Ed, Strange but I never saw anything from the " local S club members" about what was for sale until it went to the S-Scale List. I'll remember that in the future. Bill --- On Sat, 1/15/11, Edward Loizeaux <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Edward Loizeaux <[email protected]> Subject: {S-Scale List} Estate Disposal To: "List, S scale" <[email protected]> Date: Saturday, January 15, 2011, 7:35 PM > All too often the survivors have a totally unrealistic idea > of the values of the hobby materials some so low as to literally throw > everything into the trash or give them away (when there could be some real > money to be recouped) or so high that the heirs think they are going to be > rich. It is a difficult task to put things into true perspective for these > people <snip> > Bill Winans Gents. Having just helped a widow figure out what to do with a 2-car garage full of S scale trains, I have an idea that might work. In this case, I showed the widow the original retail cost of each item. Sometimes it was marked on the box, sometimes we'd look at the importers web site, sometimes we looked at the same or similar items on eBay, or I'd call a knowledgeable person for an opinion if I had no idea myself (such as narrow gauge). Based on the original retail price, the age and the current "rareness" of the item we would then mark the price up somewhat or down a bit or down a lot depending on the condition. In this case, I was lucky in that the widow had all the facts in front of her and could make some decisions easily and without being difficult in the least. Not much emotion in it at all somewhat to my surprise. Even the layout was disassembled and moved to a new home in two days. The price was right and the new owner moved fast. The first decision was to price things a bit below market so that it would move fast. Speed was more important than obtaining top dollar in this instance. The second decision was to give the local S club members the first opportunity to buy stuff. Then the S Yahoo Groups. Then a more general widespread group of modelers as a last resort. Again, a good decision and easy to implement thanks to the existence of the internet. Has anyone noticed the death of classified ads in the major magazines? Thank the I-net for that. The third decision was to sell off a vast collection of books and magazines on eBay. Her adult son took on that task which is being spread out over several months. No effort for the widow and no specialized train knowledge required of the son. Getting a reasonable price for each book seems possible. With or without an inventory listing, arranging for a knowledgeable and trusted friend to help out is the best thing you could possibility do for your wife. I agree with Mr. Winans, let's all live a l-o--n-g life. The alternative is not much fun. Cheers.Ed L. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [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/
