I can't see $50.00 for this let alone over $100.00
http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-LIONEL-027-GAUGE-TRACK-and-TRANSFORMER-Clean-/110627282415?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item19c1e65def
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
RT, I believe there is a shill pushing up the price. Notice the number of items bought by the highest bidder.
Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum.
Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..
Jelloway Creek, OH - ELV 1,100 - Home of the Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash RR
TCA 09-64284
671 ?
Buckeye Riveter RT, I believe there is a shill pushing up the price. Notice the number of items bought by the highest bidder.
The items are from unique sellers, though. The last bids were placed hours before the end of the auction... AND... it takes TWO bidders to run an auction up like this. There is no coercion or strong-arm tactic indicated.
Shill bidding on eBay simply does not have any impact on intelligent bidders and ultimately becomes quite expensive for the seller. The two high bidders were nibbling at each other, that's all.
I looked at the auction carefully. I don't see anything rare or unusual in this lot. The track, & transformer, date from 1971-1972.
Rob
Uneducated bidders.People often pay stupid money for Lionel trains this time of year.Things should return to normal in a couple of weeks.
I have done a fair amount of both selling and buying on eBay, and I agree with others that there is really no appearance of shilling here.
Sometimes, when a buyer wants something bad enough, he will bid it up to get it.
Last winter, i shopped eBay for an identical American Flyer diesel to the one that I have owned since I was a kid. My original shell was missing the rear steps, thanks to my younger brother who "inherited" my trains after I left home and got married. Years later, when I pulled the set out of storage, I was determined to find a duplicate engine so I could scavenge parts from the shell. When I saw what I wanted on eBay, I simply had to have it. My competition should no chance.
Same thing happened a few years before. My wife and I had a very nice set of Ethan Allen computer desks and file cabinets but that particular line was no longer in production. We wanted a corner desk to fill a space in the corner of our den. An Ethan Allen corner desk from that original line showed up on eBay. It was used but in perfect condition, so our first bid included a silent reserve equal to the original MSRP. We got the desk as the competition withered away under the pressure of our relentless silent reserve.
I see that kind of stuff all the time on eBay. A determined buyer will usually get what he wants. Bargain shoppers rarely succeed.
Rich
Alton Junction
richhotrain so our first bid included a silent reserve equal to the original MSRP. We got the desk as the competition withered away under the pressure of our relentless silent reserve... Rich
so our first bid included a silent reserve equal to the original MSRP. We got the desk as the competition withered away under the pressure of our relentless silent reserve...
There is no "silent reserve" on eBay, do you mean "proxy bid"?
Rob: I, too, looked at the bidding and I think you are correct. Usually, I see a rapid firing of bids just before the auction ends (not the case here). The winner probably shot a bid (we will never know how much) because he really wanted the item. Serious bidders most often have an amount that they are willing to spend. They place their bid (or set their computer program for that amount) and sit back and watch. Exciting to watch and frustrating also, especially when that "computer program" outbids you with 2-3 seconds left.
traindaddy1 ...especially when that "computer program" outbids you with 2-3 seconds left.
...especially when that "computer program" outbids you with 2-3 seconds left.
There's not really a "program" involved. It's just someone placing a VERY late maximum proxy bid. It can be done in several different ways, including but not limited to sitting at the keyboard, or hiring an outside contractor(to place the bid for you if you are asleep, fishing, or otherwise away from the internet).
Rob: I was thinking of www.auctionsniper.com , a site I recently read about. (Anyway, I still use the old fashioned way and try my luck.) Have a great New Year!
traindaddy1 Rob: I was thinking of www.auctionsniper.com , ...
Rob: I was thinking of www.auctionsniper.com , ...
I use this outside contractor(service) exclusively for eBay bidding(it places a very late maximum proxy bid for you). I've been very successful. Eliminates bidding wars and nibbling, exposure to possible shills, and no one has early access to my expert valuation of a particular item as they do not know I'm even interested until it's to late to react.
If I'm outbid, they paid too much(from my perspective, anyway, which is all that matters!).
Let's say your spouse is a doll collector with a large and valuable collection. It doesn't have to be dolls. It could be salt and pepper shakers, guns, knitting needles or whatever. As long as it's something you personally have little to no interest in collecting.
If your spouse dies before you do, will you do the research required to get fair market value for the items they collected?
I'd guess that greater than 95% of us would say no, they wouldn't do that kind of time consuming research. They would price an item based on what they think they could get for it. Some would look-up the items in collector's guides and they'd use the prices listed there as their starting point. (Don't you know that every locomotive and car is in mint condition and is as rare as Etruscan Snoods? LOL) Others would seek out a buyer to take the entire collection off their hands for one lump sum. Some would give the stuff away to family, friends or charities. Most of us however, would sell the items on Ebay or at garage sales to liquidate the assets as rapidly as possible. Why? Maybe there's a lot of sentiment attached to the collection and you just can't bear looking at it. Who knows.
But that's what a lot of people do. They see something they have in a book or on TV and figure it must be the rarest piece in the world. Why? Because they're not looking in the right places for their information. For $100 I'd bet that any one of us could walk away with O27 track by the raw ton if we set out to do it. But that's because we know, we're experienced, we have the books, we read, we talk. In short, we learned. If you think back to when you entered the hobby, you probably paid WAY too much for at least the first couple of purchases. I know I did. But now I know better. I don't consider any purchase I made in my entire history of collecting to be a bad one though. Because even if I (probably) paid too much, it helped me learn that lesson.
The lesson Ebay teaches me is that if I don't want my collection selling for pennies on the dollar after I'm gone, I should do something about it while I'm alive. All of us should have some sort of inventory list and we should tell those who will be selling our collections post mortem where to find it and how to use it. I know that's a bit of a downer during the holiday season and all, but reality is what it is.
Many of you have probably discovered this already for yourselves, so it may not be news. But for those who don't know, at least 40% of the items up for sale on Ebay are listed in the wrong categories. And if you know where to look, you can do quite well as a buyer. The majority of my pre-war collection came from Ebay transactions of 20 dollars or less including shipping. I also have an AF 300AC with 6 cars behind it that came my way for less than 30 because it was listed in the wrong place. If everybody knew what they were doing, I wouldn't have most of my trains.
Becky
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
ADCX Rob The track, & transformer, date from 1971-1972. Rob
The track, & transformer, date from 1971-1972.
Didn't the browne tie track start in '86-'87? making this not so "vintage"
The track in the auction has the lithographed brown/black faux wood-grain ties introduced by MPC in 1970. The solid brown ties started in the early 70's after these.
Interesting. I didn't know about the lithographed ties.
Hi Becky: Just a quick note about the wrong category. Sometimes, when using E-Bay, I title the item correctly but use the "collectible" category instead of the "toys" category. This allows me to post more pictures (free). So far, so good! Have a great New Year.
Oh, I know. But as a buyer, if you know the wrong places to look, you can find items that people who only look in the labeled categories don't go. In those corners of the net, items often sell for their starting prices without any bidding competition at all. And you can enlarge your collection substantially at a far lower cost if you're both patient and dilligent. Think of it as spotting the 6014 box car on a table with the sewing supplies at a garage sale , while the 2036 it came with is accross the way with the rest of the set.
So if you look at the wrong tables....surprises present themselves!
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