eBay: Still makes me scratch my head sometimes

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
21

At least one of the “high priced sellers” is a very reputable brass dealer whose primary business is consignment sales of typically higher end brass models. These are the very models that others outside the United States will typically spend a lot of money for. Also, the dealer has a financial incentive to get the most he possibly can for his clients, as his fee is then also larger. The clients are often not in a hurry to sell today; they are “maximizing their investment”.

One of the aspects here is that the descendants of the Japanese brass builders want to obtain and collect fine examples of their parents’ or grandparents’ modelmaking. Somewhat unlike some of the production in South Korea, the Japanese always took great pride in the models they made, getting together weekly with fellow builders to show off their art. So the descendants are willing to pay big bucks for premium models, which has also crossed over into the same or other international customers paying big bucks for the better Korean stuff, too.

So when you see the high minimum bid prices on certain rare or higher end brass, you need to realize that price is based on the international market for HO brass, where some customers still have American prototypes on a relative pedestal, along with Elvis, genuine American muscle cars, etc. etc.

According to one semi-retired brass dealer on these forums, for items above about $1200 in value, 90% of the HO brass sales on forums like Ebay are models moving from the U.S. to international clients.

John

22

Larry … The seller paid fees to Ebay and to Paypal totalling roughly $15.00 on your $65.00 purchase. So he took in a net of about $50.00. … Most sellers pay for the excessive fees of Ebay and PayPal by charging a high enough Shipping and Handling to cover it.

Note the phrase “shipping and handling” is not simply “shipping” … Also, the seller may need to drive to the post office, and his car expenses would have to be considered. (However, postal carriers do pick up Priority Mail from a business or residence).

23

Correct and you can order the Priority boxes for free and your carrier will drop them off on your door step.Going to the post office is old school that many still do.You can pay on line and print your shipping costs and place it on the box.Very handy.A extra large bag of shipping peanuts/popcorn(around $25.00 locally) doesn’t cost much per shipment.

I suspect he wanted $50.00(that’s local train show prices) for that GP18 and figured $65.00 covers all bases. I’ve done that myself. No foul.He got his price and I got my SCL GP18 at a price I was willing to go with “free” shipping and IMHO it was a win/win.

It would cost me at least $15.00(lunch,parking and admittance) plus gas to go to a show and still may not find a SCL GP18.

24

They don’t get charged for relistings up to a certain number, as someone pointed out. And it was when Ebay changed their policy to allow relistings for free that we began to see the insane prices that were double or triple MSRP.

Most of the items I see for insane prices are long out of stock items, many of them Athearn RTR items; I check regularly and have managed to find many of those items for much better prices by patiently checking and waiting. For example, people have been listing 5-packs of certain coal gondola’s for $159; they MRSP’d for $89 when first on the market - so pretty high. I picked up a set of the same ones for $85 recently to fill out a train of those coal gons.

The above case is one of those examples of where your price threshold can creep up; back when those coal gons came out, I found them at street prices of ~ $60 for the 5-pack (MSRP $89.98). In fact I bought four 5-packs of them when first on the market. At that time I wouldn’t have paid more than maybe $70 per 5-pack but 10 years later they are pretty hard to find and with the overall increase of RTR products, $85 was something I considered a decent price now.

New runs of those gons are now priced at $79.98 and they have been reduced from 5-pack to 3-pack. Do the math it comes out to $133 for 5 of those cars (MSRP). So $85 for a 5-pack on Ebay was by todays standards a decent price. Other certain Athearn RTR items (it does matte

25

Yea, I saw certain discontinued Walthers passenger cars going for $160 when others were selling the exact same ones/same condition for $60-80. So it wasn’t like there were only one or two available.

It’s no skin off my back. Folks can pay whatever and to whomever they wish. I just wait patiently for a right & fair price and buy or bid on an item within that price window. And sometimes I’ve skipped eBay altogether because I found a better deal from an online vendor.

Tom

26

It can cost as much as $14.95 to ship a locomotive if it is well packed and sent to a distant location.

Rich

27

Ebay is not necessarily the culprit here.

I have passed by many a table at train shows where a vendor has an array of Tyco, Model Power, AHM and other “train set” variety items for sale at what most of us would consider “outrageous” prices.

I recall stopping by one of these tables once and the seller had the tiny white tags on a string like a jewelery store would use hanging from every item. Curious, I picked up an AHM “C-liner” lettered for Corky’s Railway. The tag only had a number on it. This was years before anybody had even heard the word Ebay.

Seeing my “interest” he seller then pulled out a 3-ring binder and looked up the “market price” of that fine specimen. He had every piece of stock inventoried, graded and priced accordingly. I thought I was at Tiffany’s or a Sotheby’s auction. Truly, this stuff came right out of a junk box with parts missing and definite signs of careless handling.

Again, these are just marketing strategies that these particular sellers prefer to use. They must have at least some success at it.

Regards, Ed

28

Thats the good thing about competition. I was listening to the radio and come pharmaceutical company marked up the cost of Epipens for 400% and it’s causing a lot of consternation. There simply need to be another produce them at the previously normal profitable price and the other company will be out in the cold. Same for Ebay. Of course the reason why some of these items are at insane prices is generally, they are hard to find.

The key is patience and it’s usually a matter of watching carefully and in a matter of weeks, sometimes months, the same item(s) will show up at much more reasonable prices. I don’t really think there are that many people who are that impatient t

29

Not really. I shipped two Athearn CF7s from Ohio to Georgia for $6.95 and the Priority box was packed to the limit with shipping peanuts.Those engines arrived safe…I probably used 25 cents worth of shipping peanuts. The box was free and while I was out for breakfast I swung by the post office since it was on the way to the restaurant.I could have done all that at home and scheduled a pickup by my carrier.

30

To Georgia is one thing. Indiana to California is a minimum 12 bucks Priority, no matter what size parcel. (unless the small flat rate stuff)

31

Agreed. I have sold used HO scale locomotives on eBay, and I do all in my power to keep shipping charges low in an effort to sell such items. But there are plenty of times when the USPS shipping charges exceed $12.

Rich

32

A while back I thought it would be fun to assemble a ‘chocolate train’; a whole bunch of Hershey tankers & maybe a few reefers. Well, now it’s got a Sara Lee reefer, a couple of ice cream companies…anyway, while looking for the tankers, I found four within a day or so, Model Power units, all under $20.
So I was gobsmacked to find a seller touting the Model Power as ‘rare’, and asking $69.95! And there was another, at $39.95 o.b.o. I offered $15 and got a haughty reply saying I didn’t know how rare these are. Yeah, right…
But with a shipping price around $20 & the total subject to the current exchange of 31%, I’m afraid I won’t be ordering a lot through eBay for a while to come…

33

Certain prospectors seem to view their gems as “rare” or “vintage”; much overused and abused terms on places like eBay these days. Some gems aren’t quite as rare as some claim them to be; nor are they worth the exorbinant profit of the asking price.

Again, to each is own - i.e. those willing to ask what they ask for an item…and those willing to pay for that asking price. [:|]

Tom

34

I find the flat rate works quite well for my shipping needs and I will never pay shipping charges that exceed $12 (unless it a large shipment) since there is cheaper

35

what no operating M & M car? I bought the mine on Ebay $50 same price as MTH wants.

36

Larry, you can give all of the examples that you want about shipping charges, but that doesn’t mean that guys can go on eBay and sell their used items with shipping charges under $12.00.

You are using examples of new items where you can comparison shop for the lowest combined amount for purchase price plus shipping. But, when it comes to used items, eBay listings are a whole different matter.

First of all, if you see a used item that you like, say a used Athearn Genesis Santa Fe F7AB consist, it may be the only one up for auction. You like the price, but shipping is $13.00. Are you going to pass it up?

Second of all, shipping charges can easily exceed $12.00 based upon the destination and the size of the package.

If you go on the USPS website, there is a Postage Price Calculator. A medium flat rate box costs $13.45, and most locos won’t even fit in a medium flat rate box. So, now, look at the large flat rate box in which most locos will fit, and it costs $18.75.

So, what most of us do is to avoid flat rate shipping in favor of actual cost based upon destination and size of box. In my experience, the actual shipping charge will range between approximately $6.00 and $15.00, depending u

37

Sometimes you need to ask, many really charge only the real shipping amount and refund the rest, some sellers just use the standard in their add and have no idea how to change it.

38

Recently I purchased a Con-Cor Aerotrain set that also included a 3-car add-on set. The seller lived in NZ so shipping was a bit pricier than the standard USPS shipping. When I checked one of the international shipping companies to see whether I was being overcharged, the US shipping cost from NZ given by the seller was spot on. Sometimes the size of a shipped item does dictate how much you pay in shipping costs.

Tom

39

Like I suspect many other Ebay sellers do, I only charge the buyer exactly what the USPS charges me (not counting any other charges for materials, printing, etc). Some folks now complain of gouging, because the rate at the USPS counter is more than if you print it out at home (if your printer isn’t broken; ours died). The difference may only be 50 cents or so, but still they complain or mark you down on the 1 to 5 rating scale.

Who pays for the printer when they don’t last very long (less than a year) without failure?

The buyers forget that bubble wrap costs money, and the packing tape costs money. It is not free, and at my USPS if you think you are going to use their packing tape, they complain and suggest you buy some! Those are hidden charges that many sellers just simply eat. Not all of us have a big bag of styrofoam peanuts in the basement, and some models actually need better protection afforded by bubble wrap.

Finally, Ebay in their sheer greed now takes the selling fee out of the shipping too, so you can never break even on shipping cost. If you inflate it at all, the would-be buyers complain you are gouging them.

I routinely understate weights just a bit so as not to overcharge buyers; they get a bit ticked off if you refund any shipping overcharge to them, too. They expect you to get it right, which is nearly impossible to guess at home.

Even when I get the shipping charge perfect, invariably the buyers complain about the USPS rates, as if somehow I had any control at all over the rates.

Now there’s a nearly $10 “fragile” charge, and any insurance adds a great deal to the charges as well. It is best to roll the dice and hope the package doesn’t get lost or damaged, because it saves a lot of money. If there is a claim, they will come up with every reason in the book not to pay it at all, saying you packe

40

Generally, unless you are shipping bricks or lead ingots, the Post Office flat rate is a rip off! 90% of the time, if I am sending something Priority Mail, unless it is small and HEAVY, shipping by the pound is generally cheaper than flat rate. Most HO engines will weigh 2 pounds or less packed. I can wrap and pack 2 40’ HO freight cars in a new box and have them weigh 13 ounces or less, allowing them to go 1st class parcel for around 4 bucks.