My Collectibles are worth WHAT?!

[yzerman19harvick29]

I found this blog entry by Bob from GMB. I thought I would post it here. I underlined what I think is his best point

As the Purchasing Manager here at GMB, I get a lot of questions from potential sellers. The most often asked question has to be, “is your offer final?” The short answer to that question is yes, and I’ll explain why.

We are up front and honest in everything we do here at GMB, and it’s no different in the purchasing department. We purchase different inventory daily, and our life blood is the individual collections that we purchase from people just like you. We are NOT in business to rip people off, but to stay in business we must be able to turn a profit on the items we buy.
We base our offers on historical sales data from what those same (or like) collectibles have sold for on GoMotorBids.com. We also will account for recent events or trends which may have an impact one way or the other on the pieces we are evaluating. At times I will get some angry people after I make an offer. They feel insulted and will almost always talk about the "book" value. I have to break the news to them that almost all of the prices set in the value guides were set by an advisor board made up of collectible distributors and dealers, who of course had a vested interest in ensuring that the perceived values were as high as possible. In many instances, those values were grossly exaggerated to what the secondary market would actually bear. In fact, most die cast price guide publications have died off because collectors were becoming hip to the reality of what was happening.
I encourage people to collect die cast because they enjoy the collectibles. Collecting for an investment more often than not will leave you disappointed. Die Cast cars are like real cars in a lot of ways. In most cases the minute you purchase them at retail price and leave the store they drop in value. Only those very rare exceptions will ever increase in value.
When I make an offer on a collection, I don't want to waste anybody's time, including mine. If you submit a collection for us to possibly purchase, the offer you receive is the best we can do. Most people don't like to haggle price (me included), so I keep things haggle free. I make an offer - if you like it we can move forward and if you don't like it, no hard feelings. I don't force anybody to sell us a collection. I don't lie about what something is worth. I give a fair secondary market price on a collection with the hope we can bring it in and turn a small profit.
In fact, I am often very up front about the fact that you could most likely get more for your collection if you sold it off yourself. But then it comes down to the question of what’s your time worth? How long is it going to take you to sell it off piece by piece, then pack each one up and ship it out, then hope that the buyer doesn’t stiff you, etc, etc. It’s exceptionally rare to find a buyer that will take the whole collection in one fell swoop, paying you in one lump sum and leaving you without the headache of having to deal with it. But that’s exactly what we do here at GoMotorBids.com.
In the four-plus years I have worked here, I have dealt with some awesome people with great collections. As a long-time collector myself, I respect how a collector thinks. I am honest with every potential seller, and am as fair as I can be with our offers. In closing, I hope this gives you some insight as to why our offers are what they are.

GoMotorBids.com News: My Collectibles are worth WHAT?!

[kspool]

Book Value is nice for dealers and insurance claims, but I agree-- other than that, your best bet are "Ebay Values", because that is what someone is going to pay for your cars.

[selby92]

I hope Nick reads this.

[yzerman19harvick29]

Originally Posted by selby92

I hope Nick reads this.

I was thinking more of our "friend" from a couple days ago, but Believe bounced him before I could post it.

[lefty222]

Great post

[wblv17]

thanks for posting

[kspool]

Hamlin08 needs to read this.

[NASCAR THA DUDE]

Originally Posted by yzerman19harvick29

I was thinking more of our "friend" from a couple days ago, but Believe bounced him before I could post it.

Yeah. That asshat needs this, and a dose of reality

[lefty222]

I remember the time I found a local guy selling 1/24 on eBay. He stated I could pick them up locally. When I met up with him, he gave me a guilt trip on how all these cost him near $60 when he bought them and now he was selling them for $10 to me and he was having second thoughts.

I just said take it or leave it. No one else wanted your auctions...........

Anywho, makes me think twice of buying a car at full price unless, as the blog states, I really want it.

[kspool]

I have no problem buying my cars new at full price. I know that, odds are, that most of them will depreciate. But on the other hand, I have a few that you just can't find now-- (i.e. Keselowski Blue Angels, etc.). I don't buy for resale value, but it is nice to know you have a car or two that is worth a few bucks. I buy for the pleasure of collecting. If you're looking for an investment, you seriously need to look elsewhere.