Tasty
That is always a risk when something passes on to a younger generation through inheritance. Could be that the children:
a) don't see/understand the value
b) associate the subject with memories and can't bear to sell it, so rather scrap it
c) "it was dad's project, and he never let anybody touch it while he was alive, so selling it would be against his will."
d) understand the value, but also realize that getting a fair prize would require some effort in order to find the right buyer... decide that it's not worth their time.
e) simply don't care. The parent is gone and now all of his/her belongings must go, asap
I have a huge collection of scale car models, some up to 70 years old and some brand new. Many are extremely limited editions with certificates, others have been imported from Japan, Australia, Argentina or USA, in some cases paying stupid import taxes. To the right buyers, many of them are worth a fortune, but...
I'm sure we all know of those buyers out there, who buy whole batches or collections of things, offering "the best prices", but this turns out to be just a tiny fraction of the real value... like daylight robbery - they may offer 10.000 for a collection worth 250.000 or something like that. I can easily imagine how my collection could suffer such a fate "10.000 for a bunch of old toys, that's good, isn't it?"
When a loved one has passed away, the family is often under intense emotional pressure, unable to think rationally, and unable to invest time to go into details handling the belongings of their relative. How much is item a, b, c worth, and where should it be sold for a fair price. Selling everything correctly could take a very long time and the process keeps the wounds open for all that time, so many simply choose the fastest and simplest options available, so that they can move on.
To me, this is lack of respect for the deceased relative, who may have spent a whole lifetime carefully building and maintaining something, but I have to admit, I've been guilty of such behaviour myself, and I think most of us have.
Very well said, and I must agree to this.