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Hey.

I am asking for some asistance - A friend of mine recently and unexpectedly died leaving a vast quanity of unpainted miniatures and boxed games to his family who had no idea of their value. I have clued them in in general terms but thre is dozens of boxed games sets, entire Battlefleet Gothic fleets(*) and similar so Ebay is a bit daunting for them to unload.

Anyone got any good recomendations for shops or dealers who would deal withi sort of thing and give them a good deal?

Any help appreciated,

(*) I am talking fleets for ALL factions - entire Tau fleet containig Kroot warsphere, stations, battleships etc etc. probably about fifteen retirbution and Emperor Class Battleships - you get the idea.

Are Garage sales a thing in the UK? Maybe organize it, and advertise a weekend that people can come by and purchase in person? That might whittle it down to a level that would make Ebay possible.

Sometimes the easiest thing to do is let the market decide the price. If you can cope with posting so many items, just list each box and army on an eBay auction for a week starting at 99p and let them run. Maybe separate potential big ticket items and sell them separately.

Sorry to hear about your loss. Did your friend play these games with anyone they could go to? Sometimes its better finding a home for them where they'll be loved than struggling to get back anything close to what was paid for them.

I'm sorry for your loss. My condolences to you and to your friends family in what must be very painful times. One thought if they are selling is to suggest that they might hold onto some - it might be one he spoke of or gamed with ;something he was proud to own or painted up; won a competition with; converted etc.. Ergo something to remember him by. It might not feel important to them now, it might even be something they loath the idea of now, but I would suggest it if there are any in his collection like that. It sounds like he was quite the collector so it was likely a big part of his life and who he was as a person.


As for getting rid of stuff there's a few approaches they could try

1) FAST - if they want it gone fast tell them to box it up and send it down to their local auction house. They might (and most likely will) get peanuts for its value, but its a quick method of selling and can remove a lot of the pain and stress of boxing things up for postage etc...
It's fast so you won't get market value, but you never know they might get lucky.

2) Local stores - ask around any of the local stores as these tend to be the ones that resell more than others. Online I'm not aware of any "big names" as such but I know there's a few ebay stores that do sell on second hand stuff, but the only one that comes to mind is TrollTrader.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/thetrolltrader
They'd lose out a bit on commission, but at the same time the store would list and display and deal with all the postage to customers side of things; plus it can all sell in its own time without pressure on them. So its a good way to take the headache out of things for them.

I've bought of TT many times and always had good service and the store is well respected. There are others but that's one of the biggest in the UK.

3) If they want they can ebay it off themselves, though chances are you might need to head round (or find another warhammer friend) to help them list it up properly. The wrong key words or the wrong items in a set and they might not sell. Plus its my experience that one bay big sets at high prices don't sell as fast as smaller broken up collections (though of course rarity and market interest play a part in this).
The biggest downside to ebay is they have to do all the postage to customers themselves and if they want a good price then that means more individual sales so more packaging which can be a pain if you're not setup for it.

4) Facebook has a good few sales groups; this would net them the likely best price. They've got the same issue as ebay in postage; but fees are gone so there's far less sale loss to them. This might take longer than ebay because without the time limit and bidding element some items might sit around for a while and they are likely to get people asking if they can split sets etc.... So it might be more hassle than it's worth for them.



I'd pitch them all the various ideas, but right now it sounds like either a store reseller (Troll Trader etc...) or an auction house might be best for them. That is unless you or one of his other friends wants to take over the sale of models and can do the legwork .

Thanks - some good stuff - appreciated - I had thought about Troll trader - bought stuff of them myself - anyone experience with selling to him?.

Some other context: They live in a fairly remote area and I am about 600 miles away.....Talking to his son - they really just want to get some (unexpected) income for his widow.

Some example fleets

Tau/Necron - seen these go for good money of ebay



Chaos



Eldar

 Mr Morden wrote:
they really just want to get some (unexpected) income for his widow.

I think this will likely disappoint. Hobbies are sadly very rarely financially rewarding despite the stories that hit the news. I have a similar situation with my father in law in which the money isn't fortunately necessary, but its very apparent the money put in is not going to result in much. I find its really impossible to get any real worth out of collections these days but I wish them the best of luck.

I've never sold to TT but its worth dropping them a message and asking. At least the can give you the full details of how they go about it and the kind of return you might expect.

I agree they are unlikely to make much windfall, but at the very least they can get something for the collection. Some of the rarer BF stuff, esp if unpainted (or even not built) might well go for near its original value; but that's a best case. There's a few things here and there in the range that go for more (eg Diaz Deamonettes) but by and large its going to be a loss on the original cost; but for out of print stuff they should make some money.

I don't know if he's got kids ,but sometimes it can be important to them (esp if they are very young now) to have some things from their parents if they lose one or both. A few ships/small army in a box might be the kind of thing they can look at to connect with in years to come.

Condolences to all.

I've sold to TT before, easy to deal with and was happy with the prices I got. I'd definitely get in touch with a list and include pictures. You can always decline if the offer isn't what you were hoping for.

I saw the Demiurg battleship in one of the pics there, and it's a perfect example of how the right labeling nets you more money, because it's part of the Tau fleet but Demiurg is the right word to sell it with. When I sold my (admittedly unassembled) exemplar, it netted me many times the original cost.

I'm not sure what the market is currently like but I would strongly recommend that if they have the time they try to sell some of this themselves on eBay. Selling to a trader at bulk prices will definitely get them a lot less money than if they were to first pick out some choice items and sell them on.

As an added thought, it might be possible to put out some feelers on a local game group on Facebook and see if someone might be willing to help them sort through this stuff in person.

angryboy2k wrote:
I saw the Demiurg battleship in one of the pics there, and it's a perfect example of how the right labeling nets you more money, because it's part of the Tau fleet but Demiurg is the right word to sell it with. When I sold my (admittedly unassembled) exemplar, it netted me many times the original cost.

I'm not sure what the market is currently like but I would strongly recommend that if they have the time they try to sell some of this themselves on eBay. Selling to a trader at bulk prices will definitely get them a lot less money than if they were to first pick out some choice items and sell them on.

As an added thought, it might be possible to put out some feelers on a local game group on Facebook and see if someone might be willing to help them sort through this stuff in person.

Good pooints - at this stage I was just posting a few fleets to get an idea of collection.

Lots of really helpful thoughts from all of you and I will pass it on. Selected items for sale plus Troll trader for bulk seems good and ties in with my thinking. The have talked to the local games group but don;t appear to be getting anywhere.

They are trying a few sales out themselves - unfortunately they did not talk to me about key words etc but hope it goes well.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORGEWORLD-AND-GAMES-WORKSHOP-WARHAMMER-40K-KNIGHTS/264408235978?hash=item3d8ff57fca:gv0AAOSwqG5dOElK

Really sorry to hear of your loss mate.

Along with TT it could be worth speaking to Noble Knight games, Mindtaker Miniatures and Flip of a Coin games. They are all US based though so its a bit more hassle.

My condolences as well. I definately would recommend noble knight and mindtaker. Also Bartertown.

I cannot possible recommend Mindtaker or Flip of a Coin any higher.
Both are men who's reputation is of the HIGHEST caliber and both hold my total and unquestioning trust (You don't know me that well but, if you did, you'd know how big it is that I said that about them).

You have two options. I'm not sure if both of them offer both options>
1: Sell them the stuff. They might buy it all. They might not.
2: Let them sell it for you on consignment (not sure if BOTH do this).

If your friend's family sells to them outright, they're going to get a little cash. Both of these guys sells at a big discount, so they have to buy at a big discount to pay the bills. : )
On the other hand, if you sell on a commission basis, they'll handle everything for you and send you money here & there, as stuff sells.
#1 gets you money faster.
#2 gets you more money, but more slowly (potentially)

Eric