jeffdeoranut Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 im trying to figure out what to do with my kits after im gone...im in bad health. the idea of the kits going in the trash disturbs me...my son says he will keep the built ones but neither him or my daughter have any interest in trying to sell them on ebay. we live in a very rural area bout 180 miles south of st Louis and 90 miles north of Memphis. there are very few modelers in this area. ive told my son to donate them to the model car museum but I don't think he will want to pay shipping. boy scouts are almost nonexistent in this area-there are no youth clubs, etc. I would prefer they end up with people who would build them. any thoughts? ive contacted a few vendors but im so far from them that shipping would make it not worthwile...in other words they only want to pay a fraction of what the kits are worth and after shipping I might lose money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 Post pictures of what you have in the Trade sections...I'm sure people would be happy to donate to your cause trade you something in exchange for the kits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 I think many of us face the same problem. I myself have about 750 scale Shelby Cobras. I am not getting any younger and only have one child, a daughter who is a lawyer and at most may want one or two to remember me by. My wife won't really want more than the same one or two. Nobody I know shares my interest so what will become of them ? My plan is to try and unload them all as a lot when it looks like my time is near. Really don't want to leave my wife to deal with but for now I don't have any real plans. Maybe just a donation to Goodwill or a thrift store. My firearms may be a bigger problem. Would like to hear plans from others. We can't take them with us ! Can we ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnt671 Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 56 minutes ago, cobraman said: I think many of us face the same problem. I myself have about 750 scale Shelby Cobras. I am not getting any younger and only have one child, a daughter who is a lawyer and at most may want one or two to remember me by. My wife won't really want more than the same one or two. Nobody I know shares my interest so what will become of them ? My plan is to try and unload them all as a lot when it looks like my time is near. Really don't want to leave my wife to deal with but for now I don't have any real plans. Maybe just a donation to Goodwill or a thrift store. My firearms may be a bigger problem. Would like to hear plans from others. We can't take them with us ! Can we ? I would suggest going in some firearms forums. The laws vary so much for selling them, and the Smith & Wesson forum and they're always discussing this topic. The also have a for sale section if you wanted to list them there. I'm sure other weapons forums have the same thing. You'll see many different makers offered for sale in the S&W forum, and it also has a wanted to buy section for people looking for a specific rifle or hand gun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffdeoranut Posted September 8, 2018 Author Share Posted September 8, 2018 1 hour ago, Casey said: Post pictures of what you have in the Trade sections...I'm sure people would be happy to donate to your cause trade you something in exchange for the kits. even though I cant stop myself I do not need to trade for more kits...lol. not sure if im physically able to box/ship a bunch of kits...that's y im not on ebay though I may consider it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gman Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 1 hour ago, jeffdeoranut said: im trying to figure out what to do with my kits after im gone...im in bad health. the idea of the kits going in the trash disturbs me...my son says he will keep the built ones but neither him or my daughter have any interest in trying to sell them on ebay. we live in a very rural area bout 180 miles south of st Louis and 90 miles north of Memphis. there are very few modelers in this area. ive told my son to donate them to the model car museum but I don't think he will want to pay shipping. boy scouts are almost nonexistent in this area-there are no youth clubs, etc. I would prefer they end up with people who would build them. any thoughts? ive contacted a few vendors but im so far from them that shipping would make it not worthwile...in other words they only want to pay a fraction of what the kits are worth and after shipping I might lose money. My first thought would be to wish that you experience better health... If you still want to liquidate your collection of kits, you could itemize them and post up a list on forums like this one, to up the chance of them finding a good home with collectors and builders. Depending on your taste in kits and their condition, you might find someone really enthusiastic about taking a good portion in a bulk sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemodeler Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 18 minutes ago, jeffdeoranut said: even though I cant stop myself I do not need to trade for more kits...lol. not sure if im physically able to box/ship a bunch of kits...that's y im not on ebay though I may consider it. Jeff, First off, sorry to hear about your health woes, hope you can find some peace with some answers here. While selling is forbidden but trading is allowed, I would take Casey's advice and put a list together of what you have that you want to get rid of. Conduct business via PM and email and work it out with members here. When I was out of work last year, I was able to sell off 65 kits for about $600 and after shipping I had cleared about $480. Those kits went to a good home and I was able to pay a few bills until I got back on my feet. I had some crazy lowball offers of $3-5 per kit and I just ignored them as I knew I could get 2-3 times that easily. Hopefully one of your kids can help you compile a list and snap a few pictures. Let us know what you have, might be able to work something out with the members here. Take care, let us know if there is anything else we can do to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badluck 13 Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 EBay still may be the answer if you could get someone to help with packing and ship out,there was a similar example where a dear member left us and his daughter did a eBay on them and she did quite well and the kits did get a good home she even posted a link here to eBay also as far as shipping out goes a idea would be put a not in the listing that shipping would only be once a week i.e. Monday or what ever could work out well.....just a thought and I really do wish you nothing but good with your health..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenGuthmiller Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 If the kits are not particularly rare or valuable you might want to consider selling them in "lots" on ebay. If you're not able to package & ship yourself, ask a family member, like your son or daughter to help. I would photograph a half a dozen or so kits & then pack them up so that they are ready to ship. Post the photos on ebay as lots of six & see what you can get for them. You could also auction off all or part of your collection as one lot. I've seen entire collections sold this way. You could also do some advertising in some of the model magazines or on a site such as Craig's List as a "collection for sale". If you have more unusual or rare kits, you might want to consider offering them to a local hobby shop or an online purveyor such as Model Roundup. Places like this will routinely buy collections to resell. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugatti Fan Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 Jeff, I would suggest that you contact IPMS USA (International Plastic Modelers Society) via the contact details on their website. They may well have modelers in your area who may either be interested in buying for themselves, or alternatively may be able to do some off loading through society contacts. Alternatively, try to contact well known auto model writers like Bil! Counter, Dennis Doty, Bob Downie or Tim Boyd as they will have many contacts, and may be able to suggest traders who buy collections. HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Myers Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 Everyone here will eventually be in this situation. First with two options, A) don't prepare, do nothing, leaving everything to your heirs to figure out. B ) You do something about it. This is where things get complicated because there are many options with varying outcomes. I think the easiest thing is the bulk sale, everything goes for one agreed upon price. I think this is also the one avenue that will net the least return on your holdings. The problem of the next few options, Ebay, Craigslist, this board. is that they will require a large amount of work on your part or someone helping you and will be a rather long drawn out affair, photos, setting up an account (ebay), listing, following the listing, follow through on packaging and mailing. Figure in some travel here as well, to the post office, somewhere to get packing material, etc. Clubs and hobby shops are another way, but again requiring some leg work and typically they won't want everything you have leaving you with some residual. So you have to decide how much effort are you willing to put into your liquidation ? Ultimately, what is it you wish to achieve ? Just getting rid of everything or turning a profit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rel14 Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 Sorry about your heatlh, I,m right there with you,, Maybe try the DAV, the vets layed up may want a couple, I have a ton of models and die cast from years gone by, my wife has a plate and tea cup collection that is never ending,, And I think about the seven kids backing a big green dumpster up to the door, and it all goes to the dump. I think there is a hole lot of us in the same boat,,, What to do ?? the million dollar question,, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYLIBUD Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 As others have said,I'm sorry about your poor health at this time.As far as the models,Maybe you should give EBay a chance.And have your family(son)help you.Good luck whatever you decide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 Sorry about your health. Like others have said,most of us will be in your predicament at some point in time. I'm lucky that I belong to a model club. We had few members pass away, and we as a club help out in liquidating their models. Any profits made from selling them goes back to the widow or we also donate it to causes like Toys for Tots. One possibility you can consider is donating your kits to the active military forces. My club has done that few times. Cost of shipping (APOs or AFOs) is minimal. More info is available at http://www.ipmsusa.org/support_the_troops/index.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldTrucker Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 Just when I get them thinned out I wind up with more than I had to begin with it seems as new stuff comes out! Especially when they keep popping out the old kits from days gone past! I have finally come to realize that after I'm taking a dirt nap I won't really care about anything let along what happens to my models! So I just don't let it worry me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddyfink Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 I had to sell on ebay and kit shows to sell off my friends collection after his passing. And then there was the books, magazines, tools and parts left. I took almost two years to dispose of it all. It is not an easy task, but it can be done. This is where you see who your real friends are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 (edited) So sorry to hear about your health Jeff, may God be with you...... Edited September 10, 2018 by slusher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugatti Fan Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 Jeff, further to my last post on this thread most of us have many books bought for reference. As a suggestion they could be donated to a local high school for their library. Schools always seem to be strapped for cash when it comes to buying things, and who knows, some modelling books on their library shelves may encourage some youngsters to take up the hobby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youpey Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 (edited) i dont know if there are any religious establishments in the area, churches, synagogue, etc. many of them will take donations and either use them for children in their groups or try to sell at fundraisers. you could even see if its tax deductible. When i moved a while back, i had about 50 models that i didnt want to take with me because i didnt have room and i donated 10 to a church. they wouldnt take more. There are other non-religious establishments that will take stuff, and many will pickup from you. I have bad memory, so i cant think of the name right now. if it comes to me later i will update this post. also, there are companies that will sell for you on ebay. i have never used anything like that, i think if you bring it to them, they handle all of the shipping and take a cut of the sale. i am not sure how much of a cut. Edited September 10, 2018 by youpey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyjim Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 Many of us FAST members have already told our significant other to contact club members for disposal of our builds/kits/tools/ parts, etc. after we're gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunajammer Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 Everything above is valid. I will just add this... This kind of stuff still brings a ton of interest at the auctions. Piggy-back your models onto someone's auction, or work with an auction company to gather up your stuff and they'll add it to a weekly auction. Your family doesn't have to deal with it, the models will go to collectors and resellers and the auction company may come and get 'em up for you and they don't go to the trash You may well have to give up 30-to-40 percent for their commission but basically, you give up some of your value to pay someone to do the work for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemodeler Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 Hope you can dispose of them. If you can package them in large lots it will go faster, reducing the number of trips to the post office or UPS. If you sell on eBay, you will likely get more for them, or at least for the ones deemed "desirable" but might be left with some that are harder to get rid of. Be prepared to take less than what you feel is a fair price unless you want to keep re-listing them until someone takes them. Be upfront about shipping, the biggest complaint about eBay sellers is their shipping times. If you are only going to ship on Saturdays, end your auctions on Wednesdays to give buyers time to make their payment and you time to box and ship on time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jantrix Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 Another option is to contact a local chapter of IPMS and donate your kits to the club. You are less than 4 hours from St. Louis and Memphis. Between those locations there are 5 Chapters. I'm sure someone from those clubs would be happy to pick them up. Clubs use donated kits in raffles and the like to raise money for the club which is then spent on shows and contests. This way, your family isn't burdened with "disposal" and you have the knowledge that your collection will be in the hands of adult modelers who will appreciate them and build them. That's my plan when I go. https://calendar.ipmsusa3.org/chapter-map Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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