First, I’ve got to say that buying a Walthers Catalog does pay off!
I was browsing Ebay for Walthers Cornerstone series buildings and DPM kits.
I ran across what appeared to be “Sweet Deals” as there’s a bunch of these Walthers buildings up for bid. One of them was listed as follows:
“Robert’s Dry Goods” by DPM. HO scale. Save over 20%!. It showed a “Buy it Now” price of $11.95. Shipping is a $1.50. Seemed like a good deal for an attractive bulding that fits in my modeling era.
Just before I clicked on it to buy it, I got the feeling that I should check my 2005 Walthers Catalog. I do and guess what I see! The same building on page 525 for $10.98! Same story with all the other buildings…cheaper in the catalog! So much for the “so-called” 20% in savings! The sharks do swim in Ebay’s waters with a smile, indeed!
I’m amazed that as much as I preach “caution” and yet I almost got taken by what appeared to be a deal that was dirt cheap! This is clearly a case where supporting my LHS is the thing to do. My LHS sells at the catalog price, and sometimes even lower! No shipping charges either!
Guys, I’ve purchased items on Ebay for low prices and have been quite satisfied ovearall. I also overpaid on two occasions. But, be careful and do your research when bidding on items, cheap or expensive! Whether seasoned or Newbie, non of us are exempt from temptation on deals that “seem to be good” at the moment.
Antonio, I agree with the research part. It is a very rare day indeed when the “Buy it Now” price on an E-bay auction is a deal. There are a lot of retailers selling at list or close to list on e-bay these days and frankly, if I am going to pay street pricing the money is going into the pocket of my LHS not some faceless person on the internet.
Antonio, please be careful what you believe, the Walters catalogue is released once per year (I believe) and prices do not remain as stated throughout the industry, the DPM kits specifically have increased in price significantly recently, and although I agree with your sentiment of ‘beware and take caution’ also check around the other online vendors for pricing. The DPM kits I bought in Jan 04 for $9.33 are now selling pretty much everywhere for $12 - $14, an increase of 40ish%.
I dont know if Walther honor their catalogue price throughout the year but if they do they will certainly be one of the cheapest I have seen for DPM kits lately.
It seems that modelers in my area are fortunate in that my model railroad LHS, Happy Hobo Trains, honors the Walthers catalog prices till the arrival of the new catalog. There is another hobby shop that I visit that prices well above the Walthers prices.
Not that I’m a rich man, but if I see an item I want on ebay and trust the seller, I’ve been known to pay a few dollars more for it-especially if it’s rare-like the Kato Amtrak P-42 phase III set I recently bought.
I’ve gotten both good and bad deals in the three years I’ve been buying from ebay, and have finally learned the hard way to pay close attention to the sellers feedback and also to compare prices whenever possible.
If I can find the item I want at my LHS or a well-known, trusted internet dealer, I’ll buy it there first. I only get discontinued or out-of-production items from eBay.
I’ve never seen eBay as a place to get great deals.
Modelling, just like almost everything else, can be compared to crossing the street. If you don’t pay attention to what you are doing you will, sooner or later, get run over. And then you can sue someone.
My problem is trying to buy something at a reasonable price, only to have the seller using another name,keep bidding against you untill it not worth it anymore, and I have found it often better to drive to the nearest shop ( within reason of course) not only do you often have a nice trip, but he often has other stuff you want. yes on ebay you often see a one of akind item that worth having. bid a fair price, only to have someone keep bidding against you untill it’s not only not a good price it’s outrageous,and quite often it’s the seller.
eBay is no different than shopping any place else. You need to know what you are looking for and how much it is worth. Then you need to weigh in what it is worth for you to not have to get out of your chair to go shopping - I think that is where a lot of eBay sellers are able to get away with charging the extra buck or two - the convenience factor.
I’ve noticed that it seems to go in cycles. I’ll see pretty good closing prices on something I’m interested in, and then when I check at another date, the bids on similar items are way too high. I haven’t tried to chart the trends to see if it depends on the time of year or what. I wonder if it’s new folks who don’t know the value of something and overbid. After a while, they move on to something else and prices come back down. Who knows.
Recently I got a good deal on an Athearn Wreck crane and Rotary snowplow, both for 10.00. Then the seller turned around and charged me 15.00 for shipping and handling. I know packaging doesn’t cost that much and I’ve had simular items shipped to my house from the US for 5.00. Seems to me as though the seller felt he didn’t make enough on the sale so he decided to ‘pad’ the s&h for a little extra at my expense. I’ll always check the S&H before I bid now.
With so many excellent online hobby shops, I have never bothered to go to Ebay.
I’m just not willing to take the risk. Too many bad apples out there. But if you guys
know how to navigate through the shark infested waters, then have fun shopping!
[:)]
I’ve purchased a couple of things on ebay. Looking back on it, they weren’t great deals. No more!
I’ve had two occurences of identity theft on ebay, both requiring a considerable amount of time and aggravation to resolve, and with very little help from ebay. Those prople don’t care as long as the $$$ keep rolling in. There are plenty of on-line retail merchants who offer good products at discounted prices. Most have toll-free numbers and you can talk to a real person if there’s a problem. The peace of mind, and lower blood pressure, of doing it this way far out-weighs dealing with the possible, or should I say probable hassles of scouring the online auctions looking to save a couple of bucks. In all fairness, there are probably some honest sellers out there. I’m just not willing to waste my time trying to sort them out when I can buy for the same, or cheaper at a retailer… My two cents…
I would most likely not buy model railroad stuff on E-bay. I would like to see what I am buying. I do not mind paying list price, besides give sme a reason to visit the model railroad shop I go to.
I read your post very interestingly. The seller you saw has listed a bunch of DPM kits in the past at what I thought was very good prices (his shipping charges are pretty good - $1.50 for one - he used to be free shipping on DPM models). I noticed that his prices seemed to have increased. So I checked the Walthers catalog and yes you are right the price in it is 10.98 for the Roberts Dry Goods. I then checked out the Walthers web site. DPM Roberts Dry Goods is listed there for 14.98 on sale for 13.98. So if you include shipping the ebay guy is still cheaper. His price is also cheaper than Internettrains.com and Discounttrainsonline.com. I’m actually going to buy some MT Arms Hotels from the guy you looked at.
$23 for TWO powered Walthers FA’s? With the original $29.95 price tags still on each box.
$56 for a Stewart F7 A-B set?
$30 for a Proto2000 GP7?
I don’t go nuts, I have an idea beforehand of what items cost, and I won’t bid such that my bid total plus shipping exceeds what I know I could get the item for elsewhere, either at the LHS or a train show. To paraphrase the signs in many casinos - Bid with your head, not over it.