This evening I received an email from the wife of a modeler who had come from out of state to see my railroad a few months ago. Sadly, this gentleman has recently passed away. His wife is looking for advice about what to do with his trains. I’m pretty clueless about that stuff. Any suggestions?
Ray, that is sad. The thing is, she could sell them on Ebay, but doing the research to find out what they could be worth will take time. She could contact a place that buys trains, like Trainz.com, but she won’t get as much for them as she could. That is a tough question to answer.
If its G scale trains, there are a couple shops that I know of that will take them on consignment, probably get the most money for them without all the hassle of puttting them on forums or ebay herself. Trainz is probably the best if its smaller scale stuff. You never get the return on investment, just a fact of life. They have to make money as they take on all the risk of selling when they purchase a collection. I would give her a few options and see what her thoughts and feelings are. Mike
If she can find a local club, they could be very helpful as many members would buy some of the items and at a better price than a store can afford to pay. This is done in my club all the time and we do buy/sell/swap at all meetings.
You know, as bad as this sounds, it depends on the integrity of the people involved.
You get a “good guy” to help, and I agree, friends or club members may pay a bit extra to help the widow.
But, I have seen this situation several times, and the vultures swoop in, state they are experts, undervalue the items, and then buy them themselves or for their buddies.
Likewise, I’ve seen outrageous expectations for items.
If the people helping will validate their pricing from completed sales on ebay, that will go a long way, these things are only worth what the market will pay.
I’d see if you can get someone to catalog and price the items, then publish the list on the forums, and what does not sell goes to a consignment place, unless the helper will do the ebay.
The person helping should get someting for his/her effort also, this helps ensure motivation and a good job.
Greg
Ray, very sad to hear. There’s an auction house in PA called Maurer (Maurail.Com I think,) who auction estates all the time. They will visit anywhere to appraise and then take care of everything.
Allow me to be cold-hearted in advice to the widow. Don’t get conned by low-ballers, don’t hang on to greedy over-valued ideas of what the stuff is “worth” or what it cost when bought.
They are worth the market. The market is basically ebay, for better or worse, like it or not.
Check each item for COMPLETED sales.
Then make your decision as to HOW to sell from there. Get real. Expect to get maybe 60% at best of the market value. The 40% will go to whatever agent or agents handle the sales.
By the time you get through with all this, the widow may decide, in the goodness of her heart, and I truly mean that…I’m not being cynical or sarcastic…to advertise them on the craig list and give them for free to a good young family who will get a lifetime of happiness from trains.
If that process is too much to handle, ship the collection to me, or another volunteer in our wonderful LSC community, and one of us will find it a good home.
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Harvey, for the most part that is true. But the average person seams to think that all model (toy) trains appreciate in value. It comes as a bit of a shock, or disappointment, to find out that the such and such that they have isn’t worth half what they thought (dreamed) it was worth.
Like I said in my first post, doing the research, to place appropriate values on each piece, will take time. But, whoever is selling off the collection, needs to do that, so that they get a fair price for her. As always, they need to shop around.
Dan Pierce said:
If she can find a local club, they could be very helpful as many members would buy some of the items and at a better price than a store can afford to pay. This is done in my club all the time and we do buy/sell/swap at all meetings.
Both Dan and I have sold stuff from club members to club members. Also we have given club members first right of purchase on collections we get outside the club. In all those cases we represent the Seller(s) NOT the purchaser(s). This has ruffled some feathers in the club but was the right thing to do.
LAO
Yes, in my experience with this situation, I’ve seen more vultures than eagles ha ha!
Greg
And that is the shame of it. That is why one needs to do some shopping, to see what the average going price is for each piece.
Ray,
This could be a slippery slope to get down. There are always several factors that come in to play in this scenario.
First is the perceived value vs. real or market value. Perceived value usually includes the emotional value attached by the seller that can never be met by the buyer. The seller must detach that from the item before making determinations of value. The real value is usually somewhere below that perceived point. Once a real value has been determined, then things can move forward.
As has been suggested, an auction house may be a viable alternative, should the seller not wish to do all the legwork to market the tiem(s). Selling takes a lot of effort (assuming maximum value is to be achieved). Auction houses need to make a buck or two on the auction, and they will offer based on their experience of what the particular item will go for. The auction house route is by and far the least aggravation for the seller, but also the least profitable.
Selling to a collector is another option. One only needs to find a collector interested in ‘what you have to offer’. Again this will not be the most profitable path as a collector is looking for the most ‘bang for his buck’.
Selling by a local individual to ‘club members’ will almost always generate animosity among the club members for obvious reasons as stated above.
Parting the collection out and listing on a forum or forums like here is the most profitable option, but not the simplest. It will still involve the packaging and shipping time and costs.
Goos luck with the decision process. I hope I have offered a couple different viewpoints to consider.
Bob C.
When I die, all my stuff goes FREE to the guys that contributed to the success of our little operating group…or to other friends…I won’t be needing the money, and my family is not interested…and I am not married.
I’ll be dead, so if it’s possible; I just hope all of it goes to people who will NOT profit financial from the gifts, in my thoughts, wherever I end up.
Fred Mills
Thanks guys. Contacting a local club was my first thought, but she says there isn’t one in her area.
BTW, she’s in Poughkeepsie, NY.
I have a contact near there who can probably do this, and is an honest fellow, and is in a club.
Drop me an email, I’m typing in bed and will forget otherwise.
Greg
Ray both Larry Otis and Dan Pierce are are only about 2hrs east of there. There is a club in Albany and in the Poconos also, so the one near she may not like .
Fred Mills said:
When I die, all my stuff goes FREE to the guys that contributed to the success of our little operating group…or to other friends…I won’t be needing the money, and my family is not interested…and I am not married.
I’ll be dead, so if it’s possible; I just hope all of it goes to people who will NOT profit financial from the gifts, in my thoughts, wherever I end up.
Fred Mills
Just be sure the hold on to one of your nicest tank cars to place your ashes in so it can be placed on your final siding in Fred’s Tomb 
It already has been chosen…not lettered yet…but it sure won’t say “Return to agent”, anywhere on this old pike…!!!
When selling I find some items from an estate can take up to 5 years to find someone that will purchase it for a ‘fair’ value.
Be prepared to lower prices to move slow items.
If used, less than half of going price, new in box gets decent $$ , but can take awhile for some items.
Christmas items sell the fastest. Show cars are the worst sellers.
My best sale in $$ was a bidding war on a LGB bubble car, and elias growler. LGB Growler engines are very old and collectable if running.