Is it just me or are people paying some stupid money on post war trains on EBAY lately. Just got out bid for a 1948/49 2026 steamer that didn’t even have the right tender. Closing bid was 151.00. Thats way above the pocket guide and my Doyle Lionel Train guide. I bid 165.00 for a 2065 steamer and didn’t meet the reserve. These prices might be worth it if the item is in like new condition with original box but buying at a premium price without actually seeing the item up close seems silly to me. It isn’t like these are extremely rare pieces. Am I off base with my comments or is anyone else seeing the same thing.
I don’t watch as closely as most, just follow a small list of items of interest. Lately my impression is generally a little overbidding on the items I am watching but without a pattern.
Like common postwar Baby Hudson steamers, items exactly the same, listed at the same time…and the clearly superior piece goes for less than the lesser piece. Go figure. What do they see and read that I am missing?
I don’t follow the postwar sales on EBAY, but I have watched the new Williams products over the last year and today’s posted prices are typical of what I have seen this past year.
Today on EBAY:
Williams E7, AA, Powered and Dummy …$273 to $312 plus shipping. (An Ebay Store has the E7 listed at $390)
Two retailers that sell Williams on their websites:
Ma & Pa Junction - Williams E7, AA, Powered and Dummy …$235
JustTrains - Williams E7, AA, Powered and Dummy …$245
So if you were buying off of EBAY today, you could conceivable pay $128 plus more. A hundred bucks is a hundred bucks to me.
Maybe people are starting to have their fill of electronics, and dective merchandise right out of the box, so they are turning to postwar. Pre-electronics MPC loco prices are on the rise too.
I’ve been using eBay to buy stuff here and there for several years now, and, in the Lionel department, it’s always been a seller’s market. You have people who are making a living off reselling stuff-everything-and they find a box of trains at an estate sale, buy it for peanuts because Grandma doesn’t know the value of Grandpa’s stuff and she just wants to get rid of it, then they turn around and sell it for mega-inflated prices. Add to this you have a plethora of middle-aged men who grew up with the Lionel post-war stuff that now are successful and have money and want to recapture their childhood with the same stuff they had as a kid, and you have yourself a seller’s market. More buyers + fewer items to sell = big prices. That’s not to say people won’t pay it–myself included–I’ve paid a premium for some items, too, I just don’t make it a regular thing. For comparison, I grabbed a 2026 about 6 years ago, with the tender, and paid about $85, but it needed an overhauling. So just remember: “Caveat emptor!”
This has basically been going like this 6 months or more and I don’t understand it either.
You say you saw a 2026 go for 151.00 well theres a complete set with a 2026 in it asking 150.00 and it has original boxes and even the transformer and original box for it
Wow, I feel much better after reading your responses. I thought I might be using the price guides wrong or something. I live in the south (FL) and there is not a great supply of post/prewar trains down here. My local hobby shop gets a few scattered items in every once in a while but EBAY is about the best source for me. Even the train shows down here are small, not much selection. Guess I’ll have to join the TCA and make a pilgrimage to YORK twice a year. Maybe the prices will be better there.
When it comes to auctions, people get carried away. I get a laugh when we have the auction for surplus vehicles at work. They bid beyond retail book value for cars with over 150000 miles on them. This goes for the public and our employees, than they brag what a deal they got. A lot of the sellers on EBay, just keep relisting their items until they get their price.
Sarpilot … don’t count on prices lower at York … you’ll get a big letdown . Like RT said … I can’t understand why the dumbells on Ebay are paying high retail or even above alot of times either . Ebay used to be a place one could get bargains … I thought that’s what auctions were for … as long as many keep paying too much and not refusing to do so … the sellers will keep sticking it to everyone . A universal boycott of buying those items by us would bring prices back where they belong .
I like to attend York, so please don’t take this as a slam: When it comes to purchasing the older Modern Era trains that I seek, I’ve done much better on Ebay than at York. On many items, the Ebay prices have been about one third of the York asking prices. But as I posted earlier, Ebay prices are on the rise, so this may be a thing of the past.
Regarding price guides: they are ok as a starting point. But the best way to learn the going prices of the items you seek is to do a little homework. Check the price guides. Then look at train show and Ebay prices (not just one or two samples). Then decide how much the item is worth to you.
Just to add my [2c]: I check ‘E-Bay’ daily (my chief source for both “Buy & Sell”) and have definitely seen a rise in the prices for postwar. There are bargains out there but it takes a keen eye, a bit of luck, patience and “sel-control” when it gets to bidding. For me, ‘E-Bay’, despite what others may say, works for me.
I have been buying on ebay for 10 years. I have purchased many things besides trains over the years. In the train area I started buying S gauge because I could at least see pictures of the items instead of going from a verbal description on a list. I have only attended local train shows and have never gone to York, although it is a goal of mine at some time. (Do people who attend York ever factor in the price of travel and meals into the price of the items they buy?) As I expanded my collecting interests to Flyer O gauge ebay was again my biggest source.
I watch prewar Flyer items very closely. A trend that I have noticed is that when the economy began to falter over a year ago the prices of prewar Flyer began to drop, and some very nice pieces and sets started to appear. I bought up some great items that I had never seen before and for what I considered fair or bargain prices- some at less than half what I thought they would go for. I attribute this to folks deciding to liquidate their collections and get cash in the panic talk at the time. Around Christmas time 2009 prices were still relatively good, and since then they have begun to climb. In fact, I have been trying to add a few small accessory items to the towns on the Blue Board Central. Those items are now going for almost double what I was paying for them before Christmas. I think it has a lot to do with what people have in the way of disposable income.
I buy what I want if it is in a price range that I can afford no matter what the price guides say or what the “going” price is for it. For me it boils down to self control when you are in a bidding situation whether its on line or in person. I just keep telling myself that these are mass produced toys and there are hundreds or thou
About 2 weeks ago bought the NYC CC F3 freight set from a value added dealer on Ebay for $379.99 with free shipping. Think that’s price that is going to be hard to beat. Sent in $50 rebate coupon to Lionel from purchase of 2008 CC set for a net price of $329.99 - I’m satisfied.
I noticed it too. The last couple of items I bidded on I didn’t meet the reserve price ether. I also noticed alot of items I am watching are not selling either and are being re listed over and over again. But it seems like they didn’t learn anything cause the are still at the ridiculous price again.
I got a deal on ebay tonight but thats not the normal and if you ask me choochooauctions isn’t any better about 4 months ago charlie said he was going to start a .25 insert fee as some where placing items and just relisting them at high prices well I look at his items and a lot of them are high and I see a lot of his just relist and relist ectect so its every where.
Yeah but a lot of them start low and other bid it up he has mostly quality items and trainz.com runs with him in that category and both usually start at low prices so you can’t blame them
My problem right now is inexpensive items that you used to buy at a train show with no shipping. Now ebay has almost replaced train shows and I live in the Los Angles area, and on a inexpensive item it’s no longer cheap after shipping cost is added. I’m trying to buy MTH elevated trestle 8 piece set or Marx graduated trestle set. There common enough but I keep getting outbid. I have to raise the amount I’m willing to pay counting shipping as part of the price.
I think the craziness extends past collectable stuff. I use the old NJ International dual coil switch machines with my Ross Switches, and bid on them when I see them; probably have an extra 12-15 in a box for future expansion and replacement when needed., Further, I am awaiting a shipment of 4 more on which I was the high bidder on on Wed Feb 10, at 13.00/lot plus shipping. Last pm, there was another lot of 4 up for sale at approx 9pm. I was astounded to see it go in the low thirty’s plus shipping. Needless to say, I dropped out around 16.00, about the halfway point…