Exiting the hobby, and getting rid of the 'stuff'

[Andrew Hathaway]

For a variety of reasons, I'm thinking it's time to exit the hobby.  Admittedly, I've caught a bit of the collector/hoarder bug.  There are something like 200+ engines from spark ignition to PAs and everything in between, a few built planes that are decent and a pile that are closer to trainer/beater types, a few kits, lots of balsa, fuel tanks, lines, handles, etc the typical stuff a person acquires over 30 years in the hobby.  I'm wondering what's the best way to liquidate the stuff and clean out the shop?  Is there a faster method than listing individual items on Ebay?  Does anyone still buy whole collections to liquidate?  Historically, there hasn't been anyone around to hand things down to.  Usually I have ended up with the hand-me-downs.  So that's pretty much out... Curious if anyone has dealt with this and has any ideas.

Thanks!

[Jim Mynes]

Years ago I predicted that some time in the near future one guy will have all the “stuff”.

We should start a pool. I think it will be Angstrom in 2037.

I hope I’ll still be around to collect my winnings.

[Jim Mynes]

But seriously, it’s hard to find someone willing to buy you out in one fell swoop. Individual items on eBay is a pain in the ass to setup, and to keep up with. Tailgate flea markets at the local club field will net pennies on the dollar.
Continue to put the word out, and start working on a list with prices. Good luck!

[Dennis Leonhardi]

Andrew, I'm currently dealing with the "stuff" accumulated by 2 friends and fellow club members - and must be crazy for taking it on.  It's a nightmare!  And with the pandemic and the economy as it is, it ain't fun either!

I have a friend here and know another not far away who do buy collections.  I'm going to make a phone call - perhaps life can be made easier for both of us.

I'm also frequently contacted by folks who want to sell airplanes and related equipment, almost always RC.  I tell them first to understand they'll be very lucky to get "fair value" for anything - it's not "fair", but it IS reality.  For example, a typical RC trainer with 4-channel radio and .40 to .46 engines typically sells (new) for about $400.  I can buy good, flyable examples of those virtually any week of the year for $75 - $85 here.

The other suggestion I'd make is to sell items in groups if you proceed doing it yourself.  And forget what you paid for it!

I'll be 80 next month and see so many friends hanging it up - I first try to encourage them to stay with it; we've had more fun than should be allowed.  But I'm "downsizing" myself.

Good luck, tough decision!

Dennis

[John Jordan]

   Hi Andrew I am looking for a PA 75 if you have one let me know please.

[Larry Fruits]

Hi Andrew,

 P.M. sent.

 Blessings;
   Larry

[Mike Griffin]

Hi Andrew,

Last year I took on the job of liquidating the Control Line Kits and Engines from the estate of the late Howard Williams.  There were hundreds of kits and engines and 99% of it all was brand new.  He was a collector more than a flier. 

It took a little over 6 months for me to move all of it and I did not put it on Ebay.  I advertised it here in the classifieds and also on the facebook classified page that I started several years ago.  Most of it sold on the facebook site rather than here and I really dont know why but it did.

I can tell you it was a constant almost full time job to keep up with everything and it can be overwhelming.  I was really surprised that I was able to move all of it within a six month period because I thought it would take a couple of years. 

Trying to establish prices that were "fair" was tough.  Even though these were kits and engines that were still new in the box, most all of it sold for way under what it was really worth.  Kind of sad actually.

I am in the position, like some of the other guys here, that I need to start getting rid of most of my stuff.  I rarely fly anymore due to health issues and I have over a dozen models I have built that have never been flown.  I will probably end up giving those away to guys in my club if they want them.

Anyway, did not mean to ramble on, and i wish you the best of luck. It is not an easy task.

Mike

[phil c]

Take it all to the dump and move on with your life.


Motorman

I'd secon MM.  Try to sell the complete engines, sounds like facebook, but good stunt motors will sell here.  Complete NIB kits are worth a try selling online, anything else, offer it at a flea market for a few bucks, or just toss it.

i've found there are hundreds of old bits that might be of interest to1 or 2 people out of the 330million in the country.  Makes 'em hard to find.

[john e. holliday]

Only 30 years.  Try doubling that and I am still adding to the stack plus building.  Hope your Dad is okay as it has been a while since I've seen either of you.  Yes Ebay takes time to list and sell stuff.  Keeping records is a pain at times.  Engines and kit will sell, but with the USPS charging high shipping rates now it makes it difficult.  Hardware stuff can be listed in group boxes.  If we could get together I could help as I did help Wayne get rid of most of Mr. Meriwether's stuff as far as CL.  Got some one else to do the RC stuff.  Any way don't rush it as the bug may hit again.

[Dave_Trible]

Andrew don't.  I went through this a time or two.  You are young and may still find yourself coming back and sorry you sold your stuff.  Store it and see what goes on in life.  You may have kids that will be interested.  It will be much harder to acquire this stuff down the road.

Dave

[Terrence Durrill]

Andrew don't.  I went through this a time or two.  You are young and may still find yourself coming back and sorry you sold your stuff.  Store it and see what goes on in life.  You may have kids that will be interested.  It will be much harder to acquire this stuff down the road.

Dave

                      I have similar collections of engines (100 +) and kits, mostly control line stunt, combat, sport (50+).  I went from mostly flier to mostly collector over the last 20 years, but I have found that age and health problems are terrible dictators as to what you can do in life.  I turn 80 years of age in 2 days and when you look "down the road" from age 80, that road looks awfully short.  What to do ............. what to do ?  ......     ......     ......   

[John Leidle]

  I prefer you unload some things & keep CL  as your option...
       John L.

[Joe Gilbert]

Andrew, David is correct times change and you might very well want to fly again in year or two. I understand you don’t want the stuff but it will be very hard to replace later.

[Peter in Fairfax, VA]

There are all kinds of approaches to this problem.  What works for me is different than what works for Mike, and both of us can get the job done.

My approach is "sell everything for what the market will bear at auction."  Every last sheet of balsa, every bagged fastener, every partial roll of monokote, every fuel tank.  I spend very little time figuring our values.  Instead, I put my effort into the product photography, the required shipment boxing and the correspondence. My finding is that I can sell about forty items per week.  Keeping at it, steady, the job gets done.

In my own case, the result has not only been good for the families and estates, but also brought me back into the sport.  Table sales at club meetings helped connect me with old and new flying Friends.  Now I'm flying and attending contests, at least when they happen.  I'm not building much, as I have acquired built planes from a number of sources.

Peter

[Jim Kraft]

I have a basement full of airplanes, and dresser drawers full of engines. If I was hurting for money I would sell it. I enjoy reliving the years I flew both R/C pattern competition, and C/L competition. I am in the same boat. I will turn 80 this year and have physical problems that just will not let me fly anymore. I could still fly R/C, but I am not going to take a test, put a transponder in the plane, and register it to the feds so they can come and confiscate it.

I do still rebuild a few old Spark engines and enjoy running them on the test stand just to watch the prop go around. I have given a few planes and engines to my grand kids and great grand kids.

I have one grand daughter who only lives a few miles from me, has a huge house, and would take as many as I would give her. She use to come out and watch me fly just for the fun of it.

So I am going to enjoy what I have until I am gone. My kids, grandkids, and great grand kids can take it from there. Some are slowly leaving . I just gave a clean Saito 56 black an gold four stroke to my oldest son. I made a display case for it.

I gave a Bi Slob to my grand daughter last year. The myriad of tools and other stuff may just find its way to the land fill when I am gone.

I have the same thing with my old 99 Harley Softail Custom. I still ride it because it is one of the things I can still do. But, there will come a time I will have to give that up also. But, my oldest Son also rides. I am sure He will know what to do with it. We live in a lowly populated area so have a lot of back roads to ride where I do not have to fight a lot of traffic.

Some things that you worked all your life to be able to afford are hard to part with. And I am blessed to have an understanding wife of 61 years. She has always supported me in what ever I do. I am a very blessed man.


   

[Andrew Hathaway]

Thanks for all the suggestions.  Unfortunately I'm not sitting on a pile of PA 75s, but it sounds like a person could sell a bunch of them if they had them available.   

Unfortunately dad can't really fly planes anymore, so trips to the field are more like work than fun, 4 flights in quick succession, put it all back in the car and go home to clean.  I took a few years off to work on another project, and thought I'd like to dip my toes back into the CL pool.  This spring I tried to get back into it as much as possible with a cramped work shop, it was a comedy of bad luck and frustration.  Doing it by myself just doesn't have the same magic that it used to, and it's just a lot of work building, repairing, and maintaining models and engines to get everything just right so that it all comes together.

Compounding things, I've lost my shop space completely, and really just need to cut away some of the baggage.  I appreciate the suggestions, and I have gotten some ideas for how to move forward when the time comes.  At the moment I'm not ready to start selling stuff off just yet, but I'll put together a list and update the thread when the time comes.

Thanks again!

[Joe Ed Pederson]

Andrew,

I'm with those who say hang on to your stuff for a while.

But if you do sell I may not be alone in not giving it a second look if Paypal is the only method of payment allowed.  I tried sending a Paypal payment to another member of the Forum once.  I got one letter or digit wrong in his email address and it was a nightmare.  It took over a week to get Paypal to cancel the payment and let me send the payment to the correct email address.   I will never attempt to send a Paypal payment to someone's email address again.   Yes, I could be more careful in typing in the email address, but it's a lot harder to mess up a postal money order.

The seller has the right to set the terms of payment.  The seller can require payment with Paypal and no other method, but I doubt I'm alone in refusing to use Paypal.

Joe Ed Pederson

[rich gorrill]

Andrew, offer your stuff slowly in the classified, the post office has those small boxes for a flat rate so you will know what shipping will be. I myself have never had a problem with a pay pal account and I use it a lot. Very easy to set up and the money goes directly to your bank account. Kits and larger items can be shipped but at a higher rate. Mostly about $20.00 shipping.

Good luck.

[FLOYD CARTER]

When I was a teen-ager, I prayed for someone to "liquidate" their stuff to get me going in the hobby.

No such luck.  I had to work hard mowing lawns, sanding props (for Y&O), helping dad with carpenter work.

Now, I'm trying to find a teen-ager close to me who wants to build C/L models.  I think I'm a pretty good teacher.

No such luck.  The youngsters I know are all into computers and texting their friends.

[Mike Griffin]

When I was a teen-ager, I prayed for someone to "liquidate" their stuff to get me going in the hobby.

No such luck.  I had to work hard mowing lawns, sanding props (for Y&O), helping dad with carpenter work.

Now, I'm trying to find a teen-ager close to me who wants to build C/L models.  I think I'm a pretty good teacher.

No such luck.  The youngsters I know are all into computers and texting their friends.

Floyd I can definitely relate.  I have grandsons that I would gladly give my stuff to but they have absolutely have no interest and cannot get their noses out of their phones long enough to do anything else.

Mike

[Peter in Fairfax, VA]

Andrew,

Glad that putting out feelers gives you an idea of what your options are.  I'll add one more comment.

Getting together a list and/or researching prices is optional.  My own approach is to handle each item, one at a time, with a goal of forty per week.  Forming a complete list before embarking could take a long time, I'd estimate, creating a barrier to doing the work.

best,

Peter

[Dennis Leonhardi]

Andrew,

Glad that putting out feelers gives you an idea of what your options are.  I'll add one more comment.

Getting together a list and/or researching prices is optional.  My own approach is to handle each item, one at a time, with a goal of forty per week.  Forming a complete list before embarking could take a long time, I'd estimate, creating a barrier to doing the work.

best,

Peter

Peter, very well said.

I'd be too embarrassed to admit how many times I've moved things around, planning to get all of the "Xs" together before listing them, then all of the "Ys" ...

I have a 17 year old son who's a tremendous help.  We finally just started grabbing and processing things as we come to them.  Much quicker!


Dennis

[dennis lipsett]

Flying CL is becoming too hard for me anymore as I have  a bad neck and back. I sold over 400 engines and over a hundred kits and many of them were sold on this forum. Did I lose money yes indeed but the option of dying with the most toys is never a good option and the P.O got to know me really well ,but I'm glad that it all went to people that really wanted the items.. I spiced up the items with some add ones like extra plugs or props . Kits will kill you and as has been mentioned you really do take a bath on liquidation.But it is better than being the winner with the most toys.
Did I mention that I still have 40 kits to move out.
I fly RC a lot now as it it way easier and less physical. Oh! and don't kid yourself when you go electric, stuff piles up pretty fast. The redeeming feature is that motors, esc's and batteries do not take up lots of room unless you have a lot of them. You really don't miss the noise, or the mess and the heavy flight box.
As to built models. I have a good friend who got gifted with a pile of ready to fly models and he has been having a lot of fun with them. He is knowledgeable and takes care of his equipment so they are in capable hands

[WR Crane aka MrClean]

Perhaps he has reasons that you are not privy too.  Answer the question or don't answer the question.  Judging is done on the outside of the circle with a clipboard in hand.

I donated complete kits to Topclass for raffle prizes, some of them still with numbered dots on them from raffle prizes.  I had to move, I kept some kits that I really thought I'd have started by now until my building room became a dogs urine station, 5 years ago.  Those kits are still stored but the 40-60 that I'd accumulated and shoved in rafters at the old house, gone.  I had room for a bucket of engines and money was not an object and most of my engines were bought and used so those are all minimal value at best.   I don't know if the kits I donated were of any use, but I know the ones I donated to the RC club got raffled or used or likewise stored.  NIB engines I'd sell.  Marginal use engines I'd sell much cheaper NONE will probably be full price.  Kits same way and used planes, if you're club has any junior members that could use beaters.  Tools don't generally take up much space. 

[Fred Cronenwett]

Where are you located? because there might a CL club in your area that would be willing to have a large sale of your stuff

the Lafayette Esquadrille CL club here in St Louis has had 2 people donate their entire CL estate to the club, we then distributed the stuff among club members, if there were two or more people interested in the stuff there was an auction, with the money going to the club.

Options include:

1) take the stuff to a swap meet (don't expect to sell everything, and everyone is looking for a bargain)
2) Craigslist
3) Let a local CL club help you out
4) find an auction....then it all goes, maybe not for the price you want however
5) Ebay

Do not throw it in the dumpster....

The Lafayette Esquadrille CL club is having a CL fun fly on Aug 15-16 and will have a raffle for donated items. If you are willing to donate a few kits or motors I will pay for shipping of the kits or motors. They will be raffled off, money raised from this fun fly will go to the club. We will give you credit for donating the items during the raffle.

Fred Cronenwett
Lafayette Esquadrille CL club secretary & Fun Fly CD

https://lafayetteesquadrillecl.wordpress.com/lafayette-esquadrille-cl/60th-anniversary-buder-park-cl-fun-fly-june-27-2020/

[EricV]

Just what you wanted, another opinion, but here goes.

From your description of what you have, I would pick the low hanging fruit first.

I am sure you KNOW roughly of your collection, what is desirable and will bring some money. The engines. Period. And not all of them, just certain ones.

So, that said, to maximize your return I would:

Take pictures of everything. Do group shots if too many or just don't feel like sorting stuff. Can always take individual pic's if people want them.

List the PA engines and throw in the accessories, listed here in the classifieds. Make a list, decide your lowest acceptable price, then list it, and expect to get offered even lower.

Carbon props, pipes, headers, etc. - If they aren't dinged up, list them here, they still bring good money, and some are hard to find.

List the sparkers that people want the most, (Like the Anderson Spit, Madewell's, Doolings, whatever, because they still use them in OTS and other events) on here in classifieds, and again, follow the pricing motto above.

List the rest of the engines as a lot or lot's by type on Ebay, because you don't sound like you want to mess with a lot of individual sales. Take lots of pictures. Itemize the list in text format for the add, take a group shot, and ignore people who just want to cherry pick one engine. Set your reserve price, and as long as they hit your reserve, be willing to wave bye bye to all of them for that, anything else is gravy.

Kits - Pull the current modern designs you know people want to build and fly. Kit manufacturers are drying up, and some people will want them. List them here, priced for here as above.

Kits - Collectable kits, put on ebay. Buyer to pay actual shipping, set a reserve, but make it reasonable or you'll be re-listing them.

The rest - Offer to local clubs at swap meet, or put a curb-alert on Craigs list if your local clubs don't want it (because if those cheapskates don't want it, nobody does, LOL!)

That's as honest of a Dutch uncle type advice as I can give. We can't take this crap with us, that's for sure, and you don't want to stick your family with the job, they'll just cherry pick something to remember you by and chuck the rest.

Hope that helps,
Eric

[proparc]

Andrew, I don't see why donating your stuff to a local club would not be the first choice, as opposed to just dumping it. If monetary gain is not your primary consideration, then just donating everything to a local club so they can benefit with upkeep, contests, training etc. would seem like the most logical decision.

[Fred Cronenwett]

I have a CL speed  (.35 powered C-Speed, NASS rules) model that nobody wanted so I am making an attempt to see if I can get it fly, a nice challenge. A lot of the donated models have gone to good homes and are still flying.

A recent donation had a partially build Nobler Jr that had to have the silk covering removed. The model was never finished, but it will be flying again this summer after a club member adopted it, had a motor and will make it flyable.

The CL club donation can be used as a club trainer or get flown by a club member willing to work on it.

[944_Jim]

Andrew,

I sent a PM to you when you first mentioned liquidation
Did you ever reach out to Scotty68?

[James Holford]

Just bring it all down to Baton Rouge,La

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[Phil Krankowski]

Start by listing unbuilt and NIB as those net the most cash.  Then decide on the rest later. 


Contacting an auction house that does ebay listings may help, but you only get 35% max.... easy costs money.  Built models are expensive to ship, and hard to get there intact. 

Phil

[Air Ministry .]

If you threw a few pictures on , a pile of engines , and a table of odds & sods . and BALSA WOOD , people will start getting all excited and sending P M s & E Mails .

Bit of a crime to ' terminate ' usefull stuff . Any decent planes , could be used by many re entrands or young & or destitute needy entusiasts ! Lines, props etc too .

Pass them down the grapevine . It all costs a fortune new , if you add it all up . Some can onlly budget for restricted output , or diet to support their quests .

[Shorts,David]

FWIW, As an active flier, I am delighted when someone brings their pile out to a "big" contest. In fact I always bring extra cash for that opportunity to pick up "treasure." I'm not sure which part of the country you are in, but one big contests could clear out maybe 50% of a collection. Muncie?

Another option is find a friend you trust and let them take the collection around to contests. My dad has done this for several friends. One trip to VSC and another at Golden State cleared out most of it each time.

Peter is correct that if you have patience to chip away at it, ebay is probably the highest dollar, just let us know on here so we can take a peek too. Bundling piles together and selling as a lot would save lots of time.

David