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How To Go About Valuing A Layout
Here is a question for readers from John. He does appreciate that this blog does not run buy/sell/trade ads, or publish readers contact details/emails etc, but would like guidance from readers on how best to have layouts valued and sold:
“I have a train room in a house that I built and might be moving it? I have children and the grand children ages 3-21 they all love to play with the S scale American flyer 1959 trains. My problem is it’s difficult to make time to do the required maintanace so they are usable. The set up is a simple two track oval with a 3rd siding with tressels. It’s a 8×12 ft layout. I have been adding to this over the years and have a lot of trains, switches and accessories . How have others dealth with this? Thank you for looking at this. Any ideas on how to have the layout or trains valued?
3 Responses to How To Go About Valuing A Layout
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As many of us have said, a train layout is a labor of love. That is something the value is in what you put into it. Not the cost of building. It can be $20.00 or priceless. The only monetary value you can put on it, is what the engines and rolling stock are worth at the time of sale. If you want to get a value for insurance purposes, then list for minimum of $10,000.00. My layout is in a 7×16 travel trailer, we take on the road. I have it insured for $250,000.00…. It’s in N scale and is very detailed,(realistic setting) and is a work of art. Bill
I buy and sell things at auctions, flee markets & on the Internet. I buy and sell many things not just train stuff. I do prefer train stuff as that is my hobby and love. I can also sell train items at shows. There are many guys like me that you can find. Look in a train magazine for a add, or check the local paper, or even Craigslist. I will warn you that you would do better to sell it your self on ebay, but that sometimes takes a while. And often things are not worth what you think they are. It can also be a bit of work. I my self also sell on consignment. However I will not buy S gage. I am sorry but as the older generation passes on, S gage is loosing more and more intrest. Younger generations of train modelers stick to smaller gages for space. O scale still attracts people, really do to the Lionel name I think. And large out door scales seem to do well. But S scale just is not doing well. I have noticed this trend for some time at shows, so I stay clear of it. I hope this helps some
I agree with Dan on this one. I too have been a dealer/collector over the years, mostly HO. Here are some tips: You can use Ebay as your price guide by looking up similar items, then clicking “Competed Sales” to see what they are going for. Ebay does take lots of leg work, but it will bring you the biggest market, and probably the best prices. Model train swap meets are a way to sell off lots of stuff. However, you have to be willing to get up very early for most shows, and have the time to sit at your table trying to sell off your stuff. People at the shows are usually looking for bargains, so you will most likely get less money for your items. I you have a ball park idea of what you want for you whole collection, then contacting some collectors through train magazines may find you a buyer willing to give you a fair price for your collection. It all depends upon how much time you want to spend trying to sell your stuff. It takes lots of work to sell it yourself at shows, and more for online sales. Selling to a collector at a discount will save you lots of time and work.