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S.In the past year alone, I donated over 200 kits to military charities of which I'll deduct $5000 from taxes. Comes out to $25 a kit...which I think is pretty conservative/generous.

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Having sold a like number of kits recently (on line, Ebay, and at shows) I would say that the average market price for a 1/35 kit is much closer to $20. You might want to consider what the IRS thinks about the subject.

KL

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Not sure what tax code he's going by either-- you can declare cash donations up to full value, but donations of 2nd hand goods is only $500 for private citizens, more for businesses for Federal Tax-- maybe that's what he means. As a person who has done a lot of model trading over the years (2nd hand trading is the only way I "buy" a new kit anymore), I can tell you nobody in sales is going to give you more than wholesale price on any kit-- and a rule of thumb is wholesale is anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 the MSRP. I agree Kurt, about $20 for a run of the mill 1/35 kit is more like it-- there are a few exceptions, and for those I suggest going on eBay. I've seen one or two folks get away with outrageous dollar amounts for certain kits there, but that's not the normal case. It always ticks me off at shows when someone brings up eBay to "quote" a price. Just because it's on eBay at $XX.XX dollar amount doesn't mean that's what it will sell for. Most smart shoppers walk away from people that do that. When I worked in a LHS, about 1/3 of our monthly sale base was on eBay-- we were able to keep doing that because we offered fair prices, not outrageous ones. Occasionally we'd get really rare pricey kits in trades that went for higher prices (Model Hiro and Pocher car kits or Gunze Armor kits for example) and we could ask a lot more for them, but if we wanted to sell them we tried to stay reasonable.
VR, Russ

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My intentions in having the charities provide me with receipts for the donations is to take full advantage of maximum deductions when donating 2nd hand goods. The $5000 worth of kits donated take up the entire spectrum of pricing: from the $125 for a BR52, all the way down to a $10 accessories kit. I simply took an average of the over 200 1/35 kits donated. The 2 organizations I sent kits to (for military vets in Iraq and Afghanistan) are in Arizona and Virginia and are well aware of limitations. In fact they both responded that I should value the kits higher. The tax code allows a percentage of that $5000 I will declare. I know cash donations can be fully valued/deducted: the wife and I do that when we pay 'donations' for classic car/Corvette shows that are 501 (c) (3) organizations. Those receipts are kept as well and add up quickly when tons of car shows ask at a minimum $25 to enter. Doing 10 shows adds up quickly. While I understand and appreciate your concerns when it comes to the Tax Man, rest assured I've done this a time or two. There is no excessive exploitation, just simple math when donating. I'm a 22 year retired military Veteran and only donate to military related organizations. Cash donations also go to military organizations, and since my step daughter and myself have diabetes, we donate cash to those organizations. More recently, I found out I have aggressive prostate cancer as a result of Agent Orange, so now I add those organizations to my list of cash donations. I think I explained myself enough, eh?