Does anyone know of a toy train appraiser that they could recommend? No travel required, the appraisal will be by list.

Contact me by email.

You might try contacting one of the major auctioneers such as Stout Auctions or Ted Maurer Auctions.

I would follow chuck's advice above if the collection is a large one. An auctioneer gets a percentage of what he sells a dealer sells what he buys from you. With the auctioneer you will have dealers and private collectors in the mix, this competition usually tends to drive the price up. The dealer on the other hand will try to buy low and sell high.
besides a large auction is a beautiful thing to see.

As for selling from a list I don't know of anyone who would do that. If it's a sizeable collection they may wish to see it up front and personal. Even with an average size collection the buyer or auctioneer will probably wont to see photo's of your items.
In the case of a small collection the dealer may be the best way to go unless you find and auctioneer who would be willing to sell it at a general auction. In that case fixing the amount due to you could become a little tricky.

Good luck what ever you decide to do.

quote:

Originally posted by AlanRail:
No travel required, the appraisal will be by list.

Can't imagine how, as condition will be a key factor in value. Anything less than in the box and never opened will be subject to opinion.

quote:

Can't imagine how, as condition will be a key factor in value. Anything less than in the box and never opened will be subject to opinion.

Frank,

I was thinking the same thing. I don't know of any reputable appraiser that would offer an opinion sight unseen on anything. An insurance company certainly wouldn't consider it a valid appraisal. There wouldn't be any credibility. If a list was all that is necessary, we could all create "lists" with pristine Blue Comets and Mayflower Specials!

Fred

quote:

Originally posted by Fred Brenek:

quote:

Can't imagine how, as condition will be a key factor in value. Anything less than in the box and never opened will be subject to opinion.

Frank,

I was thinking the same thing. I don't know of any reputable appraiser that would offer an opinion sight unseen on anything. An insurance company certainly wouldn't consider it a valid appraisal. There wouldn't be any credibility. If a list was all that is necessary, we could all create "lists" with pristine Blue Comets and Mayflower Specials!

Fred

True - further, even new in box is subject to inspection. How many times have folks reported here that they bought something on the bay of eigh represented to be "new in box" only to find it has obvious signs of use.

If the collection is primarily Lionel or American Flyer, and you are just looking to get an idea on price, then pick up a Greenberg's price guide. This will get you in the ballpark.

If you need something formal, check with local dealers (and check their credentials, like TCA membership). Some offer written appraisals as a service (for a fee). As others have said, no reputable appraiser will appraise something they did not examine personally.

Andy

If the appraisal is for insurance purposes, some insurers will simply go by what organizations the appraiser holds membership in. Mine took my own estimate of the value of my collection since I was a member of most of the national train organizations. I have since switched to the TCA insurance which doesn't require any appraisal.

Jim

All About Toy Trains offers a free appraisal from your list.

quote:

All About Toy Trains offers a free appraisal from your list.

I would RECOMMEND NOT contacting this dealer. Do a search on the forum and you may find out why.

Fred

Searched 12 pages of Google results and came up empty on clarification of your comment, Fred. Please give us a clue as to why AlanRail should not ask for a free appraisal from a list of the items in his collection. Will the proprietor send a copy of the appraisal to AlanRail's wife so that she knows how much money he spent on toy trains?



What, me worry?

So, Alfred. All of the original posts on our forum concerning this particular "company" have again been purged by our monitors. As do most posts where 20 or 30 other members add their one-sided personal stories...

If you want to check out some "old" feedback on the bay that still exists for them - even though the account is no longer active - scan a couple of pages for those big red dots and you'll get the message: allabouttoytrains-thebay

I believe the knock on an appraisal from a list is that condition figures heavily into the value of the item. If the appraiser cannot make his own evaluation of the condition, the appraiser cannot venture an accurate opinion as to the actual value of the item.

IMO there are proper uses for this type of valuation. If you are trying to get a rough idea of the range of values of an item, or if you are trying to determine which items in a rather large selection are potentially valuable and require greater scrutiny, a "quickie" list appraiisal can be helpful.