Not finished, but thinking how to dispose of

I've sold exactly one of my stoves. It was a square Borde that came from Australia. I sold it to a serious Borde collector for $1,000. He has an impressive collection and my stove was a nice addition.

Ben

 

I'm glad of my 50-60 stoves!

 

Aye. Not in a rush but needs addressing. A few have gone but tip of the iceberg. Now I'm freshly retired I want to enjoy them more. I've not lost my old joy about these things. One ratty old Primus to my name & I'd still be a happy man.

 

I have 50 or so , I will try to devide them between the family.
Cheers
Rob

 

I tell my sons
“Someday all of this will be yours” usually to to their consternation. They don’t find the Happiness I do in using my classic stoves and lanterns. My handsaws and hand planes and other older tools don’t interest them either. But there is still time…

 

My sons are aware that my Optimus 9 has some value. The rest of the collection I'm not so sure.

Ben

 

My own purchases years back (I 'collected' for about a year 23-24 years ago) probably cost me about $2,500. A few pristine examples, and general inflation of 'classics', might push the present total to $5,000-- with careful curation and maximizing sales, which would be a big effort that I have no wish to undertake.

I've camped and hiked with many children and grandchildren with classic stoves; enough so that general interest and sentimental regard for the old man would likely result in a general distribution within the family. A few fixed-leg domestics from my early efforts might fall between the cracks-- I stopped buying those early on.

Even my best quite few examples would not fetch more than, say, five hundred bucks. So my attitude is much like Ben's, with the exception that I have no standouts like an Optimus 9.

This thread has been valuable in that what I think I'll do now is start to give them away to the offspring rather than wait for the vagaries of post-demise distribution.

 

Post demise. . A little along the lines I’m thinking too, nephew would have no idea or motivation to maximize sales or even a fair value.
I worry a little if down the road more I have full awareness of my mental faculties, a few relatives on my late moms side have not all been there. One uncle was even throwing out his coin collection.
Duane

 

Most of my stoves were acquired from eBay where I was the highest bidder of a worldwide audience. To get a decent price for a sale I would have to list them back on eBay. Yard sales would only pay a few dollars for a rare, priceless $100 antique. Flea markets wouldn't be much better. I was thinking of trying to sell at an antique store or consignment shop. I'll see how that goes. My fear is that after my unfortunate demise these amazing devices will end up in a dumpster with no one even knowing what they are.

 

A possibility. One of my stoves came out of a farmer’s scrap bin

 

That is my fear also.
Duane

 

Yard sales and flea markets are not the proper places to sell stoves already in the hands of the final collector.

Giving the stoves to auction houses or to someone that will do all the job to sell them would mean leaving a very large slice of the cake.

Ebay worldwide is the only way. Also, stoves have significant fluctuations in value depending on the international hype of the moment… I give you some examples:

111 were selling very high, now hard to sell for decent amounts.

F8 was selling up to 2500$, now 1000$ in the best conditions.

Valmt reached 2000/2500, now settled around 5/600.

The international market is something that needs to be followed. Can also happen that an item won for 100$ in an international auction could sell for 200$ the week after… depending if some collectors were browsing eBay or maybe on vacation.

Cheers

 

After I'm gone, how much they sold for is the least of my worries. The money ain't gonna do me any good at that point.

 

I have 200+ stoves now...some are quite rare, while others bog standard. I hadnt considered what to do if I pass on. Will have to give it some thought.