Selling your surplus items.

[Porkscratching]

I've had good bargains off ebay, on occasions when there's been an issue with it I've a few times agreed a part refund, leaving me with something that needs a couple of bits doing but at a very good price indeed!

I've even had full refunds a couple of times and rather than post item back, they've said keep it! 

Tbh much of my recent decent stuff is off ebay

[hayfield]

I think in both cases you illustrated shows the slight dilemma we all some time find ourselves in, firstly receiving broken in the post which can easily be repaired, something clearly miss-described. 

 

The first instance I think we all take the pragmatic approach especially if its something we desperately want and is easily repaired

 

As for the second item, it depends completely on how its been described ( both written and photographic). I for one would expect something that close to the MRRP to arrive in a good condition or at least the issues with the paintwork described. If I have taken a punt on an item at low cost and badly described/presented, that's one thing. Something that's presented as in good condition should arrive so, I would have no accepted this on, prefering to pay the extra £10 on a new one

[hayfield]

11 hours ago, Porkscratching said:

I've had good bargains off ebay, on occasions when there's been an issue with it I've a few times agreed a part refund, leaving me with something that needs a couple of bits doing but at a very good price indeed!

I've even had full refunds a couple of times and rather than post item back, they've said keep it! 

Tbh much of my recent decent stuff is off ebay

 

 

Sounds a bit like me, in most cases everything is fine and quite often better than expected, the odd item might arrive slightly damaged, if it can be easily rectified I just repair it. Where on the odd occasion more serious damage is concerned (usually due to poor packing) I contact the seller and either a part refund is accepted or the item is returned, but I do find nearly all the items arrive without any issues, and as said getting something better than expected is more common than being disappointed.

 

But I am a modeller collecting items not a collector who's standards are much higher. 

[rob D2]

Ok, I can’t see the new classifieds ?

anybody direct me ?

[woodenhead]

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/classifieds/

[RedgateModels]

On 16/04/2019 at 14:13, AY Mod said:

Although I've indulged with some bookcase weights it's worth pointing out that 30% of what has been listed in the Classifieds to date has sold.

 

If only that were the case for me - about half that figure LOL

 

OK, I'm now up to 30% sold

Edited May 3, 2019 by RedgateModels

[JDW]

Every time I look at this thread I find myself asking what I really count as "surplus".  I have things that have barely been out of their box, which could probably go.  Things that don't fit in with my era or theme, they could go too, but at the same time I bought them because I like them, or have kept them for sentimental value.  Just looking at my shelves now, there's a pointless Lima ScotRail 47 plus Dapol blue-grey Mk2s, bought purely because may years ago at a show I picked up a very basic DBSO conversion. 

 

Likewise, a rake of Dapol Freightliner flats and pocket wagon that appealed just because I have a Freightliner 70 which was bought as a gift.  I've nowhere to run either, but eBay would be hassle, and taking them to a shop would get me much less than eBay, so unless I reach a point where I need the money more than the space, they'll likely just sit there.  

 

Likewise, EWS 66200, always a poor runner, and just one of a number of EWS 66s I have, so again, it could go, but same criteria apply.  Lima GNER trainpack, sentimental value but I'll never get around to buying a full rake.  And the list goes on... It does make me wonder too, if I had to downsize, where would I start, and what order would I get rid of things, and which would be the one's I'd want to keep.  

[Northmoor]

You make a good point about balancing "surplus" and "sentiment", JDW.

 

I've seen the recommendation for modellers returning to the hobby after 20 years or more - which kind of includes me, because I've never stopped collecting, but have only recently restarted actually modelling - dispose of their old stock and replace it with the new, better stock available now.  I could NOT do that.  Too much of my collection is based on sentiment; I remember either getting it as a Christmas/Birthday gift or where I bought it on a fondly-remembered holiday.  It's not as if much of the stuff from the '80s was that bad anyway; Hornby was sometimes basic and Lima mechanisms, crude, but Airfix and Mainline models in many cases still look good today.  I started a thread on this subject a while ago and based on the responses, I'm not alone in this view.  Most of my models have never experienced the split chassis issues so often complained about; perhaps I've never run them enough? 

 

There is a de-cluttering theory about only keeping things which, when you look at them, bring you joy.  I would recommend that to anyone getting rid of surplus model railway equipment.  You only get the excitement of opening the new item for the first time, once.

[Philou]

@Northmoor

 

Do you have a link to your thread? I should like to have a read of it.

 

Ta,

 

Philip

[Northmoor]

8 minutes ago, Philou said:

@Northmoor

 

Do you have a link to your thread? I should like to have a read of it.

 

Ta,

 

Philip

 

 

[Philou]

Thanks for the link - quite an interesting read - especially as I probably have most of the locos that were listed (and others) still in store waiting for 'that' layout.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

[hayfield]

I for one buy something if I both like it and think its good value, I ended up with about 3 or more lifetimes amount of kits or kit built items which I bought to rebuild. Clearly something which got out of hand. Also have loads of projects I started but never finished. My modelling interests have also changed so this in itself has made items redundant. In short as my wife says "a hoarder"

 

I am halfway through disposing of all but what I will use and as I am moving up a scale new items are far more expensive, in addition I can now afford things like a chassis building jig and moving to DCC sound, all being funded from disposing of items which are items in boxes in my cupboards which would never be used.

 

Just about to order a new loco kit, which has been funded from selling unwanted items.

[MarshLane]

On 16/04/2019 at 09:35, AY Mod said:

 

Which would require RMweb to be a transaction platform to accept payments but due to it's complexities cannot be integrated with company payment systems. It would also be an additional workload for me to administrate.

 

Patterns are emerging that it is an effective selling platform and if you sell over £50 of items a month you would have saved the eBay fees plus get the other benefits.

 

I suppose the other advantage to using rmWeb Classifieds and keeping it Gold Members only is security.  I acknowledge that the sale is between the seller and the buyer, and other than providing a facility for advertising it, rmWeb is not involved, but the likelyhood of somebody selling a 'dud' on here or misrepresenting a sale is ( I would have thought ) less than eBay.  

 

rmWeb has a record of their name, a verified address through their payment method, and any serious feedback on selling a badly described item, could potentially result in that seller having part of their Gold privilege suspended (ie access to classifieds).   I dont know what Andy's guidelines are, but logically I would have assumed it would include a comment that sellers do not bring the rmWeb brand, website or forum into disrepute by mis-promoting, mis-describing or mis-using the site.

 

Id probably also feel happier parting with money from somebody who is a Gold Member and active poster on the site - it gives us buyers more confidence that all is ok.  Just my thoughts....

 

Rich

[Porkscratching]

A slight problem with rmweb classifieds is, for example... looking a 4mm scale items...there's 17 items for sale !

( versus, probably, eBay's 17 million..) 

[JDW]

Surely the problem is with Ebay not RMWeb Classifieds?  17 million temptations versus a much more palatable 17.  

[hayfield]

What is the chance of you wanting any of the 17 items listed ?, as I model in both EM & 0 gauges unless I wanted 7 point motors no temptations. As for eBay whilst there are 330,000 model train listings, auctions which many are most interested in are 27,000, 7 mm scale is 1,300 when tinplate is stripped out I would guess nearer 600. 00 gauge fares much better at 17,000

 

Don't get me wrong, if there were items in the classifieds I wanted at a price I accept, like either in a shop or at a show I would use the facility to obtain the item, the more outlets we have the better.

[Dave Hunt]

Having not done any real Railway modelling for a good while now I' m just starting on what my late friend David Jenkinson would probably have called my 'last great project.' Before starting, though, I set about clearing and cleaning my workshop/railway room and realised that there was a lot of stuff (aeromodelling as well as Railway modelling) that realistically I am never going to use in what time I have left. I therefore set about selling it on eBay and to my astonishment it achieved enough to fund my new projected layout (a large 7mm Midland MPD) in toto. So far there is a part completed turntable kit and a stack of good Russian birch ply waiting to become the basis of a layout - all the result of disposing of stuff that up to a few months ago was simply gathering dust to no real effect so in my case getting rid of surplus items has been really beneficial.

 

Dave

[Porkscratching]

I've recently done similar to Dave, getting rid of loads of stuff (on ebay) that's never going to be used, and it's surprising how much you can accrue this way...it all gets rapidly spent again of course, on more railway kit..

[Anthony]

This topic seems to be very eBay-orientated, and I was wondering whether anyone has any experience of selling through people like, say, Hatton's or Rails, some of whom offer to come and inspect?  Presumably they offer rock-bottom prices?

[Porkscratching]

Those big shops that 'buy secondhand' would doubtless offer stupid low prices for your stuff, they've got to put a massive mark up on goods if you think about it.

( I expect they can buy new items wholesale surprisingly cheaply )

They likely 'score' when someone wants to sell a collection of ,say, deceased effects in one big job lot, and the seller knows little of what they have.

I remember many years ago with band equipment, guitars, amps etc..if you tried to sell them to a shop they'd offer piddling amounts compared to what they'd cost you to buy.

[chris p bacon]

8 minutes ago, Porkscratching said:

They likely 'score' when someone wants to sell a collection of ,say, deceased effects in one big job lot, and the seller knows little of what they have.

 

The inference in posts like this is that they try and deceive the seller. The large shops have overheads that individual sellers on bay don't have and need a higher return to cover them.

 

The reality for the big shops when faced with a large collection, is that some items will sell with a healthy profit and some will stay on the shelves for a long time tieing up cashflow.

 

I sold a friends estate a couple of years ago, there were approx 300+ items (after combining lots) and it took over 12 months with a lot of chancers and time wasters.

 

Edited May 6, 2019 by chris p bacon
Additionl info

[The Stationmaster]

43 minutes ago, Anthony said:

This topic seems to be very eBay-orientated, and I was wondering whether anyone has any experience of selling through people like, say, Hatton's or Rails, some of whom offer to come and inspect?  Presumably they offer rock-bottom prices?

According to others who have used them Hattons offer 'very reasonable' prices buying in secondhand items (although no doubt that really applies to readily saleable stuff).  The fact that they sell at high prices, sometimes very high prices, would suggest to me that they do indeed offer good buying in prices.

 

But don't forget that every retailer dealing in secondhand will have a pretty good idea of the market and what will or won't sell so could be very selective about what they buy and how much they pay for it because they are in effect investing money in stock so it has to make a certain level of return.

Edited May 6, 2019 by The Stationmaster
correct typos

[Porkscratching]

I did actually say in my post that they've ''got to put a massive mark up on goods if you think about it"

to cover overheads obviously...

I'm looking at it from a sellers point of view, not theirs..

[hayfield]

Pucker businesses do have high costs, plus if they are buying collections, many items may have little value, Years ago I worked for a well known camera shop chain, which had a thriving s/h section despite being mainly new sales, we were able to offer reasonable amounts when buying, overnight when VAT was introduced the s/h marked was killed off

 

Dealers will offer you a third or less of the value of the items, traditional auction businesses obtain usually wholesale prices, plus charge both buyer and seller a large commission

 

eBay has in fact two businesses rolled in to one, a retail side (buy it now) and an auction. Both have their uses especially for those who have no model shops near, the auction site as you have just read gives businesses/collectors/modellers a platform to sell and buy items. The seller wanting to maximise what they receive for their items, the buyer either finding those elusive and hard to find items and or get a bargain

 

For the seller many of the items they sell would have little or no value if sold locally, or allows something to be sold directly to the buyer cutting out the middleman's slice

[MarshLane]

20 hours ago, Porkscratching said:

A slight problem with rmweb classifieds is, for example... looking a 4mm scale items...there's 17 items for sale !

( versus, probably, eBay's 17 million..) 

 

I think its worth remembering that rmWeb's classifieds have only been going for a few weeks, versus eBay's few years - so thats probably not a fair comparison.  I would expect to see things expand as time progresses to be honest.  But also remember that eBay is well known, anyone can use it - and the associated problems that can follow as have been well documented on here over the years.  The one advantage (and I may be wrong in this) being that there is unlikely to be any rubbish sold through rmWeb, as both advertisers and buyers, will have a decent idea of what's what.

 

I've got some O gauge to put on in a few weeks, so once I've joined the 'Gold crew' I'll give it a go, and see what happens.

 

 

3 hours ago, Anthony said:

This topic seems to be very eBay-orientated, and I was wondering whether anyone has any experience of selling through people like, say, Hatton's or Rails, some of whom offer to come and inspect?  Presumably they offer rock-bottom prices?

 

I did try Rails and while its fair that they are not going to offer eBay prices (ie realistic ones not the OTT price some stuff goes for), I did expected a reasonable figure. They were offered three OO gauge locos, all new in box never run, along with four boxed wagons.  RRP new was around £400 - so my hope was around £200 as a minimum, acknowledging they have to add a mark up to resell.  I was slightly shocked when they came back with a sub £100 offer!  With the feeling that even with eBay fees and the hassle of postage, I was going to achieve as least £150 on a bad day, I did feel somewhat offended.   I had originally thought of trying Hatton's, but after the Rails experience, through well they will all be around the same so I didn't bother.

Edited May 6, 2019 by MarshLane