How much is it really worth?

Inkaneer Sep 16, 2019

  1. Inkaneer

    Inkaneer TrainBoard Member

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    So here you are, retired or nearly so and you have accumulated this stash of N scale locomotives and rolling stock. As you survey your empire the thought of what happens to all of this when I go to the big roundhouse in the sky enters your mind. You could just let your beneficiaries decide what to do with it all but if your sons, daughters, grandchildren, etc. are not in to trains, then what? The thought of the entire lot being sold to some scalper for mere pennies on the dollar really rankles you. So you decide to sell it yourself. After all, you know what this stuff cost but do you know what it is worth? Back in the 80's I bought cars in the $2-$5 range and put a pair of $3.00 MT truck/couplers on it. Some of those same cars are still being made today but are selling a lot higher than what they were originally priced. Same is true of the MT truck/couplers. So what do you think? Also does the fact that on many of these cars the car numbers have not been duplicated in subsequent batches add to their value?
     
  2. mtntrainman

    mtntrainman TrainBoard Supporter

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    Put 'RARE" and "Collectible" in the description and the sky is the limit on what you can get.
     
  3. JMaurer1

    JMaurer1 TrainBoard Member

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    They are worth what someone else is willing to pay. This is why I run my trains and not just 'collect' them. Please realize you asked for an opinion and this is just mine. I'm sure that there ore others that will strongly disagree...but I know more than they do :p:rolleyes:.

    Atlas and Kato engines (I'm assuming that we are talking about before IM and others started making other good engines) have some value, as well as MT cars (almost all or worth 50% to double if not more of what you paid for them), but old Model Power, Bachmann, Life Like, Concor, etc rolling stock isn't worth much if anything. Very old Atlas cars, while 'collectible' to some (if they are first gen) usually have poor printing and not worth much. Cars that have different numbers are worth a little more, but (for instance) Atlas ran the same numbers for YEARS (and years and years) without changing them.

    If you want to make sure that your trains are taken care of, either designate someone who knows about them (say a train modeler buddy) to help with your next of kin, donate them to a train club, or do what I have done (with my trains and my RR books). I created a list and on things that I felt were worth more, I listed a rough idea of what I thought they were worth (with RR books, most are of a single printing and then disappear). I do try to be REALLY realistic. Example: The Central Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroad by Lucius Beebe, while old, really isn't worth anything since it is more of a coffee table book that covers the entire railroad but nothing really specific (and there were a bunch of them printed). Actually, I have all three already set up. I have my list of trains and books as well as two buddies to help dispose of the more valuable trains with the rest going to our club.

    The best thing to do is to just enjoy them now.
     
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  4. tehachapifan

    tehachapifan TrainBoard Member

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    It's kind of crazy what you can get for some of stuff....at least right now anyway. You could practically go on a vacation off what you can get for a couple Kato SP SD70M's!:eek: But prices overall just seem way up to me right now. You used to be able to get a whole locomotive for not much over what a shell alone goes for at a certain auction site these days. It can't possibly continue this way, however....can it?
     
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  5. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    True.

    The question at this point becomes how many 'someones' are out there, potentially interested in your item(s), and how varied are their perceptions? That is the unpredictable factor.
     
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  6. mtntrainman

    mtntrainman TrainBoard Supporter

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    IMHO...

    It only stops when everyone decides the prices are to high. Along with the older generation of modelers dieing off and the younger generation just laughing at the outrageous prices and they move on to other hobbies.
     
  7. Traindork

    Traindork TrainBoard Member

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    Meh, I told my son he can throw it all away if he wants to.
    He did say he'd keep the steam engines because he likes them. There's hope for the future.
     
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  8. John Moore

    John Moore TrainBoard Supporter

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    Well being an aging old coot and the only modeler in my family I will probably liquidate my stuff when I can't see worth a dang anymore. And I will price it low just to get rid of it and trash the layout rather than have my heirs messing with it.
     
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  9. MK

    MK TrainBoard Member

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    At the end of the day, you won't be here to realize they fetched pennies on the dollar or tens of dollars on the dollar. :D It becomes someone elses problem. :ROFLMAO:
     
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  10. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    For those of us with 35mm slide collections of the prototype, White River Productions (publisher of Railfan & Railroad, Railroad Model Craftsman, Passenger Train Journal and many excellent color books) advertises their want of old slides. They won't pay for them, but quality slides will be preserved for possible use in future publications and you'll be given credit as the photographer, even if posthumously. Better this destination for your images than the landfill.
     
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  11. NorsemanJack

    NorsemanJack TrainBoard Member

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    This is a great idea for a thread. It's too bad we don't have accurate facts regarding Model Railroader demographics. In the absence of such, I'll posit that due to an aging demographic, there will be fewer and fewer model railroaders as the years pass. Fewer model railroaders implies fewer buyers. Fewer buyers implies lower sales prices. Also, like many other markets, the used MR equipment market is not very liquid. An illiquid market makes it more difficult to answer the OP's question.

    I've limited my accumulation in recent years and it is comprised only of the highest end Kato and Micro-trains items (with a handful of Atlas and IM locos). They were for the most part purchased on-line at discounts to MSRP. That said, I believe that if liquidated as an entire lot they would be "worth" about 50% of what I paid for them (i.e. ~35% of MSRP). This is what my heirs might reasonably expect to be paid by a business person dealing in like new resalable items. This person might be a shop owner or an ebay seller. This person may not even exist now (or if now, perhaps not in the future). I see that as the ceiling. The floor is that they'll be donated or (hopefully not) just thrown out. This motivates me to continue shrinking the accumulation. I sold a lot of stuff last year as part of a residential downsizing and should probably be thinking about round two.
     
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  12. NorsemanJack

    NorsemanJack TrainBoard Member

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    Don't jump the gun on that.

    The bad news: everybody gets cataracts if they live long enough
    The good news: after cataract surgery, the vast majority of folks see better than they have in decades. You'll need reading glasses appropriate to the viewing distance(s). They cost about $10 a piece on Amazon and you can read fine print on N scale equipment that you never even knew existed. (y)
     
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  13. Maletrain

    Maletrain TrainBoard Member

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    When you die, somebody will need to deal with your assets, and perhaps pay taxes on their value. The government will want an estimate of the "value" of your assets. Getting an estimate of that value is a pain in the back-end for whoever is handling your estate.

    So, unless you are thinking that you will be leaving a wife or child that will need to get top dollar on your trains in order to have a nice life after you depart, it is probably best to think about how to minimize the work that person will need to do to "settle your estate." If that person needs to hire an "expert" to put $ value on your trains, that will cost enough $s to make it difficult to sell your trains for anything close to break-even, and certainly make the selling effort pay well below minimum wage on a per-hour basis (assuming a normal collection, not a lot of collectible brass engines that have great paint jobs, DCC conversions, and run great).

    So, my first suggestion is to not create an inventory of your equipment with optimistic value estimates. But, an inventory without value estimates would at least minimize the work that you estate settler will have to do, so that is not a bad idea.

    Selling all of your inventory one piece at a time for top dollar on eBay would be a multi-year effort, and very time consuming for those multiple years. It is just not worth the effort to nearly everybody's survivors. There are usually much bigger-ticket items to work on when settling an estate.

    If you give it to a local train club, in some cases it can be considered a charitable contribution for tax purposes. The club members will give the good stuff good homes for really low purchase prices to the club, and the rest of it will probably be sold at train shows and open house events at low prices to people who go to those things looking for "steals" - but it will go to people who want it.

    The other option is to sell it all to a person whose profession is to sell items from estates at train shows and on eBay. Your heirs will get more than the "nothing" from a donation to a club, but they won't get the "profits" that come from spending long hours trying to sell the stuff for top dollar. An inventory will help your heirs to get a decent price from the professional reseller, compared to getting him/her to pay for whatever is in a number of large cardboard boxes.

    Don't expect your heirs to make the inventory after you depart, because they won't know what they are looking at, much less if it has been modified, upgraded with DCC, or whatever. Some mods increase prices, while others decrease prices.

    On the other hand, if your wife likes to play with trains, like mine does, then she isn't going to pay taxes and probably won't be selling them, assuming she out-lives you. (The usual situation is that males go first.)
     
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  14. NorsemanJack

    NorsemanJack TrainBoard Member

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    To offer a more specific response....

    I believe that recent production Kato/Atlas/Intermountain diesels in like new condition in original packaging can easily/quickly be sold for around $50 each. MT cars for $8 - $10 each (basic boxcars, gondolas, etc.) or $12 - $15 (autoracks, TOFC, some cabeese, etc.). This is based somewhat upon following (and participating in) the Nscaleyardsale listings for many years. I still see a lot of optimists posting higher prices. However, when somebody posts a large liquidation listing priced to sell, I see prices such as listed above and often updated listings showing many quick "sold" items. I sold quite a bit of like new Unitrack items (all in original packaging) last year for about 75% of what I had paid for it (discount mail order). If I'm not offering a significant discount under <name your favorite internet retailer here>, I'm likely not going to sell anything.
     
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  15. NtheBasement

    NtheBasement TrainBoard Member

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    Here are some related issues. Our NMRA division is establishing a process to enable us to help a member, their family or executor to dismantle a layout and/or dispose their collection on account of illness, disability, or death. Discussion includes agreement form, ethics, and steps to take in selling. Things like books, collectables, and decorations like signs and lanterns can be worth more than what is salvaged from a layout.

    They are mostly HO guys. Consensus is that the old stuff is penny(s) on the dollar. One great idea is to create "starter kits" containing an engine, rolling stock, some turnouts and a controller, and give them away to young folk that attend some of the division's events in order to get them hooked on model railroading.

    Another observation is that things go a lot smoother for your loved ones if you move and downsize first, disposing of the bulk of stuff yourself, before you kick the bucket.
     
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  16. JMaurer1

    JMaurer1 TrainBoard Member

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    Before anyone throws anything away, our club (as well as MOST clubs) would welcome any donations and make sure to pass the trains on to the next generation of modelers.
     
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  17. Lawrence

    Lawrence TrainBoard Member

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    I guess from what you said you probably have a little too much stock at the moment so I'd suggest putting together your favourite and best running trains and sell the rest and put the profits towards a nice holiday etc. When you are dead it will make no difference what anything is worth, you need to enjoy them whilst you are alive and to heck with what comes after.
     
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  18. Jim Reising

    Jim Reising In Memoriam

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    I've sold stuff from time to time to try and keep things under control. The one that vexes me is a complete set of Aztec Micro Brewery cars which has gotten not so much as a nibble. Back when John was doing them they were hot stuff and now you'd have to give 'em away - which I won't do. I'll send 'em to the landfill first.
     
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  19. NorsemanJack

    NorsemanJack TrainBoard Member

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    This is one of the strangest things I've read on the internet. Would you really rather send a worthless "collectable" to the landfill than just give it away to somebody who would like to have it? Why is that? Most folks understand that new items produced as collectibles will rarely be worth anything close to their purchase price in the future (reference: beanie babies, franklin mint, collector plates, dolls and a whole lot of other such stuff). Why did you buy this complete set in the first place? Was it to enjoy owning them or to make money? I've never in my life bought a Model Railroad item based upon what it might be worth to somebody else in the future. I've bought them as reasonably priced toys that may never be worth anything to a future buyer. They're not always cheap, but my entire inventory cost less than the first year depreciation on a Corvette (and my existing insurance covers them for no extra charge). If my heirs can't find any interested buyers after my demise, I'm sure a local train club would appreciate the stuff. I'll RIP knowing that. I might not RIP if I had directed that they all wind up in the landfill with a bunch of overpriced and under appreciated dolls and such. :(
     
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  20. Inkaneer

    Inkaneer TrainBoard Member

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    Let's be more specific, okay? I got about 100 Atlas 90 ton hoppers. Started to buy them in the early '80's when they were about $2.25-$2.49 each. Put MT trucks/couplers on them when you could get a bulk pack good for ten cars for about $29 -$30. Today that same 90 ton hopper is $19.95 MSRP and $13.95 street price. Bulk pack of Mt truck/couplers are over $60 with street price of about $46. So my $2.25 car with the $3.00 trucks/couplers cost me about $5.25 back then as compared to the same car today with a street price of $13.95 plus $4.60 for MT trucks/couplers for a total of $18.55. The cars are identical and the only possible way to know which is older is to check the car numbers. Now do I try to sell the car at the original price I paid ($5.25) or do I sell the car at or near the current going price ($18.55)? Or do I factor in the time value of money and factor in inflation since 1984 to present which is 146.9% and sell it at $12.96? Hopefully this clears up any ambiguity in my original post.

    NOTE: The inflation rate was obtained here: https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
     

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