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Liquidating entire collection of models and models supplies.


ewetwo

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If you were going to liquidate your model collection and supplies. How would you do it? If you make over $600 on Ebay or through PayPal. They report it to the IRS and you are sent a 1099-K and you have to pay taxes on that.  This was originally explained to me by a person who will now only except money orders as payment. So how would you sell it. Would you sell kit by kit or as a whole. 

Pictures. Would you take photos of the models put together in groups of model brand. All AMTs in one photo. Revells in another. Trumpeters in another?  Or take photos in groups such as Chevys one photo. Fords another. Oldsmobiles in another. Supplies. All jar paints in one photo. Spray paints in another. Equipment such as air brushes in one photo. Paint shaker in another? Or a photo of all equipment together. Wall display cases. 

I would sell it as pick up only because there would be way too much to pack and ship. Over 400 kits. Plus everything else.

Figuring a price. Most kits $10 and the more rare ones such as Trumpeters, Johans, half of what they sell for on Ebay? I know I'll be losing money but that's to be expected. 

Appreciate any advice.

Edited by ewetwo
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$600......? I thought it was $20k......

From Turbo Tax.....

If you make more than $20,000 in gross sales and have 200 or more transactions on eBay, you should receive a 1099-K form reporting this income to the IRS.

I've sold more than $3000 on E-Bay in one year and did not have to pay taxes. 

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i am not sure i would want to sell a kit by kit of my collection, i have too many and it would be quite an undertaking. 

 

however, there are several sites that buy collections. i am not sure if you would get the money you would like by selling it this way. i would imagine selling it as 1 by 1 would bring more than 10 per kit

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I'm thinking that selling individual items, whether it be a kit, tools, or supplies, would bring in more money. Depending on the size of the stash, and the quantity of supplies and tools, it would be quite an undertaking, and would take a while to accomplish a complete liquidation. Selling in this manner might possibly generate a steady income for a little while.

I sold well over $1000 worth of kits in 2020, one at a time, which helped me finance needed repairs to our old house so that we could sell and move into our new house.

I didn't receive anything from eBay.

I also offered items for sale on a couple forums that allow such activities, and was able to complete a few deals that way. Sometimes, though, the auction sites may get you a higher price than trying to sell on a forum.

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Any miscellaneous income over $600 is supposed to be reported to the IRS voluntarily via your 1040 tax return you file.  However, if you bought the kits for $500 and sold them for $600 your income was really only $100 but Ebay would have not way of knowing how much was your original cost.  You can alway report the 1099 income on a Schedule C and deduct your expenses so you do not have to pay very much if any income tax or self employment tax on the gross sales reported to the IRS on the 1099.  If you sold a few thousand dollars of models as a collector or hobbyist one time you probably hav nothing to worry about.  If you sell $20K a year that is a whole different situation and the tax man may want to see some records for your side business.

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Most likely you will get more selling individual models vs selling the lot to a dealer,etc. But, you will work harder for it. Selling individual items will mean either taking them to shows (loading/unloading, sitting there all day) or selling on eBay (or similar) this takes a lot of time and costs money. There is no guarantee you will sell it all. If you can get a dealer to give you $10 a kit and you have 400 kits, that's 4k in your pocket and they deal with all the previously mentioned. If you go that route you will have to give up some profit on better stuff, but you will probably be sneaking in some duds too, like Nascar or C4 Corvettes.

 

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You have to weigh the potential return versus the potential hassle. Personally, if I am ever in a situation where I need to sell all my stuff my plan is to put my rare/old/valuable stuff on ebay to maximize my returns on that stuff. That's maybe 15-20% of my stuff max. The rest will be sold in a lot or lots and I'll probably take a bath on it but if I'm selling out the situation is pretty dire and I need cash in hand.

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Ok guys. I’ll try to figure out what to do. To list everything will be a task in itself. I have a lot of average kits. That’s why I say $10 kits. But I’m sure you all have the same kits. I’m not sick or getting a divorce or anything. Just realizing I’m 66 and no one in my family is interested it my hobby. 

 

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10 minutes ago, ewetwo said:

Ok guys. I’ll try to figure out what to do. To list everything will be a task in itself. I have a lot of average kits. That’s why I say $10 kits. But I’m sure you all have the same kits. I’m not sick or getting a divorce or anything. Just realizing I’m 66 and no one in my family is interested it my hobby. 

 

I'm glad to hear your not sick or anything I'm a bit younger than you but understand the nobody in my family is into the hobby, I don't even know anyone locally at all that is in to it. You could take pictures of them might be easier then listing and sometimes that common kit is just what someone is looking for,,,,

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1 minute ago, SCRWDRVR said:

I'm glad to hear your not sick or anything I'm a bit younger than you but understand the nobody in my family is into the hobby, I don't even know anyone locally at all that is in to it. You could take pictures of them might be easier then listing and sometimes that common kit is just what someone is looking for,,,,

I know of 2 other builders in my area but they are not in the ability to buy an entire collection, and they would only offer me 2 or 3 dollars per kit.

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19 minutes ago, ewetwo said:

Ok guys. I’ll try to figure out what to do. To list everything will be a task in itself. I have a lot of average kits. That’s why I say $10 kits. But I’m sure you all have the same kits. I’m not sick or getting a divorce or anything. Just realizing I’m 66 and no one in my family is interested it my hobby. 

 

Except you? definitely keep some of the favorites and all of the tools.

There are a couple of shops near(?) here that get most of their model car inventory from collections.  I doubt that they pay much but they do have to cover their overhead and  rent.  On the selling side, they do charge reasonable prices.  Both say they need more model cars but most of the available collections are airplanes, more airplanes, and still more airplanes. They also buy/sell hobby related books and magazines.

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I've thought about this topic a lot over the past few years.  I've watched people retire over the years and sell off their collections. Some moved to smaller quarters, others just sold out of that same reason you gave, to dispose of it so the family won't have to deal with it later.

I'm 62 and am hopefully looking at a long retirement.  For the folks who sold off everything... now what? Are you going to sit around and watch daytime TV with the wife?   I'm hoping to spend my time building a lot of models!   I got a free preview of retirement the past year or so with Covid, and ya  know what? I got more models done than at any other time in my life!  So I think model building will be a major part of my retirement. Why would I sell everything?

What I have done is that I stopped saving things for the future.  I have kits, decals, after market parts etc that I had tucked away for some future killer project.  I've decided that the time is now!  So I dig into those precious supplies and enjoy using them on a model.  I found I had a dozen 1950 Ford pickup kits... so I dumped all the unsealed ones into a big tub.  I enjoy building that kit and now I can experiment without worrying about destroying a part. I have many of each part.    And if I want a part for something I am building, I don't hesitate taking it out of a new kit on my shelf.  I will put a note in the box, "took carb and wheels", but having that part on my new project sure beats the $10 sale someday!  

The end game?  Someday I will die.  There may be a time when my health deteriorates and I can no longer work at this hobby.  That's when I will sell it off.   But I'm hoping that I can enjoy the collection I've built over my lifetime for the rest of my days.  And when I go to the big junkyard in the sky, my wife has the names of a few trusted friends and dealers.   

So David, everyone must decide what's best for themselves.    I just wanted to share my perspective. I trust you will choose wisely.

 

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