How do I Value a layout?

[Mountain Goat]

I never forget hearing about 30 years ago, of a fairly new very small scale model railway shop which had set up just for a couple of years in the local indoor market but then had to close for personal reasons that the owner found himself in, but during his time there, each Christmas he would build basic layouts for people. This was the days before Hornby trackmats. He would just keep it simple so it was quick to build and he made around eight to ten layouts during theChristmas period and sell them at a profit. He charged between £400 and £600 each depending if single or double track etc, and this included stock to start you off. (Basically an expanded trainset with scenery on a board).
He was approached by a TV film crew who wanted one of his layouts to appear in a film that they were filming, so he made one of his usual layouts using standard equipment like the others, and charged them the usual price. The film people said "Are you sure?" They said where they usually get them built, they are not to such a good standard, and they were charged £ 4000 a time. Many times more than the cost of the quipment and the actual labour. They were amazed by how much they had been overcharged in the past by model railway shop!
The man was getting around £200 profit for his labour a time which was a fair amount for the hours he had put in. All those years the film crew had been overcharged!
The film crew would part with whatever layout that they had after filming. I wonder where it went?
When I say about prices, remember that this was at least 30 years ago in the days when Dapol had not long come out with their Terrier loco which if I recall correctly retailed at £34.50 which was expensive for a little loco back then though it was a lovely model. One could buy a whole Hornby or Mainline budget trainset for that price in those days!

[sandy]

Enter into an auction or advertise it and it will find it's value. It is worth what some body is prepared to pay for it. You will never make a profit unless you are very lucky or the build quality is of professional standard or exhibition standard.

[Mountain Goat]

Enter into an auction or advertise it and it will find it's value. It is worth what some body is prepared to pay for it. You will never make a profit unless you are very lucky or the build quality is of professional standard or exhibition standard.

What used to puzzle me was (Though this relates more to model locos built from kits) that if a certain well known builder built a model from a kit, the model would hold its price and the model maker had a decent profit.
But if an unknown builder would build a model to an equally good standard, the loco would be worth no more than its kit and parts value when it came up for sale!
This always puzzled me because it is a similar story to famous artists and unknown artists who are just as good.
Example is my aunt. She did some excellent work, but could not sell her work for more than the cost of the paint and the board and frame etc. BUT after she died her paintings were going up and up in value to the extent that they became out of my possible price range if I wanted one! (Fortunately we have two or three she gave us before she died and good they are too!)

Is a real puzzling thing the difference between recognizing tallent and being an unknown tallent and a sad thing for those who live in poverty unable to be recognised. (My aunt used to go to the local market and eat a few of those sample cheeses given for free so she could have something to eat for breakfast. I do not get how or why her work was never recognised when she was alive, as she needed it!)

Life is odd like that though.

[sandy]

Iv always wondered why that is MG. There are exceptions to everything. I think that quality always sells and the judge of quality is the buyer. So the buyer will price the product. I have seen loco kits built by Mr average on ebay look like they they built by 5 year olds. I would not look twice at them. Rarely one turns up which is beautiful. They get the buyers.

[Mountain Goat]

I have seen wonderful scratchbuilt locos built to the highest standards go for less than a factory made mass produced equivalent. Pricing is really an "Odd" thing.

[sandy]

Some collectors will pay silly prices for something nobody else has got. More money than sense perhaps..

[Mountain Goat]

Some collectors will pay silly prices for something nobody else has got. More money than sense perhaps..

Yes, but normally only if the model has a recognised brand name.

Peoples mental thoughts of what is or is not valueable is a strange thing, especially when it comes to collectors.

[dtb]

I use the Zoho Creator free database to document and value my OO / German DR HO, 1/76 associated models plus my 1/43 racing cars collection.

You have to build the database to your specs and you can include an option to value your collection, I do this by means of a replacement value should my collection be lost and can be updated continually.

It can be updated easily as I add items to my collection and at any time a csv or pdf can be downloaded with your collection. You can also do this on excel, open office on your PC however as zoho is online it can also be accessed by any device.

there is also an app for your device.