starting again in a new scale - advice on disposal

[Helmdon]

Hi all, 

 

not sure where to start with this one or where to put it. I'm building a small diorama of the Mid Suffolk, and thoroughly enjoying it. But I've been collecting stock, for a planned 16 x 12 OO gauge layout over the past 8 years, and now thanks to a change in living arrangements am having to look at what I can do with more like 8 x 5 in N.

 

so, what's the best way to dispose of everything - am I best trying to drip it out on well known auction sites (I know I'll get more money overall) or just bite the bullet and get it all gone to one of the high street buyers of collections? 

 

Part of me just wants it gone at this point, to free up space and cash to get on with what I can do, rather than what I've come accept I'll never do.

 

thoughts/advice welcome

[Hibelroad]

I think you have answered your own question really, eBay best price but charges and post and packing to pay, possibly bad/fraudulent buyers causing hassle. Dealers give a fairly low price but quick and easy way to dispose of the lot, it’s really a trade off of going for an easy life against hard work giving the chance of a lot more money. 

[woodenhead]

Sale to a dealer is a quick liquidation of assets if you are in dire need.

 

Best way, especially if you intend to re-invest in a different scale is to sale slowly via Ebay when they have offers on so you pay the least commission.

 

I've sold lots that way and only had one difficult buyer whom I had to put my foot down with.

[Michael Hodgson]

wot he said! 

 

The thing about selling on ebay is that it's very time consuming to photograph and then to list each item separately, and you have to decide either for each item you list what to ask as buy-it-now or what you think is a realistic starting price for an auction, as well as packing and posting them as and when they sell.  That's all time you could have been spending on building the new layout.  So it's partly a question of how much your time is worth to you.  On the other hand if you get more money for what you don't need any more, you've got more to spend on models in your new scale.

 

If you do go down the ebay route, I would suggest selling groups of 3 or 4 wagons together as job lots rather than individually, because the P&P on a single wagon makes the total price look unreasonable,

 

 

[Longhaireddavid]

I sold all my US Outline HO and N plus the legacy of my Marklin days all to Rails of Sheffield. Not priced like eBay but very easy to do. They are nice people and efficient. You can, at least, ask them for a price and then decide. Beats selling everything one item at a time.

 

BTW, I am not associated ed with them in any way only a happy customer.

 

[ITG]

As others have said, only you can decide the balance of your time versus your money, ‘cos that’s what it comes down to. You could try part exchanging your 00 stuff for N stuff at a reputable dealer; that may slightly ease the gap in the financial equation.

ian

[hayfield]

I think you have had very wise council in the previous posts, with lots of very good advice

 

If you have time selling on eBay can be fun as well as rewarding, when I sold my old RTR items some years ago I could not believe how much it raised

 

With wagons and coaches unless they are collectors items, as advised list them in groups to reduce the postage cost

 

Take time with your first listing, if you make it as a template you can use it time and time again, just changing the photos and details. This makes further listings much easier

 

Take clear photos, as these will sell your items, what you earn will depend on how clear your photos and descriptions are, plus sell a few as wrapping up lots of items at one becomes a chore

 

Look at how other present their items and copy the best ones

 

Most of all enjoy the process

[ISW]

5 hours ago, Helmdon said:

Part of me just wants it gone at this point, to free up space and cash to get on with what I can do, rather than what I've come accept I'll never do.

 

thoughts/advice welcome

Have you considered selling it all at a local (or national) swap-meet? Set up your own table and sell as much as you can. You might need to set up a card payment method though (like SumUp). From what a couple of sellers have told me, they got much better prices this way. You can find all the swap meets at https://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/events/local.html

 

What you have afterwards can go to another seller (eg: Rails of Sheffield) or through eBay.

 

Ian

[Right Away]

Ten years ago, I found myself in a similar albeit, reverse situation, deciding to part with a considerable collection of continental N gauge items as I was resurrecting 00. This was as a result of ageing eyesight and dexterity making it increasingly difficult to appreciate working in the smaller scale. There was no initial urgency to “get rid”; just that each selling would go towards the British outline 00 railway which was being developed.

 

I decided to check Ebay, noting the price and condition of items similar to those I wished to sell, as guidance. 

Around five items of rolling stock were put up for auction just to “test the water” and all were sold at a very respectable price. Eventually, by selling in batches, the whole was sold over a few months.

 

Advice for selling:

1. Ensure title of each item is concise and includes manufacturer’s item code - this will assist potential buyers.

2. Photograph each item from all angles (4 clear photos per item is usually enough), ensuring any damage or blemish is visible to the viewer.

3. Also photograph item standing on its box where possible - box condition can sometimes clinch a deal and protects item in transit.

     NOTE: I used an SLR on a tripod, using small aperture to maximise depth of field, A black card was used as a backdrop.

4. Ensure the title of the sale includes the manufacture’s item code - this will assist potential buyers.

5. Describe each item as accurately as possible, denoting condition, any detailing or weathering. (I initially feared that weathered items migh  be rejected, but was surprised when buyers asked if more were available!).

6. Accept payment by PayPal only.  

7. When selling in batches, ensure the bidding “finish time” of each item is separated by 5 minutes or more in order that potential buyers may bid and stand the chance of getting more than one item.

Good luck.

 

Edited February 7 by Right Away
correction

[Helmdon]

1 hour ago, ISW said:

Have you considered selling it all at a local (or national) swap-meet? Set up your own table and sell as much as you can. You might need to set up a card payment method though (like SumUp). From what a couple of sellers have told me, they got much better prices this way. You can find all the swap meets at https://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/events/local.html

 

What you have afterwards can go to another seller (eg: Rails of Sheffield) or through eBay.

 

Ian

I’ll reply more properly/acknowledge people tomorrow - many thanks all- but am working late tonight. I have actually thought of this but didn’t know where to start. Definitely worth some consideration and thanks for the link!

[Gilbert]

It depends where you are. Here in the South West I find Ray Heard is open and honest about how he buys s/h stock and prices sales. May not get as much as Ebay but a lot easier. He goes to a lot of ( and sponsors a number of ) shows but does not really do the internet...

Chris H

[BroadLeaves]

I'd echo most of what has already been said, but I have a different view on one aspect. Rather than offering "bundles" of wagons, offer them singly but use eBay's facility to combine postage.

If you sell single wagons at £10 each, with £3.50 postage, there's no reason why someone buying four wagons should be charged more than £43.50, if you choose to set it up that way.

The problem you may have with grouping wagons together is that you reduce the potential buyer pool. If I only want two of the four, I'm not going to pay, effectively, twice the price for the two I do want. Sure, I can then sell the other two on, but that's quite a bit of hassle. If you sell them singly, then it's almost the reverse - I can buy two wagons and "save" £3.50 on postage costs.

It's also worth making sure that, should you choose to offer it, the combined postage information is a prominent part of the listing for each item.

[Right Away]

12 hours ago, Right Away said:

Ten years ago, I found myself in a similar albeit, reverse situation, deciding to part with a considerable collection of continental N gauge items as I was resurrecting 00. This was as a result of ageing eyesight and dexterity making it increasingly difficult to appreciate working in the smaller scale. There was no initial urgency to “get rid”; just that each selling would go towards the British outline 00 railway which was being developed.

 

I decided to check Ebay, noting the price and condition of items similar to those I wished to sell, as guidance. 

Around five items of rolling stock were put up for auction just to “test the water” and all were sold at a very respectable price. Eventually, by selling in batches, the whole was sold over a few months.

 

Advice for selling:

1. Ensure title of each item is concise and includes manufacturer’s item code - this will assist potential buyers.

2. Photograph each item from all angles (4 clear photos per item is usually enough), ensuring any damage or blemish is visible to the viewer.

3. Also photograph item standing on its box where possible - box condition can sometimes clinch a deal and protects item in transit.

     NOTE: I used an SLR on a tripod, using small aperture to maximise depth of field, A black card was used as a backdrop.

4. Ensure the title of the sale includes the manufacture’s item code - this will assist potential buyers.

5. Describe each item as accurately as possible, denoting condition, any detailing or weathering. (I initially feared that weathered items migh  be rejected, but was surprised when buyers asked if more were available!).

6. Accept payment by PayPal only.  

7. When selling in batches, ensure the bidding “finish time” of each item is separated by 5 minutes or more in order that potential buyers may bid and stand the chance of getting more than one item.

Good luck.

 

 

*** NOTE***

For clarity, when I speak of selling in batches, a “batch” would denote a number of items  with EACH ITEM OF A BATCH BEING OFFERED INDIVIDUALLY, BUT POSTED ON THE DAY. I never meant to suggest selling a batch of items as one transaction or “job lot” as it were.

Apologies.

Edited February 8 by Right Away

[Re6/6]

A while back, I disposed of a fair bit of stock to a dealer (Hattons) and recieved around 30% of the 'perceived' value after research. It was painless, courteous and efficient so if time is a factor then this method of sale can be recommended.

[hayfield]

12 hours ago, Gilbert said:

It depends where you are. Here in the South West I find Ray Heard is open and honest about how he buys s/h stock and prices sales. May not get as much as Ebay but a lot easier. He goes to a lot of ( and sponsors a number of ) shows but does not really do the internet...

Chris H

 

Gilbert

 

I buy quite a lot from Ray, as a buyer he is one of the best traders

[skipepsi]

If you live further north, Anoraks Anonymous Doncaster gives good offers and could also offer deals if you want to acquire N gauge stock. I am slowly moving to 0 gauge and she has been very helpful.

[Welchester]

If you are selling to a dealer, it is well worth shopping around. When I moved from OO to O I had a number of quotes. Hattons was by far the best - nearly a third as much again as another large retailer, but they are sadly no longer wth us.

 

The dealer will pay for carriage. In my case they sent a courier. Ellis Clarke even offered to pack the items.

[5050]

I sold all my large collection of USA HO stock to Contikits last year.  I had no response from several other dealers about the  (long) list I e-mailes them.  Contikits were the only one who replied with anything like an acceptable price.  They came to the house to collect it all and paid in hard cash at the time.

 

No way was I going to go through all the messing about with e-bay with all I had.  Doing it this way was quite a relief and a weight off my mind - even if I didn't get as much as I might have done with e-bay.

[Bernard Lamb]

31 minutes ago, 5050 said:

I sold all my large collection of USA HO stock to Contikits last year.  I had no response from several other dealers about the  (long) list I e-mailes them.  Contikits were the only one who replied with anything like an acceptable price.  They came to the house to collect it all and paid in hard cash at the time.

 

No way was I going to go through all the messing about with e-bay with all I had.  Doing it this way was quite a relief and a weight off my mind - even if I didn't get as much as I might have done with e-bay.

I would agree. The people at Contikits are very good to deal with.

The other side of the coin is that their selling prices are just as realistic. You don't see items in their lists hanging around forever at silly prices.

Bernard

[montyburns56]

You could sell the most valuable pieces i.e. the locomotives on Ebay and then just sell the rest to a trader.

[DaveF]

Some years ago I sold all my 00 stuff to Contikits.  They gave me a fair price, paid part as a cheque and part in cash on the day (at my request).  I live not too far away so took the stuff to them.

Edit,  I should add that I've known Geoff for many years both through his business (and have helped him at shows) and through our daytime jobs.  As far as I know he offers me the same terms as anyone else.

David

Edited February 8 by DaveF

[Gilbert]

16 minutes ago, DaveF said:

Some years ago I sold all my 00 stuff to Contikits.  They gave me a fair price, paid part as a cheque and part in cash on the day (at my request).  I live not too far away so took the stuff to them.

 

David

I know of at least one modelling friend who has had very good service from Contikits - he even drove a considerable distance to trade with them ......but he did have a life time stash to shift...

[Mike Bellamy]

23 hours ago, ISW said:

Have you considered selling it all at a local (or national) swap-meet? Set up your own table and sell as much as you can. You might need to set up a card payment method though (like SumUp). From what a couple of sellers have told me, they got much better prices this way. You can find all the swap meets at https://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/events/local.html

 

Our local model railway club organise three swapmeets each year and charge £15 for a 6ft table and have between 15-20 traders there. They all spend the time before the public come in circulating around the tables buying from each other anything they think is cheap and then adding stuff to their pile of sales items. Of course the ordinary punters start to queue early in the hope of getting some bargains but don't realise the other traders have been there before them.

 

At one sale, one of our club members was in your situation with a table full of OO stock - by the time the public were admitted, he had an empty table as everything had gone to two dealers - he was happy with the prices he got which were at a 'bulk buy' discount off his individual prices but the advantage was that he had nothing left to dispose of.

.

[Simon G]

I have sold quite a few items via Facebook selling sites, without any problems or hassle.  The main advantage over ebay is that you dont pay 10% or whatever in charges.  I have used two sites, Model Railway Trading Group being the most suitable for your means.

 

In my opinion, most dealers will only offer rip-off values!

[hayfield]

10 hours ago, Simon G said:

I have sold quite a few items via Facebook selling sites, without any problems or hassle.  The main advantage over ebay is that you dont pay 10% or whatever in charges.  I have used two sites, Model Railway Trading Group being the most suitable for your means.

 

In my opinion, most dealers will only offer rip-off values!

 

Simon

 

As for retail second hand trading, prior to VAT the rules of buying second hand was buy at 1/3 rrp and sell at 2/3 rrp. the introduction of VAT changed the buying price to a lower amount, however if trading up to a newer/more expensive item discounts could be arranged

 

As for eBay fees, firstly a traditional auction site charges 20% (ave) to both buyers and sellers and most times gets trade (lower) rates

 

Most of us wait for listing discount weekends where its 2% plus a small listing fee

 

However whether you pay full or discounted fees, if the listing is well done you tend to receive retail prices

 

A lot of folk moan about postage charged, look at what traditional auction sites charge !!

 

For run of the mill lower priced items sell in batches, I found groups of 3 or 4 were the optimum number

 

But if you don't want the hassle of selling, then get quotes from dealers