I have a question for anyone kind enough to give their opinion on this subject.
I have recently found another 0-4-0 Dockside Switcher on eBay. The switcher is in excellent shape cosmetically. It's rating is C-8, like new in the box but did not have a lot other information on it.
I asked the seller if it ran in forward and reverse and in their opinion does it run smoothly. Their reply was "yes it does and in my opinion it runs smooth but I am not a train expert" I don't particularly care for the word "but" in someone's opinion confirming something.
This seller does not accept returns. Would you buy something you really wanted just based on hearsay? Or would you be a little bit leery as I am?
Do any of you have any experiences with this scenario, good or bad?
I would respect and appreciate your opinions and experiences with this helping me to make my decision.
Thanks
TF
You didn’t say the manufacturer, to me that could be the deal breaker. I would go for a Varney if it looked good cosmetically and the price was right whether it ran OK or not. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
If I were in your position I would ask myself how I would feel if I received the item and it didn't run at all. Basically just a paperweight. How would I feel about the value for what I spent?
The seller has already told you they know nothing about the item so ignore their description and instead research the product on model railroad specific sites. If the underlying product is solid then your risk is probably low assuming the product arrives.
In my opinion there are not that many reasons it wouldn't run:
1. Dirty wheels
2. Broken wire to motor
3. Poor contact - 0-4-0s are very light
5. Motor may need some lube
6 bad motor repace motor
Oops,
Mel, It's a Bachmann that I had when I was a kid. Same one and that particular Bachmann was a good runner. Different Bachman's varied in running quality back then.
I can get this thing for $27. It's almost too good to be true and from experience it usually is. I've been in three auctions for these things, one bid at 50 one at 60 and one at 80. I lost all 3 times, they are high in demand apparently.
I don't know, .. .I've spent $25 on a case of beer on Friday night and had nothing left Monday morning
I believe in rolling the dice but I've never believed in going against my gut. I haven't bought from a seller that doesn't accept returns before but she does have a good satisfied customer percent rating. I do realize I could end up with a $25 paperweight like the other poster said and that's the whole thing.
If you have the statement in writing, I asked the seller if it ran in forward and reverse and in their opinion does it run smoothly. Their reply was "yes it does and in my opinion it runs smooth but I am not a train expert" Ebay will cover the purchase if it won’t run.Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
TF, it is not so much whether seller accepts returns, it is all about whether the seller personally owned and operated the loco that he is selling, or is he selling a loco bought from a 3rd party.
Each year, around December through February, I unload used HO scale stuff on eBay, and I do not accept returns. However, as the original and sole owner, I can and do attest to the condition of the item being sold. In this particular case, I would be wary.
One other thing, I recently sold some of my used golf clubs on eBay and shipped each item the day of sale or the next day, via USPS Priority Mail. I sold 10 items and only 3 have been delivered, while the remaining 7 have not been delivered for 6 to 15 days since I dropped them off at my local post office.
Not only are they undelivered, there is minimal scanning to indicate where these packages are in the system. The USPS Priority Mail system is broken, and it has reached epidemic proportions across the country. So, if you buy this loco and it is shipped USPS, be prepared for a long wait.
Rich
Alton Junction
RR_Mel Ebay will cover the purchase if it won’t run.
Ebay will cover the purchase if it won’t run.
Well that just built some confidence Mel. I did save the email that it runs forward and reverse and that it runs smooth from the seller
I always wondered how the backed by eBay thing worked. I never had to go there.
Good point Rich
I have always had very good luck with sellers of their own train stock, ... Always!
But I do have a couple locomotives that run a little wanky from sellers of an estate. I haven't got to those to see what's wrong with them yet. And honestly I ain't very good at that either.
richhotrain One other thing, I recently sold some of my used golf clubs on eBay and shipped each item the day of sale or the next day, via USPS Priority Mail. I sold 10 items and only 3 have been delivered, while the remaining 7 have not been delivered for 6 to 15 days since I dropped them off at my local post office. Not only are they undelivered, there is minimal scanning to indicate where these packages are in the system. The USPS Priority Mail system is broken, and it has reached epidemic proportions across the country. So, if you buy this loco and it is shipped USPS, be prepared for a long wait. Rich
I agree with Rich.I have three items that cleared US Customs for over a month and they still haven’t arrived. 6000mi from China in three weeks and 200mi from the San Francisco Import facility. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
RR_Mel I have three items that cleared US Customs for over a month and they still haven’t arrived. 6000mi from China in three weeks and 200mi from the San Francisco Import facility.
I have three items that cleared US Customs for over a month and they still haven’t arrived. 6000mi from China in three weeks and 200mi from the San Francisco Import facility.
27 bucks?low risk...worse case you put in a new motor.
While not one for e-bay, it has a place, but not for buying locos (IMHO). Unless you can fix a loco should something happen, I avoid it. I'd prefer to spend more and get from an online place that stands by their product. Perhaps my negative sentiment of not buying something mechanical second-hand occured 20 years ago: when I bought a seven year-old used car. It was the last time I bought used and of that line.
Track fiddler RR_Mel Ebay will cover the purchase if it won’t run. Well that just built some confidence Mel. I did save the email that it runs forward and reverse and that it runs smooth from the seller I always wondered how the backed by eBay thing worked. I never had to go there. TF
I’ve challenged eBay sellers for false advertising and won every case. Lithium batteries are the worse. I send them a message telling them if the batteries don’t pass the current capacity test the batteries will be returned for full refund.One seller didn’t pack an Alps MD1000 printer good enough for shipping and it arrived broken, eBay covered it also. I even prepped the seller in how to pack it to prevent breakage. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
I just went to ebay and looked, it is shipped USPS. And I would have to agree with the both of you, mail service has been really slow. I sent two special offer postcards to MR in Texas a while back. I called customer service because I hadn't received the bill yet. They had just got the one but hadn't received the other. That was over two weeks. I still haven't received the bill and now it's been over three weeks.
Looks like I would be going to the mailbox over and over with all this anticipation and be like the little kid who's present Isn't under the Christmas tree
I'm leaning towards rolling the dice on this thing before someone else snatches it up. I hate when that happens!
Typing while you were posting
I only challenged a seller once on eBay and won myself Mel. I won a beer can tank car in an auction and the seller sent me the wrong one. He had a 100% customer satisfaction rating. He ended up sending me the right car, telling me to keep the other one and apologized for the inconvenience, ... That works. After my review he still has 100%.
I also educated a seller how to pack something for shipping. He used to put a small N scale car in a big box four times the size he needed. I told him his shipping was way too expensive and took a picture of a car wrapped in newspaper and put in a small box with bubble wrap. His shipping prices went down and he emailed me and thanked me.
P.S. Voice text
I never even bother to look if something can be returned or not on eBay. There's approximately a 0 percent chance I'd actually go through the hassle. Just treat it like the white elephant table at a train show (or, really, most vendors at a train show too).
I have posted in the Diner a couple of times about my USPS problems.
Even though I have publicly complained about the funny ones, like the package that kept on arriving in Florida then going back to New York, still 90% of my packages are arriving in 3 days and undamaged.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I would say go for it. It's a low priced item and you've lost out on others for a lot more money. You are handy with tools and making things work.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
It would take the guy seconds to video the engine running with his phone and send it to you.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
That would make too much sense Brent I have had sellers do that in the past quickly after I posted a question. They obviously had the video ready already. Smart seller, I bought it moments later.
I went for it Mister B. PayPal confirmation, Dockside will be on its way. For some reason I like replacing these childhood toys.
Thanks for all the feedback here everyone. I'll let you all know if it works well or not when I get it
Track fiddler For some reason I like replacing these childhood toys. TF
For some reason I like replacing these childhood toys.
You are not alone TF. I have my first HO locomotive that I bought with paper route money 69 years ago.It still runs perfect! It’s been painted about 5 times and as you can see it still looks great. It took a 3’ fall in the early 90s and broke off a front step. A very gracious lady at MDC sent me a new frame at no cost. Other than that it is original including the headlight and tender light, 12 volt Grain of Wheat bulbs.It must have hundreds of hours of run time and still runs great. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Following up on some of the previous posts, the USPS is very much badly broken. Be prepared for a lot of nonsense. I had one shipment from Kansas City arrive in my location, Omaha. But, no delivery locally for four days. Then suddenly it showed up in the tracking as having arrived in Honolulu.
This weeks package from Train World left N.Y. Monday morning. Each day it bounced around Eastern cities where it shouldn't have been, now today it's in San Fransico. The USPS apparently thinks that the most direct route from NYC to Omaha is through San Francisco.
So, what struck me on the issue the OP raised, the risk of the item not running is down the list a ways. The collapsing USPS system is becoming a bigger issue if you're depending on USPS to deliver it in any sort of reasonable time frame and not jolt the item into not running as it bounces from city to city, then finally to your address.
I've never had any issue with the USPS on shipping or receiving Ebay purchases, and most of my layout, including locos, rolling stock, and structures have come through Ebay through the years.
I've ALWAYS used PayPal for each purchase.
Mike.
My You Tube
I have had USPS problems on shipping.
I screwed up on an address for an Ebay customer. The guy lived in some sort of private ski community in Colorado and had one address for UPS and one for the USPS. I mailed it to the UPS address. They couldn't deliver it.
It had my return address. They sent it back to Baltimore, where it sat for nearly 2 weeks. I called Baltimore and no one could or maybe tried to find it. I could track it online every step of the way. Next stop the dead letter office.
You can't call the dead letter office, all you can do is go to the post office and have the postmaster fill out a form, which I did. I never saw that package again.
I have also had my address rejected as no such address on my Ebay purchases. One year I couldn't pay my bill to the HVAC company that services my furnace, because even though they were in the same location for 20 years, USPS said it was an invalid address.
You talk to the relevant post office and nobody knows nuthin.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
I always auction with a no return policy. It's my stuff originally, so I'm pretty sure what shape things are in and how they're described. I start with a very attractive pricing and generally no reserve.
Aware of that, bidders should still factor this into their bidding. Buying on ebay isn't the same as buying an item new from the dealer network. In fact, a lot of mfgs won't honor a warranty on a item on ebay. The buyer should not expect the same results if they happen to get something that truns out to have a problem. If it's accurately described is what's important here.
I simply don't want to deal with buyer's remorse. If you tend to have that over even the slightest defect, you probably shouldn't buy on ebay anyway. That $27 loco that doesn't run is still a $27 pile of spare parts, at worst.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
mbinsewi I've never had any issue with the USPS on shipping or receiving Ebay purchases, and most of my layout, including locos, rolling stock, and structures have come through Ebay through the years.
USPS is understaffed and employees can no longer work overtime. The new Postmaster General has ordered postal employees to leave mail behind at the end of the day. Package volume has increased dramatically, and distribution centers are overloaded with undelivered packages. Scanning and tracking is no longer taking place on a timely basis. The USPS Priority Mail system is broken.
mbinsewi I've never had any issue with the USPS on shipping or receiving Ebay purchases, and most of my layout, including locos, rolling stock, and structures have come through Ebay through the years. I've ALWAYS used PayPal for each purchase. Mike.
As a rule, I've had good results with Ebay shipping. Since my wife and I moved to our current home, and long before the pandemic, she ordered a Spice Rack from Amazon. The tracking showed it arrived at a local post office a couple miles from here and the trail went cold. She figured a postal worker decided to take it home with them. LOL. Maybe. Other than that, we've had pretty good service here.
Then a few months ago there have been days I put a bill in the mail box to go out, and by late in the day, it was still in the mail box never picked up so I had to drive it to a post office. I've had to do that maybe 5 or 6 times. I've had one or two arrive late and request late fee be removed. I've taken to mailing out bills an extra day or two sooner than in the past. I've also noticed the mail carrier, who used to make the rounds between 11 and noon now don't deliver until often a couple hours later.
As for Ebay shipping, it normally has been quite good, with only one or two taking much longer than usual. But all of the sudden in the past couple weeks, I have several items that seem to be taking a very long time ordered from Ebay. At least two models were paid for on July 14 and here it is 10 days later and no parcels yet.
One in Ebay shows two shipping parcels for one item, weird, and no tracking history. Since it's been ten days I messaged the seller, and asked if the item was actually shipped. I may be looking for a refund on that one if ultimately it's a no show.
The other, also paid for on July 14 appears to be slowly on it's way. There is no tracking history between the 14th and 21st but it shows at a local major USPS distribution facility so may finally arrive today or tomorrow.
OTOH, I purchased a couple models from Spring Creek Hobbies in NE and their parcel arrive fairly quickly, I think 2 days.
I've seen enough to know the postal service is clearly having issues. My past experience is they have been very reliable. Past 6 months, not as much. And with 3/4 of the country seeing a rise in COVID19 infections, it's probably going to not get any better until the pandemic gets under better control. The good news is there are some major vacine trails with good results - hopefully this fall or winter they will be available to start knocking this thing down.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Good morning all
I hope this slow Postal Service you've all been talking about doesn't bite me in the butt. I have 5 internet net orders out and only three of the five that say they've been shipped.
After three years of starting my layout it's about time this indecisive kid has finally made a decision on track and turnouts, although it's a good thing that I waited. PECO code 55 Flex track and the new unifrog turnouts. I also ordered 35 PECO terminal joiners with wire feeds. No Ox ID Especial conductive grease for lubing the terminal joiners. ME Bridge track.
Hope they all come soon so I can get the ball rolling.
Mel, ...I have admired that steam locomotive you purchased from your paper route when you posted it before. Amazing you still have it and it still works after 69 years. That's was the difference between working hard for your own money and purchasing something yourself instead of someone just giving it to you when we were young. It made you appreciate it more so you took care of it
I know that steamer is like an old friend to you. I'm sure you were bummed out when it took a fall. I'm glad you were able to find a replacement shell for it.
Track fiddler I hope this slow Postal Service you've all been talking about doesn't bite me in the butt. I have 5 internet net orders out and only three of the five that say they've been shipped.
mlehman I always auction with a no return policy. It's my stuff originally, so I'm pretty sure what shape things are in and how they're described. I start with a very attractive pricing and generally no reserve. Aware of that, bidders should still factor this into their bidding. Buying on ebay isn't the same as buying an item new from the dealer network. In fact, a lot of mfgs won't honor a warranty on a item on ebay. The buyer should not expect the same results if they happen to get something that truns out to have a problem. If it's accurately described is what's important here. I simply don't want to deal with buyer's remorse. If you tend to have that over even the slightest defect, you probably shouldn't buy on ebay anyway. That $27 loco that doesn't run is still a $27 pile of spare parts, at worst.
I agree completely. I have been selling on ebay for over 20 years; the last 15 selling off the inventory of my closed hobby shop. Everything i sell is in good shape; I describe it accurately, and I disclose that I do not accept returns. I sell everything via auction, and I start the bidding low, most of the times at a penny. If it sells for a penny, so be it.