Post for sale or free here on the forum. I wouldn't do eBay for newer issues. I don't know about the really old ones, but the newer ones aren't worth much. Too much effort and not much return to list them individually on the bay. I threw a bunch in the burn pile a couple of years ago.
Roving Sign posted:AMCDave posted:Selling old magazines is good for those with LOTS of time and energy. Getting $30 for a years worth of magazines does not net you much. ebay gets about 10% including 10% of your shipping cost, Paypal another 10% depending on type account you have. Packing materials, time and gas to get to the PO......don't forget the time to create listing take photos. Then PRAY some nut job doesn't complain to Paypal one magazine had a torn cover and gets his money back.....
I liked the 30 minutes start to finish it took me to load the truck.
PayPal is 2.9 percent + 30 cents...
12 issues of a magazine sold for $35.00 with a $4.00 media rate shipping will result in an ebay fee of $3.90
The buyer will send you a PayPal for $39.00 - PayPal takes $1.43
$39.00 Sale plus shipping
-$3.90 (ebay fees)
-$1.43 (paypal fees)-$4.00 (shipping)
--------------------------
$29.67A collection dating back to the 1950s could be worth hundreds if not over a thousand bucks properly sold.
You are correct in that I doubled my personnel calculation of 10% as my cost to sell on ebay......mind is getting old.
One other caution for those thinking of doing this. Magazines shipped via USPS Media Mail is illegal. It's not often enforced but you start doing a lot of it and it might come back to bite you. Read the USPS rules......no media with advertising of any kind can go media. Just FYI........wish some of you guys would have come and got my mags when I had them....so much demand now!!!
AMCDave posted:....rest gone!!!! enough room that I can get my 46 Ford in my garage!!
Exactly! There should always be room for a '46 Ford.... or a '37 Ford.... ! Garages are for AUTOMOBILES! Of course, for those who are unfortunate not to have a basement or dedicated train room, a decision has to be made. But remember, there's a difference between a "car" and an "automobile". 
I'm in the process of going through my CCTs and saving certain articles, and recycling the rest of the magazines. I got rid of my old hot rod and car magazines years ago.
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One other caution for those thinking of doing this. Magazines shipped via USPS Media Mail is illegal. It's not often enforced but you start doing a lot of it and it might come back to bite you. Read the USPS rules......no media with advertising of any kind can go media.
I think I would argue that any advertising in a 30 to over 50 year old magazine can no longer be considered to be advertising, but something to study for historical purposes.
Almost bought a 4 door 37 sedan.....but the 46 was a better car and half the price....but love them '37's!!!
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C W Burfle posted:Those old magazines have a lot of information in them. I have always enjoyed looking through them. Even the advertisements have a lot to tell us about the state of the hobby back then.
Sadly, I too had to clean out most of my old magazines due to lack of space.
I went through mine, and took out interesting articles and some advertising.
The rest went into recycling.
I kept the December and January issues, and donated many of the rest to a local train club, without my address, of course. The Club kept putting the magazines out for free at their Club Table during their 2 day annual show. The show attendees, especially the younger attendees, loved the free magazines.
AMCDave posted:Almost bought a 4 door 37 sedan.....but the 46 was a better car and half the price....but love them '37's!!!
Nice coupe! (sorry about hijacking the thread, guys, but somehow old cars and trains seem to go together).
My first car when I was 14. Photo taken in 1963. I had to get it running before I turned 16. I did. But the car took the place of trains for a "few" years...
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My first car when I was 14. Photo taken in 1963. I had to get it running before I turned 16. I did. But the car took the place of trains for a "few" years...
Once you turn 16, cars and girls have a way of putting the model train hobby on the back burner.
Heck, when I bought my first car (a '69 Malibu in the Spring of 1990), selling most of my trains paid for half of it.
Deja vu. Someone asked the question not too long ago. My reply went something like this ...
My wife finally convinced to get rid of many years of hobby magazines. Shipping was cost-prohibitive and the Post Office really frowns upon using media mail for magazines. I divided them up by title and finally got some interest on a local email list.
The guy who picked up one stack commented how he took that picture. I thought he meant he was also at the popular railfanning spot. He said, no, he shot that very photo which was on the cover, and opened the issue to point to his byline. That was a fun moment.
Oddly enough, once you get rid of the old magazines, you don't miss them. At all.
Offer them to friends and relatives first,then recycle them. I agree you wont miss them. Then, stop your subscriptions.
I just shipped all my Classic Toy Trains and some OGR's to a fellow looking for layout ideas and wants to share with his grandkids. Free plus cost of shipping. He was very happy. Two packed boxes, $30 shipping, about 15 years worth of mags. Just glad they have a happy home.
Jim Waterman
There are not too many RAILROAD magazines. They do not often repeat subjects the same way in Railroad magazines. You can send them to other Railroad modelers.
Model Railroad Craftsman is a magazine that has not been offered in a digital archive. Somebody will want to get a hold of those for reference.
Andrew
If anybody thinks All Magazines are TRASH, why are you even on a magazine website?
The short lived magazines RailModel Journal and Mainline Modeler are both a great reference for real railroads and model railroading off the internet.
Andrew
The Carstens Publications of Railroad & Railfan and Model Railroad Craftsman have not offered the Past Issues in a computer graphic or digital download form. They have a different take on railroads and model railroads compared to other magazines.
Andrew
Recyle bin
Take all of the old Magazines to a Library, leave them in boxes, and let people take a look at them.
Take them all to a railroad model show and give them all away.
falconservice posted:If anybody thinks All Magazines are TRASH, why are you even on a magazine website?
They're not trash, but nobody's going to pay you much for them. That's a simple fact. Otherwise, you wouldn't see people giving them away at shows and to other people once they've read them.
Newspapers are the same way; they have value when the info is new and people read them the first time. Later, people won't pay money for them until they become really old and antique. A few issues here and there have value (Moon landing, JFK shot, Dewey defeats Truman, etc) but generally, most don't carry value.
And after a while, once someone has read them and doesn't feel a need to read them again, they gotta find a place to put them. Many, like it or not, go to the trash or recycling for the reasons stated above.
It doesn't mean they don't hold value when they're new, though, fleeting as that is.
It got to a point that I started cutting out the articles I wanted to save and recycled the mags if nobody wanted them. Then I realized that after a while I never looked at the articles. I have a friend who takes my magazines. I let him know that I do not care what he does with them. This way he won't feel guilty if he throws them out. I also have given some to railway Musuem's to sell or give away. It would be nice if the newer ones wind up in the hands of folks new to the hobby for inspiration. Paper is obsolete and you can get most magazines on line and they don't take up any space. Bear in mind that libraries don't even want old books. I stopped worrying about the future of the entire hobby and I concentrate on today. Remember. Yesterday is history, tommorow is a mystery and today is a gift. That's why it is called the present.
Happy Holidats to all!
nate
When are companies like KALMBACH and CARSTENS going to get around to digitizing all of their old Magazine photos and articles to put on Flash Drives?
We would not need as much space for the printed materials if they were condensed.
Andrew
falconservice posted:If anybody thinks All Magazines are TRASH, why are you even on a magazine website?
Because it's a WEBSITE.
Media mail. I asked someone at the Post Office and the answer was, of course, it depends. If the magazines are old enough to be of archival value only, whatever that means, then media mail if fine. The advertisements become irrelevant if they are no longer valid to ANY extent other than historical or as references, whatever than means. She said generally monthly periodicals more than 5 years old by cover date are probably OK. Annual periodicals that contain advertising should probably be more than 10 years old. I had multiple years of Mainline Modeler sent to me media mail so I was curious. She looked at the cover dates and said no problem. She was not a postal inspector so that is not an official answer and someone has to make a big enough deal out of it to get a postal inspector involved to get an official answer so...
rdunniii posted:Media mail. I asked someone at the Post Office and the answer was, of course, it depends. If the magazines are old enough to be of archival value only, whatever that means, then media mail if fine. The advertisements become irrelevant if they are no longer valid to ANY extent other than historical or as references, whatever than means. She said generally monthly periodicals more than 5 years old by cover date are probably OK. Annual periodicals that contain advertising should probably be more than 10 years old. I had multiple years of Mainline Modeler sent to me media mail so I was curious. She looked at the cover dates and said no problem. She was not a postal inspector so that is not an official answer and someone has to make a big enough deal out of it to get a postal inspector involved to get an official answer so...
'Depends' is the key!!!!
I shipped maybe 50 items one day. All in bubble envelopes. Took them to the PO and they were OK for 1st class weight wise. Paid and sent them on their way. Got angry notes from customers they had to pay $1.50 to get the envelopes. I went to the PO and asked what happened. They said while their scale OK'd them....someone along the line decided to weigh them again and their scale had a different opinion.
I tell this story as I am pretty sure if someone has a bad day and decides to check your magazines they may or may not send them on their way......such is the USPS.
falconservice posted:When are companies like KALMBACH and CARSTENS going to get around to digitizing all of their old Magazine photos and articles to put on Flash Drives?
We would not need as much space for the printed materials if they were condensed.
Andrew
Kalmbach offered all the Model Railroader magazines on a DVD a few years ago for $200 and now has a web access subscription to the same files for $5 monthly.
Dale
Rockyroad posted:I have decades of Model Railroader, Model Trains, Model Railroad Craftsman; going back to the early 1950's. Is there any value to these?
I desperately need to down size. All suggestions are welcome. I know some of you "senior" operators must have faced the same issue.
I bought the "Model Railroader" and "Trains" CD-ROM when they came out about 5-6 years ago. Great reference.
I also had "Model Railroader" back into the 1950s, I couldn't stand reading the older mags anymore, they set my asthma off every time from the mold. Offered to one person who I thought would be interested, he was not. Out in the recycle bin they went up to about 1990. When the drawers fill up with the latest issues, out will go a few more years.
When RMC offers their stuff digital, there will be another pile of magazines that will get recycled too.
Regards.
Jerry
Farmer_Bill posted:My wife finally convinced to get rid of many years of hobby magazines... I divided them up by title and finally got some interest on a local email list.
The guy who picked up one stack commented how he took that picture. I thought he meant he was also at the popular railfanning spot. He said, no, he shot that very photo which was on the cover, and opened the issue to point to his byline. That was a fun moment.
Pretty cool! What are the chances of that happening? It's also nice that the magazines were given a "second life", and not merely consigned to the recycle bin -- which, as this thread demonstrates, is often a necessity.
When RMC offers their stuff digital, there will be another pile of magazines that will get recycled too.
Same here, but only if the digital version is fully searchable and not controlled by some funky proprietary software that renders it unworkable.
I want paper--I don't want electronic archives. Paper is preservable; electronic data is subject to far too many modes of loss and obsolescence.
Well, I've argued that the years of accumulated magazines...my own purchases/subscriptions, as well as those 'donated' to me by friends/relatives getting out of the hobby...are the only thing holding the house down in a strong wind!
Like others responding, I've enjoyed leafing through the oldies occasionally. The simplistic, low-budget approaches to the hobby back about 60-70 years ago, for instance, are really refreshing....if not somewhat amusing!...to read in the context of today's offerings and technologies for the hobby.
But, sanity must prevail.....and ridding the basement of musty odors twixt the pages of these rag-mags is now a priority. So........
Having a good relationship with our LHS....and wanting the owner...the boss...to succeed in the business...I've offered the magazines to the store.....free!....no charge! And, since they're in good-to-excellent condition, he's shrink-wrapped complete years of, say, Model Railroader , slapped a $5...or less...price sticker on the packages, and set them out in the store. And, eventually, they disappear...sell.....provide someone with a good potty-read, maybe
?
And, if he's not so inclined, I simply take them to one of many local recycling bins.....the ones located in church and school parking lots that provide some compensating funds.
Then, too, we have a paper recycling center in town sponsored by the Lions Club International, which also funds their charitable work.
Frankly, I think the Defense Department should consider putting the old model railroad magazines to good use! You know, do a fly-by over combat territory, dropping pallets of old OGR's, MR's, RMC's, et al, providing 'the enemy' with a distracting good read!! ......
Hey.....back in the old days, they called the C-119 the "Flying Boxcar"!!!
(....Just trying to solve a common problem with a bit of 'out of the box.....car' thinking!
)
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Seriously- I worked at nursing homes & hospice houses for years. The nursing homes are full of women's magazines and cooking magazines, but nothing for guys. Take them there & donate to their activities department.
rogerpete posted:... The nursing homes are full of women's magazines and cooking magazines, but nothing for guys. Take them there & donate to their activities department.
i'll second this suggestion. i used to help out a local train museum that got boxes of RR mags left on their doorstep by bringing them down to a local senior's center. i remember the second time i brought down a box, the information desk there said the first few boxes i left a month before barely lasted a week or two before they were all gone. i've discovered "Trains" is the favorite, but all i've brought down have been well received.
cheers...gary
Barber Shop. If you can find one?
rogerpete posted:Seriously- I worked at nursing homes & hospice houses for years. The nursing homes are full of women's magazines and cooking magazines, but nothing for guys. Take them there & donate to their activities department.
I tried that a few years thinking this would work. Found out that they only wanted magazines that were on the approved list, not older than 3 years, and after about another 30 seconds of hearing "no" being spouted off at me, I turned around & dropped them in the trash can on my way out the door.
palallin posted:I want paper--I don't want electronic archives. Paper is preservable; electronic data is subject to far too many modes of loss and obsolescence.
Paper also burns, and the paper is not archival and acid free, and does start to deteriorate. My 50's RMCs are yellowed and the pages are brittle, but are still a treasure of information
However, totally in its favor, paper can be perforated and put on a roll for practical application.
rogerpete posted:Seriously- I worked at nursing homes & hospice houses for years. The nursing homes are full of women's magazines and cooking magazines, but nothing for guys. Take them there & donate to their activities department.
thisis like my suggestion about the doctors offices. the only men;s mags there maybe are old Sports Ill, and I could care less about sports.
Donate them to a RR museum perhaps? I picked up some ORG videotapes in November from the San Diego museum for $1 each. It raised money for the museum and I enjoyed the look back 20 years in the past.
Another option is to donate to a thrift store. In NJ we have a store called Unique with a number of locations. They have all sorts of stuff for sale on the floor, the magazines might go to a good cause.
rogerpete posted:Seriously- I worked at nursing homes & hospice houses for years. The nursing homes are full of women's magazines and cooking magazines, but nothing for guys. Take them there & donate to their activities department.
Great idea!
I gave a ton to a local forum member who then gave them out to kids at local train shows. Being in a modular club at the time, I didn't have the time or room in the car to carry the magazines around to shows on top of the stuff needed to run the layout. I was told they were very well received.
I don't subscribe to any magazines and haven't bought one in years. I have a few catalogs and other magazines - only because there is something really special in it I wanted to keep. When I'm done with those, they'll be in the recycle bin.
mwb posted:Same here, but only if the digital version is fully searchable and not controlled by some funky proprietary software that renders it unworkable.
Not only that, but the software hasn't gotten corrupted or the info has gone bad. It does happen.
Digital is far from foolproof and way far from permanent.
