Model Railroading > Selling off model HO cars

I have a question for you moderlers. I'm going to try and sell some or maybe all my HO RR models, engines, cars and some track. I'm no longer going to need this stuff and I'm hosting a RR Date nail Show this coming Fri. and Sat., and I thought this might be a good time to try and do this. How do I go about pricing the engines: for example:  A Athearn UP  C44-9W cost me $56.50 around  45 years ago and hasn't been run all that much. Do I add a few or several dollars to the price or do I ask several dollars less since it is that old?   Example: APL 48' Containers, 2 of them in Athearn box, price was 8.75, another example, Roundhouse UP 50' Bathtub Gondola, paid $6.25. Is  it the best way to go down in price or what? Thank you for any info you can give me. Thank you. Marvin Bush  upkpfan

Look at what they are going for on eBay and price accordingly.

UPKPFAN has a good idea to price your items according to very similar items that you can find on ebay.  Be willing to drop your asking price 10-20% if interested people want to bargain.  I have bought items at train shows when in the bargaining process the seller dropped his price 30-40%!  You will always run into a seller at a show that is unwilling to drop any of his marked prices.....come back by a couple of hours later and comment to him how his "inventory" hasn't been reduced, and he may play ball.

You may well get 20 to 40 cents on the dollar if you are lucky and the stuff is in demand. I tried selling a number of cars, all of them Intermountain, Genesis, Proto, and Red Caboose. I had around 65 cars, some weathered. I finally priced them at $100 for the lot and still got no takers. Good luck. 

Prepare to take a beating.....   I wouldn't expect to get more that 50 cents on the dollar.   I had several brand new, never out of the box,  Kato and Atlas classic locomotives that I listed at what I thought were reasonable prices.  I priced them at $75.00 each and never got a bid.  I decided to use them as starter units for friends with kids that are interested in model railroading.  Otherwise, consider donating them to boy scouts etc for merit badge projects. 

Good luck though.

Dave

Some go quickly, some you have to give away. Friend who lives far from civilization had me sell old Intermountain etc. he had built over the years. Orange reefers went quickly and in groups; the brown boxcars don't generate much interest unless you can find that rare IC fan . . .

As far as getting rid of models you do not want anymore, I've donated some to the local model rairoad club. They can sell to enrich their treasury which is probably welcomed  Keep the model railroad interest going.

Watts local

What I seen on Ebay is that what the price is on the box, is very close to what they are asking for it. Nothing just like mine but very similar cars. That you all for your suggestions. . upkpfan

A C44-9W model that's 45 years old? Wow... That type came out in 1993, but Athearn was making them in 1973?? That should fetch a pretty penny!

Posted from Android

MC6853 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A C44-9W model that's 45 years old? Wow... That
> type came out in 1993, but Athearn was making them
> in 1973?? That should fetch a pretty penny!
>
> Posted from Android

But it is probably a wide body.

upkpfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What I seen on Ebay is that what the price is on
> the box, is very close to what they are asking for
> it. Nothing just like mine but very similar cars.
> That you all for your suggestions. . upkpfan

Did you check "sold" listings only? What someone wants for the opening bid is irrelevant if the item does not sell.

There is a whole plethora of ways to sell off model train items, but it all boils down to a simple concept. You return on investment is directly related to the amount of work you put into selling the item. Taking the easy options will only net you pennies on the dollar, but to get want to get out of a model requires time and effort. Ebay also represents a much larger market than your typical train show. Don't expect to get e-bay prices at a local show unless it's very popular to the area. The best bet for highest returns involves making a very nice E-bay auction with lots of good photos and a "Buy it now" price set at your expectations. Then it's just a matter of wait and see if some sucker....er, ummm....customer buys the item at your price.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

To: ATSF3751
If you still have the equipment, I would be more than interested. I’m getting back into hobby and don’t have a lot of money.
Thank you,
Michael

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/18 09:12 by espee4ever.