Ebay

[AggroJones]

Please help. I'm a little confused here. I check out BLI locomotives selling on Ebay, and I find some are being sold for less than wholesale. How can this be? Some of these sellers reserves are less than the lowest price I can find anywhere. Like I saw some BLI AC-4/5s going for less than $390 from people who weren't from an online store or shop. These were just regular sellers. Where could they have bought it cheap enough to sell it for that low and make a profit? This seems a little strange. How can they sell it so low?

Have any of you bought new locomotives for unusually cheap off Ebay? If so, were there any problems? If not, would you purchase one?

[Anonymous]

aggro,

I bought a NIB Bachman 2-8-0 off of Ebay fo $50.00. Ran poorly and I was able to return it. Got another that runs great. The guy went out of his way to make me happy. He was a dealer, not an individual seller. Bought a NIB Doodlebug that sounds like a coffee grinder when it runs for $20.00, did not return it. I also bought a 2-8-0 at my LHS. Price $85.00. However the first one we pulled from the shelf was defective. Didn't buy that one. Got another and was able to see it run well before purchase. That is the advantage and why you pay more at the LHS.

I have mixed feelings about buying locomotives off of Ebay because they can be bad new out of the box. I would e-mail the seller and ask about returns before bidding. If they will take a return and the feedback is good, I say why not. I'm sure I will be buying another loco on Ebay at some point.

I think the BLI sellers you are seeing on Ebay are dealers who are making maybe 10% on the sale of the cab forwards. Check the number of feedbacks, most who are over a few hundred are dealers.

My best finds on Ebay are new freight car kits, structure kits and track. I have scored on lots of stuff for very cheap. P2K stock car kits $4.00 ea, P2k tank kits $4.00 each and lots of other things.

Guy

[Anonymous]

As you know by now I'm a warranty-warranty warranty nut. What's my recourse if it fails out of the box? Is it really new, never been run? Is it part of a lemon run? I want the facts going in.
Some of these sellers don't know the warranty conditions. I'm not comfortable buying locos
off e-bay. Too chancy for this old fart.

[Eriediamond]

[#ditto][#ditto] I'm kind of shy about buying from on-line auctions. I will admitt I have seen some great deals as a couple of club members have used it. I guess you could put me in the same catagory as locomotive3 (old what???)[(-D][(-D][(-D] I like to see what I'm buying and I'm just not comfortable buying on the internet. Purchase of locomotives to me is like buying a car, if I can't test drive it, I won't buy it.

[orsonroy]

Personally, I haven't bought an engine NOT off the internet in over two years. Brick & Mortar stores absolutely can't compete with the prices you can find online. I've bought over 50 engines in the past two years, and the only lemon was an old Mantua 2-8-2 (which was destined for the parts bin anyway, so it was no big deal).

Buying online is a fact of life these days. So long as you take normal precautions, you won't be a victim of a "virtual mugging", lose your identity, or be saddled with nothing but used junk bought as new.

And the reason you see new models on Ebay for less than wholesale is because what you THINK is wholesale really isn't. Volume buyers get bigger discounts than small buyers. There are lots of masked sellers out there that are really manufacturers and large distributors, selling on Ebay to quickly dump any inventory they have left from initial orders. Remember, no inventory means no profit loss through stocking!

[Anonymous]

I buy a lot of "dead" locos off e-bay. so running ability is almost a non issiue because I know that this loco I paid $1.50 for, (After you average out the price) has one truck sitting in the dead line. I then go to the task of rebuilding and repainting and can get a P-2K like Running locomotive for $30.00 and a few hours time investment.

James

[Anonymous]

Hey All!!

I sell on ebay and I also buy on ebay.....have not had any complaints and all of my stuff is brand new if not otherwise posted.....my username on ebay is computersandmorepa I will be happy to tell you anything you want about any of my items I sell my point is to make the buyer happy.. I am one you can trust....besides I like to get to know the buyers who bid on my stuff and usually if I get to know them better... I send them deals outside of the auctions. Ebay is a tool for me to get to know users and getting to know what they are interested in.. helps me to be a better LHS online and offline since to many are biting the dust as it is. So do not be shy ask me questions and let me know what you are interested in and I will do my best to bring you the product you are seeking!!

[Anonymous]

Got any general junked train cars or locomotives in HO scale?

Willing to negotiate a fair price.

James

[Anonymous]

Hey Greyhound,

email me at [e-mail] with your email address msn, aol im and we can discuss outside of this forum......i have some junk stuff, i have stuff of personal use i want to get rid of....i will take some digital shots of some stuff i have and email you the pics so you can see for yourself.

[dharmon]

I would say that over the next few months, there will be quite a few items from the the Athearn garage sale a couple of weeks ago. There was everything there from excellent items to stuff that had minor damage to stuff that didn't run. So.... as much as I like Athearn, I'd be wary of Athearn stuff from So Cal for a little while off Ebay. Athearn I trust...but the army of swap meet dealers and pro Ebayer's grabbing boxes and boxes of stuff, I don't. I mean, buying it there, it was very clear that everything was "as is" and they didn't want to see it again, so many items were without boxes. But like anything else on Ebay...buyer beware!

That being said.....I have had more good experiences than bad on Ebay. But I also new what I was willing to pay and "lose" if it didn't turn out well.

[ndbprr]

Don't forget one other thing. The dealers have to play the same game we do as far as ordering limited runs. So a dealer based on his experience and advance orders of say ten engines opts for fifteen figuring there is a larger market than just those who placed the reservations. When he gets his fifteen ten are snapped up by the people with reservations and three more are impulse sold in the shop. What doe he do with the other two? Not being an individual of unlimited means he dumps them on EBay or has a store sale so he can invest his capital in something that will sell after determining that they will be in inventory for a long time. He also has to account for inventory value when his taxesare due so selling it 15% or even 50% below cost could be a break even situation for him when all is said and done.

[Anonymous]

I've been buying and selling on ebay for a number of years and for the most part have always had good luck. I've never found an unreasonable seller. All are willing to do the right thing and make things right. I personally think this has to do more with model railroaders being decent people as opposed to luck. You have picture ebay as a swap meet, you get what you pay for. As is usually means some work is going to be involved on your part. Like some of the other people in this post, that can be half the fun. Buy a nice looking engine that doesn't run for $20, and make it run for additional $5. I always look for the diamonds in the rough!

And I agree, most power sellers with feedback of 300 or more are dumping old dealer stock which usually is new in the box. I personally think ebay is a good way to go to save a lot of money.

[Anonymous]

Deals on Ebay are getting fewer and further between in the N scale department.HO may be differant but N has become a virtual retail paradise for dealers.95% of the time i can buy from an online shop(non ebay) for 10-15% less minimum day in and day out.There is the rare deal still to be found but the investment in time trying to find it outweighs the little benefit.

I hope the HO people here are having an easier time of it .Also, the N scalers out there need to educate themselves before automatically logging on to ebay as to online specials etc before bidding on items beyond current and reasonable values.

A classic example of this would be:
Bachmanns maintenance building that retailed for about 15 bucks.is selling on ebay now for about 10 bucks and 3 months ago model expo closed them out at 2 bucks(they had around 400 of them)
Classic Metal Works 2 packs were also 2 bucks.If you missed it, you musta been searching ebay!!!
Check the online shops for deals before ebay and you will be surprised.If enough do this for awhile,prices are sure to improve in the ebay realm.

[MAbruce]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Tileguy


A classic example of this would be:
Bachmanns maintenance building that retailed for about 15 bucks.is selling on ebay now for about 10 bucks and 3 months ago model expo closed them out at 2 bucks(they had around 400 of them)

I remember those. I was also waiting to see the LL UP GP20's they sold as low as $17 start appearing on eBay - but they never really did. I guess those who bought them up (like me) are actually running them. [:O][(-D]

But maybe it's still too early to make the call on that one? [}:)]

[cwclark]

I don't buy stuff from e-bay but my dad does..he models in G gauge and it is a good place to get deals when it comes to high priced LGB stuff...so far he has purchased about 40 pieces of rolling stock and 4 locomotives from e-bay and only one locomotive has been below standards...(the thing fell apart right out of the box and needed lots of paint)...i would say you take a chance on e-bay but the risk is not that great ...for all the good he has recieved from e-bay deals the bad doesn't compare to it....Chuck

[genelbradleyjr]

I am new to ebay in say the last three months. I have almost become addicted, and have probably had very good beginners LUCK!!! I have 7 or 8 locos that I bid on all of them P2k E-units and 1 Athearn sd-9. The only problems I have had was 1 unit, the very first one rec. damage recieved during shipment because it was shipped assembled. and I always get insurance. But the damage was so minor it actually turned into some fun shop time for me. I look for new in box locos......I don't know about the others but the P2k's do not ship well assembled. If a seller has assembled the unit to take the picture, I email him/her and ask are they willing to disassemble and re-pack before shipping, else I don't bid. I always check the sellers feedback rating, I don't do this but I heard another forum member say when this topic came up before and I am quoting/paraphrasing here "so as not to get caught up in the emotion of it all, you as a buyer have to set your price and walk away, (don't forget to add shipping and insurance...i.e. a $50 deal could turn into $70 real quick!!!) Don't even watch the auction in the final hours or minutes". You also have to know your stuff. I've steered clear of many items I might would have wanted either because of a crappy picture, poor display angle(s), misrepresentation of an item and some of this is unintentional because some of the sellers are general auctioneers or estate sellers and have no idea of what they really have. Bottom line for me, ebay is just a tool, but as with any tool you have to use it to your advantage.

[Chompers]

I have have some luck on ebay. i won a Bachman Spectrum Mogul brand new never ben oppened for $200. i thing it was a good deal. but each and every item i bid on i am outsold, one i bid on some brio bridges for my brother at the last 30 sec. i was out bid. the next morning i received a rebid thing for the bridges. the person out bid me then cansaled there bid HOW RUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 [:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][banghead][banghead][}:)][}:)][|(][tdn][tdn][tdn][yeah][yeah][yeah][yeah]

i got one good deal, but i have no luck on ebay.