[Boatanchors] [BoatAnchors] An object lesson

[Whitebear1122]

Hi John, No I'm not missing the boat.  I agree completely with you.  We all know of the ham vultures that descent on the family and offer pennies for that "old radio crap" that they turn around and sell for a fortune.   That was part of my motivation for selling the bulk of my equipment, to spare the family with the pain of disposing of my stuff, and reducing the risk for the vulture SOB to rip me off. :)   hi hi   For the remaining equipment, I have placed labels on the equipment indicating what I think is it's fair value.  My close radio friends know what I have left and the value of it.  The Valiant and 75A-4, Heathkit DX60 station, and other piddly stuff  are trivial.  The rare Collins S-line and minty Drake 4C station from the mid 70's is worth a lot more and I want the family and best friend to know that it shouldn't sell for pennies.

Kudo's to you for helping out the widow and being honest with her.  There is a special place in heaven for you if you don't mind my saying.  I agree with your final statement too, don't burden your friends or family with this chore.  Get rid of the bulk of the crap now and just keep the stuff that you love to use on a daily basis.    Your estate will love you for it :)  hi hi

Thanks, Scott WA9WFA


On Apr 15, 2015, at 10:22 PM, W4AWM at aol.com wrote:

> I think you guys are missing the boat.
>  
> Making an inventory with makes, models, serial numbers, values, acquisition dates and other information is a great idea, especially if something happened prior to your demise and you need proof of ownership and value.
>  
> We have in this area, and I am sure in dozens of others, creatures who I call "Vultures."  They will knock on the SK's door, sometimes before the remains are buried, offering to buy the equipment.  In many cases, they pay pennies on the dollar and make big bucks reselling. They will skim off the cream of the gear leaving the survivors with the not so good equipment, parts, etc.,  and a mess to clean up.  These "Vultures" will never get my equipment unless they pay full price for it. I have given my survivors two options:  Get $XXX up front in cash or certified bank check before anything is removed from the premises. This insures that they will take everything to insure they cover their expenses.  The second is to hire a certified Auctioneer like Richard Estes who specializes in selling radio estates. For an agreed upon price, he will pick up everything including tools, tubes, parts and equipment and sell it at auction for a fixed commission. Short of that, and this really hurts, they hire a roll off and a couple of guys armed with sledge hammers who will make sure no local "Vulture" gets hold of anything but smashed junk.
>  
> I hate to do it that way, but I have handled a couple of estates where a "Vulture" took the best for pennies and left the survivors with what they thought was junk.  In both cases, I made a huge amount of money for the estates simply because I was willing to do a little leg work. I had to go into the packing and shipping business in some cases but the satisfaction was worth the effort and I met some really nice collectors in the bargain. So that there was no hanky panky. I had buyers send payment for the item , packing and shipping directly to the estate and supplied them with receipts for packing material and shipping. They paid me back for those items.
>  
> Don't burden your friends or family with this chore. Do some planning now, while you can.  You can keep all your gear until the end if you care to, without having to worry about the inevitable.
>  
> 73, 
>  
>  John,  W4AWM
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