I wonder if anyone can help me. I have an enormous collectio...

I wonder if anyone can help me. I have an enormous collection of models from my late husband. I would love to sell them either as a collection or individually. Does the John Burns price guide still exist? Does John Burns still exist? Or how can I price out all these old models? Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

If you decide to sell the collection then forget EBay, nothing's making much on there at present and you will end up giving stuff away, you are better finding out values by search the web and looking in suitable collectors books for values and then selling privately. If it's British outline model railways then Ramsay's guide to British model trains will give you current values. If you donate the collection to a worthy cause then good on you.

Make sure you get your prices written down and the minimum you will be prepared to accept. You will get all sorts if selling privately ranging from genuine collectors, the something for nothing brigade to shark dealers wanting to make a quick buck.

As a rule of thumb if selling to a decent dealer you can expect around 50% of the value of a perfect mint boxed model under the £200/$300 mark. For items of a higher value say £500/$600 then the rule of thumb perecentage value is 75% of the retail price.