The guy gave me a refund and I shipped the incorrect set back. I should have asked him if I could’ve kept it. It was cool. Had a little AT&SF FT and some frieght cars…
I was fortunate to buy an Athearn GP60M on e-bay for about $30 less than what the hobby shops were asking. It was new-in-the-box.
I agree, the shipping costs will deter you from buying that single box car on line.
The bottom line as stated by others - do your homework and you will find that good deal that pops up every now and then.
I haven’t tried Ebay yet but will soon. If you buy some piece of a engine(horn, numberboard ect.) you need to be careful that the item wasn’t stolen. Many people get rid of the stuff they stole that way. Sorry about your trainset 4884bigboy.[:O]
I have had good luck with eBay, has most of you have said,know what you want and what the normal price is.Look over the pics of the items you are going to bid on,make sure its the brand that you think or should I said the seller tells you it is.Two weeks ago there was a Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 on eBay, but when I started really looking over the photos,I could tell it was a IHC 2-8-0, not near as good has Bachmann’s.
Another thing I have been noticing more is N scale stuff finding its way into the HO stuff.
Have fun but remember buyer beware.
Ebay was one of those “challenges” to my comfort zone. I only use Ebay.ca (the Canadian site), and I will only pay with a personal cheque as I refuse to use a credit card - particularly not online, PayPal costs extra fees anyway (most sellers I’ve contacted, have ultimately found personal cheques acceptable if you don’t mind waiting for the cheque to clear. Many of these sellers do not indicate the option of personal cheques until you ask).
I have discovered MARKLIN products in HO scale. I’ve found some interesting rolling stock (two items purchased so far) in the past 3 months - so I’m being very selective, losing more bids than I “win” (purchase).
My rule of thumb is that my final cost (bid in Cdn + shipping + taxes) should be at least 30% less than a retail purchase in a hobby store. If I can’t save at least 30% then it’s too expensive for me (my wife shops Ebay.ca for scrap booking supplies, using the same arrangements) … exceptions would be for rare, unique items that you wouldn’t otherwise find. Occasionally you can get a really good deal, but most are average (after all, many stores offer routine sales).
I have fun with Ebay.ca, I don’t NEED anything for my hobby so the waiting is fine, receiving packages is better than a phone bill, and I probably spend less than a trip to the hobby store - so in my twisted way of budgeting I’m saving money.
Besides, I’m no longer scared of Ebay. Know who you are buying from… check their satisfaction rating 98% or better, read reviews positive / negative alike, where is the item sent from (distance vs shipping costs), how experienced is the seller re Ebay ( a higher # behind name is a good indication), what do the reviews indicate re communication, timeliness of mailing your purchase, quality of packaging / mail prep, is insurance available?, is the product description ACCURATE, is the seller familiar with trains - are they selling a lot of model r/r items or do they know nothing about it and intead sell Hotwheels/videos/cutlery regular
I tried e-bidding for the first time YESTERDAY.
It happens I was looking at the Atlasrr.com forum and I saw a picture of a guy’s layout with a bunch of cars lettered like a prototype car I have been thinking about trying to decal somehow… a private owner car I wanted ONE of, to fit my region and theme, etc. Since the layout looked like that of a newbie, and the guy had a train of as many cars as the private owner ever had, I assumed it was probably an inexpensive mass-produced car that I had just not heard about. Not all mftrs advertise everything.
I tried some internet hobby dealers that carry lots of stuff and couldn’t find the item. Goggled and the only reference to the particular car I sought was one car in a train set, and links to the particular car on -ebay. I wanted to buy the item at least from a regular internet store-- I live over 150 miles from a train store. Got out the current Model Railroader magazine and tried every hobby dealer that advertised a website-- nobody had this item. Also no manufacturer website for the item.
Finally tried e-bay. I assume this car sold for 3.99 or 4.99 retail, and probably only was available in limited outlets for a year or two max, and a year or two ago. Just not everybody sells this particular brand, a bit of an off brand.
I found the item on e-bay for a price about the same as you’d find in a store–but I could eat up $$$$ driving and phoning around the country looking. A lot of times, I will go in a store and not find anything I really need for the layout, but buy something of so-so interest just to be buying something. Anyway, the shipping adds to the expense, but to get something I really want and not a lot of stuff to sit around, wondering what I am ever going to do with it.
I bid a little over the listed price- I don’t remember what they call it-- and got an e-mail saying my bid was high so far.
Because of the shipping cost, I clicked on “other items by same seller”. Mostly stuff I couldn’t use or didn’t want
I collect vintage toy trains, so ebay is a very good place to find things like that. Often you can find good deals if you search long enough. Many people selling on ebay don’t have a clue about what it is that they have and can many times have poor descriptions. It’s worth it to try and find these. For example, if you want to buy an Athearn GP9 and did a search for “Athearn GP9” you wouldn’t find the clueless person who has one listed as a “model train engine”. It takes time to find these, but you can get some deals. Over 90% of the listings in the category “Other Scales” belong somewhere else and are being sold by people with no knowledge of trains. Sometimes people can do really stupid things, like sell a steam locomotive and tender seperately. I once bid on one like that and ended up with just the engine and I still haven’t found the right tender yet. I’d sooner see some unrelated trains put into one lot than a set split up. Also, sometimes people need a lesson in how to properly package things. I’ve received lots of model trains that have been just thrown into a box. Nothing’s been damaged yet, though. However, the deals I’ve got certainly outweight the dissappointments.
Same here - I’ll only use the eBay UK site and pay by cheque - partly due to shipping costs, partly because of the “comfort zone” thing. I’ll also only pay by cheque as this is less vulnerable to fraud than credit cards.
I generally pay via Paypal, since the payment gets to the seller faster than any other form of payment, and it’s a very secure site. My rating is over 215 with something like 400 Ebay transactions, and I haven’t had a bad Ebay deal yet. I’ve also bought a lot of items from the UK site, and have never had a problem with any international auction.
Don’t forget to INSURE YOUR PURCHACES if possable. The only time I forgot, of course, I received a pile of fragments of the original items. (not train related) Dan
I have bought quite a few things via eBay–rare traction books, a pair of brass Birney trolleys, and one-of-a-kind or rare items. For more mundane purchase I prefer to hit the local hobby shop, but eBay is pretty good for the oddball and obscure stuff. Traction modeling would be a lot harder without it.
Thanks for your simpathy…oh well, it wasn’t that cool anyway. Oh yeah, that was a good piece of advice about old (real, prototype) train parts. I see them on there all the time. Better check to make sure they’re not stolen.[:0]
If someone would take all this information and compile it, you’d have a heck of an article for MR. It would answer a lot questions, too.
I’ve had only good luck with eBay. And it is indeed a great place to find the odd, unusual and out of production items. The problem is sorting through all the useless Tyco and Life Like from twenty years ago.
I have had enormous sucess using eBay. I’ve won a lot of old and out-of-production items as well as paper, etc.
Two things to consider:
Be very specific about what you want when you search and try several variations. (That also means , learn the abbreviations, like “LLP2K” because the real model railroaders out there will list things in that way.)
And…make some intentional misspellings in your searches. You’d be amazed how many items out there are not spelled correctly, which means they won’t come up in a search, which means you may be one of the few to bid if you make a mistake in your entry. Best example, although it’s pretty common: “Atheran.”
Also be careful who you buy it from. Some people will have a really nice piece of equiptment but will say “I don’t know a thing about trains”. I heard of someone who bought a really nice loco but when he got it it turned to be “gutted”.