Questions Surronding Inherited Railroad Collection

[1234567]

Kindly note that I have no experience whatsoever in model railroading. Thank you

I recently inherited a large model railroading collection. The collection is nearly all HO scale (95%+). It consists of models, art supplies, scenery supplies, railroads, and more. Almost all products are in their original packaging and in near-new quality. The retail value of the collection is $15,000+ (retail stickers on products). There are around 50 model trains in the original packaging, alongside everything else.

I am hoping those familiar in model railroading can answer the following.
What is the best way to sell these? Online, in person, at a convention, etc. Do most railroad products (ex: standard train model) fetch their original retail value? Is it common that their value may have gone up, should I be looking for collectors' or otherwise rare items?

Again, I am not familiar with this community or these products whatsoever. Any other information surrounding proceeding with sales of these items is greatly appreciated. I thank you all for your time.

 

[santafewillie]

First of all, let me offer condolences to you if this was a loved one or special friend.
A whole lot depends on what is actually there and how much time you wish to put into disposing of it. Most items except rolling stock will not fetch much unless it's a collector type item. Selling on Ebay or other online marketplaces can be profitable with close to or even above retail, but you do have to deal with research, listing, shipping etc.

What is the best way to sell these?

Direct answer is finding a dealer or collector who will purchase the whole lot. These can be found doing a Google search of your area, or asking at a local hobby shop that specializes in trains. If retail is $15000, expect to get $3000 - $5000 for the whole lot. Probably less. Other than rolling stock and maybe track, it doesn't seem like you have anything of any real value.
If going any other way, you would have to do some research to see whether the retail price is realistic. Looking at past sales on Ebay is one way to research. Unless it is a sought after rarity, freight cars will command at best 60%, engines could sell for above retail. Art and scenery supplies you might have to give away to sweeten any other deals. Structure kits could get near retail, but you may need to hold them for quite a while before getting a realistic bid.
Selling on the "For Sale" pages on forums such as this one is another option, but I wouldn't count on that to move anything quickly.

Is it common that their value may have gone up

No with the exception of collectables.
Since you haven't provided pictures, it is real hard to make any real guesstimate of what you should expect.

Since you inherited this, all is going to be profitable, but it will not be enough to retire on.

 

[1234567]

First of all, let me offer condolences to you if this was a loved one or special friend.
A whole lot depends on what is actually there and how much time you wish to put into disposing of it. Most items except rolling stock will not fetch much unless it's a collector type item. Selling on Ebay or other online marketplaces can be profitable with close to or even above retail, but you do have to deal with research, listing, shipping etc.

Direct answer is finding a dealer or collector who will purchase the whole lot. These can be found doing a Google search of your area, or asking at a local hobby shop that specializes in trains. If retail is $15000, expect to get $3000 - $5000 for the whole lot. Probably less. Other than rolling stock and maybe track, it doesn't seem like you have anything of any real value.
If going any other way, you would have to do some research to see whether the retail price is realistic. Looking at past sales on Ebay is one way to research. Unless it is a sought after rarity, freight cars will command at best 60%, engines could sell for above retail. Art and scenery supplies you might have to give away to sweeten any other deals. Structure kits could get near retail, but you may need to hold them for quite a while before getting a realistic bid.
Selling on the "For Sale" pages on forums such as this one is another option, but I wouldn't count on that to move anything quickly.

No with the exception of collectables.
Since you haven't provided pictures, it is real hard to make any real guesstimate of what you should expect.

Since you inherited this, all is going to be profitable, but it will not be enough to retire on.

I do appreciate your reply and information. Thank you

 

[D&J RailRoad]

Just a tip on your description of what you have.
You mentioned "There are around 50 model trains in the original packaging".
That would imply you have 50 sets of locomotives with strings of cars. A train is a makeup of the whole thing.
You might do better to refer to the items as "locomotives" or "rolling stock".

 

[beiland]

Of course the easiest process would to just entertain some offers from those individuals/groups that buy up collections.

But lets look at a few other alternative processes:
1) Ebay,.....probably exposes your collection to the largest number of potential buyers of all the processes. But have you ever used ebay for any other reasons? I find it to be a pain in the backside, and they charge you for just listing the products whether they are sold or not.

2) Do you have any model railroad clubs in your vicinity? Sometimes they may have a person in that club that assumes the roll of 'estate disposal expert'. Often the club members get first shot at many of the items, then that person should assist in desposal of the remaining items. Those club members often know the true value of some of the items, and are willing to pay a reasonable price for the used (new in your case) items. Engines and rolling stock are usually the first to be bought.

3) If it was me I would first start out listing it on 'free sites' This forum has such a site,....
https://modelrailroadforums.com/forum/index.php#the-interchange-track-buy-sell-trade.20

Then there is this one that has been pretty productive for me,...
https://groups.io/g/HOswap/post

4) If there are brass engines that raises new suggestions.

5) What is your physical location in the country,...and how close to the postage facilities are you?
If you were to try selling off a lot of the inventory yourself, the packaging and freight charges can be another pain in the backside. Many items are listed as price plus shipping. Determining each individual freight charge can be another pain in finding those charges and the back and forth communication to agree on freight charges. You would likely be best to choose a 'general comman freight charge' to use for many of the similar items.

 

[Selector]

All very thoughtful answers. I hope mine will make a small contribution as well.

This is an emotional hobby. The collections have been built on emotion. Many of us in the hobby are collectors more than we are interested in, sometimes more than we are capable, of putting them on a track system and playing with them. That's probably good for you. This is because emotion (and it's illusion of need) will govern what kind of value will be assigned to the items you bother to list as itemized and with a modicum of description. People will part with cash if what you offer them is something they wish they'd not sold or otherwise disposed of years earlier, and this might be their one opportunity to get another.

So, I hope you deduce from my comment that it might be worth your while to spend some time on this and to get to know what you have that might command a reasonable return on the original 'investment'. Right now, eBay is flooded with hobby stuff across multiple hobbies where people hope to get premium prices because that is what it took to acquire increasingly rare items during the pandemic. Things haven't improved a lot, but people die or give up on the hobby, and during a pandemic the site gets literally flooded with stock for sale. About all you can do, if the local Buy 'n Sell or Craig's List doesn't work out for you, is to spend the the time and try to sell bundles, or pricey items individually, on eBay.

But my main message is that accurate, knowledgeable, descriptions will put you further ahead in your goal of disposal.

Some hints: Do any of the locomotives have 'decoders' in them? Are they described as "DCC-ready" or "DCC with sound"? If so, they are items that he/she purchased within the last 18 years, and they're likely to be good runners, or at least worth more for their innards. If no such descriptions exist, they won't be as valuable, EXCEPT...that an older person, older in the hobby, might really need or want the item even though it isn't DCC-capable. Remember, the right buyer has an emotional interest, possibly a rather intense one, in the item.

Good luck to you.

 

[dennis461]

ebay takes 12% of the sale prices.

seller should revise post to at least tell us what state the estates resides

 

[TLOC]

Hi. As Willie stated my condolences if this was a loved one or a treasured friend.

Model trains are only worth whatever the buyer is willing to pay. I am not a user of EBay but many use it and as Brian noted above may draw you a larger audience.

I prefer to sell and buy on Facebook buy/sell groups and do weekly. No fees are a great thing. Start small, do not list huge amounts of items at once. I stick to at most 5 items at a time on my listings and I leave the list up from Thursday to Wednesday. I will though list 1-5 sales ads on the sites. Most sites are ok withthat but some are not. My experience has been starting on Thursday makes for better sales for me. Others may disagree but I track things like this. Some items will sell in hours and other not at all. If it didn’t sell ask yourself why and make adjustments. Most of the time it is a pricing issue. Packaging to get repeat clients or buyers is a must. I re-use the many Amazon boxes that seem to show up in my delivery box.

While I still review [email protected] daily, since Covid I have made very few sales there. Purchases yes, sales no. YMMV as Brian sales he does well there. Facebook for selling IMO is great, Idoont do anything but model trains on FB, again YMMV…

Selling is work. Nightly check FB messenger to see if you got responses. I respond to each inquiry. Letting them know I have a sales pending, that they are in line and thanking them for the inquiry.

If you can find an estate buyer that will return the least amount of money but is also the quickest.I have purchased entire collections offering 25% of retail. If you have a Local Hobby Shop that has a strong train department confer with them. They may sell items on consignment, they may know estate buyers but if you don’t ask they cannot help you. Do not bother with Hobby Lobby, Hobbytown or similar stores, you need a model train store.

I hope this works out for you

 

[J.Albert]

Another vote for "the HO swap list" as mentioned above.

 

[skyliner]

I am hoping those familiar in model railroading can answer the following.
What is the best way to sell these? Online, in person, at a convention, etc. Do most railroad products (ex: standard train model) fetch their original retail value? Is it common that their value may have gone up, should I be looking for collectors' or otherwise rare items?

Condolences from me as well. In addition to the comments above (which I've only skimmed, forgive me if I'm repeating anything), I'll add my thoughts and other ideas.

Your question of: "What is the best way to sell these?" depends on how you define "best." Are you looking for--

-The highest dollar return, i.e. most profit?
-The fastest, easiest way of disposing of it all?
-Something else, such as...selling to someone who would make use of it vs. someone who might resell it.

As mentioned above, to get the greatest return, you will likely have to sell most of the collection bit by bit. Choose your preferred venue-- Ebay, online forums, Facebook marketplace, etc. You have a greater chance that way of connecting with a collector who is looking for some specific locomotive or car in your collection, and who is willing to pay fair market value for it. But this is also the most work. You'll have to do some research on everything, determine appropriate price, handle the transaction, and ship if necessary. Assuming you have a couple hundred pieces of equipment, it will probably take years to clear out everything.

The fastest way is probably selling it as an entire lot to a dealer or shop. There are various shops around the country that specialize in buying and re-selling collections. Some will look at the whole collection and give you a price for everything; others may take items on consignment. Depending on the size and quality of your collection, you may also be able to find individuals willing to buy your whole collection too.

Do most railroad products fetch their original retail value?

It...depends. Without knowing what you have, it's hard to say. Generally speaking, most HO trains tend to be worth less over time, especially if they've been used. Older, lower-quality trains (e.g. "toy train" quality such as Tyco, Model Power, Toys R'Us) are almost always worth less.

However, if you happen to have high-quality out-of-production items, those could command a slight premium over original prices to someone who's looking for it. For example, if you had an Intermountain Southern Pacific Cab Forward steam locomotive, I would probably be willing to pay more than original retail because those have been out of production for years, and no one makes such a model at the moment. There are lots of collectors out there looking for some locomotive, train car, or other accessory that they missed out on years ago and may be willing to pay extra for if you had one, especially one still unopened. But even so, value would be slightly above original retail; there generally aren't "rare" valuable items in the HO world (one exception would be locomotives made out of brass, but even those are hit-and-miss).

If you lay out some or most of what you have and post a few pictures, I'm sure those of us here would be happy to give you some idea of what you have, and whether there might be anything rare or collectible in there.

A few other thoughts on disposal:

-Do you have any family members, children in particular, who might be interested in trains? This is an opportunity for someone young to start a train layout if so.
-Another option might be to see if there is a local train club in your area. Contact them and see if they might be willing to buy the collection, or maybe they have a regular "swap meet" or fleamarket where you could sell. Just be wary, they may want to just pick over your good stuff and leave the rest.

Good luck to you.