Is this guy nuts? Who would pay the starting price let alone the buy it now price and then pay $8.94 shipping? I wonder if some people know what they are trying to sell.
Bill
Why worry about it?
Only someone who really wanted BACHMANN Chessie System B&O 11098 CAR and couldn’t find it anywhere else. Last night Jay Leno did a bit on things they found on e-bay. It is amazing the things people are willing to buy and the price they will pay for them.
There’s a sucker born every minute, and this guy’s hoping one of them will see his ad !!! [(-D]
Mark.
Probably one of these people trying to get rich fast.
Come on! Look at those finely crafted plastic wheels, horn hook couplers and molded on ladders! You know you gotta have it!LOL
Nobody has said this yet, so I feel obligated:
WHAT? Not another eBay thread! Why are you cluttering up the forum with this drivel? [soapbox]
Okay, now that that’s out of the way, [;)] you really have to do your research when you’re in the market for something, no matter where you’re shopping. Google and Froogle are very useful tools. For example, I just came across two electronic “stores” on Ebay with Mabuchi FK-280PM motors (what IHC uses in their locos – they’re stamped out by the millions and common as crabgrass), one selling them for $17.45 plus $6.37 shipping, and the other selling them for $22.90 with $6.58 shipping! And the latter seller has sold 7!
At the same time you can get them at any number of electronics surplus places online for around $1.20 apiece, which is about what I paid for mine. So forget “caveat emptor,” just do your homework!
As for that Bachmann masterpiece, you don’t come across old-world craftsmanship like that anymore. Looks like it was carved out of a brick of Velveeta.
Look at the other stuff he is selling: shoes, overall, cookware, Lego, LeapFrog etc. Does not seem to be a power MRR seller.
Also, one persons junk is anothers treasure. I would not worry about it.
… which brings up the exact concept of how people are making a killing on ebay. A friend of mine quit his “real” job and sells on ebay for a living … quite comfortably too !!! You take the time to hunt down all these “surplus” items and buy 'em up at a deep discounted price and then sell them to the unsuspecting public at huge profits !!!
Mark.
That is a good $3 worth of plastic, but no more, and probably less!! He must not want to sell it very bad…
-beegle55
The bottom line: There’s going to be honest and dishonest people in any “business”. The dishonest folks only concern is “What’s in it for me?” I was poking around on the Internet yesterday looking into an NWSL(?) Chopper II for cutting styrene. Somebody on eBay had Buy It Now! for $59.98. I then checked Walthers. Their price? $44.98.
When shopping eBay, you have to 1) educate yourself about going prices and availability of a particular item, and 2) refrain from making knee-jerk reactions when bidding on items. It’s the knee-jerk reactions that the dishonest folks are relying on and wanting you to make.
Tom
Very well stated tstage [tup]
As many of you have noted there has been a change in Ebay over the past several years. One once could pick up real bargins but now there seems to be a number of professionals selling goods at sometimes unreal prices.
When I see someone trying to sell say a Bachmann 2-8-0 for $129 when you can buy it at $69 from any number of Internet outlets, I sometimes send a polite note telling them this and providing website verification. Most of the time I get a thank you as the seller has no idea of the value of the object… I have also received a couple of “mind your own business” replies…The latter will never get any business from me.
Before you buy know the going market. I’ve seen items sell for over MSRP which really makes someone unhappy when they learn the truth…
I’ve had some good purchases on ebay. Sometimes there are sellers who don’t know what they are selling. In some of those cases, you can’t find it by searching because the heading is mispelled or does not tell what’s really for sale. If the photos are clear, however, you may spot something more valuable than others would notice.
Example: Once I bought a 6 car heavyweight train by Rivarossi because of something I noticed in the pirctures. A previous owner had chnged the trucks to Cnetral Valley 6 wheel trucks. I bought the cars, took off the CV trucks, installed Rivarossi trucks, and resold the cars on ebay for more than I paid for them.
As some others have stated: some sellers rely on some buyers ignorance when purchasing on ebay. I’ve also made out with some pretty good deals on some of my previous purchases. I had bought 8 Life Like P2K covered hoppers for 43 dollars. Actually won 4 in one auction, sold for 23 with shipping. I had another bid with the same seller for another set that I didn’t win, but seller said if I added another 20, they would throw in the other 4 since they had multiple sets for sale. I know walthers sells these for 30 bucks assembled and my LHS sells them for 12 as kits. So I think I made out ok.
I have just purchased 8 gondola’s and a couple other pieces of rolling stock, along with 3 GP40 shells for $8. Some deals come and go, you just have to know what you are buying.
I would have a hard time trying to get a quarter out of my pocket for a car like that. Jeez!
Considering that the car maybe cost $6.00 at the time it was sold, what does that guy think he is doing?
Oh well…
Phil
I remember when those were $0.99 at the after Christmas sales. A nice touch is including the box. [(-D]
Enjoy
Paul
Ahh… memories. I had that exact car back in 1982!
But, I’ll second the motion with {GROAN} “Not another eBay thread…!”
But then again, I clicked in here, so I guess I was looking for trouble.[swg]
Thanks for the trip down Memory Railroad![;)]
Its been my experience in observing E-Bay HO items, that most of the sellers who are ignorant of model railroading assume that an HO item is worth more - often much more - than it truly is. I call this ignorance, not dishonesty. However, I would also say that if you truly have no idea of an item’s value, then just make sure you are putting it in the appropriate category, then set a low opening bid and let the market decide.
Like rvanparys, I have several times sent a polite e-mail to inform a seller that they are way too high, along with the evidence. And have had approximately the same experience - some thank-yous, even a couple of sellers who lowered their opening price or their reserve, about an equal number of mind-your-own-business, and even a couple of people who told me that I was the ignorant one, any objective person could see that this beautiful model was worth much more than I claimed. (But none of those items actually sold in the end and they had to eat their posting costs).