Abhoriouis price gouging on eBAY OOP Kits

This points out several things:

  1. Let the buyer beware …know what you are buying and what a fair price is.
  2. There are those who have money to burn, and if they want an item, no matter how over-priced the rest of the buying public thinks it is, they will pay the price.
  3. This is a free market society. People can ask whatever price they want. If they sell their item and they are happy with the price, and the buyer gets what he wants, who are we to judge??? Certainly not I!!!

I was reading an article in Readers Digest recently, where a person sold a Barbie Doll from the 50’s and received $5000 on EBay. So if there is a buyer, and he/she is willing to pay the price that the seller wants…so be it !!!

Several months ago on Ebay, the Walthers transfer table sold for a bit over $600 and the extension kit sold for another $150. I wanted the transfer table and managed to win one several days later for a bit over $100 and a week later won the extension kit for a bit over $60. Weeks later I won a 14 piece grouping of Cornerstone kits for $225 and it included a transfer table and two extension kits. I have managed to get many good buys on Ebay, but I always go into bidding with my ‘limit’ in mind. Sadly, others get caught up in the ego trip of having to win the bid without regard to the price.

“Beer is not the answer. It is the question. Yes is the answer.”

I assume you know you can search like so:

“virginian” -tyco

Right? Knocks any listing with Tyco in it out of the returns.

What is so unethical about that? What if gas is in short supply and the gas station doesn’t raise the price? You’ll go there and fill your tank full. Maybe you’ll even bring your wife’s car and fill that up to just in case. Now the next 50 people do that and the gas is gone. Now the following 50 people have no gas at all.

If the price was higher, maybe you would have only half filled your tank and not filled your wife’s car. That would have gotten you by and the next 50 and the following 50 people could have gotten gas too. A high price also gives business the incentive to bear the extra cost to get more gas there faster and the gas shortage is over quicker and all people have more gas sooner.

Food is another excellent example. I work for a company that is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. If they even have a threat of snow, you better run to the store and get bread and milk if you want any at all. It’s a bit of a joke that happens to be true. People get all nervous and empty the store shelves, hoarding milk and bread and some get none at all. If the stores raised their prices with the oncoming threat of snow, then people would only buy what they really need and there would be enough bread and milk for everyone.

This applies to model railroad kits as well. Don’t you think that Walther’s and other manufacturers see these high prices? Well, if they last, Walther’s is certainly smart enough to see there is a demand and re-introduce the kit. If they don’t someone else will make a similar one.

You forgot to mention that only about an inch of snow falls, and melts the next day, leaving those people with lots of extra bread and milk that they end up throwing away. (I know, I lived in Charlotte.)

Now, you REALLY want to start a run on the stores, just say, 'Hugo."

I was in Raleigh a couple years ago when they got an inch of snow in the afternoon and it literally shut the whole town down. It started snowing and everybody got out on the roads to get home and packed the snow into ice. The roads were giant parking lots. People’s normal 30 minute commutes took 12 hours. People ran out of gas. Me and a couple co-workers were riding with a co-worker who lived there and got out of his car and ran the 5 miles back to our hotel to let him turn towards home. When we woke up in the morning, we found that normal commuters had stopped and camped out in our hotel lobby for the night. What a mess and it was just one inch.[:O]

That same Friday I was back in Minnesota and we got 9 inches of snow in the afternoon. I simply waited until after rush hour and drove home with few problems. Yes the road wasn’t plowed and the snow scraped the underside of the car, but I made it home in 1 hour verses my normal half hour drive. Not bad.

Selector,No…As a former part time train show dealer I seen speculators in action…They buy up llimited runs,oop items and charge high dollar to the unlearn…Sadly I see comon locomotives go for 3 times what they are actually worth.Its sad because a lot of those oop items can be found at reasonable prices by looking and asking around.After all the use market is alive and well and so many modelers doesn’t think of looking around for use oop items.

Eric, the laws prohibiting price-gouging are meant to protect the general population by making the basis necessities of life available in a time of crisis to the most number of people at what would the the, “normal,” prices. Speculation as to whether someone would only buy half a tank of gas if the price were high thus leaving more for other people is just that, speculation.

None of this has anything to do with selling model railroad equipment over e-bay. What is disturbing is the feeling I get from reading some of these comments; it almost seems that there may be some who think that these e-bay sellers, and/or their prices, should be regulated. Maybe Congress could step in and have some committee hearings and set us little people in our place, since we obiviously don’t know how to control our buying habits.

But I think there is one overlooked aspect of this issue. Why are some almost angry to the point of cursing. Is it because someone on e-bay is trying to sell something at 10 to 20% over MSRP? Or is it because the buyer is not able to purchase the item for 60% off list? People are angry because they think someone is selling something for more than it is worth when, at the same time they are trying to get it for a whole lot less than it is worth. Someone once said, “It’s a funny stick that doesn’t have two ends.” Think about it.

By the way, I have never sold nor purchased anything from e-bay.

Famous saying…‘‘theres a sucker born every minute’’…EBAY is proof of this!! I shop EBAY frequently, but I have a set of rules that I NEVER deviate from, and so far I haven’t been stung.

If someone wants those OOP kits they will pay what is asked for them…no matter how ridiculous it seems. I personally steer clear of those hi-price auctions.

Typing quickly always gets the best of me. [:I]

The word I was after was the adverb form of “abhorrence,” which means “something or someone extremely repugnant or loathsome.”

I applaud the people who sit on OOP stuff for a few years. Alot of stuff was released when I was not active in the hobby. If every kit released was purchased by a modeler and put together 10 years ago, I would have no chance of getting one today.

As far as the price gouging, this is a non-issue with ebay. It doesn’t matter if the starting price is $1 or $1000, the kit will sell for whatever amount the highest bidder will pay for it, or it won’t sell at all. Remember, these are model trains not food or gasoline. My wife would argue that even the MSRP is too expensive considering it is just a hobby.

I have no problem paying a premium for a kit that I would not otherwise have been able to get if the ebayer didn’t “sit” on it. I have paid over $100 for O scale ATSF walthers passenger cars that originally sold for less than $20 in the 70’s. It was a choice that I made based on my options. Which were 1. scratch build (not enough time) 2. Brass (over $300) 3. No passenger car.

I feel as though it was an opportunity, not price gouging.

Out of curiosity did you think of checking the use market? After all our hobby is a ever changing one with modelers changing scales,eras etc on a weekly bases.

I have bought a few used things off ebay with good results. Alot of the used stuff I see is not up to “my standards” and would take more time to rework than building a new kit, so I don’t bother. As far as used stuff from shows… there are very few shows for Oscale 2 rail each year and none in my state (MI). Chicago has an annual show as does Cincinnati. I have not been to one in years. The prices are usually higher at the shows than on ebay, and when you factor in time and travel expenses, it just isn’t worth it to me. Once in a while I can find some O scale stuff at local shows but these are mostly HO and Lionel.

I think you failed to understand my meaning of ‘Dire Situation". I agree that the market (supply and demand) will set the price on things d

Ebay often determines what the market value of an item is, not what you think (or hope) it is. I recently sold some old Model RR magazines. The years were in the 1940’s. I started the bidding at $6/year. Much to my surprise, 2 of the years went for about $60/year. I don’t believe I was gouging anyone. If you feel morally or ethically obligated not to gouge, put a “Buy It Now” on the auction. If you put a fsm kit on Ebay with a starting price of $1 by the end of the auction the final bid will be the market value of the kit. If a item’s starting bid is higher than the market value of the item, more times than not, the item will not sell. As for buying on Ebay, I place a bid at what I will pay for an item. If I win, great. If I lose, that’s ok also since I will not pay more for the item than I wanted to. There are some who get into a competition over an item and it becomes a matter of pride not to lose the auction. Great for the seller, bad for the buyers. If one wants to find out the market value or fair price for an item, look under completed auctions. You will find a narrow range of prices for a particular item showing that the free market really works.

As with all my responses, this is just my opinion.

Steve B.

You buy a boxcar for $20 in 1997. You put it on ebay in 2007 for $22 starting bid. Final bid is $50. Do you refund some portion of the money?

Right, because “gouging” requires YOU to tell the buyer that he must pay an inflated price. Your price was more than reasonable.

All auctions are subject to this sort of thing, not just eBay, and the people who are unhappy with the final sale price are invariably those who were outbid.

There are those who haven’t the faintest idea what something is worth. These people are wide open to being “taken” for a ride.

Then, there are those who are so competitive at EVERYTHING in life, they MUST win, so they outbid everyone on EBAY for a 1972 roll of blue colored toilet paper, $550 dollars!!! But they WON !!! Yeaaaaaaa !!! A fool and his/her money are soon parted.

Ok…I can understand that…O Scale 2 rail is hard to find new or use in this area(North Central part of Ohio)…

As for me I usually perfer to see the use equipment before I buy it…However,I have made some exceptions with on line forum dealing and some e bay deals from Dan’s Depot.

Thanks!