Grandpa’s Lionel Attic Find

e*Train Issue: May 2004 | Posted in: TCA Adventures

As told by Mike Stella

‘Twas the day past St. Patty’s Day in 2004
when a small elderly man came fast through the door.

Eager and cheerful he said with a smile,
I’ve had all these trains for quite a long while.

My son doesn’t want them so I want to sell,
we’ve had then for years, they all say LIONEL!

You can’t have just some but must take the bunch,
” I’ll be happy to look. I’ll come over this lunch.”

I jotted down numbers, came up with a price,
nothing exceptional, but all very nice.

I gave him my bid for one piece and all,
he wanted to think. He said he would call.

I’ve been here before, won some and lost,
I started to think I don’t need the cost.

Santa Fe diesels and more die-cast steam,
did I really need more? I started to dream.

He won’t call. I was probably too bold,
then the cell rang and I heard him say SOLD!

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TCA members who shop at Amazon.com can have each of their normal purchases generate a modest payment to TCA! And it won’t cost you anything!

The Train Collectors Association is now a participant with AmazonSmile, which is a special website operated by Amazon that lets customers enjoy the same wide selection of products, low prices and convenient shopping features as on Amazon.com.

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The process is simple. Just search for and select Train Collectors Association when you sign up and shop at smile.amazon.com.

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Note that if you just log in to the regular amazon.com, this benefit does not operate.

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* Note: TCA is not a party to any of your Amazon transactions, and does not endorse any products or vendors.

Helping TCA with your ebay purchases when you use PayPal

If you’re an ebay user and have a PayPal account you use to make payments, you can designate a donation for TCA when you’re checking out — any amount, small or large.
If you’re a regular seller on ebay, you can pre-designate a percentage of your sales to be donated automatically in your name to TCA as long as the purchaser pays with their PayPal account.

In both cases, you will receive a donation receipt from the PayPal Giving Fund, and enjoy applicable tax advantages.

How to do it:

Click on the image above, or use this link. This will take you to ebay, where you will see the following page (log in to ebay if you are not already):

This offers TCA as an option. Click on the “Add to My Charities” button where indicated with the red arrow. Thereafter, when you make a purchase, at checkout you will be offered the option to make a donation to TCA in any amount of your choosing. Small amounts add up, larger ones are great! It’s always up to you!

The option will appear at the lower part of your checkout page, something like this:

If you’re a regular seller on ebay, you can allocate a portion of your sales proceeds to be donated to TCA. Look at the green arrow marked “Optional” above to see how to do it. Details on how ebay calculates the donation may be read here. This is a wonderful way to share the financial benefits of your hobby with the organization that promotes it!

An added benefit to TCA is that these donations are not subject to normal processing fees, so that makes your donation work harder!

* Note. TCA is not a party to any of your eBay transactions, and does not endorse any products or vendors. PayPal issues the receipts to you for your donation, not TCA.

Grandpa’s Lionel Attic Find

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