What is the best way to sell my collection of H.O. engines, cars, and automobiles? I have over 200 freight cars, seven engines, and 90+ automoblies (mostly mini-metals).
TRNJ
I see your from North Carolina,their is a train show comeing up in Hickory and that will be a great place to sell.
Russell
Combine both of the above suggestions and you have a good strategy for moving things out at a reasonable price. Check Ebay, including completed listings, to determine what the market will bear, then get a swap meet table with things priced as you feel will move them to serious buyers. Sell what you can there, then go through the hassle of listing the rest at auction.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Stay away from Ebay unless you are prepared to share your loot with them and the IRS since they are now issuing 1099's to sellers. I suggest the forum formally known as HO Yard Sale, now HO Interchange.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HOInterchange/
No fees, no packing off to train shows, and the moderator maintains strict, but fair policies to assure the completion of all transactions.
I like HO-Interchange too. I didn't so much at first but have come to like it a lot more since then. To sum up the rules, he just wants people to be specific in what they're selling. Take a look at one or two posted messages and you're set. Also be sure to post a message with your full name.
Alvie
You might try ''Trainstuff''. Sorry I don't know much about how to list items, but I see several emails per week from ''Trainstuff''. It appears that the individuals are listing the items directly, not like eBay.
Good Luck,
John
FlyingCrow Stay away from Ebay unless you are prepared to share your loot with them and the IRS since they are now issuing 1099's to sellers. I suggest the forum formally known as HO Yard Sale, now HO Interchange. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HOInterchange/ No fees, no packing off to train shows, and the moderator maintains strict, but fair policies to assure the completion of all transactions.
I respectfully disagree.
There is nothing wrong with HO Interchange, but you have to list at a fixed price and hope you sell.
On eBay, it is true that there are fees for both the eBay listing and the PayPal sale transaction.
But, on eBay, you can set a minimum starting price and then sit back while potential buyers bid on the auction. If you set the right price and give an honest and full description of the item and its condition, it will sell. I recently sold a bunch of used locos and track to buyers all over the country. The eBay audience is substantial and, geographically widespread. Payment is relatively immediate.
My advice is to give eBay a try. I had a near 100 percent success rate in selling over 30 items.
Rich
Alton Junction
I am not so sure there is a "best way" to sell off your collection.
You could:
1} go to a train show and sell off, there all you might have to provice is bags for the buyer and the cost for table setup and gas to get there. Cash reserves for making change will bring in cash buyers. The larger the show, the more clientel passing your table and buyers there are to buy. You will get to haggle directly withe the buyers yourself.
2} sell on E-bay. there you will have fees and such to negotiate as mentioned. you will also have to come up with postage and handling...remember you must provide a shipping container, packing material so it doesn't get broken, and make trips to the shipper to ship out. You will also have to determine which payment method you are taking and how to get the payments processed. But, buyers will be pitted agianst the other for your items if they are desired items. Fees can eat up your profits.
3} you could use HO interchange, but I found it frustrating to use as have others. the guy has strict rules and accessing the site seemed to be a pain for those frustrated with it.
4} contact a local MRR hobby club and see if anyone or the group can assist you in selling/buying your pieces. If they lead you to a buyer, then offer a "finders fee" to them for helping you. Youmay be able to sell inone lmp sum.
5} You could look in the back of magazines like MR to find "buyers of collections" and negotiate with them. You could also put in an ad.
6} you could look at major metropolitan newspaper classifieds to see if there are any "buyers of collections" out there. You could also put in an ad.
7} you could list here in the selling "for asle/wanted to buy" section near the bottom of the page:
http://www.modelrailroadforums.com
A few things to remember:
just because it is old, doesn't make it valuable. Boxes WITH the items make it worth far more. Condition plays an important part. If it is a good "collectible" you stand a better chance of getting top dollar. DOn't expect to make a "profit" over what you paid, in fact expect cents on the dollar of what you paid over the years. if you make out good then you can be surprised. You will have expenses for shipping/handling to account for any way but the sale at a train show, where old plastic grocery bags can help out. DOn;t overprice your items, as they won't sell, Remember, especially in this economy, people are looking for bargains. If you haggle down to them, they may feel good about the purchase if they think they got a bargain {that doesn't work on Ebay}. If you can, test everything and offer a way to test at a train show {pay for electricity connection}. Be sure in working order...if it doesn;t work people are likely to want a refund if listed on ebay and will report you as bad seller if you don't co-operate so that will hurt your futer sales on ebay. If broken in S&H they will also want the same.
GOod luck!
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
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Shipping isn't a big money eater and is easy..Priority boxes is free,shipping "peanuts" can be bought at Walmart,you can use the flat rate shipping,pay on line and notify USPS when the package is ready and your carrier will pick it up.Charge the lowest flat shipping rate instead of higher rates.You see high postage will drive away customers.
The fees won't eat to much of your profit and payment is instant.
I sold several use N Scale engines using BIT and all but one was gone the same day I post the sale.The last one sold the next day.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
And, on eBay, don't overlook the fact that the buyer pays the shipping costs, so that is not really a seller expense.
Hi,
For the last 8 years I've sold a bunch of stuff on Ebay each Christmastime. Auction numbers varied from 40 to 100 a season. As a retired business analyst, I'm pretty "anal" about the financial side of the transactions. My net of the proceeds has ranged from 78 to 84 percent each year. Considering the vast marketplace and relative security Ebay offers, this net return is OK to me.
That being said, selling a large quantitiy of items is WORK. Assuming one cares about proper descriptions and photos and well packed shipments, the selling process of more than a few items will take up time and effort.
But, if you want true market value for your stuff, Ebay is an excellent way to go. Oh, don't forget, market value is what others will pay for the item. It is not what you paid for it, or what you could buy it for today, or what you think it is worth.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
If you are not sure what it's worth. search ebay sold items to see what the current sales are. Ebay has the bigest market and the bids you get will be probably the highest you can get. The more information you list the better and make sure you advertise how it runs. Open to the entire world.
If you have a set price the HO group on Yahoo works well. No fee. but you don't get Ebay or Paypal protection on the sale. Limited to Yahoo group members.
You can also sell on Modelrailroadforums with no fee. Limited to those that read the forum.
Bob
FlyingCrow Stay away from Ebay unless you are prepared to share your loot with them and the IRS since they are now issuing 1099's to sellers.
Stay away from Ebay unless you are prepared to share your loot with them and the IRS since they are now issuing 1099's to sellers.
At the moment, only Power Sellers and big time on line retailers are being issued 1099's as well as being compelled to collect sales taxes from buyers who reside in the state where the seller has his primary business situs.
bobwrght If you are not sure what it's worth. search ebay sold items to see what the current sales are. Ebay has the bigest market and the bids you get will be probably the highest you can get. SNIP
If you are not sure what it's worth. search ebay sold items to see what the current sales are. Ebay has the bigest market and the bids you get will be probably the highest you can get. SNIP
Bob hits the nail on the head here. I mentioned Ebay in reference to pricing, but specifically omitted it in referring to just putting things "up for auction" once you've priced them. Didn't want to open the can of worms about the goods and evils of Ebay (BTW, one probably shouldn't discuss tax evasion online these days, FWIW) versus other online marketing locations.
Certainly, the completed auctions search is useful for setting prices. Ebay's not perfect, but does give you a pretty good idea of what people are willing to pay. You can take that info and use it elsewhere, though, a point I should have been more clear about initially.
mlehman (BTW, one probably shouldn't discuss tax evasion online these days, FWIW)
(BTW, one probably shouldn't discuss tax evasion online these days, FWIW)
Who said anything about tax evasion?
richhotrain And, on eBay, don't overlook the fact that the buyer pays the shipping costs, so that is not really a seller expense. Rich
What I meant to actually say in that paragraph is
"sell on E-bay. there you will have fees and such to negotiate as mentioned. you will also have to come up with a cost for postage and handling to charge the customer...{and} remember you must provide a shipping container, packing material so it doesn't get broken, and make trips to the shipper to ship out".
That's not quite what came out of my fingers, SO shoot me already.
galaxy richhotrain: And, on eBay, don't overlook the fact that the buyer pays the shipping costs, so that is not really a seller expense. Rich What I meant to actually say in that paragraph is "sell on E-bay. there you will have fees and such to negotiate as mentioned. you will also have to come up with a cost for postage and handling to charge the customer...{and} remember you must provide a shipping container, packing material so it doesn't get broken, and make trips to the shipper to ship out". That's not quite what came out of my fingers, SO shoot me already.
richhotrain: And, on eBay, don't overlook the fact that the buyer pays the shipping costs, so that is not really a seller expense. Rich
LOL
I have my forum gun aimed at those horn rimmed glasses.
While I am sure that the original poster has long since sold his items, I did want to mention for anyone else trying to figure out how to sell their items,many railroad forums have for sale sections. (many of them do, for free...)
There is also HO Swap, which is another HO Yahoo Group.http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HOSWAP/ (if I am allowed to post that) HO Swap is easy to use with easy to understand rules.
Good chance highest prices will come from eBay. However between eBay and paypal fees, the fees are about 12% minimum. Hope that helps someone.
Be careful what you ask for your trains, specific, low run, brass, locomotives can bring very high prices, and extremely low prices, look at some locomotive dealers and guage a price from that, I looked at a large brass dealer and you can buy great brass locomotives for as little as $250,( there are $2500-$4000 prices too) they may not be the road you are looking for but a great deal neverless, so be careful what you ask for a pricee, you may be in for a surprise either way.
Here's some information that might help from the eBay website
I am constantly surprised at how high the prices are being paid for the older, out of production Classic Metal Works.
If one wanted to buy for present use for future sale as an investment, you would do very well.
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/HO-1951Hudson-Hornet-w-Black-interior-Class-Metal-Works-stk-30146-/251044704495?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item3a736e30ef
Do not buch up the items for sale, sell the items individually, it will bring higher prices per item.
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/LOT-6-CLASSIC-METAL-WORKS-MINI-METALS-HO-1-87-SCALE-ASSORTED-CLASSIC-CARS-/261031188754?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item3cc6abd912
The main reason of using E-Bay is that you just may luck out and find two prospective purchasers who just want the item, forget the cost.
Remember, the number of people checking e-bay is a lot more that you will find with the alternatives that have been proposed.
I check e-bay periodically just to do a search on items that have sold. Often you will find items selling for way more than what you could pay for a new item today.
You will do very well with the Classic Metal Works vehicles that are no longer in production.
TRNJ:
All are good suggestions. I think train shows are the best, you could do the internet but sometimes that can be a hassle, especially if the buyer is not satisfied and wants the money back.
One thing or person I would stay from is the guy that advertises in MR, saying he has $400,000.00 to buy trains. His offers are too low but he will take them off your hands but you won't recieve even a fair price. I did it and it was a mistake.
Robert Sylvester, WTRR