I’ve sold on the Bay, here on OGR and at train shows. I’ve learned to be pessimistic about what I get for my stuff. I mark down my used stuff to move it: I KNOW I’m going to take a beating when I sell stuff. Still, it seems that people think that I’m selling crap, even when I try to be as honest as I know how.
I have learned to hate the packing and shipping. The (censored) at the Bay’s web site make me list shipping costs at far less than it actually costs to pack and ship cars and locomotives cross-country. I end up losing more money there, too. I resent the xxxx out of that.
shipping is also a trial, even when I don’t use the Bay. I am convinced that whoever designs shipping size algorithms design them with malice aforthought.
some people might suggest that I ought to try train show flea markets. Those same naifs should try selling their stuff where I live. I live in Texas, I am backdating my rolling stock from the late 50’s and the 1960’s to the 1930’s and early 1940’s and, since I have an interest in New England stuff, most of what I have gathers dust.
I did do surprisingly well at the 2021 National O scale convention. I bought a table at the last minute (which set me back far less than p&h for the stuff I sell through ads) and was surprised and pleased at how much stuff I sold, even though most of it was three-rail and not two.
it is tempting, so very tempting, when I get ready to get rid of stuff, to scribe and sandpaper the car and locomotive sides to destroy the collectibility value before giving the trains to charity or putting it in the trash.
