Crazy Auctions / Prices Thread

[cteno4]

I’d buy that for $7M!

 

jeff

[railsquid]

If you have a spare 298,000 yen lying around, why not snap up this collection of 20 N-scale-ish diecast models (possibly トレイン) :  https://jp.mercari.com/item/m93463219482 ?

 

It's a bargain reduced from 300,000 yen so get it now while you can.

 

[Yugamu Tsuki]

Absolutely love that the subject of that mercari mentions being geared towards train "maniacs" 🤣

[railsquid]

The seller admits they have no idea about model trains, I suspect they are hoping they have something ultra-rare, rather than a random collection of the kind of diecast toy junk which pollutes N scale product listings.

[SwallowAngel]

I still struggle to understand why people have the perception that model trains are things that can only increase in value. I have yet to see any run-of-the-mill model increase in value significantly. The only ones which *might* get more desirable are limited/special releases and certain brass models...

 

Whenever I talk to people who think of model trains like cash-growing investments i have to explain that, no, that model I just bought and told you about is not an investment. In fact the model is likely to decrease in value within the next couple of years and the money I spent were quasi wasted for my own enjoyment...

[railsquid]

There is a certain cyclical element to the Japanese market where certain popular models which have been out of production for a while attract quite high prices, for example the Kato Aodaishou EF58 was only available second-hand for around 12,000 yen for a long time, right up until Kato brought out a new production run (I remember because I wanted one on a Rule 1 basis, but not desperately enough to pay those prices). Which means you'd be betting against Kato or Tomix production schedules if "investing" in that kind of thing.

 

Overall the best that I can say is that I could probably recoup most of the purchase price of a large proportion of the second-hand stock I've acquired, but it would take a while to sell it all off.

[cteno4]

On 12/29/2023 at 9:49 AM, railsquid said:

but it would take a while to sell it all off.

This is where it gets you as if you factor in your time to sell stuff off even at a cheap hourly, the bottom line really gets eroded. I have this loop a lot with folks wanting to sell off an inherited collection and they want near market price for a whole collection. Some come to realize that it’s worth a fraction of market rate if they want it dumped in one big pile, elsewise it’s

• them spending large amounts of time selling stuff they know nothing about
• Or sell it on commission at 40-50% and maybe get close to a market sell price but maybe not all will get sold easily or for a good price
• or sell the whole pile to a reseller at 10 to 20 cents on the dollar…

jeff

[railsquid]

I'm actually doing quite well offloading surplus model railway items on Mercari - technically making a profit because the items I'm working through are mainly "extras" from job lots. Mind you I just put up a Tomytec tram I bought years ago and never did anything with, at a speculative round number above the original RRP (with the intent of knocking it down gradually) and it went within about 2 hours. (I'm trying to free up some valuable space and the Mercari system is very streamlined and easy to use; I suspect I could squeeze slightly higher margins out of say Yahoo Auctions but that would be more hassle).