I have been tasked with the first round of research regarding the train collection of my father-in-law, who recently passed away.
I’m absolutely clueless about this stuff, so I simply wrote down what I was told to. lol. He evidently has a large collection of 40+ year-old brass trains (HO scale?), as well as UP brass, and a full Hiawatha set. I went to the classifieds and gathered the names and contact info of several buyers who listed these items.
My main question here is with regard to an extensive collection of train magazines. For example, he has all issues of Model Railroader since 1968, and all issues of Railroad Model Craftsman since 1950. There are five other magazines that has has years and years’ worth of issues.
Would someone kindly direct me to where I can get a clue as to the value of these magazines and the best way/place to sell them?
1)The bad news… a dealer or re-seller will only pay you 50 cents on the dollar max for your trains. Your best return would be a sale to the end user or collector. The good news… if you are eBay experienced and can do great photos & descriptive work, now through late March is the time to sell.
2)The bad news… the magazines are probably worth more in BTU’s than anything else(hence the problem in finding a value on the internet or anywhere). There is a glut of these collections, with no takers. Add in your time to try to find a buyer, and you are in even more of a deficit. And, sorry to say, there really isn’t any good news on this one.
A webcam or digital camera should help with the photos if you are going to post them on ebay. Also register as a regular user and not a business user as this will cost you very much!!
Another place to sell model trains is at a train show in your local area, sometimes though you need to be a member of a model railroad club. Happy selling!
Boy if that doesn’t add some perspective I don’t know what would! [(-D] LOL
Roland
…as a point of help…eBay is probably so GOOD a way to sell your trains I’d recommend finding a friend to sell them for you if not an eBayer yourself. I’m assuming getting the maximum value from the trains is your priority.