# selling out( not me my neighbor)



## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Just thought id float this idea here , and get some feedback. My elderly neighbor is selling his collection due to age and medical problems. I know I give advice on this stuff here all the time. I told him its not worth what you think and the best bet is to piece it out on ebay. He wants to sell as one big lot. The stuff is prestine o guage lionel , all have boxes. I'll help him pack them up. My question is , will someone actually buy a huge lot of trains without gouging him ( im thinking they'll offer fifty cents on the dollar) or is he better off finding an ebay person who takes a percentage of the sale price? No ed, I dont have the cash or I'd buy it myself. Any idea welcomed. And he dosent want to sell at a show, too much work he said.


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

It's either going to take quite a bit of work to sell, or he's going to lose a significant amount of the value. You don't get high value with little work.


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Your right. I cant argue there, basically he doesn't want to sell ,but because of his health has no other choice. His children have no interest in them. The place were hes going has no storage space. Its a story we all heard a thousand times. Ill make him a display case for a few things, that much I can do.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

How big a collection are you talking about? Also, without knowing what's in the collection, it's pretty hard to put any kind of value on it.


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## The New Guy (Mar 11, 2012)

sjm9911 said:


> ...He wants to sell as one big lot...will someone actually buy a huge lot of trains without gouging him ( im thinking they'll offer fifty cents on the dollar)...


50¢ on the $ would be really good. That won't happen.

Anything worth something sells closer to predictable value in smaller quantities. The one big deal only feels big.

Have you ever sold on E-bay?
Write up a simple contract to cover your time and sell them yourself.
Or go the consignment seller route.


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Grj, its big but not huge. Problem is its high quality. All boxes , pristine stuff. New guy , I kinda agree with you, im not selling it but I think he'll get a better value peiceing it out , even if he pays a person to do it. Ill have enough to do taking down the layout. Two levels + , and lots of area. Ill ask if I can shoot and post some pictures.


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## Ray Haddad (Feb 19, 2014)

Those who buy to resell generally pay 10c on the retail dollar which is reasonable. Don't believe what you see on American Pickers or Antiques Roadshow.

Each item has to be tested, cleaned and stored until sold. The selling process itself is not a given either. My wife is in that trade in the used book industry and she is adamant about the structure. Warehousing a large collection and cataloging it can take weeks or even months with not a single sale guaranteed.

He'll do far better selling it himself. By ten fold.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

My train hobby shop gives me 50 cents on the dollar for trade-in value (for un-opened, new-like condition).......25 cents on the dollar if I want to sell it to him for cash.


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## Gansett (Apr 8, 2011)

My uncle had quite an elaborate N scale layout. It took up three of the four upstairs bedrooms in the families old farm house and went through the walls going room to room. According to my cousin his layout was in a train magazine but I searched and never found it. My aunt sold it without telling anyone and claimed she only got $6,000.
My cousin later found receipts and stopped counting about half way through them when he hit almost 40k. Seems 10¢ on the buck, or less, is accurate.
A neighbor said the tables left the house intact and filled a Paul Arpin moving van trailer and a 'big' U-Haul truck.
Seems there's always a greedy one in every family


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## Hutch (Dec 19, 2012)

Can't you get a photo of it all so we can at least see what he has? Put his asking price for the lot and see what happens.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

sjm9911 said:


> No ed, I dont have the cash or I'd buy it myself. Any idea welcomed. And he dosent want to sell at a show, too much work he said.


What?!  I didn't say anything? :cheeky4:

I would never suggest using cash!
Write a check instead?
Go get a loan? 
Think of it as an investment, you get a good price you can double/triple your money.

How much is he looking for the whole lot, does he have an ideal? :smokin:

What the heck does he have anyway? You said you helped him pack it, first thing you should have done was write up a list with conditions and a picture of each item. :dunno:

You suck as a salesman! :cheeky4:


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

1st rule to selling, create a buzz!
No idea what hes looking for, im going to help him pack them . Not there just yet. I dont think he knows exactly what he has.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Get the digital camera take 4 pictures of each.
Get yourself one of the train inventory list sheets so you can write down all he has.
Free somewhere, someone posted where to get one, I think.

I think he would be better off selling most separately. Maybe you can put a few lots of the rolling stock together?

If he sells them all in one lot he won't get anything near what they are worth.

What are we talking 100's of locomotives? 1000's? :dunno:

NO MORE TALK!
:SELLIT:


Also, 

:ttiwwop:


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Some pictures, the stuf has an inch or two of dust on them. Some are not as pristine as I was told.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Dust will clean off, I would suggest cleaning them up a little before packing them up.

Does he have a asking price for all of them?
Is that all of them?
Does he have a parts bin too?


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Ed , theres boxes of stuff everywhere.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

What empty boxes all over? 
Or filled with all kind of goodies? 

Does he have a price that he would like for all he has.....everything?
Or does he have no ideal?


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Both ed. I dug out a nyc aba on the work table with stuff piled high on top of it. For some reason I cant post pictures anymore from my phone. Theres also cabinets with who knows,what. He doesn't have an idea what he wants for them. Ill help him clean them up, and see what he has. Im slowly telling him that there probably not worth as much as he thinks. Ill ebay a few of them and show him selling prices. That way he can get an idea. He thinks his 20 yo price guide is still good. Some of the stuff is worth a bit , others probably not t hat much. We will see...


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

The 245 looks in nice shape along with the passenger cars from what I see.
A lot of them should look like new once cleaned of the dust.

Too bad he doesn't have any ideal of what he is looking for ALL of them.

Ask him what he wants for the 245 and the passenger cars, I guess he has 3 cars with it?


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Unless you do them individually, you're not going to get anything close to eBay prices for them. If you find a generous person, you "may" get 30-40% of eBay prices. There's a big difference in buying a whole collection and buying individual pieces.


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## carinofranco (Aug 1, 2012)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> Unless you do them individually, you're not going to get anything close to eBay prices for them. If you find a generous person, you "may" get 30-40% of eBay prices. There's a big difference in buying a whole collection and buying individual pieces.


I agree. I have purchased whole collections for resale and sometimes had to take apart the layouts too. The last one took 2 days. Reselling on eBay takes quite a lot of work just to get the stuff, then pack, store, repair, clean, photograph, write a description, then ship. So, 25% of retail is a target offering price I shoot for. I do it because I enjoy messing with this stuff, not to make it rich. (good thing, because getting rich ain't gonna happen)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

I get it. Ed, I will ask. I think his best option is to list it with an ebay seller and have them take 25 percent or so. But , people get attached to things . We will see and ill keep this updated when I start cleaning them. Ill try ro list the ,stuff here first depending upon the prices he wants.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Make a deal with him yourself if he trusts you. Clean and wrap sets first and take lots of pictures. Then do the single cars and locos and then the structures. If an ebay agent does this he will get 25% alright but then you have to pay for the ebay ad which will be another 10% or so. By the time he's through you could have made the money yourself. Hell, I'd do it for 25% for what he has there. Looks like all good stuff and Lionel sells very well in most places. Use the "sale or trade" topic here on the forum. At least you'll know the people your dealing with and you'll have a huge train base of people looking at it. Pete


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## mustangcobra94 (Apr 28, 2014)

why don't you be the e-bay seller for him and keep the 25% for your effort.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Wonder what he did? Pete


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Pete, nothing yet. He has yet to decide. Its hard when you dont want to sell but have too.


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Ok, update for ed, no movement yet! Hes leaning towards someone buying the whole lot. I tell him, 25 cents on the dollar, he pulls out a twenty-five year old book saying its customary for 50 cents on the dollar. I say this book is twenty-five years old. And on and on.......he asked me to get advice here, then says what do they know im a member of the tca. I tell him people here are also, he then wants too look look up there names in his tca book. We will be breaking down the trains next week. Its hard to sell when you really dont want too . I get it but I still tell it how it is. I see this all the time, and not just with trains. I used to do house clean outs, autions, buying storage units. People always think therestuff is much more highly valued then it is. Unfortunately, thats not reality!


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Well.............he is going to take a big loss on selling as a lot.
He must be like talking to a brick wall. 
Wants advice and won't accept any. :goofball:

Did he mention a asking price for the lot?
Maybe just help him pack them up and wish him good luck.

Well at least you tried?
I give you a thousand gold stars for that. :thumbsup:


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Ed, he wouldn't take a big loss. He said ill take them with me. I explained , when we die the casket is only so big. Dont know if its getting through or not!


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## SRV1 (Nov 14, 2010)

Ask him what he thinks stuff will sell for when he's gone and somebody that doesn't have a clue what any of the stuff is (or is worth), ends up in charge of it. Its not to be hard on the guy. That's just what a lot of us, including myself have to think about eventually. If a family member doesn't share the interest of course. 

Too many times people that have no concept of value end up in charge of selling valuable things. At least while he's a live he can decide what's fair and might actually know people willing to buy stuff for what it's worth. Even if it is 50 cents on the dollar. Or, you sit and wait for top dollar. But the stuff has to be out there. 

It costs nothing to list items on ebay with buy it now or best offer (until they sell) and set the duration to "good till canceled." It will sit there and re-list until you cancel it or sell it.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

big ed said:


> The 245 looks in nice shape along with the passenger cars from what I see.
> A lot of them should look like new once cleaned of the dust.
> 
> Too bad he doesn't have any ideal of what he is looking for ALL of them.
> ...





sjm9911 said:


> Ed, he wouldn't take a big loss. He said ill take them with me. I explained , when we die the casket is only so big. Dont know if its getting through or not!


Did you ever ask what he is looking for this one?
I said #245 but the picture is blurry it might be something else?

This one with the passenger cars, and how many cars are there? 3?










The wheels look big, is the standard gauge or O?


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## BowtieMan (Jul 14, 2014)

Is there a train museum nearby that would allow his trains to be set up as a display that he could help maintain? Or some other such venue? This way he doesn't have to outright sell them and he may still be able to help maintain and monitor them. 

Just a thought.


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Ed, I asked him, he wants too much . 1000$ . He said it was a york price. I didnt get a look at the number but I think its worth around 300$ . He's asking what they were worth many years ago. I tried?! Oh, well , ill have fun getingvthem ready for storage. He also thinks the plasticville stuff is worth a mint...


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

I bought a whole plastic tote plus a couple boxes of Plasticville
buildings for 125.00 from an estate a couple years ago. Truly
nicely detailed buildings of all types inluding loco service and
yard buildings. It was the last items off a large layout.

Don


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

sjm9911 said:


> Ed, I asked him, he wants too much . 1000$ . He said it was a york price. I didnt get a look at the number but I think its worth around 300$ . He's asking what they were worth many years ago. I tried?! Oh, well , ill have fun getingvthem ready for storage. He also thinks the plasticville stuff is worth a mint...


Well, when his time is up maybe he can have an extra coffin made up with some trains carved on the outside. He can fill up the spare coffin take them with him, bury it on top of him, huh? 

What a shame, they will probably go for pennies on the dollar when his estate gets them.
Here someone could enjoy them, some dealer might strip them down to sell pieces. They will rape his trains. Horrors.:goofball:
I hope at least he will give you a piece for helping him out?:smokin:


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