Vlad,
So far so good;
Negatives: Picking a good auctioneer is a problem. Ideally it should be someone who has had some experience and is familiar with the railroadiana market. This can be difficult in some areas of the country. Then there is the task of getting the collection to the auction. Usually transportation is the seller's responsibility; however, there are auctioneers who will pack and ship the goods for you -- for a fee, of course. The total fees and commissions can seriously reduce the return. And remember the crowd has only so much money to spend. Once one or two big ticket items have sold, bidders may not bid on other lots if prices go beyond a certain point. Once again, having a large pool of bidders is critical to success. So the key to running a good live auction is advertising the sale beforehand to attract bidders. Not investing in advertising is penny wise and pound foolish. Another pitfall to watch out for is the disreputable auctioneer who may hope to keep the crowd of bidders down. His intention is to buy the estate himself for later resale.
Notes: Unlike some antique-collecting areas, there is currently no national, live (as opposed to mail/internet) auction venue for railroadiana. So finding an auctioneer basically means picking from local candidates.
Selling Through a Catalog Auction. There are professionals who specialize in mail-based (and email-based) railroadiana catalog auctions. In most cases, obtaining the catalogs requires paying a fee or subscription. Bids are sent in by mail or email by a certain date, and winners are notified by mail with an invoice. Items are shipped upon receipt of payment. In most cases, consignment fees are around 20% and cover all expenses with no additional hidden charges.
Positives: Catalog auctions give the seller access to a highly targeted, national audience. A couple of these have developed a reputation for dealing in top quality items, so many busy collectors look to these auctions a a main avenue for collecting.
Negatives: Catalog auctions are only run a few times a year. Because the major auction services prefer to only deal in the high value, premium items, those collectors with lower-end items are not really welcomed with open arms. But, lower-end items are normally taken when higher-end items are offered as part of a collection. The catalog format does not allow prospective buyers to make a hands-on inspection of the items offered, which is a turnoff for some collectors.
Notes: As I understand it, the return policy is very liberal for the major catalog auction services -- if items acquired in the auction are returned within a reasonable time and before the consignors are paid. Normally items can be returned, with no questions asked, within one month after the close of the auction.
Selling Through an Internet Auction. In the last couple of years, internet auctions have become one of the main avenues for collecting railroadiana. Items are shown on a web page, bids are submitted over the internet, and the highest bid at closing time gets the item. All subsequent parts of the deal -- billing, payment, shipping -- become the responsibility of the seller and buyer, not the internet auction service. A small fee is charged to the seller by the auction service.
Positives: Some people believe that internet auctions are the best way to go. Your items easily reach a large and diverse market (provided they are listed correctly). If the seller does all the work himself, it comes down to a one-on-one deal, and all of the profits (minus the auction fee) go into the seller's pockets.
Negatives: Selling via the internet is labor intensive, time consuming, impersonal, and can require a lot of tedious work. Selling a large collection can also take weeks or months. As one guy said, "Selling over the internet is a pain in the neck. Frankly it is too much work, and the various costs eat into profits. It could easily turn into a full time job. It's not just the selling part but the follow-through, packing and shipping that is also a major headache."
The seller must pay to list, and if there is a problem, trying to contact an actual person to resolve an issue can be extremely difficult. Then there is the prep work -- typing out an accurate description of each piece, taking pictures, modifying them to an appropriate size for the web (to minimize download time for viewers), and uploading all that information to the internet site. After the sale, the seller has to worry about billing, payment (including checks clearing the bank), boxing, and shipping. With a number of auctions going on at any one time, keeping everything organized is a chore. Hiring someone to do it for you only lowers the numbers on the bottom line. Another annoyance is the fact that not every buyer is on the up and up, and some people can be very slow payers.
