Our collectible train buying service starts when you reach out to us via email, phone or via our Get a Quote web form. Once we have made contact, based on your unique situation and requirements, we help you decide how to sell your trains.
When we are interested in buying your collection, we like to engage with you in one of two ways:
Getting a Cash Offer for your Model Trains typically involves us valuing your collection based on an inventory list and making you an offer to purchase your collection at a fixed price. There are a variety of reasons that you might prefer to get a Cash Offer.
The process for a Cash Offer typically looks something like this:
Qualify the Purchase: The first thing we do is to determine if your collection is a good candidate for us to purchase.
Inventory the Collection: The preferred way to get a quote is to provide Trainz with an inventory list of your trains. We provide an Inventory List Excel template in Excel or PDF format that shows the information we need to accurately value the collection (primarily Quantity, Manufacturer and Model Number), but we also accept (but do not encourage) hand-written lists. If you need to submit a handwritten list, please use our print friendly version. Typically, you will email us the filled in Excel spreadsheet (the best option), or scan and email or fax your list to Trainz. In situations such as an Estate Sale or when it is not feasible for you to provide a list, for very large collections of 500 items or more (excluding track) Trainz can sometimes arrange to inventory the collection on your behalf.
Value the Collection: Once we have made an inventory of the collection, we will send the trains through our proprietary Trainz valuation process, to determine the Market Value of the trains.
Make the Offer: Based on the Market Value, Trainz will tender an offer for the collection.
Prepare the Contract: If you accept the offer, Trainz will write a contract for the purchase, which lists the offer amount and describes the terms of the purchase, including the payment schedule, whether the deal is to be shipped, dropped off or picked up, and any other special conditions. We will typically send a draft Purchase Agreement ahead of time, so you have time to review it. Sometimes the contract will be signed ahead of time, and sometimes it will be signed at pick-up.
Ship or Pick-Up the Collection: If the collection is to be shipped, we will send FedEx labels to you so that you can ship the items to Trainz headquarters. If Trainz has agreed to pick up the collection, we will place you on our pick-up schedule when our pick-up team will be in your area.
Execute the Contract: At the time of pick-up, Trainz will have you sign the contract and provide fully executed copies of the contract to you.
Make Payment: At the time if pick-up, we make full payment or a partial payment, depending on the payment terms we agree to. In the case of small deals that were mailed in, we typically send out the check once we have inventoried the collection.
When you use our Model Trains Consignment Service, we agree to sell your collection on a combination of Trainz.com, eBay or other marketplaces depending on what will earn you the most for your trains. Unlike getting a Cash Offer to purchase your trains, when you sell your trains under a Consignment Agreement we agree to pay you a fixed percentage of every sale. There are a variety of reasons that you might prefer to sell your trains via a Consignment Agreement.
When we sell your trains using our Consignment Service, the process typically looks something like this:
Qualify the Consignment: The first thing we do is to determine if your collection is a good candidate for us to sell using our Model Trains Consignment Service. Some sellers choose to pursue a Cash Offer (by submitting an inventory list) before they decide to use our Consignment Service.
Prepare Consignment Contract: If we agree to sell your collection via our Consignment Service, Trainz will prepare a contract, which lists the terms of the Consignment, including the payment schedule, whether the collection is to be shipped, dropped off or picked up, and any special conditions.
Ship or Pick-Up the Collection: If the collection is to be shipped, we will send FedEx labels you so that you can ship the items to Trainz headquarters. If Trainz has agreed to pick up the collection, we will place you on our pick-up schedule when our pick-up team will be in your area.
Execute the Contract: Prior to shipping or at pick-up, Trainz will have you sign the contract, and provide fully executed copies of the contract to you.
Prepare the Collection for Sale: Shortly after the collection reaches Trainz headquarters, our Production Team will unbox the collection, inventory each piece, lot items appropriately, take photographs, copywrite the product descriptions and send the items to Final Approval for review by our resident train experts.
Email the Consignment Inventory Report: When your collection has been inventoried, we will email you a list of all the items in the collection, so that you can verify everything is accounted for.
List the items: Once inventoried, photographed, written up and approved, the items will be automatically listed to the appropriate Auction marketplace by our proprietary software.
Auction the items: Your items are listed on eBay or other suitable marketplace.
Send the Report: Weekly or Monthly (depending on your Consignment Agreement), we compile a report of all the items that were sold in the trailing reporting period.
Make Payment: We request a check from our Accounting Department, which is mailed per on the Payment Terms described in your Consignment Agreement. Please note that a Pick-fee (or Shipping Fee, if applicable) may be assessed based on the collection size and location, and this fee will be deducted from the first payment(s) due.
