Just bought a Southern Railway Pacific on ebay. The following is a discription of the Model.
PFM Southern Rlwy 4-6-2 Ps-4 Steam engine Mint HO Brass
You are perusing Pacific Fast Mail Models, Southern Railroad, Pacific Class Ps-4, 4-6-2 steam engine. This HO brass scale model is Minty in its original box. The original foam is very good. Engine has been test ran on track, not just with alligator clips. Still needs a good tweaking and breaking in of course. The model does come with a decal set. If you need more pic’s, please email me at XXXXXXXX and I will get them out to you. Winning bidder will pay $10.95 for priority mail service. Insurance is your option. I am not responsible for shipment after being posted, got it. For shipments outside of the United States the shipping costs will be USPS quoted amount, plus $2.00 handling. NO PAYPAL, I process all major credit cards at my location. All forms of commercial paper are also accepted. I have been in business full time for 22 years. Any questions about this engine or any of the other pieces I am offering this week, please email me at XXXXXXXXXXX during the business hours of 10am and 6pm CST. Thank you
I recieved it in the Mail Today but… It’s missing the Headlight. I have sent an e-mail to the seller asking if it had fallen off during packing but if it comes back as “Sold as Advertised” then I ask the question. If it was advertised as “Minty” or in “Mint Condition” as there is no disclosure of missing parts, is this false advertising or misrepresentation? Or should I have asked for additional info?
There were 2 Photos on the e-bay one of the box and one of the loco in the Box lying in the foam. It looked good as it sat and It is hard to tell if a Headlamp is there from the angle of the photo.
I would ask him if there was a headlamp on the engine before he mailed it. If he says no, then theres no need to leave bad feedback. If he says yes, I would look in the box, or ask him if it fel off before he mailed it.
If he doesn’t respond I wouldn’t leave feedback at all. I have done that several times. Ebay has something to the good sellers that if you leave a neg, or a neutral it doesn’t show up on there feedback. I think thats crap.
Also I don’t understand why someone only takes 2 photos. One of the box and one of the car. I see alot of that in the weathering section of Ebay. I take at least 10 or more.
Caveat Emptor. Unfortunately some sellers don’t treat buyers in the same way that they would want to be treated if in fact that is the case here. Communication is the best solution here and hopefully you’ll get a positive response to your inquiry.
I’m less likely to bid on a model with inadequate pictures. You should have taken up the seller’s offer to provide additional photos on request. [#oops] My hindsight is perfect. [swg]
It seems to me the seller misrepresented the product if he sent it to you without the headlight installed. Mint means no imperfections.
Regardless, the missing headlight on a brass, unpainted model is no major deal since a replacement can probably be obtained and installed without difficulty. Hope the rest of the model is in good shape and it is a good runner. If so and you paid substantially less than $400 for it, you have my permission to be a bit disappointed but not to feel too bad about this.
It’s a FLEA MARKET - without the privelege of inspection. You’re buying from an individual with a phony name and no address. You should expect to get ‘flea-bites’, and it’s between you and the indevidual seller. Caveat Emptor indeed.
Would you buy a used car sight unseen? The only leverege you have is IF the Sellers description is not met. One’s interpretation doesn’t count. “Minty” implies like new.
Ebay can threaten cancellation of future ‘space’ rental, and offer arbitration, and that’s about all. Contact the seller and see what he’ll do - such as modify the price. What is a headlight worth?
SOME Ebay sellers are business-like, some are not. SOME buyers are cautious, some are not. Ebay attracts BOTH. Your best leverage is what the seller is willing to do to avoid a delisting. The picture doesn’t show a headlight.
If you give him an unfavorable revue, he’ll deny. & you’ll get the same, back. Another thing: If you buy an item from an ‘unauthorized’ source, any warranty can become null & void.
SUMMATION: You bought his product via Ebay and your not happy because _____________. (2) what you want is _________________. (No threats). Offer / counter offer. The first thing Ebay will ask is ‘DID YOU CONTACT THE SELLER?’
I can see the seller advertising it as MINT if that’s how he got it. Maybe he never had it with a headlight. He does offer more pictures if you want them in his discription, which to me, like all items on eBay, puts it into the buyer beware factor.
Me, I’d give him positive feedback as long as he shipped it in a timely manner. It’s not like it’s missing the tender. Besides, you might want to give the guy a chance to respond first.
I look at stuff at ebay, no matter the description, as being as is, and I buy it there only if it’s really cheap, or i simply cannot find it elsewhere (which is often the case). Therefore when it arrives less than perfect, I’m still happy that I have something that I couldn’t get otherwise.
Hope you got a good deal on it! I’ts nice looking for sure.
He offers more pictures and information on that (or any other) piece upon request.
You could have asked for more pictures and asked what “minty” means. “minty” to me, (unless that’s some ebay-speak I don’t know), does not signify nor imply to me that it is “MINT condition”. “Minty” sounds like a sneaky way to mention “Mint” but not declare it. “still needs a good tweaking” is also suspect to me. No decent new item should need “tweaking”, really. Breaking in is, however, a necessary evil in our hobby for locos. THAT seems reasonable.
Not to chastise you particularly, but to warn everyone: ebay IS, as mentioned above, a “flea market”. Everyone is trying to get the best price for stuff (junk??) they don’t want, and will pawn it off on whomever they can sucker into buying it anyway they can. This may mean conveniently leaving out details.
Even “brand new sealed in box” does not guarantee “mint condition” or that it will work right if the box has been banged around, or that the seller will provide any warrantee on it.
I would, however rate it as a misrepresentation, that should have declared “parts missing”.
Many have slang names for e-bay. I call it “e-slay”, because buyers often get "slayed" in the process.
Nice looking engine, what year was it made??? The postage is right on, people shipping to Canada are charging $25-$35 by USPS. Probably the headlight you put on is the correct one anyway.
I like the way that you think. Ask anybody on the street to define “minty” outside of this context. Did he drop an Altoid in the box? Sounds like a GREAT “CYA” word.
Everyones dumping on ebay, I’ve had great success with sellers, even to the extent they will ship extra “stuff” with the original order. the only problem I have is shipping to Canada, sellers go to the USPS and the staff give them the most expensive rate, you can find the exact rate on USPS site. It’s too bad a few jerks spoil a perfect system for trading, it’s pretty obvious some sellers have no business experience, or ethics, or practice, " the customer is always the one withthe money"
The only things I buy on ebay are with “PAPAL”- that way your protected. Next time if you do buy on ebay use paypal you can get a refund much more easily,if you have an issue ebay will try and rectify the situation rather than dealing with a john doe.
I wouldnt return the engine just because of the headlight. Search out some proto photos and find the best replacement. Of course check around the box for a loose headlight. Even ask the seller if there might be a headlight laying about that he doesnt know about.
I am still kicking my rear for not buying a 4-12-2 at a train show for 50 bucks, just because some siderod gear was missing, I know now I could fix that.
Missing headlight is a simple problem/solution. The issue most likely is that headlight was made by the brass maker, but headlights were often standard items purchased from headlight makers, the railroad might mod them a bit to their needs, or the loco builder suits to the railroad’s request.
I recieved an e-mail from the seller this evening saying he was not aware of the missing part and that he would take a look for it. Fair is fair and one of the reasons why I excluded his name from the post. Regardless a new part has been ordered “just in case” and if I don’t need it here I will have it for something else.
The reason I posted this thread is I am fairly new in the game when it comes to purchasing brass on e-bay and was hoping I would get some insight from the more experienced e-bayers, which I have and thank you.
Here is the “new baby” and as you can see it is overall in good condition. And yes the price was right.
I could go on but I won’t. As far as “Buyer beware” if we believe that then what’s the point of laws and regulations.
As to “minty”… regardless the The Headline Banner said “Mint” and has been said “Mint” means Flawless, No ands, ifs or buts!
The fact that the seller had acess to a layout to test it shows that he or whosever llayout knows a good bit about locomotives and should have known it should have had a head light. The descripition and with the use of the word “minty” would justifyably lead one to have thought it was perfect. In my opinion the seller deliberately missled you. I would say however that using minty instead of mint would have caught my attention. Like others have said, don’t blame eBay blame the seller. I’d leave no feedback because a negative one will probably earn you one in retaliation.
I don’t know, the seller could have made an honest mistake - we all make mistakes. Let the guy try to make it right at least. What is his previous feedback? There are a lot of good sellers on ebay. I personally will rarely buy anything from people with little feedback. The guys that have hundreds of transactions with virtually complete positives shouldn’t be a concern. I was ripped off on ebay once about 7 years ago. It was only $35 - the guy had good feedback and then sold a bunch of items all at once and said he was moving so the shipments would be delayed - the whole lot of us never got them and never heard from him again, but ebay could do nothing - not even PayPal at the time. That guy was obviously dishonest, but I’ll bet the guy you bought this from believed it was mint. These things happen.
Is the seller a modeler or hobby shop owner? It sounds like he doesn’t know his mint from a hole in the ground, and may not have realized that the model was supposed to have a headlight.
I had a woman bring a brass locomotive to me one day trying to sell it. According to her, it had been purchased by her father when he was in Japan shortly after WW2. The solder used on it was so poor that it was falling apart and would have had to be completely reassembled, but she thought it was in perfect condition.
I’ve had very good luck on EBay but I only buy from sellers with very high ratings and I’ve only purchased a couple of new in the box locomotives and a crossing gate. All showed up quickly and were brand new. I won’t buy anything used on Ebay.
We can tell you’re a ‘newbie’. Re: Laws, etc. If you watch any’Small Claims’ shows you’ll realize that anything bought used from private party is AS IS, and Ebay is reputed to have a 40% dissatisfied customer base.
The only exemption is if you file a claim & can prove intentional fraud. Check Cal-Scale for a brass headlight, and go from there. Read 'em & weep.
