Kitmaster Mark 1 coaches

[Beclawat]

My dad passed away recently and he has left a large number of Kitmaster Mark 1 coaches. Is there much demand for these nowadays? They are all built, painted and lined to a good standard and many have interiors fitted. I'd like to offer them for sale but unlike his other 00 models I'm really not sure how much to ask for these.

 

Apologies if this is the wrong section to ask this question, I wasn't sure where to post it. 

[darrel]

Not an expert on these, although I have a couple. Have a look on ebay to see what prices they are going for. They don't seem to turn up that often

[Trainshed Terry]

As far as I know The "Kitmaster Collectors Club" charge for Mk 1 coaches from £7.50 to £12.50 for the restaurant coach, If they have the boxes you could add on another £1.00. But it is all dependent on the coaches.

 

I hope that is a help to you.

 

Terry.

[Il Grifone]

I would put them on eBay individually at say a tenner start*. They'll then find their own price.

Put photos of both sides and state if they have metal wheels or other desirable features. Don't list them all at once.

 

* Possibly a bit less without the interior (presumably the Peco card ones?) and a bit more with the box (possibly a fiver if in good condition - collectors will be more interested in the box!)

 

Edited August 10, 2021 by Il Grifone

[Beclawat]

Thanks for the replies so far. I have a lot of stock to sell so listing everything individually isn't really an option. A tenner each sounds reasonable though, I was guessing a bit less.

 

Attached photo shows what I'm looking at.

[DCB]

The more you sell as a lot the less you get per unit.    Kitmasters are fragile, if the roofs are glue on a window falling in is almost impossible to fix.  The Hornby Dublo couplers immediately put them in the difficult to shift category.  I buy coaches with H/D couplers because they are cheap (and I use H/D Couplers)   Those are nice but its a nitch market.  I have found nine in the loft recently while downsizing father in laws collection.  They have no interiors, three green, six red.  None have the roofs glued on which is a massive bonus and no windows missing.    I plan on making sure no buffers etc are missing and will advertise the 3 green on eBay as a single lot for £15 plus 3.20 p&p on  7 day auction, allowing offers over £12.50.   With interiors but with roofs glued on I would  still list at a similar price and hope there was interest, but more people have £25 to waste than £50 so 3 will sell more easily for £15 than 6 will for £30.   Obviously the hassle involved in selling and postage cost which is the same for one or twenty plus mitigates against selling single units, and eBay sales are quiet with long summer nights for Bar B Qs and gardening etc,  so if you wait for the dreary depressing late autumn you might squeeze a few more quid out, 

Best of luck, keep us posted.  Always good to know what money things actually make rather than the silly prices some folk's want

[Michael Hodgson]

Condolences on the death of your father.  I would auction them on ebay in batches of two or three  - on a day when ebay will give you a discount on their usual fee - but you can set up the listing in draft and and wait for the discount offer.  As mentioned above, not all at once.

 

Same really applies to anything else whose value you don't know: it's worth what somebody is willing to pay, so an auction is best way of ascertaining that.  Just be sure to describe it as accurately as you can and ensure you have good photos - both sides, roof and underside.

[SamThomas]

IIRC the Kitmaster bogies were reversable - H/D at one end & Triang at the other ?

At least that's the way I remember them.

[Il Grifone]

They look quite reasonable to me.

 

I'd sell the two WR together, the five SR likewise, and split the maroon coaches into three or four lots - Keep the two darker ones together and for the others put Bk/2nd, 1st/2nd, and full 2nd as far as possible keeping the same type of coupling in each lot.

 

Personally I think tension locks belong in the bin and Peco/HD are far superior, but that's my opinion. The Kitmaster bogie was designed for their own hook and pin affair, but the coupling bracket would take a Peco Simplex or Tri-ang tension lock if preferred.

[Steamport Southport]

I would say they look in better condition than these. Hatton's know the market and they will sell.

 

https://www.hattons.co.uk/stocklist/3155830/1000588/1000636/0/kitmaster_oo_gauge_1_76_scale_coaches/prodlist.aspx

 

I tend to agree with the general consensus. Maybe put them in matching sets of two or three with a starting price of £10 per vehicle. Plus £4 or £5 P&P.

 

So £25 a pair in total, £12.50 per coach is fair for a minimum price.

 

I would keep the tension locks on them as more people use them. But anyone wanting to change them could easily do it anyway.

 

 

Jason

[Il Grifone]

I wouldn't bother changing the couplings, just put the same type together in a lot.

[DCB]

I didn't spot these have tension locks,    It ups the value and desirability quite a lot, couple of quid per vehicle but in an auction at the start price I suggested this should level out.   Just put "Tension Lock," or Maybe "Modern" couplings in the header.