Second Hand Goods

[Howyoudoin]

So I guess music gear is in a category of its own for holding value?
- sd

Actually, I think you’re right - or at least people price them that way.

If you spent £300 on a keyboard, 2 years ago, would you honestly expect to get £200 for it now?

Why would I not buy a new one with a shiny new 2 year guarantee and then I’m covered?

The eBay statistics are interesting. If a seller starts on a low bid and is willing to post the item, there are lots of bids.

However, if the keyboard is for collection only, interest seems very thin on the ground unless you are close to London.

HYD

[servodude]

If you spent £300 on a keyboard, 2 years ago, would you honestly expect to get £200 for it now?
Why would I not buy a new one with a shiny new 2 year guarantee and then I’m covered?

If it is an instrument from a reputable brand (Alesis, Roland, Yamaha, Casio etc) in fully functional excellent condition and the new price is still £300
- a 50% premium for new seems pretty fair

However stuff from non-reuptable or non-mainstream brands will depreciate like TVs

One way to consider it is you're effectively paying £100 for your 2 year guarantee: and that might be worth it to you.

- sd

[johnhemming]

The market will always have odd situations. I gig with a Technics KN7000 keyboard I bought in 2003 and a Fender Stratocaster I bought in 1988. I had to get a new jack socket on the Stratocaster about a month ago. The keyboard works well and does not seem to be on the way out, but it is quite heavy and although I can carry it in its flight case in one hand it is a bit of a strain. I am 59 now and I recognise I will probably become weaker over time and might be best getting a lighter keyboard.

I would expect the guitar to keep quite a bit of its value, but I would expect the keyboard to lose a lot of its value even though the guitar is a lot older. What surprised me a bit was to see pre-worn new guitars on sale in PMT last time I visited in the same way as people buy worn jeans. The guitar is probably just short of being old enough to be worth about the same in cash. Prices on the keyboard are about 40% of new (which is good given the age really I would think less myself). Looking at second hand guitar prices it is about the same as the original cash price.

[Lootman]

£4,000 for a cooker?!
I’d want a new kitchen for that.

I doubt that you'd get much change out of five grand for a high-end catering-level cooker.

£1,400 for a dishwasher, though? Nobody really cares what a d/w looks like. And the most expensive domestic one I can find (Miele, $3,099, https://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmad ... VIK2O.html) is integrated (i.e. you bolt your own cabinet door onto it), so nobody is going to know it's there in any case.

Yep, the Lacanche we had in the last house cost more. We're going down market

As for the £1,400 dishwasher, here is one in a John Lewis near you:

https://www.johnlewis.com/miele-g7360-s ... l/p4125616

That said I don't think there is much of a market for dishwashers costing over a grand, which is perhaps why they are giving them away, leading to a glut on the second-hand market.

[stewamax]

Certain model trains can be more fruitful

As a child I had some O-gauge Bassett-Lowke locos and carriages on a largish (for a small boy) circular track almost the length of our garage.
Derailments were so common (bad track assembly) and stoppages almost as common (the electric motors were in the tenders, with an articulated driving rod linking to the loco) that I eventually disassembled the locos and gave the carriages to a church jumble sale.
DAMN! - what these in their original cardboard boxes) would have been worth now.

[sg31]

Certain model trains can be more fruitful

As a child I had some O-gauge Bassett-Lowke locos and carriages on a largish (for a small boy) circular track almost the length of our garage.
Derailments were so common (bad track assembly) and stoppages almost as common (the electric motors were in the tenders, with an articulated driving rod linking to the loco) that I eventually disassembled the locos and gave the carriages to a church jumble sale.
DAMN! - what these in their original cardboard boxes) would have been worth now.

They would need to be in the original boxes and in as new condition to fetch top dollar. I had a lot of Corgi cars bought late 50's but as a child my greatest delight was in crashing the together. You can be assured they would be worth very little now but the fun I had as a child was priceless. I hope my nephews enjoyed them whem I passed them down 30 or so years ago.

Collecting is one thing, toys are completely different.

[Charlottesquare]

Certain model trains can be more fruitful

As a child I had some O-gauge Bassett-Lowke locos and carriages on a largish (for a small boy) circular track almost the length of our garage.
Derailments were so common (bad track assembly) and stoppages almost as common (the electric motors were in the tenders, with an articulated driving rod linking to the loco) that I eventually disassembled the locos and gave the carriages to a church jumble sale.
DAMN! - what these in their original cardboard boxes) would have been worth now.

If I had the model numbers I could look them up in Ramsay's for you though it is merely indicative, some items go for far less some are miles ahead of the figures given. As an example a 5003 Lulworth Castle in GWR green lists as £3,200-£4,200, and some of the A4 pacifics are up in the £4,700-£8,200 range; if I ever spent that on a train I would not have a wife.

Older Hornby clockwork O gauge is not too bad re price (I managed to get a lot of three locos that now all work plus some other bits for £60) and the track is pretty cheap but if you want near mint the prices are well above this sort of level. The electric trains are somewhat pricier and you do need with them to consider the safety of the transformers etc

[Charlottesquare]

Certain model trains can be more fruitful

As a child I had some O-gauge Bassett-Lowke locos and carriages on a largish (for a small boy) circular track almost the length of our garage.
Derailments were so common (bad track assembly) and stoppages almost as common (the electric motors were in the tenders, with an articulated driving rod linking to the loco) that I eventually disassembled the locos and gave the carriages to a church jumble sale.
DAMN! - what these in their original cardboard boxes) would have been worth now.

They would need to be in the original boxes and in as new condition to fetch top dollar. I had a lot of Corgi cars bought late 50's but as a child my greatest delight was in crashing the together. You can be assured they would be worth very little now but the fun I had as a child was priceless. I hope my nephews enjoyed them whem I passed them down 30 or so years ago.

Collecting is one thing, toys are completely different.

I have flirted with the idea of these as a business as there is a market in between, the tricky bit would be finding the stock, without people flocking to you, to sell to you, there would really be a lot of time spent looking.

I have always wanted to retire and have a secondhand model shop, there is even a decent size shop unit up for sale 150m from my house right now. I could open the sort of shop from my childhood where the trains whizzed around on a layout and I stood with my nose pressed to the window, but I suspect I would need to do it as a labour of love and live on my pensions as I doubt I would ever make much from the models- in fact model railways shops are closing down at a fair lick these days and the pricing of new trains etc is so high the entry cost for kids to the hobby must be enormous (£100-£200 for a loco) not helped by smaller houses just not having enough room (N gauge as the new OO)

However if I ever did open a shop I do at least have nearly £2,000 of stock to get going with though some of it I really would not want to sell- I have also amassed about £650 of secondhand meccano intending to refurb it in retirement and build some of the models I could only dream about as a child; the monster cranes , large motorised aeroplanes, big wheels etc. Just need to get rid of one of the kids to get their room as my current study/office/ bolt hole is really too small.

[sg31]

I have flirted with the idea of these as a business as there is a market in between, the tricky bit would be finding the stock, without people flocking to you, to sell to you, there would really be a lot of time spent looking.

I have always wanted to retire and have a secondhand model shop, there is even a decent size shop unit up for sale 150m from my house right now. I could open the sort of shop from my childhood where the trains whizzed around on a layout and I stood with my nose pressed to the window, but I suspect I would need to do it as a labour of love and live on my pensions as I doubt I would ever make much from the models- in fact model railways shops are closing down at a fair lick these days and the pricing of new trains etc is so high the entry cost for kids to the hobby must be enormous (£100-£200 for a loco) not helped by smaller houses just not having enough room (N gauge as the new OO)

However if I ever did open a shop I do at least have nearly £2,000 of stock to get going with though some of it I really would not want to sell- I have also amassed about £650 of secondhand meccano intending to refurb it in retirement and build some of the models I could only dream about as a child; the monster cranes , large motorised aeroplanes, big wheels etc. Just need to get rid of one of the kids to get their room as my current study/office/ bolt hole is really too small.

That sounds like a business best started on the internet from your spare room or garage. Advertise the items you want to sell and use the money to buy in stock at the right price. You would probably not make your fortune but it would be a great way to pass the time if you are already an enthusiast. Great way to dip you toe in the water without much outlay.

If you did well open a shop later but I think most people probably research different models online anyway.

[AleisterCrowley]

They would need to be in the original boxes and in as new condition to fetch top dollar. I had a lot of Corgi cars bought late 50's but as a child my greatest delight was in crashing the together. You can be assured they would be worth very little now but the fun I had as a child was priceless. I hope my nephews enjoyed them whem I passed them down 30 or so years ago.

Collecting is one thing, toys are completely different.

Ah, my mum was a big Famous Five fan, and got most of the late 40s/1950s books when they came out , in hardback.
These were then given to me and my sister to read, and also draw in with felt tip pen etc. And remove the dust-jackets
I guess that's why the ones that have survived are so valuable

I occasionally look at the values online, just to depress myself. See also - Rupert annuals, and Malcolm Saville 'Lone Pine' books