Yes, I looked at ebay last night and checked out a few items and I thought the prices were lower.
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Another company needs to take a large bite out of ebays dominance, otherwise they won’t be waking up any time soon.
I have delivered pizza for 13-1/2 years. My income starts to slow down somewhere between the 2nd week of january and the 2nd week of february.Thats when reality hits as people get their first post christmas credit card bills.
Yes, I have 3 MTH Steamers on there now, sold one, but can’t sell the other 3, and they are WAY underpriced! Reflection of the times & economy. Jake
As far as Pre War American Flyer goes I would agree with several observations already made. Unusual and uncommon items have been showing up. Just before Christmas there was a bonanza of items and they were going for relatively lower prices than I had ever seen. The drop in prices also coincided with the difficulties in the economy and the increased reporting in the media of the end of our culture as we know it. Lately I have noticed prices beginning to climb again, and the really unique items and the mint boxed items (which are difficult to find among toys that are 60 to 80 years old) held their own. I have been purchasing on ebay for about 10 years now, and before they hid the identities of buyers I knew who my competition was and who would outbid me regularly. You can still figure out bidding patterns and who your competition is. There are new buyers that have entered the American Flyer field and they are buying with a vengence. Prices dropped before Christmas and I am watching them steadily rise again.
This is a hobby for me. I only spend discretionary disposable income. One hard and fast rule that I follow for buying trains is never to spend money that I can’t afford to burn or give away. Second rule is not to be suckered into buying an item just because it shows up. Flyer trains were mass produced by the thousands and hundreds of thousands. If I miss an item at a price I want to pay I just sit and wait, another one shows up. High prices for one item draw more out, and eventually the demand is satisfied and the prices drop. For example: there is a 3-d viewer similar to Viewmaster called Tru-Vue. One of the slide strips has pictures of the American Flyer factory in Chicagoe in the early '30s. Its called Santa’s Workshop (For Boys) When I first saw it I was intrigued and had to have it. The first one I ever saw went for $450.00 - that was about 4 years ago. Needless to say I
[ Browsing through ebay at some different postwar Lionel trains and accessories, I have noticed that some prices of things have gone down considerably since last spring. I bought a pair of nice 022s last year for about $60, and now I see pairs just as good going for $40 or even $30. Some cars, like the milk cars, have gone down about $10 or $20 on average.
Is anybody noticing the same thing or am I forgetting the prices that trains used to be?]
It depends on what you’re looking for. Some of the high-end post-war stuff is still commanding pretty high prices and a lot of bidding activity. Also, take a look at some of the other auction sites, like Ambrose-Bauer, Stout, etc. There sure isn’t any recession as far as some of the bidders on those sites are concerned. I suggest when you’re looking at Ebay items, look very carefully and ask a lot of questions. I see some stuff that bidders are going crazy on, and just by looking at it, I know it isn’t worth anywhere near what is being bid. As someone in a previous thread so aptly put it, Ebay is a seller’s paradise, and there are a LOT of inexperienced people bidding on items that they think are valuable, just because the name LIONEL is on them.
I’ll have to buck the trend on this. I watch Ebay Lionel Postwar runner stuff all the time and I haven’t noticed any lowering of prices over the last couple of years.
I have noticed a change in the trainshows in the Detroit area this year compared to the last couple of years, more vendors and less buyers. The last 2 trainshows I attended since the new year announced it was their largest trainshow yet(number of vendors) but the aisles were not crowded with buyers. I haven’t noticed a lowering of prices though, most vendors were just sitting behind their stuff with the same old prices, wondering where all the buyers have gone.
Some of those same train show vendors will die with some or much of that same inventory. It will be up to their children/wives etcc. to then dispose of it. I wish they would lower prices and sell it on ebay or at a show now while if its good quality can be enjoyed in our lifetime.