[skydriver]

Guys,

How do you figure the current market value of your collection. I have acquired most of my planes either when they were on sale, or from other members here. I have on my spreadsheet what I paid for them. But I am thinking of trying to find the "current" retail value. I know I can go to any one of 5-6 more popular retail sights and use their price, but different retailers have different prices for the same plane.

Should I just pick one retailer and use their pricing for all the planes I can find, and then pick another retailer for the others that this retailer does not have. Or should I just use a range of prices from different vendors stated prices.

[Epapazian]

Originally Posted by skydriver

Guys,

How do you figure the current market value of your collection. I have acquired most of my planes either when they were on sale, or from other members here. I have on my spreadsheet what I paid for them. But I am thinking of trying to find the "current" retail value. I know I can go to any one of 5-6 more popular retail sights and use their price, but different retailers have different prices for the same plane.

Should I just pick one retailer and use their pricing for all the planes I can find, and then pick another retailer for the others that this retailer does not have. Or should I just use a range of prices from different vendors stated prices.

An insurance company, assessing the value of your collection in the event or a fire or some other damage, would probably be satisfied if you calculated some sort of average price for each replica, based on a sample of at least three dealers per model. In my case, it's almost impossible to make such calculations because I modify so many of my models.

[Cavtanker]

I personally value all of my Dragon armor Abrams and HMMWV pieces lower than market value since I glued all the MGs and stowage items into place.

[Folgore]

Here's what I do: Visit 3-4 well-known retail sites and then see what the model is going for on eBay.

For insurance purposes, I'd just go with the average of those prices -- that's replacement cost.

For sales purposes, I discount from the prices I find because (a) the prices for older models on most retail sites seem inflated to me and (b) my models aren't in sealed / NRFB condition. (OK, except for those IXOs I'm trying to sell -- they are NRFB.)

[Canuck]

When determining the replacement value of your collection, I would suggest that you include a postage and handling factor (unless of course, you are within driving distance of a major retailer). I used a factor of 10% of the individual models value when determining this, since I assumed that I would be able to combine shipping charges on the large majority of my collection.

[ChairmanMilo]

I use http://www.wings900.com. If you use the collection manager, it will tell you whether you paid above or below average for any particular item as well as telling you the estimated market value. A lot of serious collectors use that website so the statistics are fairly useful. I determined that my collection has significant value. I don't expect that if I sold off my collection tomorrow I'd get the best prices for everything - eBay is a tricky beast sometimes. It does give me a total that I can use for insurance purposes, though.

[mapleflag]

I am inclined to agree with all of you regarding obtaining average retail costs plus shipping however in the case of models which are no longer in production the only source of true value of a model would be from professional appraisers such as ourselves! There really isn't a better source of credible opinion is there?

[firefighterpilot1]

I used the model database on DAC, which should be the same system as Wings 900 (I literally just found out about this database 30 minutes ago) and it calculates the total value. Not sure how accurate it is, but according to them my collection is worth more than I thought. Or maybe I spent more than I thought...


here's my collection (minus about another $200 in planes they don't have listed). I think this link should work.

DAC My Collection - firefighterpilot1's Collection

[Tundra04]

Originally Posted by ChairmanMilo

I use http://www.wings900.com. If you use the collection manager, it will tell you whether you paid above or below average for any particular item as well as telling you the estimated market value. A lot of serious collectors use that website so the statistics are fairly useful. I determined that my collection has significant value. I don't expect that if I sold off my collection tomorrow I'd get the best prices for everything - eBay is a tricky beast sometimes. It does give me a total that I can use for insurance purposes, though.

Thanks for posting that site. I've probably spent the last hour and a half playing around with it, creating my collection...pretty handy tool to have!

[ChairmanMilo]

Looks like DAC uses the same system as wings900.

I spent about ten hours going through old receipts and PayPal statements cataloging my collection last weekend

Considering the shocking total, I probably shouldn't have entered them all in... Wings900 My Collection - ChairmanMilo's Collection