I was recently appointed with the task of dispensing with my deceased father’s model railroad collection which consists of 36 boxes of a large variety of rr cars-some antique and some just old (50s), some opened in original boxes, some unopened in original boxes, miles of different kinds of track, buildings, towers, transformers, etc. Help! Where do I begin? How do I assess the value … find buyers or a buyer? Do I actually take digitals of every single item and display them all online? I really need some advice. Thanks SO much.
Sorry to hear of your loss. Don’t you have any family members that would like it? Keep it in the family?
If you don’t and you have the time, then pictures of everything will help to see what the stuff is and what it’s worth. You need to determin what scale or “gauge” it is. You can’t sell things here on this forum, but if you go to E-Bay and search for model trains, you’ll get an idea of how it works.
Welcome to the forum, and I too am sorry for the difficult circumstances of the post.
Last year I assisted a friend dispose of her son’s collection. I don’t know where you live, but we arranged to go to a train flea market. We made a sign to indicate what we were doing. We laid the stuff out on a couple of tables. I had some idea of value. We sold almost everything.
Almost once a year in our area, there is a table selling a collection like this.
Another way is to sell the whole thing to a dealer who does this. This will be much easier, but will only get you about 2/3 of the value.
If you live in Minnesota, several of us will be willing to assist you.
I too, am sorry to hear that your father passed away. First and foremost I would suggest going through the boxes and pulling out anything (and I mean anything) that you might want to keep for yourself. Once these items are gone you can not replace them. You may find one like it but it will not be the one your father owned. I repeat…ANY item you or your family may want, put aside…you can always get rid of it later.
I was fortunate to find an estate sale a few years ago and wound up with 10 moving boxes full of train items. It took 1 train show and about 1 year on Ebay to sell everything and I wound up donating a bunch of O scale stuff to a local club ( I visit the club/museum with my 2 year old and he loves it, everybody wins) The train show was the most productive with about half of the stock selling. It sold well because everything was a deal and negotiating for a better price was no problem…remember, I got it cheap. It was a lot of hard work though. What is 1 whole weekend worth to you?
Ebay took about a year and I wound up selling the very last of it in bulk/lot boxes. It did become a pretty big hassle. Lots and lots of pictures, organizing scales, listing items, packing and shipping. 2 people tried to say the items were either broken or did not work (I checked every single piece or said “as is”) and I had to negotiate with them or get negative feedback.
In a nut shell It was a profitable deal. If you do not want to spend hours (could be in the hundreds) of your time I would suggest finding a lot buyer. I would guess at about 1 quarter the value from an estate or lot buyer. It would be quick and somewhat painless to not have to go through each and every item…this works, this does not, this is mint, this is junk, what is this?, and all the while being reminded of your father.
If you need help let me know. I am NOT interested in buying your lot but a few pointers at ebaying might come in handy. Check your local n
Look for a train shop in your area. The good ones are more than just stores, they’re also meeting places and sources of tips and information. Some will take items on consignment to sell, and others will even buy collections. Of course, some are not so good, either.
Most parts of the country also have a train club or two. Here, you’re likely to find a few people who are willing to help, just because that’s the kind of people they are.
I recommend selling the stuff on eBay. Prices have a way of self-adjusting to the real value there with the caveat that better pictures and better descriptions will get higher prices. I list all my stuff at $.99, I’ve yet to have a train item sell for less than I thought it was worth.
Again, the pictures and descriptions are the key.
Thanks very much … no family members interested due to lack of living space. Am seriously considering the digital pix and ebay approach. [:)]
I think you’ll get closest to the real value on E-Bay. My experience with selling to hobby shops is they give you about 1/3 of the value. (or less) Good Luck. Feel free to ask away if you have anymore questions.
try to lump similar items together. If there are several Athearn or MDC box cars or several PRR items for example lump them together and sell a lot of cars - say 5-10 at a time. That will cut down on the postings. On buildings the quality of contruction and painting are going to be the factors that indicate price to be obtained. Do the same with engines as long as they are plastic. Lump several (2-4) together that have the same road name. If they are metal sell them individually. They are usually higher quality. Usually engines and cars have the manufacturer stamped on the bottom. A few searchs on Ebay will indicate asking and selling prices.
The Ebay route is good advice, if you want to generally maximize value. Selling to a dealer is less hassle, as you only bargaining over what the lot as a whole is worth, but will cut into what you’re likely to reap financially.
You mentioned what sounds like really old trains. Be aware that some of these are real collectors items, if you have certain specific models. Generally, we’re talking about items in O or S scales, although a few items, like brass locomotives, may be especially valuable even in HO.
If you do have O or S scale items, it might be worth checking out some of the numerous collectors books that describe Lionel, American Flyer, etc. You can find these in your library sometimes, but they can also be found at most larger bookstore in the collectibles section. Some brief browsing will likely help you determine if its worth doing more investigation along these lines.
I generally agree with Chip’s comment about listing things on Ebay starting at 99 cents. But if your description of an item is vague and you list some rare Lionel engine with a rough description that doesn’t do the item justice on Ebay at 99 cents, then it may be that some sharp-eyed colelctor will recognize what it really is and scoop it up cheaply because no one else recognizes the value from your picture. You’d really kick yourself if you discovered that later. It won’t take much work to rule out whether you have anything especially valuable and it would certainly be worth the effort if you did find out that your father had especially good luck with his model railroad investments.
I would first find a hobby shop or someone who is KNOWLEDGABLE on model trains.
Depending on the years, involved, types of trains “O” Gauge, “HO” gauge or whatever gauge, you can get an idea of their value, or find a model train club in your area, and ask if anyone is familiar with or would take a look at what you have.
I have a set of Lionel trains from the mid 30’s which I inherited from my father, which I will never sell, but they aare worth quite a bit of money.
Both trains together are close to $2000.00 in value.
But Ebay is a good place to sell them, but know what they are worth up front so you get a fair price.
Taking pictures is a very good thing to do also.
Best of luck to you
Ed