Which shop is best for trading in unwanted items.

[brittannia]

On 15/02/2022 at 20:39, Kris said:

Seems to be 60p per parcel now. https://www.royalmail.com/collection

72p inc vat the cost now

[Kris]

32 minutes ago, brittannia said:

72p inc vat the cost now

Wow that is going up quickly. 

[Kris]

22 hours ago, brittannia said:

72p inc vat the cost now

Price for collection appears to be variable. I was just offered the 60p option. 

 

 

[30801]

2 hours ago, Kris said:

Price for collection appears to be variable. I was just offered the 60p option. 

 

Maybe it varies with parcel size?

I just paid 60p each for two locos to be collected.

[woodenhead]

I've sold stock before to shops and got what I expected, but a recent attempt to sell off some of my better N gauge stock met with unexpectedly low offers from the large retail emporiums, worse, I tried another shop who is big when it comes to secondhand at shows and they did not even respond and I was emailing the owner.

 

So, I decided to step back into the world of Ebay, and with my first lot of items coming up to expiring this evening I am already above the last offer I had for all the stock I am selling - even though I've not yet listed it all and there is still time for some of the bids to increase.

 

So yes it is more messing, it is more risky but if you want a decent return you need to do it the hard way and sell it yourself.

[Michael Hodgson]

1 hour ago, woodenhead said:

So yes it is more messing, it is more risky but if you want a decent return you need to do it the hard way and sell it yourself.

If you sell as a job lot to a shop or any other dealer, you are essentially paying them to do all that messing in order to get the best price.  They have to make a profit, but they also have to invest labour into selling it, and of course some items are more saleable than others.  Ebay also take their cut of course, but I think you are more likely

[woodenhead]

39 minutes ago, Michael Hodgson said:

If you sell as a job lot to a shop or any other dealer, you are essentially paying them to do all that messing in order to get the best price.  They have to make a profit, but they also have to invest labour into selling it, and of course some items are more saleable than others.  Ebay also take their cut of course, but I think you are more likely

I went in with low expectations from a shop, basically half an ebay price because as you say they need to handle all the risk.  But the offers came in even lower than that, about 30% of an ebay price and I thought I could do better.  The first lot of the pack that I offered finished on EBay tonight, out of 22 items, 21 sold with some making significantly more than I expected so I am happy, and with 1 pound fees I am very happy.  The next lot will be some Collett stock and B sets but the value is low so the fees won't be quite a sting on the outcome.

 

I think the difference this time around mentally was that I was culling my more recent stock, so not pre-dcc locos so I felt there was more worth in them over letting them go to a shop. 

 

Once I've cleared down the N a little, I have to start on my OO again and do something with it, I am inclined to keep Panniers and GW goods engines but let any SR locos and coaches go, though I have an anomaly in the form of a Bulldog that seems too cute to sell.

 

Currently I am smiling at the chunk of funds awaiting me, more so because I think they all went for a fair price - there was nothing silly, people will be getting excellent condition stock and hardly run locos and I've made an inroad into the excessive pile of stuff in my room.

 

Everybody wins

[JJGraphics]

Spaced several years apart, I've had two good experiences with Ron Lines in Southampton when selling surplus items, recently getting a better offer than two of the big outfits deemed the items were worth. No connection other than a satisfied customer.

On the most recent occasion when I wanted to sell some surplus items I sent an e-mail clearly listing what I had to sell and the condition of the items and their boxes to over a dozen places that advertise wanting to buy stuff.

As well as a couple of rather derisory offers, I found it irritating when almost half of those I contacted did not even bother to reply.

John

[woodenhead]

To give some idea of the difference between selling to a dealer and doing it yourself below is an appraisal of part of what I have recently been selling.

 

For one lot of items I wanted to sell - a mix of locos, coaches and wagons, the best offer was around 700 Pounds.  With 8 items left, all rolling stock, I have so far raised 1400 Pounds less 40 Pounds in fees, I have not included the postage in these figures which is recouped as well.  The second lot that is currently online at Ebay was the next lot of items I wanted to clear, but these had not been appraised with any dealers or shops as I had already decided after the experience with the first lot that I would be doing it myself on Ebay.

 

So the upside, I've will get more than twice what a dealer would offer me, but the price is a good day wrapping packages and visiting the post office.  I think though overall it is worth it.

 

I would say that to the buyers, what they really value is a fast turnaround and good packaging and of course an honest evaluation of the model.  So if bits are missing or there is a fault, don't hide it and be open when prospective buyers ask questions.

[The White Rabbit]

Bottom line and at the risk of stating the obvious, whether it's worth paying someone else to do the legwork and take the risk on sales will always depend on an individual's circumstances. 

 

In the recent past, I sold a friend's collection (265 locos and assorted carriages/wagons) for him as he was afraid of an unscrupulous dealer taking advantage of his children's ignorance of his models' value when he died. A majority was done via E-bay. Some went for much more than I thought would, though some disappointed me - that's Ebay, it can be a gamble. Overall, I got a good result for him and a much better result than he'd have got using a model shop/dealer. It did take time and no little effort. And yes, I agree 100%, be scrupulously honest about describing the item. I had an advantage as I was already running a mail order business (model scenery/accessories), so had access to packing and could easily combine a bagful of his parcels with a bag of my own in trips to the post office. 

 

To return to the OP/question - just before the Premium service was introduced, I had a boxful of old coaches I wanted to move on, I approached a few dealers. I went with Hattons' offer, they offered significantly the best price (around half as much again as Rails) and on acceptance of their offer, e-mailed me a postage-paid label to attach to a parcel. The only downside was I couldn't use store credit against pre-orders (though I can see their PoV on that). Painless and stress-free, I'll certainly try them again if I'm unlucky with Classifieds here or for low-value items.