Model Railway - What's your latest acquisition?

Bugatti's still in the garage of course!

Al.

Being quite serious, if prices for second hand equipment keep going up as fast as they are at the moment this thread could quickly become “What’s your latest sale”. Some very silly prices on online auction sites lately and I need to downsize so as painful as the thought of doing so is, it might be a good time to actually put the effort in.

I might need the suitcases to get the parcels down to the post office as I wave a teary goodbye to some of the models and sets I currently own. tired_face

Well said, RT, about silly prices. I decided that I needed to dispose of some of my surplus items (no-one needs 9 Jinties) so I had a stall at the weekend at a toy and train fair. Poorly attended, but I was astonished at the prices being charged by traders for second hand stuff - double the prices that I had seen at similar fairs only three years ago or so. It got a bit silly because quite a few of my sales were to traders who put my items on their stalls at twice the price I had charged. Small wonder that one of them, who had driven well over 100 miles to be there, was complaining bitterly that his sales for the day totalled £14.50, less than a quarter of the charge for his stall. Whilst I sympathise with those who need to make a living, I have to say that a healthy dose of realism is needed. I charged what I regarded as reasonable prices (about half auction site charges) and, although I brought home roughly half of what I had taken there, I also brought home an obscene amount of cash. Notwithstanding the apparent increase in interest in our hobby resulting from the pandemic, I still fear that the manufacturers and traders will soon price themselves out of a market.

@Threelink and @Rana

Most specialist interest areas of seeing huge price increases in recent years. I play the saxophone and some bits of 50 year-old brass, often with lacquer peeling and verdigris evident - but with the right name on them - will cost high 4 figure and even 5 figure sums.

@Stephen in Kerry

Agreed, but what is specialist about toy trains - sorry - model railways? High end museum quality models will always command a premium price, rightly, but I am talking about second hand Triang/Lima/Hornby/Trix/Wrenn and the like. Very few are rarities, some will always achieve a higher price from a collector if mint in a mint box but the rest is just run of the mill. I just cannot see that the sort of high prices one now sees are sustainable in the long or even medium term. If people are priced out of the hobby we will all be the poorer for it, and I don't just mean financially

I can understand that design, personnel, machining, transport, marketing, distribution, storage costs of new items are perennially increasing in price.

I can understand that SOME costs of reallocation - resale of used items - storage and personnel - will be increasing - the others have already been accounted for in original manufacture.

For this reason, some small increment for the same quality, same used item being sold perhaps 10 years later may be acceptable, notwithstanding deterioration of the components / additional servicing required by the end user, not required when it was actually 'NEW'.

Bottom line for me, prices will increase of brand new, ex-factory in the last 3 months items.

Prices of good/used items in distributors - shops / people making a living from said sale - may increase a little cf. what they may have sold for 2 years previously, but should NOT encourage the gross profiteering witnessed by some.

This increase should not be taken advantage of too much by the private punter - I believe. If it's time to move it on, then be fair. Bottom line I suppose is if people are prepared to pay the inflated prices, this will encourage the sale, and the unfair inflation.

Al.

@Threelink Any 'specialist' area is potentially ripe for rip off, even if the goods are not high quality, due to the 'captive audience' factor. Also, I think that 'second-hand' goods, generally, are seeing ridiculous price hikes due to TV shows like Bargain Hunt.

@atom 3624 @Stephen in Kerry,

Balanced and well reasoned arguments, both. We will just have to see what transpires. In the meantime I shall continue to dispose of surplus at what I consider reasonable prices

Just bought a lovely looking O.R Dean Goods from O.R's eBay site. It will go nicely with other GWR locos I have. Really must stop buying railway stuff for a while.

It'll never happen!!

I keep telling myself that ... stop buying 'for a while'.

I succeed, but after one month, I'm looking again ... there's a shortlist of 'hits' I'd like, but have a limit I won't go over for each, if able.

Al.