we have a local club, and when a member passes on, it has been difficult at times to help the survivors get a fair price for their trains....here is some of what I have seen.....
1) "someone", they ARE and WILL always remain nameless, sees the layout/collection, who knows nothing about about trains, puts an unrealistic value into the head of the wife or kids, but is not willing to put up that kind of money, they also have no phone number, and are just an irresponsible friend of the family ! an uphill battle... cut your losses and let them fend for themselves! anything you may want, make a fair offer and walk away knowing that you tried your best to help! Also remember that YOU were not the first person to be asked to help out... there may be a reason behind, this that there is more concern about profit, and you may be viewed as a potential buyer ! ! ! ! 2) know-it-all kids have taken a collection that would have been fairly easy to sell AND to make a good profit on (profit for the estate!) and run it into the ground by "knowing" that the shop where pop took them to as a little kid could do a better job than a bunch of model railroaders.....with monetarily results that resembled the recent stock market melt-down and sales lingered for years, things were "missing", a disaster ! 3) DO help out to pack the right items in their right boxes, especially the correct tenders with the correct locomotives !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! with remarks in writing about any damage or anything special about the piece (collector piece, custom paint, etc) 4) some families "take care" of the disposition on their own. I know pop would have liked to have had a car or two from his long-time friends who have passed away... BUMMER !!! 5) IF they want a realistic appraisal, explain to them the process and that it could take a lot of time and research. This can turn into a labor of love, and become a full time job for a few weeks. Document everything as to how and why you came up with a value for them! an appraisal value is not necessarily the selling value ! 6) some people just don't want to be helped with the disposition. if there is something that you would like from the collection, write down the piece and put your name and phone number on that piece of paper/index card/e-mail and give it to the person in charge (wife. kids. etc) of the disposition. .....After the yard sale where they try to sell the trains on their own, and are offered 5 or 10 bucks per box of "choo-choos", they will be calling to sell you the piece you want and may actually listen to a knowledgeable person....or not ! 7) do not view a collection in groups !!!! once an inflated dollar number is thrown out by a well-meaning colleague, your integrity is on the line due to an impulsive remake not made by you ! IF you do go with others, agree to not mention value, until after an inventory has been done ! I'm still gun shy from my last experience with a couple of guys from my club who started talking dollar amounts in a scale they had never modeled in !!! 8) be kind...after all how many nights were you invited into their house when their husband/dad could have been doing something with the family instead of "those guys" who played with trains in the basement, drink a lot of coffee and smoked too much! the survivors can be in shock, do not take advantage, and hopefully it will work out well for all involved ! all the above I have seen happen, and it makes a sad time even sadder.... Bc [email protected] ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pink Spider: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2A9CxhsFDE&feature=related ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ "I, like God, do not play with dice and do not believe in coincidence." - V ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ SUPPORT ‘‘Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2007’’ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/paywatch/ceou/database.cfm#S "Have you considered my servant Job?" (Job 1:8) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
