[TheTrainGuy]

My partner and I are helping a friend sell his extensive collection of model trains. Neither of us know much about trains and we are learning fast. We are not dealers and have no desire to be, so when this stuff is gone, it's gone. Everything you see here is brand new and in the box. To our knowledge, the prices are all current market value.

If anyone has suggestions on the best way to go about selling all of these, we are all ears. Also, we will be very grateful for your input if there is anything rare or unusual that we should know about.

Here is a list of all trains with pricing. No reasonable offer will be refused.

We also have a ton of Aristocraft G scale and Kato N scale stuff. Pictures and spreadsheet available upon request.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...RBLcuOxjvfE/pubhtml?gid=893990577&single=true

 

[CliffyJ]

If anyone has suggestions on the best way to go about selling all of these, we are all ears.

For starters, don't demand full list price when a) it's used, b) there's no guarantee of condition, and c) you won't be around, while the real dealers will be.

 

[Paul Burch]

Waaaaaay overpriced.

 

[JerryB]

First of all: "TheTrainGuy" looks to be a garage dealer. Google the name and see what comes up. Maybe not the same person, but certainly suspicious.

Second: He asks where to sell, as if he has never heard of E-bay. Big red flag there!

Third: He is asking new list prices for stuff that is (probably) used, with no guarantee as to condition, nor warranty for future support. Makes one wonder what truck this stuff fell off of!

Fourth: Allowing this kind of blatant advertisement to exist here will soon destroy the board. I'm pretty certain the new owners are not monitoring this kind of stuff with any regularity. Shad was really quick to squash any unpaid commercials. We can only hope that some admin will see this soon.

Happy RRing,

Jerry

 

[Pete Thornton]

Everything you see here is brand new and in the box. To our knowledge, the prices are all current market value.

Not sure where you got the 'current market value' numbers. Is it really NIB ("New in Box") or has it been taken out and used - if only to put on a shelf for display?

As Cliffy says, it is tough to justify full list price if it is a private sale. If you buy it from Charles Ro, they will stand behind it and replace it if it isn't perfect.

 

[Homo Habilis]

You may want to consider a > liquidation < type service. While those will require some type of percentage or premium they are definitely a lot less work.

Try this link if the above does not work - http://www.trainz.com/skins/Skin_7/sell-your-trains.html

 

[chuck n]

I checked some of the OP's prices against Charles Ro's website. All were higher. At half price (Half of Charlie's) he might generate some interest, but not at what he is asking.

Chuck

 

[Scottychaos]

Apart from the question of if this should be on MLS or not, (I vote "not")
these guys seem legit to me..

there are probably hundreds of dealers that go by "the train guy"..
so that tells us nothing..

googling one phone number brings up nothing..
googling the other number shows that Sam is a PC repair guy:

http://callsamnow.com/services/

nothing about this looks suspicious to me..
yes, they have obviously priced everything way too high!
but they will soon enough learn that too..

Its a hassle, but ebay is the best way to go..
or try to sell the whole deal at "wholesale" prices to a dealer all in one batch.

Scot

 

[BigRedOne]

I didn't see it mentioned, but perhaps getting a dealer table at a train show is an option. At least this way, people can see the merchandise.

I'm not familiar with the products on your list, but here's my thought as to pricing. On LGB product, there seems to be two "official prices," MSRP as published by the importer Walthers, and a "street price" common to the big mail order and volume dealers. Then, depending on the dealer, there are discounts off that. For example, TrainWorld commonly offers discounts of 10% off. This is the maximum I'd pay for brand new, factory fresh product, warrantied, credit card sale.

Used product would be based on desirability, condition, and terms of sale. I'd probably pay close to "new" price for a flawless piece I needed to complete an assortment of cars (for instance an out of production restaurant car matching a set.) For instance, I recently bought one of the out-of-production LGB Henkle tank cars; I like the series, and have them already in Marklin HO.

Absent a special desirability to me, I'd need a big enough discount to make me do an "impulse" purchase. Though, at the right price, I might buy an entire train, locomotive and train, or even an entire collection.

Anything is liquid at the right price. Just ask Lehman Brothers!

 

[Totalwrecker]

For the record I used the exclamation point reporting icon as 3 or 4th viewer... Nobody at management cares.

Trains are over priced and without guarantee....buyer beware.
John

 

[TheTrainGuy]

Wow, lots of response in a short time. Please allow me to respond.

CliffyJ - We are not demanding anything. The prices are current market value which we have researched. Call and talk to me, I'll work with you on the price. I don't know anything about trains so all the pricing comes from completed eBay auctions or current market value as seen around the web.

JerryB - TheTrainGuy is a name I made up 2 mins before posting to this forum, I've never used it before. Of course I've heard of eBay, I'm a powerseller. I just thought I would offer items here to those of you who will appreciate what I have. These didn't fall off of a truck, haha. As I stated, I am helping a friend sell them. He inherited them and doesn't have a clue what to do with them. As my business partner and I are experienced eBay sellers, he contacted us. All purchases come with buyer protection and a return policy.

I'm going to sell every last one of these trains one way or another, most likely on eBay. I just figured it wouldn't hurt to share what I have with the largest group of enthusiasts I could find on the internet. I'm certainly not trying to offend anyone.

Thanks for the advice BigRedOne and Scottychaos, I appreciate the input.

We are just starting out selling these and know nothing about trains. However, all of our USA Trains are brand new in the box. If they won't sell for what we are asking, I'm sure we will lower the price. Either that or I will be back on here asking you all to help me set up one incredibly massive and awesome railroad in my back yard!!!

I'm here to answer any questions, just let me know. Thanks to everyone for their input.

Sam

P.S. I didn't link to my eBay account because I didn't want to "blatantly advertise" on a new forum. I'm sure you can find it if you search eBay for any item on the list.

 

[TheTrainGuy]

FYI, I wanted to list in the classified section but was not able to. I emailed the admin and asked what I need to do to be able to post there. Does anyone know?

Thanks.

 

[vsmith]

You need to upgrade to 1st class to post on the classified section.

Sorry but this stuff must be made of Frankensence and Myrhh to ask them prices.

 

[Totalwrecker]

Those are collector's prices, we are operators and 2nd hand means used to us.
Seeing how you are old hands at ebay, you'll be prepared to hold them for a bit.
Good Luck,
John

 

[TheTrainGuy]

Thanks guys. Yes, we are prepared to hold them. We are also prepared to accept reasonable offers.

I didn't see how to upgrade to 1st class, probably just missed it. Would you mind telling me how?

 

[Michael Glavin]

Sam,

Not sure how ya'll researched the value of said collection, but suffice it to say when multiple online shops offer the exact same items NIB and are authorized resellers for less than your asking price something is amiss....... Nearly everything on the 'LIST' is priced higher than the single online store I used for comparison (everyday prices) and most of the items were listed as available too... Granted a few of the items on the 'LIST' are no longer available and are desirable to a focused group of collectors and yes said equipment may garner an elevated sell price, but even then those items asking prices are substantially higher than the atypical price realized at auction of eBay...

So why would I consider/risk purchasing purportedly NIB merchandise, without benefit of the OEM's warranty from a non-dealer/unknown reseller and pay a premium to boot. Another possibly lofty consideration will be shipping costs, online dealers generally offer shipping at a fraction of the cost typically realized of private party and eBay type transactions.

In my case there are multiple items I would consider making an offer on, yet I won't even go there when I feel the asking price is unreasonable if not downright silly to begin with. Case in point F3 AB sets, $944.00 bucks, really? Those highly desirable to some; SP Black Widow sets listed, have sold at auction for about $650.00 this year multiple times on eBay. $650.00 represents the typical online dealer sell price for currently available in stock F3 AB sets.

Good luck,
Michael

 

[TheTrainGuy]

Hi Michael,

Thanks for taking the time to respond, I appreciate your time. During our research, CR doesn't come up very often at all. Much of our inventory is brand new in the box and we are prepared to get top dollar for it. These are amazing trains, why wouldn't we? We mainly priced the items according to eBay, onlytrains.com, blackforesthobby.com, walthers.com and the manufacturer website. CR doesn't come up often when searching by item numbers. The list you see is retail pricing. The items are selling and they will continue to sell. That being said, we will beat any price advertised on CR by at least 10%.

If you were to put yourself in our shoes, I'm sure that you would agree that overpricing these items is much better than underpricing them. We are obviously trying to get top dollar for our items, however we absolutely are not trying to be ridiculous with our pricing. Are some of the items overpriced? Sure. We aren't experts and undoubtedly we erred on the side of overpriced rather than under. If you want to consider it "silly" and not make an offer, suit yourself, no offense taken. Like I said previously, make a reasonable offer and it will not be refused. As for shipping costs, we charge actual price shipping with no handling fee. Most items ship for $10 to $20.

The bottom line is you won't find a better price for a brand new in the box item. We are offering some great deals on some fabulous trains. Let me know what you're interested in and I'm positive we will find a price that makes everyone very happy.

All the best,

Sam

 

[Totalwrecker]

They are not Amazing Trains.
They are the same ones we run outdoors and bash.
Your hype doesn't hold water here.
They are nice trains that you are going to hang onto until you find others that think like you. I doubt if you will find such folks here. You are acting like collectors - NIB is all that matters.
You are not doing us any favors, the Reality is you are trying to move as much as you can quickly, because you know your storage is going to be full for a long time.
Fabulous, Amazing, 'Great Deals'(?) ......... empty hype really.
I can't put myself in your shoes, I'm not here to get top dollar, rather to share what I know.
Best of luck to you, Be Blessed.

John

 

[Scottychaos]

I dont see any reason to be so rude about it..
MLS is supposed to be a friendly place..

yes, I agree most of their prices are on the high side..
but they have already been told that, multiple times..there is no reason to bash anyone further for the prices
they think are reasonable..If the buyers dont agree, they wont sell! and they will have to lower prices..same as anywhere else..

meanwhile, there is no reason to bash them and assume they are being horrible people for trying to sell some trains..that's just rude and uncalled for.

Scot

 

[East Broad Top]

To upgrade to 1st class, click on the "home" tab in the upper left, then once there, go over to "members." Scroll down to "Upgrade to 1st class" and continue from there.

(mod hat on)

If you've already offered your opinions on the prices of these items, let the sleeping dog lie and vote with your wallet. The seller will determine when (and if) to lower the prices as time progresses if the items don't sell. (Or--as he says--make an offer.)

Ordinarily, such "for sale" listings are verboten in the regular forums, but since the seller seems intent on actively pursuing a 1st-class membership so to be in compliance with "the rules," I'm inclined to let things live here for the short term. Once his membership is upgraded, we can move this conversation to the Classifieds where it belongs.

Later,

K