I just came off the E-Bay site, was looking for CSX locomotives, Its amazing to see the price difference for the same Items, pricing for A Dcc with Sound Ac6000 can range from $125.00 to $400 dollars. I still depend on my local Hobby shop for the bulk of my purchases and get great service. But in these times I am a Bargain hunter like so many others. The recent train show I attended here in ct was ok, but the asking prices on some of Dealers inventory was extreme. I inquired as to why so much money for a AHM new haven passenger car ($30.00 used) The answer was “try finding these on E-bay and their asking price” . then complain. I wasn’t complaining , but I remember buying used Items at Used prices at the shows and also on E-bay. these days it seems everything is tied to pre - orders and lack of stock. the old rule of supply and demand… Seems that some dealers are using E-Bay to increase sales , unfortunately they start at list price on most of their sales , and wonder why sales aren’t happening
Remember the e-Bay ‘caveat emptor’ – buyer beware. I have seen some prices that are almost triple or quadruple a local hobby shop’s prices. Some bidders seem to be totally oblivious to the true value of items.
The simplest solution to the problem: Don’t purchase from e-Bay if you don’t like the prices and don’t understand exactly what you’re getting.
With eBay, you have to be careful. I’ve seen items sell on eBay at a premium over manufacture’s suggested retail price. I can only assume that the buyers are either uninformed or get caught up in the enthusiasm of “winning” an auction.
If the guy at the train show has set his price too high, he’s going to keep carrying that AHM passenger car until either he finds someone willing to pay his price, or realizes that he’s carried the car around for three years, and every potential buyer has walked away, or decides the only way he can get the money he wants for it is by selling it on eBay himself.
When buying anything, you really have to ask yourself: what is this worth to me?
I have found ebay to be a great resource for obtaining cars and locomotives at discounted prices. Not for currently produced commercial equipment, but for the vintage trains that I collect as a side hobby.
I have three things I use as general principles when bidding for an item on ebay:
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You need to know what it’s general retail price is, or in the case of an item that is no longer available retail you need to know what is considered a fair market price. Hence I have a current collector’s guide for the trains I deal in.
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You need to establish what price you are willing to pay for it. When will you walk away? Will you pay market price if it goes that high?
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Finally and most importantly, you need to remember that the item you are about to loose because someone has just outbid you will probably be back in some other auction. If not tomorrow, then the next day or the day after that. Hey, if it were really THAT rare they’d be auctioning it off at Southby’s, not ebay.
Well said.
After reading this, I came to realize that this is exactly what I do when buying on eBay.
Of course there is one other thing I look at. The sellers feedback rating. And I also look at what the negative comments were if they were recent.
Good observations Johnny. The pre-ordering scenario can be a bit frustrating as so many of us are on squeezed-tight budgets. For passenger cars that I want but are no longer available, especially AHM, I’ve had to resort to looking for the window arrangement and/or body style. After winning the auction and receiving the car, I then strip, repaint, and decal the cars to the paint scheme I want. I’ve won several AHM car on ebay in various paint schemes and they will soon be taking the alcohol bath and make an appointment with my airbrush.
I’ve noticed that a number of dealers selling on ebay start their bids at list price or pretty close to it on the newer items. I’ve seen 0 bids on some of their models as a result. It’s a catch-22 game.
My LHS’s owner told me that he no longer s
I have bought and sold quite a few items on Ebay and have felt good about both what I sold and what I purchased. You have to educate yourself on the value of any item. The minimum bid price means little or nothing unless there ares some actual bids on the item. You need to search for the item under “completed” auctions to see what any given item actually has sold for (or not sold for) in the past. The minimum asking bid may well be ridiculous and have no real bearing on an items value. Ebay often runs free listing promotions to sellers so that some sellers will list with unrealistic starting bids just to see if someone is crazy enough to bid at that level. You also have non-model railroaders trying to sell model railroad items at unrealistic prices because they have no knowledge of what the item is really worth, they just picked up a boxcar at a garage sale and put a high price on it based on nothing more than wishful thinking. The condition of used items is sometimes hard to judge from a small photo and write-up even when the seller is trying to accurately describe it. I always sell with a money back guarantee to the buyer if he is disappointed with the item and returns it to me within seven days although I have never had anyone take me up on returning anything. When you are thinking about bidding always look to see what the sellers return policy is. I usually assume that the description is pretty accurate if the seller is willing to accept the item back.
Mike B.
Mike, you are correct. I have purchased over 50 items on Ebay in the past year with no problems usually making sure they accept returns if dissatisfied. However, couple of weeks ago I just couldn’t resist bidding on a couple of locomotives with the line name I am modeling. They were listed as “New” but also “As is with no returns.” The picture looked good with original box, etc… but upon arrival only about a third of the handrails, couplers and detail parts were with it. I wrote the seller that “New” means unopened, original condition with all parts. Seller fell back on the “As is” part of his listing and refused to do anything. Reported it to Ebay but it looks like I will just keep them and pay another $25 to get new handrails. I will be much more careful in the future especially if more than $15-20 is involved in the transaction.
I was looking for a Walthers EMD 567 prime mover kit on Ebay and found one going for $17.50 plus shipping. I went to the Walthers website and it retails for $8.95 and is on sale for $6.98, Hmm?? I just order 2 from the source. Just can’t tell what things will sell for on Ebay, just do your homework before bidding.
- Bob
I’ve purchased a couple of diesel engines, one powered, other a dummy, off of E-Bay. Got a really good price and they served the purpose I was wanting them for. One shell had a scratch on it that didn’t show up in the posted pictures but for me it didn’t matter since I wanted the guts for shells I already had purcahsed at a train show. Runs great. As always buyer beware and do your reasearch. Browsing on E-Bay tonight, right now there is a set of four non-operating black plastic Bachmann block signals listed, brand new, factory sealed for a buy it now price of $52.00. List price at Wathers $8.50 and on sale now at $5.95. Checking other items the seller has - Yahtzee game, brand new, factory sealed, buy it now price of $51.45 and Twister game, brand new, factory sealed, buy it now price of $58.29. Talk about buyer beware!
As a long time eBayer, buyers never cease to amaze me. I usually list items for the least I will take with reasonable shipping. I will see the same item listed with shipping double what I ask. That item will sell for more than my open price and the buyer will pay ten bucks for shipping for a 5 dollar package! I’m a top rated seller with over 2000 all positive feedback. I see auctions for new still available from Walthers ending for way more than the catalog price. I, too, saw the Cornerstone prime mover sell for $17.50 As a buyer I know what I am willing to pay, and I snipe, so it doesn’t matter if I can’t rebid an item with a few seconds left. That bid was all I’m willing to pay. I live in Western Colorado, so going to train shows and swap meets of any size requires a 3 to 4 hour drive, leaving eBay and HO yard sale as my only sources. Unfortunately, I don’t have to take my shoes off to count the number of bargains I’ve seen on HO yard sale in the last year.
Johnny,Some e-bay sellers thrive on buyers lack of price knowledge and jacks his price up…The gullible buys…Harsh but,very true.
e-Bay can be your friend if you know your prices-including street prices- availability of the item you are seeking.
I have found several excellent deals that was below the average street prices.I walk away from those “deals” that are above the going prices…
I also watch for ridiculous shipping costs.
Yeah, like one I saw on the G-scale trains area one day – $9.95 shipping for a 25 cent metric screw that you could probably find at any good hardware store. But it was a genuine LGB original product made in West Germany.
I have purchased a lot of things from ebay since there beginning. Everything from scale models, car parts, motorcycle parts and clothing, O scale, N scale and HO scale trains. However, trying to buy trains there over the last five months or so has me ready to take ebay off my bookmarks.
I think several things have changed to make ebay a waste of time for me. The first problem is the train market has come to be dominated by retired baby boomers with a lot of time and diposable income on their hands. I can’t sit at the computer all the time and watch these auctions.
Most ebay buyers now also use some form of snipe program which I refuse to mess with, because if I’m going to spend time on ebay I’m looking for bargains and this is just one more cost. Besides another place to risk my email address and credit card number.
The other more important change is the rising cost of fuel has more people staying at home and adding this cost to their bid price which makes bargains harder to find.
Finally, yes it seems supply is shrinking and the number of modeler’s is increasing.
Thanks
SB