None of us should want to leave our loved ones with the burden of liquidating a huge collection of anything, drums, Comic Books, Beanie Babies, or otherwise.
Case in point...My father-in-law is approaching 90 years old and has lived a fascinating but cluttered life. He has never had a "real job." He has supported himself as a sculptor and art trader since the 1940's. For many years he had a studio in Las Vegas, buying, selling, and trading artwork and antiquities. In the early "Rat Pack" days of Vegas he ran around with the likes of Joe Louis, Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, Cary Grant, etc....Anyway, we are now facing the daunting task of trying to sort through his eclectic accumulation of stuff. Thank goodness he is still sharp enough to explain to us what things are valuable, and why. If not, there would have been many valuable items that might have otherwise been sold at a yard sale for peanuts. Something that would not only be a monetary loss for the family, but a sad disrespectful waste of his talented collecting efforts over all those years.
The process has made me realize how important it is to document, in some way, the music gear that I have collected. I have done a brief video catalog of my things for insurance purposes, but I really need to do it again with more detailed narrative about each of the more valuable items.
My wife watches our finances closely, but nearly all of my collection has been purchased using money that is "off the books." Profit from playing poker (I made $9K one month back when online poker was legal) and the buy/trade/refurb/flip gear game. So, she would not have any real idea what I've paid for things, much less know what a 1969 Ludwig Standard Avocado Strata Downbeat kit is worth in the current market.
It is easier than ever to determine a fair price on most things these days by checking sold listing etc. But, as you all know there are some rare drums in our collections that would take some real research to pin down a price on. And when you start to get into the subtleties of drum condition, rarity, originality, etc. Forget about it.
So this is what I suggest we do...
We should, at a minimum, do a detailed video tour of our collections and leave it in a place where family members have access to it.
And, if we want to be even more proactive we should do everything in preparation for selling the items short of boxing them up...take good pictures, write a full detailed description, and set a price range. Then it would be a simple matter for you to post them for sale down the road or by your loved ones if you are no longer on the road so to speak.
