The Little World

Or how to do yourself either a lot of good or a serious injury…

Stash sales are going on all the time – people decide to thin their collection of unbuilt kits for many reasons. Some need the money – some need the space – some need relief from the pressure of family expectations. Or the expectation of family pressure…

You see them at exhibitions and club days – on the internet or in secondhand stores. Occasionally you encounter an individual who doesn’t know where to go, but they can be a mine of goodies.

There are rules:

a. Have cash ready. No-one expects cheques, bank deposits, or lay-buys. Do the deal then and there for real money.

b. Do not expect perfection for bargain prices. You are paying less and you must expect to get less.

c. Do not accede to buying garbage for high prices. You do not need to have something that was bad in the first place and has not improved in the interim. Nothing gets better on a shelf.

d. Do not haggle. If a kit that is $ 50 in the shops is offered at $ 30 and you want it, do not demean yourself or the seller by trying to force it significantly lower. The seller may well decide to withdraw the offer…and then you have cut yourself out.

e. When you discover that the kit has been started, look carefully at the workmanship that’s been already exercised. If it is dismal, decide whether you can recover the situation. If you can’t, avoid it.

f. Older models may have been made to cruder standards. Live with that.

g. Do not buy something you don’t want. You do not need to be the warden in your own kit prison.