Best Way to Sell Model A Collection?

[Dick Steinkamp]

Originally Posted by Nardo1895

I think what they would like is to get a fair price without a tremendous amount of research and work.

I think those two are somewhat mutually exclusive.

I've helped at least two widows dispose of their husbands' collections. After many hours of research, sorting, identifying, lots of miles, marketing, dealing with less than scrupulous potential buyers, we probably still only ended up with a dime on the dollar.

[ronn]

on the folks you love the most.

not after they give my stuff away when Im dead.........................!

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by signsup

Here in GA, it's a 10 percent fee plus a 10 percent buyers premium, so that's 20 percent to the auctioneer. I can't think of one that would come out, inventory, catalogue, and advertise an auction for one lot.
You have to answer one question... what is your ultimate goal in doing this? Many goals compete against each other. You can sell quickly, sell easily, sell for the most money, etc, but they are all trade offs.

If it were me, I'd consider contacting the local A club, Horeless Carriage club, antique car club, car show guys etc. Have them inventory and id all the cars and parts and put together lots that make sense. Have them list the items and sell them and arrainge the transport and shipp. You do nothing. The cars will sell for the optimum amount and these guys will no values. Agree to a percentage to be donated to the club.
If your items are worth, say $25k, the club would get $2,500 for a few weeks of volunteer work. That's a lot of tshirt sales or raffle tickets.

Experiencing this very thing now handling my Dad's estate for my mother which consists of a dozen or so Model-As (most partially-restored or dismantled) and a lot of used parts, I can tell you that the auction companies here are quoting 25% commission fee with an additional 10% buyer's premium. For them to drop the fee requires an estimated value of the estate to be over $250k.

What this percentage does for the estate is pay for someone to come in and handle (move) all of the vehicles & parts out of the garages, inventory and catalogue it the best they can, do the advertising, and handle the auction which includes palletizing in lots, setting up tents, chairs, porta-johns, etc.

FWIW, a couple of members of our local club went to visit a widow in the club recently, and based on what I heard, there was very little good stuff there. Just in the scenario of my Dad's stuff, I suspect more than ½ of his parts will be scrapped. Sell the good stuff and scrap the rest. For example, I probably have 10-15 transmission cases or used transmissions in my used parts building. Dad probably has that many or more, so what do you do with them? Realistically, the only bid they will likely get at the auction is from the scrap iron guy attending the auction. The labor I would pay to handle putting them onto a pallet is about the same as what it will take to throw it into a scrap gondola that the local scrap metal place delivers to the property. And, surely you would agree the price the lot of transmissions bring at auction will be less than what the scrap iron place will pay, so the best choice for me is to scrap them. The same applies to many mechanical parts, and even some sheetmetal parts. I could take a large trailer load to a swap meet and put a FREE sign on it and likely come home with the same large load. It is just a different time now. People just replace with new parts and don't want to restore or have extra parts laying around.
__________________

[burner31]

Keep the best car for yourself

[Jeff/Illinois]

[QUOTE=signsup;1491200]Here in GA, it's a 10 percent fee plus a 10 percent buyers premium, so that's 20 percent to the auctioneer.

Holy crap Batman that is pure high-way robbery. That is about as bad as B-J car auctions charging like that plus what another 10% to the seller?

Illinois has it's faults but that kind of gouging ain't one of them.

A well known local auctioneer sold Mom's house at the Estate sale for 5% and her personal stuff was 7% if I recall. And NO 'BUYER'S PREMIUM i.e, PENALTY'.

Funny how wordsmith's can make you feel all warm and cozy inside by charging you a 'Premium'. Premium is only good for gasoline and ice cream

[signsup]

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In the WWII jeep world, there are licensed appraisers. Perhaps there is one in your area or even a vintage auto insurance agent who might, for a small fee, appraise your collection for insurance purposes or for market value. If you paid $500 to have someone come out and proffessionally appraise your collection, you could then decide if you are being taken advantage of my club and forum members who make you blind offers without ever seeing a photo of what you have. I prsume you have alrady gotten a few of those.
Especially in an estate situation. I know the two sisters love each other and you are being the knight in shining armor. But if things get sold for less than someone thinks after a period of time, it could affect the family dynamics for years to come. Get some independant third party assistance.
If it were a house, you'd gat an appriasal or a ral estate agent to give you FMV, if it were land, the same. If it were crops in the field you'd get a crop report, Same here. Get a third party that you can pass the buck off on. Then, let the two sisters decide what is and isn't a fair offer.

[signsup]

It always dissapoints me when I post a photo of anitem that I do not know the value of and I get PM's from people with offers to purchase it. Usually no where near what the general forum members believes is the true value.

Seller beward.

[signsup]

Then again, I'm also dissapointed by the sllers who generate such a thread when the real intent was to generate such offers.

Buyer beware.

[mrtexas]

Advertise the cars in the Want Ad section of Fordbarn as make offer with plenty of pictures and sell the parts for scrap. Sell the scrap to a Model A guy and if you can't find one to recyclers. The heavy parts like unknown quality motors/transmissions/rear ends/heavy stuff won't bring more than scrap if sold anyway. If the cars don't run don't expect much. The location out in TimbuckTu, CA is a major negative on getting much money for the stuff.

A good first step would be to post pictures of everything here so you could at least get some good advise as to what to do with the stuff.

[Charlie Stephens]

Originally Posted by mrtexas

Advertise the cars in the Want Ad section of Fordbarn as make offer with plenty of pictures and sell the parts for scrap. Sell the scrap to a Model A guy and if you can't find one to recyclers. The heavy parts like unknown quality motors/transmissions/rear ends/heavy stuff won't bring more than scrap if sold anyway. If the cars don't run don't expect much. The location out in TimbuckTu, CA is a major negative on getting much money for the stuff.

A good first step would be to post pictures of everything here so you could at least get some good advise as to what to do with the stuff.

I would like to second Mr Texas's comment about plenty of pictures. Sometimes a small part can bring as much as a ton of cast iron and if you are not familiar with the cars you can't tell what is valuable.

Charlie Stephens

[old car guy]

Sir I am very sorry for the loss of your wife's father. We have all been there. You have your work cut out for you. My brother and I have been dealing with the estate of a beloved uncle for almost 3 years and it's just now coming to a close. Make certain that you keep excellent records and check with the probate judge or boards as to what you can or can not do until it's authorized by the court or judge. I am sure there are different laws applying to this that differ in each state . We live in Florida and it's been a trip to say the least.
As others have suggested here take plenty of pictures and also make certain that all of his possessions are under lock and key.
It's been absolutely amazing what walked off here from the estate at a secure location. At least that's what we thought. And do not fall for the he owed this to me or I loaned this part or what ever to him and I need it back, that was shocking to me what his life long friends asked for or said was theirs.
Contact a local club to look at your items but make certain that you are there when they are . I am not accusing anyone of being shady but it does and it did happen to us.
Best of luck in the liquidation of your items and let us know how it goes. The group of people you will find here will for the most part be very helpful in all questions asked .
Godspeed

[Chris Haynes]

List the cars on eBay and Craig's list. Have a well advertised Swap Meet for the rest of the parts. I'll be there for sure.

[Railcarmover]

Originally Posted by BRENT in 10-uh-C

Experiencing this very thing now handling my Dad's estate for my mother which consists of a dozen or so Model-As (most partially-restored or dismantled) and a lot of used parts, I can tell you that the auction companies here are quoting 25% commission fee with an additional 10% buyer's premium. For them to drop the fee requires an estimated value of the estate to be over $250k.

What this percentage does for the estate is pay for someone to come in and handle (move) all of the vehicles & parts out of the garages, inventory and catalogue it the best they can, do the advertising, and handle the auction which includes palletizing in lots, setting up tents, chairs, porta-johns, etc.

FWIW, a couple of members of our local club went to visit a widow in the club recently, and based on what I heard, there was very little good stuff there. Just in the scenario of my Dad's stuff, I suspect more than ½ of his parts will be scrapped. Sell the good stuff and scrap the rest. For example, I probably have 10-15 transmission cases or used transmissions in my used parts building. Dad probably has that many or more, so what do you do with them? Realistically, the only bid they will likely get at the auction is from the scrap iron guy attending the auction. The labor I would pay to handle putting them onto a pallet is about the same as what it will take to throw it into a scrap gondola that the local scrap metal place delivers to the property. And, surely you would agree the price the lot of transmissions bring at auction will be less than what the scrap iron place will pay, so the best choice for me is to scrap them. The same applies to many mechanical parts, and even some sheetmetal parts. I could take a large trailer load to a swap meet and put a FREE sign on it and likely come home with the same large load. It is just a different time now. People just replace with new parts and don't want to restore or have extra parts laying around.
__________________

they only made them once,a long time ago..once they are gone,they are gone forever. I do Volkswagens,there are a lot of parallels between air cooled Vw's and Model A's.The same scenarios exist,almost to the letter.. of what you wrote.

[H. L. Chauvin]

Mike,

1. The vast majority of Model A Forum members on this site ............ and on the other Ahooga Model A site, have been recommending a very honest gentleman who sells used, "original" Model A parts and Model A cars for years.

2. Nobody ever mentioned one discouraging word about this gentleman of great integrity.

3. He may or may not be interested in buying some of what you have; and he may or may not have recommendations on how to best accomplish what you are trying to do.

4. In any case, I would recommend that you please call Mr. Steve, at "Bert's Model A" in Colorado, to see if he may be interested in recommending solutions to your concerns.

[Jeff/Illinois]

Originally Posted by H. L. Chauvin

Mike,



4. In any case, I would recommend that you please call Mr. Steve, at "Bert's Model A" in Colorado, to see if he may be interested in recommending solutions to your concerns.

That would be my first move, Steve would give you a fair price plus potentially good parts won't wind up melted down and sold as razor blades made in China.

[H. L. Chauvin]

Mike,

Also, another Out-Of-The-Box Suggestion:

1. If you would have your cars transported to Steve at Bert's, he could go over them with a fine tooth comb, tune them up, adjust brakes, and afterwards list same on his website with a very reasonable, realistic price, and sell your cars in a jiffy; and, he may be able to do same with "some" of your very rare and expensive original parts.

2. Most honest Model A owners know Steve at Bert's to be a person of high integrity and most would not normally hesitate buying a car or rare expensive parts personally listed by Steve at Bert's.

3. Big advantage is you could really avoid lots of senseless inquiring and time consuming phone calls, multiple no-purchase visits to your Model A car site , and more importantly, avoiding:

multiple dealing and bickering on the phone with some of today's nagging, Model-A-Scrooge-Type-Jerks-Tight-Wads; with Baggy-Pants, Bad-Breath, Un-shaven & Tobacco-Juice-Chinned; not to mention ..... Knock-Kneed, Pigeon-Toed, and Humped-Back; and some Grease-Monkey-Model A -Know-It-Alls who drive with White-Wall-Tires, Non-detergent-Oil, and a carry a Zip-Lock-Bag full of spare Condensers** in their back pockets, trying to dictate to you how "little" your Model A's and your Model A parts are worth.

Why Condensers**? If you research the past 20 years of Model A Forums, when a most often asked question is posted: "Why won't my Model A start?" These guys always suggest change your Condenser**.

Hope this introduces just a little Model A food for thought on how to approach what could become a most time consuming annoying task where you could wind up getting the shaft .... un-greased.

[denis4x4]

Done a lot more buying from Steve Becker than selling to him. I let him set the price on stuff I'm selling and always felt I got a square deal. His number is 800/321-1931

[H. L. Chauvin]

Hi Mike,

After your mentioning being unfamiliar with Model A's, no doubt multiple certified and registered Model A buzzards are already roosting on the power lines where your Model A's are stored.

Have no idea if he would be interested ........... but maybe paying for an approximately $200.00 round trip flight for Steve at Bert's, (or his assistant), to evaluate what you have .......... and maybe having Steve make intelligent suggestions for you ...... it may be a more comforting experience than to look at this Forum Site later and see our typical Horse Trading Model A owner buddies, (with multiple illuminated Halos circling their heads and circling butts), uploading Forum pictures of the $7,000.00 worth of Model A parts they honestly acquired and only paid $223.77 for same .... so typical in the past ..... and next ..... at least (12) Halo toting Model A Disciples, (with Halos at both ends), will naturally bow and offer praise for a job well done.

[Nabco]

Originally Posted by H. L. Chauvin

Hi Mike,

After your mentioning being unfamiliar with Model A's, no doubt multiple certified and registered Model A buzzards are already roosting on the power lines where your Model A's are stored.

Have no idea if he would be interested ........... but maybe paying for an approximately $200.00 round trip flight for Steve at Bert's, (or his assistant), to evaluate what you have .......... and maybe having Steve make intelligent suggestions for you ...... it may be a more comforting experience than to look at this Forum Site later and see our typical Horse Trading Model A owner buddies, (with multiple illuminated Halos circling their heads and circling butts), uploading Forum pictures of the $7,000.00 worth of Model A parts they honestly acquired and only paid $223.77 for same .... so typical in the past ..... and next ..... at least (12) Halo toting Model A Disciples, (with Halos at both ends), will naturally bow and offer praise for a job well done.

Great idea👍👍

[updraught]

Don't know what it is like in your neck of the woods, but last time I wanted to get rid of scrap metal I couldn't give it away.

We cracked sales of one thousand million tons of iron ore to China this year.