Ever been happy, when it didn't sell? See why I am.

Not only have I had seller's remorse...on a few occasions I've bought the item back from the person I sold it to once they decided they didn't need it any longer.  Probably should seek help with my train addiction, huh?

Actually, I have bought, then sold, then bought again, same items, several times.  It seems that I do have "sellers remorse" often.  See, the grass was green enough to start with.  

Sell a train?

And I thought I was a nut

Short answer, yes. When it is almost gone, you can realize that you didn't want it to go in the first place.

josef,

Been there a few times. Often with the sames results as you are experiencing. I have not had the desire to sell anything in many years. At this point in time whatever is left is a problem for my obnoxious children.

Something similar happened to me a few years ago. I was trying to sell an MTH Milwaukee Road E8 set, and the local buyer asked for a demo in conventional operation. I fired it up at the toy train museum and somehow the thing got stuck in speed limit mode at about 5 smph. I dug out the manual and got it sorted out with a reset, but the guy decided the whole thing was too complicated for him and he didn't want it after all. I still have the E8 set and I haven't tried to sell it since (although I probably haven't run it in five years and I most likely wouldn't miss it much if I did sell it). 

As for seller's remorse - never. When I put a train on the table or advertise it on the For Salel board, psychologically it's already gone. I just want it sold so I can reclaim the storage space. Guns, that's another matter. I can think of four or five guns that I really, really wish I still had. 

LOL....NEVER....Because I use the received money to buy a another train, more exciting

I'm sorry/not sorry to belong to the group that buys back something they have sold.

Happened to me twice so far in 2015.

The key is: when your spouse tells you to get rid of stuff, post them on ebay at a really high price...... Hopefully nobody will buy it.

If they do, then you made lots of money, and can buy it again

I am wondering if the high prices on ebay are guys trying not to sell their stuff

I have several nice cars of various makes and roads that I picked up when I first started in O gauge that I no longer wanted.  Years ago I tried to sell them but after dropping the price several times took them off the market.  Last year I joined the National Capital Trackers train club and now use those cars at their shows.  So I'm happy they did not sell.

When I was first getting into o-gauge around age 8-10 (1998-2000) I had been given an early postwar set from a distant relative.  My dad had a late postwar set he had as a boy that was cheap but he told me he got hours of entertainment out of it.  He ended up selling it and put the money towards buying some nicer trains. 

Looking back I wish he hadn't sold them.  I don't know how he feels, but once or twice he's said "we sold my trains, right?" So now I've been researching his set and I think if I can find a reasonably priced one, maybe I'll surprise him for Christmas.  From my limited memory, I've been able to find out it was a Lionel 11520 set headed by a 242, with slope back tender, grey hopper, green gondola with white canisters, log dump car, and a red MStL caboose.  Some of the lowest quality stuff Lionel made in the postwar era, but still wish he hadn't sold it. 

Oh sure...

I put an early edition MTH Premier ATSF Crane on the auction block...along with the crane tender.  It had never been out of the box...just as I bought it (I work at the LHS) off of the UPS delivery truck. 

The auction buyer had a fit.  He claimed it was a piece of junk, needed to be re-strung, badly damaged, etc., etc..  Unconsolable.  Had him send it back.  Tempest in a teapot.  The non-crankable hook held in place with a simple loop of thread had come untied.

As I re-tied the hook (2 minutes) I fell in love all over again....because I had taken it out of the box....finally....and appreciated it in a way I never had before.

The crane tender?....hadn't sold.  yippee!

It's all back on 'the pile' in layout-land downstairs....where it'll stay.

I think more carefully about parting with items.  It hasn't reached the obsessive level, gladly.  But, as my wife opined, 'If you never take it out of the box, how do you know you REALLY want to part with it!?!?!?'

Good point.

(sigh)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

KD

Yes, of course. Also buyer's remorse. Remorse in general over having all this unusable stuff.

But selling an old and trusted little mechanical "friend" just to do it is kind of like selling a pet.

I am dealing with sellers remorse right now, but concerning an automobile, not a RR piece.

I like my 2014 375-hp Challenger R/T 6-speed; I really do - but that beautiful, quick little '01 Sebring 200-hp 5-speed coupe that I traded in...still miss it..."floats like a butterfly; stings like a bee..."

So, when you look at your RR stuff and say "I ought to try to sell some of this..." - careful.

Ought you?

I have had sellers remorse over a MTH Pennsylvania Scale Madison set I had.  I was selling it with the locomotive.  A buyer just wanted the cars.  I sold them.  I still have the engine 15 years later.  I converted the engine to PS2 and wound up buying another set of cars.  Also regretted selling my 1972 Monte Carlo.  That's been about it.

I was really excited to run some cars with my Pennsy Legacy K4, then as I was looking for it I had this foggy memory that I sold it.  Today, I can't imagine any scenario where that could have made sense.  Maybe it is buried down there amost some other boxes, I will keep looking just in case... I am pretty sure it's gone, but I sure would be happy if it didn't.  Doesn't look like that one will be easy to replace!

Ben 

I think your on to something.....just like at train shows.  

Probably a few trains I'd like back, but really would like to have my 69 AMX again now that the kids are grown and not having a rear seat is no longer a handicap.

Steve

Absolutely. I recently posted a "you want it more than me" price for my 4141 GHW Bush SD70ACe w/ a matching caboose. Very happy when it didn't sell. There have been times I've sold things I really liked. It's tough when someone else likes it more...

I sold a ton of stuff last year in response to my wife's fussing. The bad thing is after selling " a lot" (and I mean a lot), she didn't even notice.

There have been a very few times I've sold items that I really did not wish to sell, but I needed the money.
What is much more common for me is to decide I would like to have an item that I sold in the past. Many of the items I am interested in obtaining today fall into that category.
Oh well, the money from those sales always went back into trains, so had I not made the sales, there are other things I would not have.

Not exactly the same thing but one time I gave away a Lionel NYC PA that I had bought new for $209 in the '90s. I gave it to a friend's son to try to promote an interest in trains and model railroading. I don't know if I was successful or not, but a few years later I thought to myself I really liked the PA and some time after that a forum member here was selling the same model for $140 so I bought it again.

I feel that "less is more" and I am always trying to not have more  than I can enjoy.  I'm always disappointed when something doesn't sell. 

My goal is to have an engaging model train layout, not a mountain of "stuff" that I can't even remember what's in the pile!

I have an answer posted earlier on this.  But, just went looking for some things that I really need, and couldn't find them.  Then I thought and thought, and vaguely remember thinking that I would never use them, and then giving them away.  Now, I need to find some more.  It was a set of three Weaver, super-long flat cars.

Now you know what to do the next time she starts fussing.

Been there also , sold my Shakespeare Express, missed it so much bought another from the States for the price I sold it for, only to be offered the original one back which I snapped up. So now twice as happy.

James