Need help understanding Kadee collector market..

[peteski]

F***N idiot if you ask me  . Original MDC/RH priced at nearly twice MTL/Kadee (I dont care which-I have a few of both) in what market?
Hope he doesnt  search and find out what a tool he is>>>> 

There are a lot of crazy-priced items on both eBay, and Amazon.  Some due to cluelessness of the seller, but often shrewd sellers looking for suckers.  It is just a new "normal" for the online shopping experience.

[learmoia]

The nuttiest thing I actually know about was a custom run that one of my good friends did when MT announced their 34' hoppers.   He was a CPA, since passed, this was about .... 1977-9 or so.  He had 100 black B&O two-bay hoppers done with an odd car number as a custom order from MT, all the same, other than that they were stock run.  And this is WAY pre-internet, but he subscribed to the mailed 'auction' of N scale equipment.   He wasn't a collector, he was a runner, and he had a layout that could actually handle a 100 car train of MT hoppers.

They 'WERE' or 'WERE NOT'?

Do you mean it was a non stock number on a stock scheme?

There are a lot of crazy-priced items on both eBay, and Amazon.  Some due to cluelessness of the seller, but often shrewd sellers looking for suckers.  It is just a new "normal" for the online shopping experience.

That goes for everything!!..   A bit of research goes a long way.. but living life on a phone through amazon prime,  they can charge whatever they want, and people are too lazy to look around and see if that is really the best deal.. (They assume it is because it's amazon and they are usually the cheapest and.. free 2 day shipping with prime.)

~Ian

[randgust]

The hoppers were identical to the regular run paint and scheme except for car number.  That was the only distinguishing thing.   And apparently that's all it took.  I think at that time the minimum run for a custom order was 100 cars, it was done directly with MT.

I'm still curious if his run shows up anywhere on any collectors sites.   This is the car style, and like I said, he got them in the late 70's.  I don't remember the ends, just the scheme on the side.   I don't have any photos of the cars clear enough to read the number.
http://www.trovestar.com/generic/zoom.php?id=134625

[Missaberoad]

There are a lot of crazy-priced items on both eBay, and Amazon.  Some due to cluelessness of the seller, but often shrewd sellers looking for suckers.  It is just a new "normal" for the online shopping experience.

I had a seller tell me once that if he didn't sell his collection for his prices his wife could throw it away when he died... 

[strummer]

That goes for everything!!..   A bit of research goes a long way.. but living life on a phone through amazon prime,  they can charge whatever they want, and people are too lazy to look around and see if that is really the best deal.. (They assume it is because it's amazon and they are usually the cheapest and.. free 2 day shipping with prime.)

~Ian

I think this is true. As in all things, patience is the key.

For me anyway, eBay has been the go-to for most of my hobby items; I really believe that most ebayers are honest and my own experiences has shown this to be the case. Sure, there are questionable listings, but they're easy to spot, so one can just scroll past those.

 FWIW, it's worked out well for me.

Mark in Oregon

[wcfn100]

I had a seller tell me once that if he didn't sell his collection for his prices his wife could throw it away when he died... 

That's probably how I'll do it.  Everything has a value to me.  If it doesn't sell for that price, toss it.  It's probably not worth the time and effort.

Jason

[Rossford Yard]

F***N idiot if you ask me  . Original MDC/RH priced at nearly twice MTL/Kadee (I dont care which-I have a few of both) in what market?
Hope he doesnt  search and find out what a tool he is>>>> 

Well, swearing and demeaning on the www doesn't put you in any higher category, but that is another topic.

I agree his pricing seems whack, for what is a bunch of pretty pedestrian rolling stock.  When I sell at train shows, etc. I start at 50% of original retail value.  Some argue you could get it at 20% off, so as often as not, 40% of retail value is about as good as I can get.  Using original retail semi automatically prices older cars lower.  I might get a buck more for MT coupler and truck sets on the real old stuff with horn hooks.

When I have sold on eBay, I try to put a lump of cars together.  When you figure what you might get, the time it takes, etc. its easier to list 20 batches of 5 than 100 singles.  I don't really have much time or patience.  Seeing that 5 pages of listings really makes me want to throw them out or sell them for $1 Each to a train show dealer.

[learmoia]

That's probably how I'll do it.  Everything has a value to me.  If it doesn't sell for that price, toss it.  It's probably not worth the time and effort.

Jason

Sorry but that mindset is silly..

Working with the local shop, we purchased a large (hording) N scale collection, where family members said 'it's all junk, just take it to goodwill'

The LHS paid $6500, the family was thrilled and when we added everything up, our sell price (50% off retail) was about $40,000..  And buyers went NUTS!! Grabbing stuff (2018 trainfest)

Anyways.. Throw it all in boxes and list it for .99 auction and take what you get.  Donate it, something. (the garbage can isn't going to pay fair value)..

~Ian

[Rossford Yard]

I had a seller tell me once that if he didn't sell his collection for his prices his wife could throw it away when he died... 

That is really an important topic, and the approach is certainly wife dependent. My first wife wasn't much of a hobby supporter, so I told her the collection has some value, and my friends (like Soo and Rivet Miscounter) could help her at the time with fair value (which of course, I undersold....) During the divorce, she wanted her lawyer to get a professional assessment of the collection so she could get her half.  Even her lawyer knew enough that it was a waste of time, and just let me keep my stuff and she keep hers.

Second wife is more supportive and I am more open with her, but in any event, having someone help with selling off is still important.

As to the comment about collecting going out of style, I wonder if the "Big Bang" type nerds would agree?  Its just that trains (and figurines) have gone out of style.  I do agree that few folks really want your stuff, as evidenced by several mainstream articles recently titled things like, "Hey Grandpa, no one wants your crap!"  My mom was insistent I took some of her collectibles to her funeral so each of her nieces etc. could have a "remembrance" of her via a porcelain bird or soup bowl.  I gave them all to one cousin who promised to "wink wink" distribute them among family members...….just to avoid hauling them back to Texas.  We never spoke of it again......

[JMaurer1]

The general thought by most 'pro' sellers on EBlah is that EVERYTHING is collectable and worth more than the MSRP. If it's old (VINTAGE!), it's worth more (vintage N scale...LOL!). They seem to guess at a price and sometimes they are low...which the bidders correct the price when they bid, or it's high and it doesn't sell. If someone has access to or bothers looking up the price in one of the price guides, they see what the high price was...the date doesn't matter. If it was worth that at one point, it still must be worth something in the same range. I used to buy just about everything that MT came out with that was west coast and transition era. I luckily sold my GN circus boxcars before the market crashed (and they were re-run by MT), however, those days are now over and the market has corrected itself. Most of the pro sellers don't know this which is why they keep listing the same things at stupid prices.

I'm only slightly concerned about my N scale when I pass...now my SP book collection (we actually have a library in our house) is a different story.

[peteski]

Here is an example of whacky pricing for a current item:  a Kato D51 steam loco decorated for the Orient Express.  New model - was released around August 2018.  I reserved one at a Japanese hobby shop and it cost me around $110US.

Of course they started showing up on eBay around the same time.  Most were priced from around $120 and up (with and without free shipping).  Then the prices started climbing into outrageous amounts.  Here are couple currently listed on eBay:

One is listed for $170.02:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303095878523
And the same item is also listed for $269.99 ($100 more than the other one!).
https://www.ebay.com/itm/352617436656

I've also seen them listed for over $500!  It's just eBay sellers looking for clueless buyers (suckers).

[Rossford Yard]

I'm only slightly concerned about my N scale when I pass...now my SP book collection (we actually have a library in our house) is a different story.

I wonder about those, too.  Last time I tried to sell my RR books at Half Price Books, they wouldn't even take them, although I have a pretty pedestrian collection.  I would guess your library has some value to the right buyer.  Maybe even one you (if you have the chance) pre-identify.  Or, donate them to the SP historical society maybe.

What is the best resource to assess RR book collections, if any?

[MK]

I had a seller tell me once that if he didn't sell his collection for his prices his wife could throw it away when he died... 

What if his wife dies first?     

[wcfn100]

Sorry but that mindset is silly..

Working with the local shop, we purchased a large (hording) N scale collection, where family members said 'it's all junk, just take it to goodwill'

The LHS paid $6500, the family was thrilled and when we added everything up, our sell price (50% off retail) was about $40,000..  And buyers went NUTS!! Grabbing stuff (2018 trainfest)

Anyways.. Throw it all in boxes and list it for .99 auction and take what you get.  Donate it, something. (the garbage can isn't going to pay fair value)..

~Ian

Well that just shows me my collection might be worth 8 cent on the dollar.  Life's too short spend time on that.

Jason

[learmoia]

Well that just shows me my collection might be worth 8 cent on the dollar.  Life's too short spend time on that.

Jason

No.. if you sold it yourself, you would recoup the $35-40,000.. we purchased 80 boxes of stuff (from large flat rate to moving boxes, not knowing what was in them.. turns out they were full of mint condition Microtrains, Atlas, Kato, ect stuff from the last 40 years. 

To each his own I guess.. If you want to throw that in the trash knock yourself out..