in bid (before internet bidding) the local bidders won, if the overall bid was higher, it all went to the on site bidder. Well, most of the stuff was in poor shape to say the least. The out of town bidder won, but we all agreed he'd gotten taken to the cleaners.
Know what you are looking at and you should be alright.
Good luck,
Richard
Down here in "God's waiting room" we have lots of estate sales. I go to many of them and have bought furniture, rugs, and art.
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For some reason, nearly any time there are trains it is train-set junk, and it is auctioned in a lot and sells for way too much.
I can buy an orginal oil painting in a $400.00 frame for $25.00, and then someone pays $150.00 for a box of Tyco junk.
Auctions...
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I've been to one estate auction where there were trains, but after making the winning bid for what I thought was a number of brass locomotives, I was embarrassed to discover that it was to pick one loco from the lot. I declined.The owner of a large nearby hobby shop, gone now for several years, used to buy estate lots and sell the items piece-by-piece. I've been there at various times when an estate lot was being tabulated, and the owner was often buying lots at amounts in excess of $100,000 apiece - those were usually brass-heavy and with dozens of unbuilt (sometimes also very well-built) FSM structure kits or similar high-priced items.I bought one brass loco, without its original box, at a fairly decent price, and still have it - re-detailed, re-painted, and mechanically overhauled...
Another very local hobbyshop, closed last Fall, also bought estate lots, and there were some good bargains to be had. I was mostly interested in freight cars or structures, but I invited a friend over to go have a look, and he got a brass Toby CNR Northern for, I think, $100.00 or $150.00. It had been custom-painted by a nationally well-known local modeller, but in a style from the era in which it had been produced. It also needed a few minor repairs, which I took care of, and I gave it a new paint job, too.
When a local modeller, whom I knew only casually from conversations in both of the two shops mentioned above, passed away, the owner of the local shop mentioned that the modeller's family would be selling a number of his brass locomotives separately, and gave us a contact number.My friend called almost immediately upon reaching home, and bought two locos that very day.The next day, we both went there, and the man's daughter and her husband greeted us, very cordially, and explained that their desire was not to make tons of money on the trains, but to sell them at fair prices to modellers who would appreciate them as her father had. I think that it didn't hurt that I had known her father, even though only casually, and I bought a locomotive similar to the one shown above. I am re-working it quite severely to match the model to the prototype loco of the same number, given to it by the woman's father. The price was very reasonable.
My friend bought several locos, including this one, as a gift for me...
I have modified the loco to the version as shown in the photo above, to match its prototype (I saw it, as a child, in 1953, laying on its side in a street, a few blocks from my home, after it "picked" a switch during some street-running). However, the tender, while right for some of the locos in the same class, is totally wrong for this particular locomotive, and I'll be scratchbuilding one to fit onto the frame of the tender shown.Also for sale, and very tempting, although a little more than I wanted to spend, were three of these...
The one shown belongs to my friend, and while it cost close to $2,000.00 new, is one of the best-running steamers I have ever seen - comparable to even the best-running diesels I've seen. The three (same number, too, all factory-painted) were being offered for about $500.00 apiece - admittedly, their value had dropped since my friend had purchased his, but that was still an incredibly good deal. A couple of the other locos purchased by my friend include this S-1-a Mikado...
...and this Central Vermont 2-10-4...
Both locos are shown after I made some necessary repairs and modifications, and I gave both new paint and lettering, too. (I do try to earn my gifts .)
Wayne
Wayne,That 3239 a sweet looker..
Back to topic..I find the e-Bay estate sales is more equally balance as far as bidding or BIN.
There are two types of estate sales auctions vs tag sales. My wife and I do tend to go to some- to find out what is in your area there are two good sources online https://www.estatesales.net/ lists more tag sales and some auctions. https://www.estatesale.com/ tends to list more auctions. We generally go to the estate tag sales. Here in South VA/ northern North Carolina I have found some that had some decent stuff. I bought a couple of assembeled Cambell kits for 20 each at one sale. Other things at that same sale were way overpriced. At another I bought a Minitrix K4 Pacific and three cars for a little over 20 and a couple other things reasonable including an Aristo Craft plow for 10. On the other hand they had a brass loco on that same table that was priced at 200 plus another 125 for the tender. (neither were in good shape and no box)..... The most recent one that had a fair amount I did get some deals that were close to train show prices. Got a walthers sw1 DC for 35 and a bunch of wheels for 10 plus bought several other things. I have also found railroadiana at estate sales, I have gotten a bunch of engine operation manuals for just a couple of bucks each. As an observation estate companies can be all over the place- you never know what you are going to get until you get there. Sometimes it can be a deal, other times overpriced. At lot of times they can occur at the same table. One other thing of note- not always do the listings come up if you search train or railroad- in estate sales.net look at the pictures of the sales in your area- if they don't put the keyword in the caption it doesn't come up. As for auctions I generally do not do them but there was a larger one in our area that a couple of guys in our club went to- one brought some of the extras up to the club (I still think his wife thought he bought too much....) and let us buy for his cost- got a proto e-6 a and B for 40 total.
My best "estate" buys have been where the widow or family or both get some tables at the local show to sell off the collection. Many times they do not even take them out of the brown boxes they carry them into the show with. Its usually a feeding frenzie for awhile, so you have to be quick and have cash in hand. I am usually there with my own portable layout or with the G scale live steam group, so this happens before the show opens to the public many times. With the best buys long gone. Some dealers have been know to put those models right back up for sale at higher prices on thier own tables at the same show! As I mostly hunt for out of production stuff and brass, these estate sales/tables are my hunting grounds. Mike the Aspie
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome