Resale market collapse (1 Viewer)

[MarkeytMaker]

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Ha! Some of us......at least me watch all areas we put money into!

I never started out being concerned but as the years passed and the values

began to climb I had to make a decision to either stop collecting.....or allow

my collection to fund continued activity, this has worked out quite nicely for

me, and allowed me to seek out items I am interested in.

When the "secondary market" or lets say "General Value" of things

you collect begins to decline many collectors may reduce the amount of

money they wish to spend.

At the moment I have another problem........I seem to be at a great turning

point of age! While I still feel like a teenager......suddenly I look around

and wonder what the heck I plan to do with all this stuff?

I never saw that coming!

Don't be going and gettin all wierd on me. I start liking you and then start spending all this money doing this great thing that has kept you happy all these years...and now this?

Tell you what...if your problem is so great and you can't cope...send me a Paypal invoice

 

[Njja]

Don't be going and gettin all wierd on me. I start liking you and then start spending all this money doing this great thing that has kept you happy all these years...and now this?

Tell you what...if your problem is so great and you can't cope...send me a Paypal invoice

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Ha! That would be some invoice! I just squeezed a few things into

a wall unit downstairs.......think the wife will notice?

 

[MarkeytMaker]

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Ha! That would be some invoice! I just squeezed a few things into

a wall unit downstairs.......think the wife will notice?

I think I could pull it off should you conclude the need to start something other...you know without you I'm going to need two or three to fill your spot for sure! By the way you have any idea what WS065 is titled as I own one and can not cross reference a name off the TSUSA site?

 

[Gideon]

I spy a wooden landing craft in there. I don't care which maker anybody prefers, that mahogany landing craft is spectacular.

 

[Njja]

I think I could pull it off should you conclude the need to start something other...you know without you I'm going to need two or three to fill your spot for sure! By the way you have any idea what WS065 is titled as I own one and can not cross reference a name off the TSUSA site?

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WS065 is "The Last Stand" retired in December of 2007.

I can't put together an invoice until I get the rest of the trains out of the

storage facility back up in Jersey.....

I trip over this baby every time I go into the den......got to get it up on a

shelf....but where?

 

[Njja]

I spy a wooden landing craft in there. I don't care which maker anybody prefers, that mahogany landing craft is spectacular.

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Yes and it has held up quite nicely! Wood is very stable, and it is still as nice

as the day I received it!

 

[jazzeum]

I think I could pull it off should you conclude the need to start something other...you know without you I'm going to need two or three to fill your spot for sure! By the way you have any idea what WS065 is titled as I own one and can not cross reference a name off the TSUSA site?

Mark,

The Berlin releases are listed under the Fall of Berlin series, as opposed to WS, on Bill's site.

 

[Mitch]

Nice display
Mitch

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Ha! That would be some invoice! I just squeezed a few things into

a wall unit downstairs.......think the wife will notice?

 

[Warrior]

I find all of this talk about the resale market in collapse to be pretty comical; in the past several months, I have bought six collections of mostly K & C items consisting of basically WS 1-70, GC 1-6, FJ 1-6, LAH 1-45 along with almost all of the Arnhem sets, several of the backlot buildings among other things.

Without using Ebay once (thanks but no thanks), I have through customer contacts and shows sold through about half of the items and so far, I have tripled my investment. Still have two more shows prior to Chicago and whatever is left will be taken out there.

Eventually, I will sell it all and in the end, profit close to six times what I paid for the items.

What collapse; it all depends on what you have.

 

[binder001]

George, I'm glad that you are doing well with the reselling. Since I have done business with you I can say that one difference in your reselling success may come from that you are not in this for the "quick buck". You are a good dealer and a fellow collector.

I agree that there doesn't seem to be any "falling prices" at least not on anything I get interested in

Gary B.

 

[Warrior]

George, I'm glad that you are doing well with the reselling. Since I have done business with you I can say that one difference in your reselling success may come from that you are not in this for the "quick buck". You are a good dealer and a fellow collector.

I agree that there doesn't seem to be any "falling prices" at least not on anything I get interested in

Gary B.

Thanks Gary for the kind words, you and I go back to the "Groundpounder" website, seems like that was in another life, I miss that group of guys, we had fun with them...........

 

[Njja]

Nice display
Mitch

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Thanks Mitch, glad you enjoyed the photo!

 

[JAGCDR]

I find all of this talk about the resale market in collapse to be pretty comical; in the past several months, I have bought six collections of mostly K & C items consisting of basically WS 1-70, GC 1-6, FJ 1-6, LAH 1-45 along with almost all of the Arnhem sets, several of the backlot buildings among other things.

Without using Ebay once (thanks but no thanks), I have through customer contacts and shows sold through about half of the items and so far, I have tripled my investment. Still have two more shows prior to Chicago and whatever is left will be taken out there.

Eventually, I will sell it all and in the end, profit close to six times what I paid for the items.

What collapse; it all depends on what you have.

Since I don't know what you paid for the collections, nor what you received when you sold them (retail price?; retail plus 10%?; less than retail?), I learn nothing from your post as to the status of the resale market. All I know is that you are making a huge profit. But if you bought the collections for pennies on the dollar, your huge profits may be solely due to your low initial outlay. Other sellers, who bought their toys at retail prices, may make little or no profit on their sales. I really don't know.

 

[Warlord 1]

Warrior, think of the poor folks who sold you the items. They obviously took big hits, and probably had to sell because of the economy (or their wives got on their case big time). Many people in Virginia (excluding Norther Virginia) are hurting and cannot afford the luxury of an expensive collection. Folks who go to the shows have a few bucks in their pocket, however, if the stock market and economy maintain their downturn watch out. Also, with the possibility of tax increases next year many collectors will think twice about collecting (or in your case investing) in our great and enjoyable hobby. Regards, Larry.

 

[Warrior]

Since I don't know what you paid for the collections, nor what you received when you sold them (retail price?; retail plus 10%?; less than retail?), I learn nothing from your post as to the status of the resale market. All I know is that you are making a huge profit. But if you bought the collections for pennies on the dollar, your huge profits may be solely due to your low initial outlay. Other sellers, who bought their toys at retail prices, may make little or no profit on their sales. I really don't know.

My point is there has been no shortage of interest in the sets, nor have the people who have expressed interest tried to pummel me into giving them a better price, have had virtually no haggling.

If I had invested money into these collections and the items were sitting here collecting dust, then I could agree that the resale market has collapsed.

My experience has not been that at all; that is my point, so that should tell you as long as you have sought after items, they will sell without much of a problem.

 

[Warrior]

Warrior, think of the poor folks who sold you the items. They obviously took big hits, and probably had to sell because of the economy (or their wives got on their case big time). Many people in Virginia (excluding Norther Virginia) are hurting and cannot afford the luxury of an expensive collection. Folks who go to the shows have a few bucks in their pocket, however, if the stock market and economy maintain their downturn watch out. Also, with the possibility of tax increases next year many collectors will think twice about collecting (or in your case investing) in our great and enjoyable hobby. Regards, Larry.

Larry,
None of the collectors who sold me any of the items took "big hits", we are talking about sets that in some cases were made what, 25 years ago? Actually, they sold them to me at a profit from what they paid for them and none of whom had to sell because of the economy either.

One gentleman and his wife are moving into a smaller home and he is downsizing his collection, he hasn't the room for all of it, so he is selling parts of it and keeping the rest. Everything he sold to me was at a profit to him.

Another was a dealer who got out of the business and the sets sat in storage for several years, he paid wholesale for the sets, so he made a big profit as a result when he sold them to me. Another gentleman decided he did not want to collect WWII anymore, so he sold out to me and rotated the funds into Napoleonics, he is thrilled in that he made a profit, got rid of sets he no longer wanted and got sets he wanted in return.

The fourth person passed away, his wife was going to throw the stuff out. She was going through his belongings, found my card and called me.

I told her to go on Ebay and look up some of the sets, she did and nearly fainted when she saw the prices they were going for. We met somewhere in the middle, she was thrilled she turned nothing into something.

So in all of these cases, it was a win/win for myself and the sellers.

When I buy collections, I am very fair to people, the way you treat others comes back to you, one way or another............

 

[JAGCDR]

My point is there has been no shortage of interest in the sets, nor have the people who have expressed interest tried to pummel me into giving them a better price, have had virtually no haggling.

If I had invested money into these collections and the items were sitting here collecting dust, then I could agree that the resale market has collapsed.

My experience has not been that at all; that is my point, so that should tell you as long as you have sought after items, they will sell without much of a problem.

Thank you for your response. I understand your point better now.

 

[Njja]

Ok, I know better then to get involved.............but lets try and be logical here.

1. George found the items, no easy feat, try it sometime!

2. He made a deal with the seller.....often a difficult project.

3. He invested his cash, not knowing how long, or how much would be
recovered.

4. This time he did quite well, probably a fact he should keep to himself. or the next seller may want more, and the next buyer may want to pay much less!

My point, simply that he provided a service, he purchased items the sellers wanted to be done with......and sold them to people that felt comfortable buying them.

Nothing wrong here, just like the gang on American Pickers!

Knowledge is the key here, knowing what you have, its value and taking the
time to get a price you can live with.

It sounds easy, but often it takes a lot of hard work, just ask George when
he's driving home after a show with a poor turnout.

 

[Warrior]

Thank you for your response. I understand your point better now.

Thank you, sorry if I was not clear with my earlier comments.......

 

[Warrior]

Ok, I know better then to get involved.............but lets try and be logical here.

1. George found the items, no easy feat, try it sometime!

2. He made a deal with the seller.....often a difficult project.

3. He invested his cash, not knowing how long, or how much would be
recovered.

4. This time he did quite well, probably a fact he should keep to himself. or the next seller may want more, and the next buyer may want to pay much less!

My point, simply that he provided a service, he purchased items the sellers wanted to be done with......and sold them to people that felt comfortable buying them.

Nothing wrong here, just like the gang on American Pickers!

Knowledge is the key here, knowing what you have, its value and taking the
time to get a price you can live with.

It sounds easy, but often it takes a lot of hard work, just ask George when
he's driving home after a show with a poor turnout.

John,
Thanks for your responses. I think the real key is to find a happy medium, ie, an amount the buyer is comfortable giving and an amount the seller is happy with. It shouldn't be slanted heavily in eithers favor, because then it is not a fair deal for one of the parties.

Don't get me wrong, I've walked away from collections because the amount the seller wanted was more than I felt willing to pay factoring in I need to turn a profit in the end.

No harm, no foul, it's all good.

As long as you are willing to take everything and not cherry pick, collections are out there..........