Need advice on disposing of Dad's hobby "stuff"

[jtr1962]

Here's the problem-we have a basement full of crap from my Dad's hobbies. Since it's worth something and neither of us are rich we can't just throw it away. However, going by typical eBay prices most of it would sell for so little after counting eBay/Paypal fees that we wouldn't do much better than breaking even. For example, there are a lot of mid-80s to mid-90s sets of baseball cards. A collector might be willing to pay $10 or $15 a set, but not the additional $10 it would cost to ship. This means on eBay you'll be lucky to get $5 for the same set. Same story with a lot of the figurines.

It seems the only way to possibly get rid of this stuff is to find people locally but given the volume involved, that would be difficult. Dealers are out. Most don't want the kind of things we have because there's already a glut. The few who might we'll be lucky to get ten cents on the dollar compared to what other collectors might give. Frankly, I'll throw the stuff in the garbage before I'll sell it to a dealer for ten cents on the dollar.

The reality is no matter what we'll get way less than my dad paid for these things, but we have to get rid of them. Between this crap and a garage full of my brother's car parts we just can't move around here. Any ideas where we can get close to what this stuff is worth, and not take forever to sell it all? I'm getting tired of hearing the same complaints every day so it has to all go fairly soon. Fact is my Dad never should have bought half this crap to begin with, but he had OCD, among other issues.

 

[Will Rickards]

craigslist?

 

[mubs]

PennySaver, a garage sale?

 

[ddrueding]

Isn't it worth what someone will pay for it? The fact that it was purchased for more doesn't really mean anything.

In order to reduce the fees on eBay, I'd recommend selling in lots; more items per auction. The same for Craigslist as well; the idea is to get rid of it, no?

 

[udaman]

Your brother has his own home, get your mom to tell him to store his stuff at his own home, or it gets thrown into the trash (sold to auto recycling/parts/junk yard). That will free up space to move all of the 'hobby' items into the garage so it doesn't all get ruined in the next heavy rain. Unless you can get rid of it by selling, it really is 'junk' of no value, sad to say.

Like CPF, there are many baseball/sports forums you could put all of this up for sale in the B/T/S forums, or better yet post your question on those forums. Do Google search for antique/figurines forums. But you need to tediously do a full inventory of it all which should not be a problem once your borthers car parts are gone. I suppose in a spreadsheet or something listing of inventory; so people that ask, will know what you have.

Except full bulky/heavier items, insured USPS should be under $10, uninsured Priority Mail starts at just under $5 to anywhere in the 48 states of USA+maybe a dollar for bubble envelopes.

 

[jtr1962]

Isn't it worth what someone will pay for it? The fact that it was purchased for more doesn't really mean anything.

I know on average I won't get close to what the items were purchased for. However, they have a certain "book value" which is the average of what collectors will give you for them. I'm looking to get perhaps around half that since those book values are almost always inflated.

In order to reduce the fees on eBay, I'd recommend selling in lots; more items per auction. The same for Craigslist as well; the idea is to get rid of it, no?

Problem is once you have lots the price drops dramatically. I saw an auction for 15 sets end at $45. These sets might have fetched $10 each if sold to individual collectors off eBay. Generally, when someone bids on a lot they're only interested in a few of the items offered, so the bid will reflect that. Like I said, I know we'll get less than what we paid, but on eBay most of these things aren't even worth selling. The baseball cards are especially problematic due to the high shipping costs relative to their value, weight lugging them to the post office, and usual 3-hour wait every time you're there. I've watched a lot of auctions, and rarely do the results make the effort look worthwhile.

craigslist?

Isn't Craigslist mostly just for people looking for others to take stuff they might otherwise throw away off their hands? Well, I guess that's another option. I'll have to look into it.

Unless you can get rid of it by selling, it really is 'junk' of no value, sad to say.

Probably not far from the truth. The only things of any real value are his coins and stamps, both of which are worth at least face. But neither really takes up much room, so we'll take our time selling those. Last flood ruined about $7K in stamps. Well, at least they're still useful for postage once they're soaked apart.

Your brother has his own home, get your mom to tell him to store his stuff at his own home, or it gets thrown into the trash (sold to auto recycling/parts/junk yard). That will free up space to move all of the 'hobby' items into the garage so it doesn't all get ruined in the next heavy rain.

We've been trying. It's one excuse after another. He'll say to wait until he finishes one project so he can clean up, and then he decides to start another. And then he needs to buy a garage to put the stuff in because he doesn't have one, but he never has the money to do so. On top of this, we still have one of his cars here plus he's renting another garage for one of his other cars plus more car parts. We're about ready to rent a dumpster and give him the ultimatum as you say, but that could lead to more complications. For one thing my mom took out a $30K home equity loan to help my brother make ends meet. On top of that he also owes me over $2K, and my mom another $5K. Think we would ever see any of this money if we threw all his stuff out? I'm more than willing to help him move it there. We just need him to stop making excuses.

I'm also under additional time pressure to get rid of this stuff ASAP. With the coming recession, possibly full-blown depression, people are going to have no money for frivolous stuff like this. I want to get rid of it while I still can. I have a feeling if they're not gone within a year, the baseball cards will just be good for firewood.

Note to everyone: DO NOT ever leave your children or your spouse in a position like this by collecting tons of useless, worthless junk. This is the worst kind of legacy to leave anyone. On top of the stuff we have which might be worth a few dollars, we threw out ten or so large pails full of papers, junk mail, old magazines, plastic bags full of cat urine and feces (apparently the cats thought the piles were a giant litter box), old construction debris which my dad apparently took thinking it might be "of use", etc. It took over a year just to get to the point where we could actually collect like items and put them in some semblance of order.

 

[Bozo]

Watch the paper for sports memerabila 'shows', or waht ever it is that your Dad had. Then rent a table. Put your stuff out for sale. Know what the bottom line is on everything you are selling and be prepared to barter.
I once had a ton of gunsmith tools and parts in my garage. Over a period of a few months I sold everything, even the junk. ( I sold a blond coloured gun stock that looked like it was carved out by a beaver with a tooth missing. I put a sign on it "wife beater-$25" and it sold in a few hours.) It was a lot of fun and I meet a lot of great people. Made tons of money too.

Bozo :joker:

 

[ddrueding]

Note to everyone: DO NOT ever leave your children or your spouse in a position like this by collecting tons of useless, worthless junk. This is the worst kind of legacy to leave anyone. On top of the stuff we have which might be worth a few dollars, we threw out ten or so large pails full of papers, junk mail, old magazines, plastic bags full of cat urine and feces (apparently the cats thought the piles were a giant litter box), old construction debris which my dad apparently took thinking it might be "of use", etc. It took over a year just to get to the point where we could actually collect like items and put them in some semblance of order.

A friend's husband died a number of years ago, leaving quite a bit of stuff. Everything from woodworking tools to beat-up musical instruments to magazine collections, essentially a 3-car garage full and in no sort of order. I was able to find someone to take it all, in one day. The only rule was that they had to take everything by sundown. We considered it a break-even; a few pieces of value in exchange for hauling and disposal of everything else.