I’m continuing to thin out my HO loco & rolling stock inventory and am deciding what I will auction around Christmas time. In that regard, I have a question for you all…
I’ve got a couple of sets of “new” ABBA F units, all powered. I also have the decoders (new NCE) for all of the said locos.
Would your typical buyer prefer to buy them separately or installed? The locos (Stewart) are not DCC ready, and some effort/skill would be involved.
So, should I install the decoders and offer them for sale, or attempt to sell the locos and decoders separately? Obviously I am looking to maximize my return…
I trust I am not going against forum guidelines here, as this post is NOT an offer to sell anything.
No…I would not install the decoders since that would narrow the market to those that use DCC and a lot of DCC’ers I know prefer to stick with one decoder brand…I would sell the decoders in a second auction on the BIN plan.
As far as getting a decent return…
Those may be “new” to you but,they’re used and new single units is selling around $80.00…
However,I would place a $280.00 BIN price since all 4 units are powered.
Why BIN? Unless you set a minimum base bid you could lose your socks.
There was someone else who posted here about this same subject. His idea was to take some Athearn units, install the decoders, and make a profit on the idea. As I recall he did not do very well with the idea. Of course it could have been that the units he was starting with were not desireable, perceived to be in less than stellar condition, or any of a number of other reasons.
You could also use a “Reserve” type auction. Set a reserve price that you could live with, keeping in mind what BRAKIE posted with regards “New to you but used to everyone else”. By and large (key words!), I think that most educated and/or experienced model railroaders know their prices and probably won’t pay more on an auction site for a locomotive or locomotive set then they would by just buying it from the LHS or an online hobby shop. Most people want to get a deal via online auction sites, or feel like they got a deal. So, keep that in mind as you may not get back what you have invested?
Then again, someone bought some “Conrail” ballast recently on EvilBay so hey…[:|]
Personally, I never trust someone else to know what they’re doing as far as decoder installation is concerned. If I do it myself I know exactly how it has been done.
Depending on the type of NCE decoders you have, they are only $13 each in bulk packs of 10 for the D13SRJ type from Empire Train and Hobby in Webster, New York, so don’t expect to get much for them from people who know their true value.
A fellow club member recently purchased a used P2K GP-60 locomotive that allegedly has a LokSound decoder installed by the seller. Sound is horrible and the decoder was not properly programmed by the seller and the speaker was, apparently, the cheapest one the seller could find and was not baffled.
I have the LokProgrammer and can correct the sound files, but the speaker needs a replacement.
And, as others have pointed out, the locomotives may be new to you, but are used to any potential buyer. I don’t know if any statistical data has ever been compiled, but in my opinion a model locomotive depreciates 50% as soon as you walk out the hobby shop door with it, and I never bid on anything that is priced at or close to original MSRP.
POST SCRIPT: I checked the loco with my LokProgrammer and found that it has a LokPilot Basic motor and light control decoder with a Digitrax Sound Bug piggybacked onto it. That explains the poor quality sound.
Since many modelers now have sound-equipped fleets, I would not put non-sound decoders into the engines.
Do these engines have a lot of room inside the shell? If so, that would be a good point to advertise. The hardest part of installing sound, to me at least, is fitting the speaker into the shell along with a larger-than-normal decoder.
I’ve been selling train stuff on Ebay for about 10 years, and have had pretty good success (mostly). My selling has always been regular auction style, with the opening price the minimum I would take for the item. So, either it sells for minimum or more, or it doesn’t (duhhh).
I agree that the Stewart Locos (w/Kato drive) would attract a bigger audience in DC mode. And as was mentioned, many DCC guys would much prefer to do their own wiring, etc. Can’t say as I blame them.
I thank you for the input, for I really wasn’t sure if I should install the decoders or not. I will now offer them separately…