buy for re-sale

I always do that.  I target DCS, TMCC, and Legacy engines.  The market has thousands of good locomotives that were made bad by user error.  Many came from the factory with an issue.  Some people would rather dump an engine for short money than admit they did something wrong.   I have people call me often telling me about the great bargain they got from flea bay.  The prior owner stated it ran before.  I stay clear from these items.  That can be a suckers game.  Bargains can be had to resell but you have to be selective where they come from.  It helps a bit to be able to fix them.

I only buy mostly new stuff. I don't collect, just accumulate, so I have no idea what any of this stuff is worth. Wouldn't know where to start doing something like this. And with my luck, everything I got would probably only be worth about half what I paid for it.

I've done that fairly regularly, years ago.  Not so much anymore.  I'm not all that familiar with current pricing, especially of collectables, these days.   Besides most of what I now do is in Hi-Rail, semi scale trains.

Best deal I ever made on trains was in purchasing a collection of mid-1950's Marklin HO stuff.  Paid $800 for the collection and my wife was furious at me for spending all that money at the time.  Took it all to York, back when the meet was only on Friday and Saturday, and sold the whole collection, piece by piece, to bunch of guys who all seemed to have German accents, for some $3,800, total.  And that was all on Friday!  When I told the committee that I didn't have anything left to sell they insisted that I have to stay at my table all day on Saturday.  I told them that I didn't have a train left to sell but that I would put my "fanny" on the table if they wanted me to.  Problem was solved when a guy heard our discussion, had just arrived at York and wanted a table for only Saturday.  Everybody was happy.  (Particularly my wife, who was sure that I was out of my mind for throwing that much money away.)

Paul Fischer

I do that sometimes, but I try to keep it to a minimum because of a shortage of storage space. Sometimes a deal will come along for three or four cars cheap, and maybe I want one and I can sell the rest, essentially getting me the one I wanted for free. I have to be very careful about it, because the resale market for trains is limited where I live, and if you go online or especially to eBay, shipping and fees can eat up anything you might make on the deal. Also if you misjudge the resale market, you can get stuck with a relatively bulky item for a long time. 

I collect WW2 US military stuff as my primary hobby, and I couldn't begin to write down all the amazing stuff I used to stumble across at flea markets and such...

Many of the structures on my On30 layout (which are just sitting on the plywood right now as scenery will start next month) were from train shows or ePay. I got most of them crazy cheap, but now I have way too many structures than I can use.

This sounds to me like day trading on the stock market or buying houses to flip, you better know what your doing.

20 years ago yes, today no. Todays trains depreciate like HO or a new car.

I plan to buy the new $1,900 Big Boy for $500 10 years from now.

As I always say, I buy high, and sell low.  I make up for it all in the volume.  Anybody need their taxes or books done?   

My place is like an old folks home...nothing leaves

Lol, don't hold your breath... the Vision Line 2-10-10-2 is still holding its value... so is the black vision line Hudson.... could be a long weight.

 . . . a long wait too.

.....

Dennis

No, just buy for me purposes.

I have always done this.  I will buy and flip houses, speciality cars, and the right trains.  yes, most trains will never be worth plus money.  I target those with operating issues that are priced as such.  I have had great luck buying from forum members.  Like anything else, stay with what you know.  I have been a car guy all my life and I have seen a few people I know loose money trying to be like the TV car buying guys. 

From time to time I run a post looking for non operative engines on the forum and have had great luck. 

I buy a few trains and related items from online auctions (Proxibid, Live Auctioneers, AuctionZip) and sell on ebay, usually much lower than other similar items and still make a little hobby money. Keeps me in the hobby and I get to have and hold different items for a short time. i have learned a lot that way. 

The 2-10-10-2 has never been done prior, and whether we'll ever see a Lionel re-issue is anyone's guess.  But I'm not holding my breathe.

The Big Boy, OTOH... how many times has Lionel produced this loco in recent years?  Will this be the third time?    Nothing that unique about it.  A few new features... Yes.  But not enough to give the big guy legendary status.  Sorry, I don't see the Big Boy following along in the 2-10-10-2's footsteps, IMHO of course.

Hopefully most folks buying a BB will either be running it (best use) or displaying it (OK use) for their enjoyment.  Running it would be ideal if someone has the right layout.  But buying one or two with hopes of selling them later for a profit is pretty much a dim prospect in this day in age.  I just don't see the demand for it.

David

To answer your question, no.  I buy things I want to keep.  If I find things I think are terribly under-priced -- I tell the seller.  

I buy what a like.  I collect some and operate others. Sometimes I will sell or trade for another item of interest.

Contrary to some previous comments on this tread I believe buying or reselling recently produced toy trains for profit is not desirable and certainly not smart - period. For what its worth, my advise is buy trains because you like them and run them, not because your hoping to resell or flip them for profit. Financial speculation on new or used trains really hurts those how enjoy operating them - i.e. artificially hiking up prices for would-be profiteers and collectors!

That's my opinion and I'm sticking with it!

By the time you factor in the high eBay and PayPal fees, it's just not worth it usually.  Back in the early days of eBay when the fees were lower AND the cost of shipping was a lot less lower, you could get a higher overall price because the shipping cost was lower.  And with fewer fees, that would increase your net as well.

No, the only flipping I do is when I flip over a great train that I had to have and finally acquired. I buy my trains to have fun with them rather than looking at what I can get out of a deal when I sell what I bought. As far as what I buy from forum members, I buy because I want it and don't have in the back of my mind plans to take adavantage of a fellow forumite who's offering a great deal here at a llow price because he feels the buyer really wants that item and doesn't think the buyer might only be using that seller to make money off the seller's genuine generosity of selling an item for less than it's worth bercause he thinks that buyer actually wants that item for himself. 

ny, I buy all the trains I want for myself.  I finance this partially with money made from repairing and selling inoperative trains I buy.  This works very well for me as I have an MTH account and a Lionel account. 

I average about 40 locomotives each year from the forum.  Some I sell on the forum and the rest get sold at York.  I am retired and do this for fun.  I also report any earnings.

How bout this one.  Guy comes to my table, picks out a few items, makes a kinda low offer with some story added on, and I accept.  Later on I'm walking around the show and see that guy with the trains I sold him on HIS table for sale with MY price stickers still on them. 

Wild Mary, you are a very lucky man if you do not like to make a buck.  Most of us took economics in school and understand the principal of making money.  I buy inoperative items, make them work and stand behind them.   Many people have trains that do not run and are very happy to find someone to give them money for them.  I am in a position to fix trains.   People are very happy to be able to sell an inoperative train.

I have several trains and buy new.  Legacy, TMCC, and DCS are what I buy.  If someone has PW, I direct them to a friend.  I do agree with one point you make about telling a person the train is for your collection.  I do not encounter any of that as I buy new.  I have a few engines and enjoy them all.

I agree. After factoring in the shipping and fees, I usually net out about $0.55 / $1.00 on eBay. It won't stop me from selling, but I seldom come close to breaking even.

If something was "stupid cheap", I may buy to resell. Not my usual approach to trains.

Gilly

If folks can buy and resell what the market will bear more power to them.

What Marty does in fantastic.  He buys stuff that doesn't work and fixes them, stands behind his repairs, and sells them.  He has time and effort into them so why shouldn't he make some money?  What would become of these if he didn't.  Shelf queens?  Land fill?

I buy and sell on ebay a lot; my dad always wondered why I never asked for spending money in college.  Anyway, I taught myself from a young age to repair postwar lionel (my tinkering probably contributed to me becoming an engineer).  

My two best flips:

1: A friend of the family's colleague had his trains from when he was a kid in the late 50s.  I wasn't able to see them before I bought them; all I had was a list of car numbers to go off of.  So not knowing condition, I got the lot for $35.  Turned out he got it for christmas and the transformer burnt out the first time he used it, so it was a mint Lionel postwar set (lower end, plastic engine) with all original boxes including the set box.  Also included was a beat up marx set and a cheap japanese tin set.  In the end I made about $200.

2: bought a lot of beat up lionel postwar accessories on ebay.  Included barrel ramp, operating frieght station, semaphore, automatic gateman, horse corral, and the sructure from a culvert unloader.  They all had missing parts, but I cleaned them up and fixed/replaced what I could.  After selling the gateman (I already had one), corral (didn't have the car), and the freight station (missing carts), I was able to keep the barrel ramp and the semaphore and still made a profit even after all the parts I had to buy.

So usually I try to buy a lot, keep what I want, and sell the rest. 

This has been happening as long as I recall. Dealers at shows sweep through and pick up all of the reasonably priced stuff and mark it up at their tables. I always thought this was wrong because at that point the average buyer gets left out and rarely gets a deal to keep them interested. I recall years ago when I was forced to sell off my AF S collection. This big time AF dealer saw what I was unpacking and started rudely routing through all of my boxes looking for the Northerns and Switchers. Then he wanted everything cheap. He was angry when I would not move on my prices. Some buyers got a good deal that day, but not him. Now that I am serious selling my collections for retirement, I don't care as sometimes buyers are scarce for some items. I still stand firm on my rare items if I know that the buyer is a big dealer.

As a buyer nothing feels better than getting a great deal on something the scarcer the better. I mainly bought to keep back in the day only selling when I upgraded. In the last few years I became a picker. I do not do shows, but I would scour garage sales and flea markets looking for stuff I could make a buck on. Most of it was stuff in dire need of repair, or a rust bucket needing restoration. Occasionally I'd get a good item like the time I got an early Lionel O 150 electric loco in just excellent condition. It was an early Manufacturing loco and the man wanted $40 which I was glad to pay. Some new wires, a good cleaning, and some brushes and she sold for $135.

Gandy

There's ALWAYS a story, and I seldom believe it.    People often lie through their teeth.  

I've heard all kinds of stories from folks here responding with low-ball offers, because they're all tapped out, tough times, blah, blah, blah...  Then the next day you see them back here on the forum responding to another for-sale thread regarding a different item that's twice as expensive as the item they were crying poverty to you about.  

There's one in every crowd.

I think we all know "flipping" occurs.  And there are lots of ways to sugar-coat it and/or justify the practice by those who do it..  But at the end of the day, it's just not the kind of thing we tend to think that highly about or are all that impressed with.  Generally speaking, it tends to NOT bring out the finer aspects of this hobby -- the exception being when recognized value is being added to the deal.  

I'd like to think we'd all agree there are enough "middlemen" in the supply chain already.  We don't need fellow toy train enthusiasts looking to make a fast buck off each other.  But it happens... always has, and will continue as long as some folks smell an opportunity lurking to push the envelope a bit further and pocket those dollars.

David

 I haven't yet sold a train. I might buy an extreme deal from an owner if I had intentions on keeping it, and it edged beyond my normal economic limit. They would get a thank you, and an invitation to visit it. I would likely sell it back if asked to.

 Too good a deal I may exceed the asking price if I could. I have questioned good deal prices, skipped further haggle, then found the reason and my regret later. At each deal, it is a unique issue really. Such ugly greed as Rich encountered does not sit well here either. Likely I would have been escorted from the premises that day. I might buy something at your price, and raise it. But those who use "sob stories for suckers" and say "its business" as they steal your sale are just morally bankrupt thieves, common conmen. Buying, selling, and trading trains was how my Grandfather paid for his hobby. He loved horse trading, and buying low was a requirement, but always a "square deal". Waiting till the next show to display it again if a resale hadn't been discussed would have at least been somewhat respectful. We run out of room, pass, change focus, etc, and lowball sales do get made. Many locos Gramps bought had the price paid, name, and number of the former owners with them, and courtesy calls were known to be made upon thoughts of trades or resale. I think His reputation for doing this helped his collection grow much faster than selling for profit did.

I used to enjoy doing a little of this, but haven't in quite awhile.  Recently anything I have bought and didn't need I have sold to my friends at my cost. 

Art

Prior to fleabay and the internet, I used to buy locally in train shows, keep what I

wanted, and take the remainder to Wheaton or York and resell it, and not lose money.  I did that in the early days of fleabay, too, but, as stated above, fees and shipping

made that a losing proposition.  And the general public wised up and learned they

could make more themselves selling on the net.  I rarely did garage sales, as the

gas costs did not offset walking through junk furniture and baby clothes..too much like panning for gold.  You would  be thinking, "Oh, boy..it is a young couple with screaming little monsters...they will be lucky to have some plastic HO." So, today, I see very little I could resell for a profit, and worse yet, little I want for myself.  But it is a lot easier today to search sitting in my Lazyboy eating breakfast and punching keys, than the long drives and goose chases I used to take, although some finds in the past were fantastic.

More power to those who can successfully buy trains for resale and actually make a profit.

In my area there are fewer train shows along with less interest in trains. Those who want something for the holidays are very likely to purchase something at a department store like Boscov's, a local hobby shop, or through the internet.

quote:

How bout this one.  Guy comes to my table, picks out a few items, makes a kinda low offer with some story added on, and I accept.  Later on I'm walking around the show and see that guy with the trains I sold him on HIS table for sale with MY price stickers still on them. 

When I was setting up at train shows, it was common for fellow table holders and some of the local store owners to purchase a lot of the items on my table. I knew they were buying them for resale and were going to mark them up. I didn't care. I usually priced my stuff to sell. I got my money. They were probably going to carry those things for quite a while to get those higher prices.

Lowball offer? - the seller is under no obligation to accept it or even dicker at all.

Many people will recommend leaving a little room to dicker. Some folks won't buy unless they can dicker, no matter how low the initial price may be.

Sometimes I think that setting the price too low can be a problem too. It seems that when the price is too low, folks think there must be something wrong with the item.

If something was "stupid cheap", I may buy to resell. Not my usual approach to trains.

 Gilly

Agreed. I usually don't flip but if the opportunity does present itself, I am going for it.

Although many people will recommend leaving a little room to dicker. Some folks won't buy unless they can dicker, no matter how low the initial price may be.

          C.W. Burfle

Soo [line] true!

Then I strongly recommend they waste neither their time nor mine.  

David

No; just buy for myself.

Yeah, saw that at the last model train show I had a table at. And the buyer scratched over my price stickers. I know it's fair, but that never sat well with me.

As far as sellers being taken advantage of, I think most sellers have a 'lowest' price in mind when they decide to sell something. I can't see these 'hard luck' stories working on too many folks, unless the seller is just wanting to get rid of the item. And while we all get 'taken' occasionally, and I'm sure we've all had our share of bad luck, I think most of us have been around long enough to know better. It would be my thoughts that the buyers get 'taken' much more often than the sellers. Happens to me every time I fall for something that looks 'too good to be true'!

I also see nothing wrong with buying broken engines, obtaining parts to repair them and then re-selling, especially someone willing to stand behind their work. Might do this myself if I had the skill to do it. I think it would be a fun thing to do. And as others have said, you might just be saving an otherwise very nice engine from the dumpster and the seller gets something to boot instead of having to dispose of it.

Clearly your experiences are rare in this neck of the woods these days.  Please send your "customers" my way!!!    With rare exceptions, nobody buys stuff these days on the secondary market at prices that yield profit -- or even break-even -- for the seller. 

You may stay above water with excess layout building supplies (i.e., unused track, scenery items, wiring components, etc...) that you over-purchased.   But the trains themselves?  No way are you NOT gonna take a hit -- unless you have something that happens to be that year's "hot item".  The list is VERY short indeed... and in years past it's included the Lionel black VL Hudson, Lionel Milwaukee Road S-3 (especially #261), Lionel VL Ethanol tanker with freight-sounds, along with -- of course -- the Lionel die-cast GEVO hybrid and other die-cast ES44 locomotives.

Dealers have long ago sold through their inventory of those "hot" items.  Or in the case of the occasional special club car sold exclusively to club members, dealers never had them to begin with.  So buyers are "forced" to look in the secondary market to obtain those desirable items.  Aside from stuff like that though, you're basically competing against authorized dealers who are selling products with an importer-backed warranty (in most cases).  So why is somebody gonna buy something from you at the same price they can buy from an authorized dealer with warranty protection?    Ain't gonna happen.    And that's just the current generation of product!  Forget about trying to break even or make a profit trying to sell "n-1" or "n-2" generation product.  The technology treadmill is obsoleting items at an ever-increasing pace these days.

David