I recently contacted quite a few model kit buyers who had expressed interest to buy my kit collection. One gent said he was only slightly interested in a few of the 80+ kits offered ,but in the end said “no thanks ” to the entire kit collection. Other collectors either did not reply or only wanted non aircraft models.
A local hobby shop owner said he’d only offer $1.00 for each kit.
I’m sure many other modelers have experienced the same situations. What are some of the options we modelers can do to at least make some $$ or satisfy others modeler’s needs
Thank you in advance for all your ideas & commments,
I sold off the bulk of my stuff 4 or 5 years ago. ebay is a great way to go. You may get 50 cents on the dollar for some kits, but others will suprise you. If you really want to move stuff do auctions with no minimums.
Now my issue with selling my old stuff is I’m back into the hobby again and rebuying some of this stuff [:^)] albiet at a much slower pace. My collection went from a couple hundred kits to 50 or so now and it’s stable at that number. Build one, buy one. Good luck - if you post your stuff on ebay maybe share a link here (if allowed)
There’s a page on Facebook called the Scale Model Graveyard. You can either choose to list stuff during the weekends when they hold auctions. Friday-Sunday. Or list stuff during the week in a normal selling format. I’ve bought a bunch of kits there. Sold a few too.
If there are any clubs in your area that put on shows/contests, most rent table space to people to sell stuff. You have to believe you will make enough to exceed the table fee, but if you are reasonable with price, most people do.
Many clubs have their own auctions or swap meets, and usually there is no charge to members who offer stuff in these. Our clubs still have modelers as members that no longer build, but are in the club just to get rid of their kits. It helps to have some idea of the value of the kits. Some kits are worth little, some have become collectors items and go for good money, especially at auctions, where auction fever kits.
This is an important reminder for men who believe they’ll be leaving something of value behind for their wives to live off of. Most wives don’t know what to do with old kit collections or how to maximize their value after their husbands pass away. They do end up selling off the collections at 10 cents on the dollar. Most of our wives would be better off if we put that money away in a savings account for them to use rather than in a model kit collection that they have to try to sell off.
It’s not just collections of unbuilt models, from what I’ve been reading, collectibles in general have little value these days.
If anyone would like to hear some advice about the merits of having unbuilt model kits on the shelf, I’d be happy to send my wife over to enlighten** you.
As mentioned, ebay will be your best way to sell them. First do a little research and see what they are selling for on ebay so you can list a realistic and fair price. The shop offering you $1 a kit is a rip cause he will turn around and get several dollars for them or even more ironic, put them on ebay.
The Facebook group suggestion is also another avenue. Just remember to do some research cuz you never know if you have something worth more than what you think.
This made me wonder if a collector’s widow had to deal with what her husband left behind. No doubt, someone sold it all at pennies on the dollar. A shame.
I agree with Greg wholeheartedly. Collectible values are very fickle. Much eralier in my life I was interested in board games and role playing games, and slowing kept buying more and more. Eventually I realized that I was never really going to do anything with them so a few years ago I decided to list them for sale on a board game and rpg website.
While there were a few that sold for more than I thought they were worth, the vast majority I ended up continually discounting (over a long period of time) til postage for mailing them was more than the cost I was charging, and I still have a number of items unsold. And, in particular I had a copy of a booklet that many avid fans of one game in particular list as their “Holy Grail” since it is out of production and the copyright holder refuses to reprint it, etc. To this day it sits unsold, even with a ~25% (or was it 30%) discount off the next highest price that I have seen it listed for.
On the other heand though, I did just loose out on a bid for an ex-Frog 1/500 scale HMS Torquay model kit that originally probably sold for about $0.80-1.50, way back when, but which just sold on eBay for $57.00 plus shipping [:O].
So I guess the moral of what I am trying to say is, that yes there may be a kit or two that, if you find the right buyers, may fetch a surprising price, but overall, just because you think something is valuable, don’t get your hopes up too high, because the chances are probably better than not that you won’t end up getting what you think they are really worth, expecially if you have a lot of stuff you are trying to move quickly.
I don’t buy my kits to ever sell them. So when I go, my wife and daughter can do what they want with them. They are the basement, the entire basement , stacked neatly on sheves,s very orderly, and the same for the hundreds of built tanks. They are on book shelves, the aircraft are mostly hanging on the ceiling. I have never sold my collection, never will. It is who I am. We all have stuff that those we leave behind have to deal with, clothes, futniture, houses, etc. That’s what other sales are for. Have fun. I did!