PURCHASE (by us) POLICY

SELL TO US – Our Purchasing Policy

 

There are many reasons why a model railway collection may need to be sold, but we understand that decisions to sell are often not easy. There is often considerable sentimental value attached to collections; in some cases they literally represent a lifetime's interest. We assure you of complete discretion and will always do our best to offer a fair price. The following explains our approach; we would ask that you bear it in mind.

 

The general process:

1. When you have made the decision to sell, please contact us.

2. If possible please supply either a list of items, or photographs (or both). Don't worry if you can't do this; we will work with you to determine what you have. This may be by email or telephone communication, or through a home visit (if you wish and agree).

3. We will then issue an offer (see below for detail on how we assess this). The offer will be valid for 14 days. The offer will include detail on how the items should reach us; this will generally be by courier or carrier, but may be by direct collection by ourselves (see below for further detail).

4. If you accept our offer (normally by e-mail), the items should then reach us by the agreed method – Please do not send anything until you have accepted our offer.

5. Once the items safely reach us, we will make payment immediately by the agreed method.

 

What do we Buy:

Primarily we buy OO gauge rolling stock, track, accessories, and scenic items. We will also buy items of other gauges as part of collections primarily consisting of OO gauge items.

 

WHY CONTACT US:

We are interested in collections ranging from a few items to large collections. Our advantage is that we understand the market well, and know what differing items will realistically sell for. We can therefore make offers quickly, which realise the value of a collection leaving us to do the work (and take the financial risk) of selling it on.

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Assessing Offer Prices:

We will assess the value of collections using our past sales records and will make the best possible offer we can. We aim to be fair, and try and balance the costs between the more desirable items in a collection and those which may be more difficult to re-sell. Offers made by us are guaranteed for 14 days – after that period we may still honour the offer, but reserve the right to re-assess.

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We would strongly urge anyone selling a large collection to get competing offers from other buyers. We are sure our offers will stand comparison, and we are always happy to discuss further and negotiate where appropriate. We assure you that we have no desire to mislead anyone and it is in our interest to trade fairly; our offers always represent our understanding of the market at the time.

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We also need to be clear and honest; we have to make a profit on items we buy (otherwise we have no business at all!). Therefore our offer prices will always be lower than you can find for similar items individually for sale on the internet or elsewhere (now, where else have you seen a website make this explicitly clear - told you, we are honest!).

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If you are looking to achieve those prices then clearly you may do so by selling items individually through well known channels. We have no desire to waste your time, so if you have a few items and that's a route you wish to take, please bear this in mind before contacting us.

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Delivery of Items to us:

Clearly it is important that items reach us in the same condition as they left you.

There are various options, which may depend on where the collection is and its size.

For collections of a few items we will often suggest that the seller arranges postage through either Royal Mail or a courier of your choosing. The seller pays the cost for this, and should choose a service which provides appropriate cover for the value of the items. In this case the seller remains responsible until the items reach us.

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For larger collections we will try, wherever possible, to arrange direct collection by ourselves. Any offer we make to you will take the cost of this into account.

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For larger collections, where it is not possible for us to collect, we will arrange collection by courier. The cost for this will be made clear before you accept our offer. Where we pay for delivery to us the responsibility for safe delivery becomes ours once you dispatch it; and we will include appropriate insurance in the delivery cost. We would ask that any items sent are well packed.

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WE ARE ALWAYS HAPPY TO DISCUSS METHODS OF DELIVERY TO US AND WILL SEEK TO ACCOMODATE ANY REASONABLE REQUEST.

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Items not as described / missing or damaged:

It is important items sold to us arrive as described by the seller. We do not expect sellers to have a detailed knowledge of the items they are offering; so we will normally work by photographs or other enquiries to satisfy ourselves. We are therefore not concerned by minor errors (for example; the odd buffer or detailing item missing). We also recognise that, in some cases, sellers are not able to test items sold to us; where necessary we'll take the risk that we can repair items if necessary, and allow for this in any offers we make.

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However, should items sold to us fail to arrive, or are in a fundamentally different condition to that at the time of offer, then we have to reserve the right to adjust our offer. Examples of issues which may lead us to reconsider (this is not an exhaustive list):

• Item completely missing; for example a loco shown in a photo of the collection is not included.

• Item damaged beyond repair (where this was not clear in any previous correspondence); for example a loco where the motor or drive has been removed.

• Item simply not as shown or described – for example photo showed one side of a loco in pristine condition; the other side turns out to be severely damaged.

(note that we are happy to buy items in very poor or damaged condition – just tell us first!)

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We stress that we will always act fairly and with common sense – For example, if you have just sold us 200 wagons and it turns out we receive 199 then maybe that's not a problem.

However, if we have reason to believe there may have been some negligence, or deliberate intent to mislead, in the description we received then (to be fair to all of our customers) we may have to revise our offer.

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IF WE REVISE OUR OFFER ON RECEIPT – we will inform you in writing. The seller may then choose whether to accept the revised offer or to have the goods returned to them. In the latter situation the cost of the return must be met by the seller. Items are not insured while they are held by us.