Can anyone recommend a good Auction house to sell trains?

[T.Benton]

Hi there,

I was just wondering if anyone could recommend an Auction house that specialises in selling trains. I am willing to look at somewhere in England but, if there is one here that you would recommend that would be great. I will sell the best trains in my collection privately but, there are a lot more that aren't as good and I want to take an easier route with them. It would be way too much hassle selling them from home or at a show. 

Thanks very much for your help with this.

T 

[Garfield]

To be honest you would probably be better off getting in touch with one of the retailers who buy collections and sell secondhand stock. Rails of Sheffield and Ellis Clark are two which come to mind, but there are others.

Auctions can be unpredictable, and unless there's something special about a particular model it may have to be listed with little or no reserve, meaning you may end up getting next to nothing for the item if it does sell.

[Flying Snail]

I believe (but am open to correction) that Marks Models here in Ireland also purchase collections - they certainly sell secondhand stock.

[Blaine]

40 minutes ago, Flying Snail said:

I believe (but am open to correction) that Marks Models here in Ireland also purchase collections - they certainly sell secondhand stock.

They do, but only at the Rathcoole shop

 

52 minutes ago, Garfield said:

To be honest you would probably be better off getting in touch with one of the retailers who buy collections and sell secondhand stock. Rails of Sheffield and Ellis Clark are two which come to mind, but there are others.

Auctions can be unpredictable, and unless there's something special about a particular model it may have to be listed with little or no reserve, meaning you may end up getting next to nothing for the item if it does sell.

All of this ^^^ Nowhere in Ireland, have attended auctions in Ireland and its usually antiques auctioneers running it along the lines of 'its old, so its valuable'. Not always the case and there is no specialist model auctioneer in Ireland, no market for such a thing, unlike Vectis, Astons or M+M in the UK. Plus auction houses have many fees, you wont get the hammer price at the end

 

1 hour ago, T.Benton said:

It would be way too much hassle selling them from home or at a show. 

A show is the best way of selling - 2-3 days of captive market, you might end up with less than you wanted, but its gone and to a happy home

Edited February 6 by Blaine

[irishrailways52]

3 hours ago, Flying Snail said:

I believe (but am open to correction) that Marks Models here in Ireland also purchase collections - they certainly sell secondhand stock.

the one in rathcoole often has more second hand locomotives than new ones

[WRENNEIRE]

Remember Auction houses charge commission ranging from 20 - 32.5% 

[Mol_PMB]

Firms like Rails of Sheffield, Ellis Clark etc are also likely to take a significant cut - it could be up to 50%. I've had this dilemma myself - I can't be bothered to spend the time listing and posting it all myself, but the consequence is that effectively I have to pay someone else to do that for me, and they don't work for free. Whether you sell to a dealer or via an auction house, they all take their cut, and that's fair enough. If you want to achieve the maximum price then list it yourself on eBay or similar, but you'll have to do a lot of the legwork yourself.

[NIRCLASS80]

I know eBay is hated by many, but it’s fee free and in Northern Ireland Royal Mail collect at your door and even bring the label. It’s less hassle than it used to be