Best way to sell a collection

[Saito2]

If one were to consider leaving the hobby, what would be the best way to sell the collection? Basically looking at selling models piece by piece or as a package deal.

[MICHAELs TopForce17]

Piece by piece and give some away for free to family. Got any tt02b’s brother!

[Hobbimaster]

My suggestion is piece by piece, close to the Holidays. Typically November, and the beginning of December is when I unload a few models. I seem to get more money, and have less hassle with none paying bidders on Ebay. I think one year I unloaded about 20 cars, 2 to 3 a week to keep things straight with payments and shipping.

[Juggular]

I'm sad to see you discussing this...

However, I think I got good deals on a package deal (if I have the money... often I can't dish out several hundred dollars, which means I can't bid = seller gets less).  As a seller, piece by piece would be better.  

If you are selling on ebay, make sure to put it in the right category.  You don't want to put a whole car on "other RC parts and accessories" category.  Very often, I browse in parts category and see a whole car.  People looking for a whole car might not be browsing in parts category.  So the seller ends up selling short.  

Auctions ending on weekend evenings (after dinner) seem to bring more lookers.  People will be working on Wednesday 11AM, so that won't be a good time to end your auction.  

I've got a feeling your cars are in best shape, but the cleaner the better.  Individual sellers lose interest, so they don't even dust the item.  Dirty cars bring less money.  

Photos are super important.  If your phone has HDR function, use it.  And choose the brighter, cleaner and sharper photos.  I take a half a dozen photos and choose the best one (and I'm not even selling anything).  

You might be getting rid of old things that you lost interest in.  That could show.  But in the case of buyers, they are excited to buy "new" things they didn't have before even if it's a used item.  If you can look at it in the buyers' perspective, clean the item and organize photos, you'll get the best price.  

I hope you leave a few for yourself, even if you come back to Tamiya 10 years down the road.  

[Fabia130vRS]

5 hours ago, Hobbimaster said:

My suggestion is piece by piece, close to the Holidays. Typically November, and the beginning of December is when I unload a few models. I seem to get more money, and have less hassle with none paying bidders on Ebay. I think one year I unloaded about 20 cars, 2 to 3 a week to keep things straight with payments and shipping.

Totally agree on this! Best time to sell!

 

also what Jug said above. Clean  adds get big money.

I am currently selling my F103 renault williams, here I dont get interest, but on ebay I am almost over the price I am asking here. Also I checked a few times how easy was it to find by just typing Tamiya F103 in the search box.

 

a good description and clean detailed pictures under good light are a must.

 

also who is selling a ‘LOT’, may not get the what you’d expect to be worth. Easier to pay top dollar for a single item. Some items may be less worth as a single item, on expensive stuff you can always use non interesting items to just up the price a bit, but I think that would and up giving them away for free.

[Juls1]

Bulk lots are way harder to sell, I saw someone local trying to get 30k for about 150 kits, of course he never managed to sell them. 

Most people only have $100-200 spare, so breaking it up into lots of about that value will bring in the buyers quickest. 

Consider how much time you have to manage it all too. Sometimes getting 10 parcels ready at once can take best part of a day, consider this when you list things for sale. 

 

[Saito2]

Alright, piece by piece it is. Thanks for all the helpful tips. I haven't ebay'd in quite some time. Should I start an auction with the starting bid around my desired asking price or just put up a "buy it now" price and be done?

15 hours ago, Juggular said:

Auctions ending on weekend evenings (after dinner) seem to bring more lookers.  People will be working on Wednesday 11AM, so that won't be a good time to end your auction. 

Great idea. I know this always made it tough when I was trying to buy something that ended while I was at work or asleep. 

9 hours ago, Fabia130vRS said:

also who is selling a ‘LOT’, may not get the what you’d expect to be worth. Easier to pay top dollar for a single item. Some items may be less worth as a single item, on expensive stuff you can always use non interesting items to just up the price a bit, but I think that would and up giving them away for free.

 

7 hours ago, Juls1 said:

Most people only have $100-200 spare, so breaking it up into lots of about that value will bring in the buyers quickest. 

Good points. A bulk sale is a great purge but I would likely leave money on the table that way

[Saito2]

15 hours ago, Hobbimaster said:

My suggestion is piece by piece, close to the Holidays. Typically November, and the beginning of December is when I unload a few models

Another good idea. Thanks!

[Fabia130vRS]

For auctions, I would say, best to start by 1/4 of whats it worth, put a huy now price pf how much you would like to get, and a reserve price, at about 2,5/4 of whats it worth.

[topforcein]

16 hours ago, Saito2 said:

If one were to consider leaving the hobby, what would be the best way to sell the collection? Basically looking at selling models piece by piece or as a package deal.

how about giving us members first go at what you want to sell

[Saito2]

17 minutes ago, topforcein said:

how about giving us members first go at what you want to sell

I'll put them in the "for sale" section as well but shipping outside of the US is not cheap unfortunately. Its hard to get things shipped in the states in one piece. I can only imagine how beat up things could get across the pond. Trust, me I wish I lived over there sometimes. (for a multitude of reasons) In the US, used Tamiya is worth pennies.

[Biz73]

I often see comments about items bought from Facebook. I don't have it so I can't check it out. Maybe worth looking into what that's about.

I just sold my first car on ebay yesterday. After shipping & Ebay/Paypal fees you don't actually take home that much. On the other hand, that's where your cars will get the most people checking them out. It's true that in the US used Tamiyas aren't worth much, but somehow a beat up Traxxsux will sell for close to what a new one would. This world is a crazy place.

[Wooders28]

19 hours ago, Hobbimaster said:

Typically November, and the beginning of December is when I unload a few models

Before Christmas is a good shout, although I've had success after Christmas (mainly as I didn't get things ready in time!), I'm guessing as some people get money from relatives burning a hole in their pocket.

[Hibernaculum]

8 hours ago, Saito2 said:

Should I start an auction with the starting bid around my desired asking price or just put up a "buy it now" price and be done?

List every item as buy-it-now. Do the research beforehand, decide on prices you would be happy with, set the price... and then wait.

If there is no interest (after a lot of weeks), consider lowering the price or taking offers. With the exception of when cash is needed quickly, be as patient as you can.

• Avoid listing anything as auctions. Most auctions do not achieve bidding wars anymore, and will end up disappointing you.
• Avoid listing bulk lots. These are the worst idea because they narrow your market down to a buyer who:
  • ...actually wants everything in your bulk lot, and...
  • ...actually has the money for the bulk price, and...
  • ...actually has the space in their home for it, and...
  • ...either lives near you, or is willing to pay the postage for it all. Just like Drake equation, all of this means the chances of such a unicorn buyer are next to zero.
• As Juggular said, good photos and clean cars increase values enormously. Working cars also increase values enormously. This seems painfully obvious....until... you see all the listings out there with blurry photos, dirty cars sitting on the edge of tables, cars surrounded by clutter, or with braindead descriptions like "unsure if works" (why?), "didn't have batteries" (why?) and the all-time classic: "due to the nature of the hobby"

Final advice though: Don't sell your cars, and don't leave the hobby.

[Juggernut]

7 hours ago, Saito2 said:

In the US, used Tamiya is worth pennies.

Before resorting to eBay, try Craigslist. Tamiya stuff doesn't last long on CL in my neck of the woods.

Less headache (usually) and you don't have to worry about shipping.

[tamiya_1971]

You might try out the rcgroups forum too. They have a classified area and no charge to post.   Also, if you go the eBay route, schedule your times. I’m in the Midwest and I always try to hit a time it begins at say 10pm cst (it will also end at this time). This way you get good coverage of all time zones. 

[Saito2]

46 minutes ago, Juggernut said:

Before resorting to eBay, try Craigslist

I usually post everything here as well as Craigslist. Unfortunately, I haven't made a Craigslist sale in several years. Part of it is the demographics I suppose. York County PA is the heart of "hold my beer and watch this" country...perfect for the casual Traxxas fan. In my area, Craigslist has degraded heavily over the years. I once was offered a rowboat with a hole in it and home entertainment center for a $5000 Mustang I was selling. No joke. Facebook has some kind of local marketplace thing now but I avoid Facebook. Still, its free and I always list there. Beats the Ebay hassle. 

2 minutes ago, tamiya_1971 said:

You might try out the rcgroups forum too. 

I'll give it a shot. Thanks.

[Jonathon Gillham]

I have found Facebook is slowly taking over the local racer forum as the place to find out about meets etc, but also sell stuff.  The problem is 98% of the people in the group are more into RTR or crawling or drifting, so not much that I think of as quality is on there.  However, you get to know the sellers and you can still find a decent deal on there, for both the buyer and seller.  I have bought servos, batteries and parts off it, but mostly from people I have met in real life at one of my clubs.

One benefit is that a lot of the racers have been racing for years and know their vintage stuff, so if you put up some vintage cars then they will be taken seriously by a few people on there, which is all you need - a few people who know what you have and want it for the same reason you bought it in the first place.

In New Zealand we don't do ebay, we have a similar site trademe.co.nz which was launched about the same time and captured the market here.  Trademe has the odd gem but generally just a bunch of commercial sellers with RTR stuff now, so I don't normally bother looking at it when I'm after RC stuff.  I have seen the odd bulk lot sell but it went at about 1/3 of what they would have got if they knew what they had and were willing to spend the time.

[Hibernaculum]

Facebook... I refuse to use it. It also saddens me when people write and say "Have you got a Facebook page??" as if the whole Internet should just be Facebook, and they can't understand why someone isn't on there. But I do feel vindicated every few months, whenever there is another massive scandal about personal data harvesting/privacy, paid trolls, or election rigging.

My only hope is that if Facebook trading is popular, it might pressure eBay into lowering their fees back to where they were when eBay started - which was more like 4%, instead of 10%. (I miss the early days of eBay.)

[Juggular]

3 hours ago, Hibernaculum said:

List every item as buy-it-now. 

• Avoid listing anything as auctions. Most auctions do not achieve bidding wars anymore, and will end up disappointing you.

Final advice though: Don't sell your cars, and don't leave the hobby.

1

I remember getting into a bidding war a few times and spending more than I should've.  I was going to suggest $1 starting bid.  

But, now that Hibernaculum suggested, most of that was a decade ago.  The most recent was last year, $31 for a Frog.  I spent more on "buy now" parts for that Frog.  I guess ebayers got smart and just not get into silly bidding wars.  

 

[87lc2]

I sell a lot of RC cars, parts, etc. on Ebay and generally do very well.  I have also had luck on CL (Philadelphia area), but I can understand your location being tough for Tamiya CL sales.  Just to re-iterate some of the tips given above:

-Do not list an auction, those days are over.  List at a buy it now well above what you want for the item and have the 'make offer' option live on the page.

-Always charge shipping.  For small items you almost need to offer free shipping, but for selling complete cars (especially with original boxes), you'll get killed on shipping.  I used to list all my cars with free shipping and over time realized that people will pay the same amount for the car whether its listed as free shipping or not.

-Make you best effort to present the item well, this really goes a long way.  Quality photos are a must (they allow 12, you can pay for more if you like, and sometimes it makes sense on high dollar items).  Clean the vehicle and fix any stupid little issues that would turn someone off.  This is where you really get good value for your vehicle, presenting it well and getting it as close to perfect operating and cosmetic condition. 

That's all I can think of at the moment, but I wish you luck.  I'll be keeping an eye out for what you list, I bought the Mad Bull & CR-01 from you a little while ago.

 

 

[moffman]

Definitely one model at a time and don't short change yourself! Tamiya's will always sell they don't get old they just become vintage! Most buyer's on ebay at the moment want things for next to nothing🤔 I've sold a few over the last year and the offers I've had have been (to be honest) insulting😔 so stick to your pricing!, I have a mint unused bigwig whole bundle on ebay at the moment and the offers I'm getting are stupid and without a doubt if you start selling the stupid offers are going to come your way!

[Saito2]

7 hours ago, Hibernaculum said:

Facebook... I refuse to use it.

Same here. My coworkers treat it as important as food, water and oxygen.

10 hours ago, Hibernaculum said:

Final advice though: Don't sell your cars, and don't leave the hobby.

I probably won't dump everything despite the fact its hard for me to look at a Tamiya product at the moment. My complete Hot Shot series and early monster truck series would stay. On the other hand, why do I need four Clod Busters and two Bullheads? I'm also ditching everything past the the first 100. I thought I might regret selling these things, but its been a relief. I'll gradually post some on here and Craigslist and then around the holidays, give Ebay a shot (with all you guys' helpful advise in mind).

[StrokerBoy]

18 hours ago, Fabia130vRS said:

For auctions, I would say, best to start by 1/4 of whats it worth, put a huy now price pf how much you would like to get, and a reserve price, at about 2,5/4 of whats it worth.

I thought I was pretty good at maths, but my brain has just melted.

[Hibernaculum]

4 hours ago, 87lc2 said:

Always charge shipping....<snip>....people will pay the same amount for the car whether its listed as free shipping or not

Agreed. "Free shipping" was of course PR spin by eBay to soften the scandal of the 10% they began charging on postage fees, a few years ago. How they still get away with this charge, without some sort of class action lawsuit from every eBay user on the planet,

eBay began stealing the commission on postage. In return, they told sellers to list everything "free shipping". The idea being it would make us feel less like we were being slugged a fee for postage if the item price was a unified total. Plus, they claimed, "free shipping" gave things a better chance of selling.

Having sold hundreds of cars over the years, to buyers from Saudi Arabia to Iceland... "free shipping" doesn't work. I never use it. And as any toddler knows, there is no one-size-fits-all shipping rate to every destination on the planet. Shipping might be $50 to New Zealand, and $150 to Canada. How would I "free shipping" such variable expense, into a single price that is fair for all buyers? Can't be done. Sorry, eBay rant

2 minutes ago, Saito2 said:

Same here. My coworkers treat it as important as food, water and oxygen.

Yep. Internet was invented to be an open, decentralized architecture - democratic and free in nature.

Facebook is a "gated community" online. Where the fee for residency is your personal data. Which is later sold in secret to pale, clammy geezers like "Alexander Nix" (Cambridge Analytica). Who are later dragged out into the sun like this...

Even if my little site ends up the last one on Earth that isn't part of Facebook, I still won't join. I'll run a server from home if I have to.

28 minutes ago, Saito2 said:

I'm also ditching everything past the the first 100.

While there are cars past the first 100 that I like, I will say this...

The first 100 cars are vintage R/C gold, and will forever be so.

• They will never be completely replaced (even the remakes are wholly revised models with new model codes).
• They will always be in demand.
• And they will only get harder to find (in good cond) over time.

So if you own some and love them, think carefully before selling them   Glad to hear you are sticking with it mate.