Someone said this topic keeps appearing and they are right, it does. E-Bay hasn’t been the bargain yard it was since Model Railroader ran an article on it. Overnight prices jumped 20%. Now most prices are comperable to a LHS (and most of the listers are LHSs!!!).
Definitely most of the advice given is correct. I’ve had a couple hundred transactions (buyer and seller) and no problems (even using Paypal, which definitely get you more bids on the selling side). The Model Railroad community seems to be very reliable and responsive to questions (if they don’t answer, don’t bid. Simple)
Bargains on rolling stock really only occur in lot purchase (more than one item in a lot). Single item rolling stock is robbery most of the time. A good rule is if the shipping is 2x the bid, the item is not worth the effort.
Watch the shipping. As the above example shows, people try to snare you with a low bid and high shipping. No shipping, no bid is a good policy. Some guy was selling some cheap stuff but would only ship FEDERAL EXPRESS!! The fool who bid $3 for the item (listed for $7 in the Walthers catalog) deserved to pay the $18.75 for shipping. Read the whole listing and ask questions.
The reasons for my bidding are a lack of responsiveness or ability to get certain items at my LHS (I am there every week and drop $15-$100, but they still act like they have never seen me before and often I am disturbing their conversations - but that is a different subject.
I have dealt with international shippers and buyers (mostly Canada) and with paypal, they are just as easy as US buyers (and shipping to Canada is usually cheaper - go figure). You write less on the customs forms to send something than you do on a money order.
Also keep and eye on packing fees or handling fees. This is a trend starting to invade train auctions. I can get free priority mail boxes at the post office, and there are always free packing materials around the house (often packing peanuts from other purchases or e
Ebay has one big advantage. You can find items there which are out of production for years! Which hobbyshop has an old metroliner or a lionel rectifier in store?
Also most “built to order” models i missed to order at my LHS can be found at ebay a few months later… Thats the good one. The prices are another thing.
My Walthers F-M H10-44 just arrived from an E-Bay seller. It’s over 10 years old, very lightly used, with handrails still in the wrapper and included the instruction sheet and original box. I think the model has been unavailable,as new, for some time. For me, that’s the caveat that makes E-Bay so valuable, finding those long out of production items. As you know, hobby items can go out of production very quickly, never to be heard from again. I’m at an age where I can’t wait for company “X” to re-issue an engine or whatever, if they ever do. I won’t overpay just to win, and I try to shop carefully, but for 50 bucks plus shipping, I felt the FM was a good deal (retail was $79.95). I’ve also purchased a Spectrum GE 70 tonner, a Kato Alco RS-2 and a Mantua camelback 0-4-0 on E-Bay, all well worth the money to me. Could you even find those items in a LHS today? For current items, I’ll use an on-line store and buy new. For the long gone things, however, E-Bay has been a godsend for me!
Regards;
smyers
Hi,
My 2 cents’ worth on eBay is that I find it great for locating out of production items and selling off stuff I no longer want. If you are looking fro deals, look elsewhere.
My biggest complaint is that too many sellers don’t know trains and/or don’t know how to package them for shipment. An example of the first case: I have seen items described as “MINT except that one truck is missing and a step is broken”. Well, duh! That ain’t mint, dude!
An example of the second item - I bought a fairly rare Canadian made HO trainset that was over 40 years old. The seller shipped it to me with NO packing of any kind inside the trainset box. The box had a card board insert with cutouts for the cars and locos, but there was a lot of slop in the fit (remember, the set is over 40 years old). The seller would not be responsible for “shipping damage”. Yeesh… If you don’t pack stuff right it will be damaged in shipping, I guarantee it.
On balance, I like eBay, but you must realize it is not usually a "bargain basement ", and you are at the sellers mercy to describe items accurately and package them well for shipment.
Mike
Ebay used to be the place to go to get bargains, as not everyone knew about it or had access to it. It was also the place to overpay on the item of the moment (remember furbies going for $100 a pop?). Nowadays it’s abasically a huge online store where any and every LHS or business can partake. If you’re looking for a deal on ebay, look for the private sellers sellling from their personal collection. This is where to get the best deals. Everything else has already been mentioned by others, but I’ve found some great deals on ebay… you just have to be patient, know what you’re looking for and resist the urge to impulse buy.
Dewey,
Ditto to everything you wtote.
Just guessing by your signature, I would say you listen to Boortz on talk radio. True?
Jay
Depends on what you will call a deal…How about Atlas GP7s for $39.55? A P2K S1 for $22.85? A Stewart Baldwin switcher for $39.00? Of course deals like those is more a exception then the rule but,they can be had if you watch your bidding.[:D] Now the other side of the coin I also have seen common engines and cars go for ABOVE MSRP!!! [:0] And I have also noticed more Buy it now deals at near MSRP and could be bought for less from on line shops.[:0] [:D]
So let the buyer beware.
What i call a deal a Kato AC4400CW at 70 dollars i get all of my locos at E Bay .
I’ve bought several locos and many cars off eBay and have been pleased with my items. When I decieded to complete my Central Valley roster the only place I could buy them was on eBay as they haven’t been in production for over 40 years. I’ve purchased two BWL locos cheaper then I could at my LHS. I bid a set amount and if I get it good, and if I don’t, I don’t worry. My dad said “bargains are like street cars, if you miss this one, there’s always another one coming down the street.”
I drop between $50.00 to $150.00 a month at my LHS (Papa Ben’s Trains in Houston) and get good service. The bad thing about him is it’s 102 miles from my driveway to his door. Marty, Tom, Mark, and Ben always have a smile and will listen and give advise.
But getting back to eBay - the sellers don’t make you bid more. I can’t understand why someone would bid $10.00 more for a loco then the advertised sale price in Model Railroader and usually pay more freight. I’ve seen this happen more then once. But then look at the new BWL ATSF 4-8-4 it’s going for less then $150.00 on eBay and is listed in the mags at $174.99. The Walthers Santa Fe passenger cars were preordered at Caboose Hobbies for $29.96 and their going price on eBay is $29.95 and pick what you want. I use eBay to find things that are out of production and only bid on current things at a set price, with postage, that is always considerably less then my LHS.
The LHS need our money from the big sales to stay in business and give us the little stuff that we want. Have you ever tried to order a detail part for a kit and get it fast and cheep? My LHS has it in stock usually or will get it for me.
amen, support your local hobbyshop(if you have one). not do you support him you also support your local schools and tax base. all those internet sites, they support no one but them selves. im lucky LHS is only a couple of blocks away. any time you in Tiffin, OH give my good friend Andy a shout at The Train Shop, tell him Randy sent you. he always has something to say.
I buy from both the LHS and ebay. I want to support the local guys, but I don’t have unlimited funds. I like ebaye for the hard to find items as well as the diamonds in the rough. Its like a 24/7 swap meet. Be patient and pick and choose the deals. Something is bound to come along at a great price.
I stay completely away from anyone with a buy it now item. I’ll order elsewhere before I do that.
I used to get stuff of e-bay all the time. Still do run regular searches for certain items. I do not understand the logic of the many retailers selling on the site that just list stuff “buy it now” for at or very close to full retail. I guess they sell some of it, because otherwise they are just throwing mone away on listing fees.
I buy a lot of stuff on ebay. Never had any problems.
I know how much I can purchase something either on line or a local hobby shop. Subtracting the sellers shipping charge gives me my high bid. Doing it that way I lose a lot more auctions than I win, but I never pay more than what an item is worth.
I get a kick out of seeing people bid a lot more than an item is worth just so they can win. It’s not a contest, but to each his own. If they have money to throw away, must be better off than me.
Ebay isn’t the place it used to be ,that’s for sure. Do some research on what you’re after, be patient and set a limit on what you’ll pay, and I think you’ll be surprised at what you can come up with. (Just purchased a NIB Spectrum 4-8-2 for $68.00 shipping and all!) There seems to be more junk listed now than a year ago but the hard-to-find stuff and true bargains are still out there. Above all, Support your LHS first. After all, this is suppposed to be fun.
Chris
Brakie,
You mentioned P2K GP’s for $39.95 on e-bay. That does not include shipping. I just purchased 2 P2K GP9’s from M B Klein (aka model train stuff) directly (not on e-bay) for $29.95 each, plus $5.00 shipping. I decided to give e-bay a try. I bid on quite a few items, all being offered by modeltrainstuff.com. They have quite a few P2K engines, and within 2 days, the biddding is over $30 on each. Some are $50-$60. They have Athearn freights going for $6-$8 each. Apparently most of these people have no clue. Just about everything I have seen so far has been overbid beyond what an internet dealer will advertise during a sale. I will watch how it goes for a few days, but it doesn’t look very promising. It’s not the dealers, but the crazies that overbid. It must be like gambling, a disease.[:D]
I don’t know about the other scales, but the HO area has recently been taken over by the so-called “power sellers” who seem to be going around and buying up massive amounts of the old Model Power products and pricing them at more than retail. The last time I checked e-bay (yesterday) the first three pages were nothing but Model Power rolling stock and engines, with the rolling stock all priced at $4.99 or so beginning bid. Model Power is not worth half that, in my opinion, because it still has truck-mounted horn hook couplers that are practically impossible to change, plastic wheels, and is very thick plastic with no detail.
I get most of my locos from eBay. My general rule for bidding is my maximum bid plus the item’s shipping is less than or equal to the lowest price I can find on the internet without shipping. I remember about a year ago eBay was flooded with Athearn BN locos at great deals. Now all the locos seem to have disappeared. I frequently laugh at people who bid higher that internet discount store prices. Honestly, if you are oing to “do it eBay”, do your homework and don’t bid over the lowest price you can find on that item.
Reed
I have sold lots of items on ebay. Some I have made out on pretty good, never thought it would go for as much as it did. Others, because of too low a starting value, I ended up pretty much giving away. What’s neat about ebay is you can find things long out of production, Varney, Ulrich, Ambroid and others.
You have to know what something is worth! I bid the amount I am willing to pay for an item plus shipping and let ebay keep me bidding until this point is reached, or I win the auction. I have gotten very good deals on some things and I have let an item go when it gets bid over what I am willing to pay. I have found there are great deals on brass items. Most of the time, even the high end brass pieces sel for less than brass dealers list them at.
Some of you are unwilling to build your rolling stock and buy RTR stuff. Why not buy built stuff from ebay?
Many of the recent rolling stock that has been added to the Siskiyou Line roster came from E-Bay, prebuilt, preweathered, with Kadees, and properly weighted to NMRA specs.
And reasonably priced, too, considering it’s completely done and ready to run.
I’m a big fan of E-bay for buying and selling model RR stuff. It’s the world’s largest continuous swap meet.
Bidding wars are common on E-Bay … to bid successfully on an item and not fuel a bidding war takes some savvy. Here’s what I do:
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I use advanced search (completed items) to see how often an item like this shows up on E-Bay and what it typically goes for. If this search reveals stiff competition and “winner’s curse bidding” (winning the auction but paying more than the item is worth) then I pass it by.
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When bidding, determine your maximum price, then bid an odd amount just over that. High bid wins, and if you bid $20, then you and 90% of the rest of the bidders bid like that so you will lose the bid. But if you bid $21.97 and the rest of the bidders bid $20, you win! Never, never, NEVER bid a round number at a typical milestone price point on E-Bay because you will lose, sure thing. Always bid an odd amount just over a milestone price point by at least one bid increment.
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Incremental bidding is poor practice and only fuels bidding wars. Bid your maximum (odd amount as in #2 above) as late as possible in the auction, ideally less than 10 seconds before the auction closes so you can’t get outbid. If you bid your maximum early in the auction (a practice which E-Bay encourages because it tends to cause a higher price on the item, which helps E-Bay) you give away your knowledge of what