Value Query

[beeman]

]Attached 3 pics of a K's Garratt I built many years back. I recently saw on Ebay a kit for one of these , this sold for £148.00 'OUCH' !!. I contacted seller to ask if kit was worth more than a finished model. He suggested a finished item could fetch £300/400. Mine has 5 pole , chipped and runs perfect, think I also changed wheels from K's, some of them were awful, cheated by removing centre driver flanges due R1 curves. Any 'expert' who could comment on this appreciated. ''fraid not selling yet, someone will no doubt after I'm gone, might give an idea of value for SWIMBO after she greases the stairs, Oh forgot live in a bungalow. Beeman. Hope this is appropriate forum for this , if not request moderator to move, thanks.

[Kenton]

As always the value of anything depends on a combination of what the buyer is prepared to pay and the number and competative nature of the buyers.

 

In general, a finished kit will always sell for more than an unfinished kit and an un-started kit for more than a started one. However, the quality of finish will play a big part. If the "finished" kit is essentially a non-runner or the paint job is poor then it may only be worth the same as a started kit. (a buyer will have to strip it back, find the problem and possibly a lot more before rebuilding and re-finishing it)

 

I think size of loco/kit has no bearing on value - if anything the bigger the loco the lower the value (not everyone has space to run a Garratt)

 

Then of course insurance value is completely different.

[The Stationmaster]

The ultimate answer is that something is only worth what somebody is prepared to pay for it, and in an auction it is only worth what two somebodies are prepared to pay (until one or other of them wins the bidding war).

But that doesn't represent the 'insurance value' which, I suppose, really boils down to how much it would cost to replace it if - and I sincerely hope it doesn't happen - it is stolen etc.

Valuation for probate etc is rather different but at least comes with flexibility in that you can always up it after sale to keep the Revenue men happy. If you seek a valuation for that purpose many experts in the antiques and collectables field would normally work off readily established recent auction data generally tending to avoid Ebay results. What then might happen if the item actually goes into a sale goes right back to my first point - sometimes with surprising results!