So, how's Ebay working for you?

[Anonymous]

I feel I am finding less and less good deals on Ebay in HO items. I am selective in my searches and I am looking only for kits, generally for Northern Pacific equipment. I don't know if people selling N.P. stuff feel they have a niche market and charge accordingly, or what. I look at brass and feel there are good deals there on some items and generally one can buy a brass item for less than you can get it at a hobby shop or online dealer, if your patient. Still however, brass is expensive and I am very limited in my ability to purchase these products.

However, (and this is a warning to new folks in this hobby) many items are as expensive as the local hobby shop and in many, many instances, more expensive! Then, you need to add shipping on top of the price and you are paying way more than you would, if you bought though a hobby shop. If you take the price from a good online dealer, divide shipping over several items on a purchase list, I think there are way more better deals online!

Risk on Ebay, is always a factor! There are plenty of shysters out there and it is best if you are buying something you know very well.

One of the categories that blow me away as far as prices are concerned are the old Ambroid, Silver Streak, Ye Olde Huff & Puff and Le Belle wood kits. These may actually sell for more than they did new. Also, there are few good deals on resin kits.

What are you finding out there in Ebay land that is a good deal?

[Anonymous]

I've noticed pretty much the same trend over here. I've seen Bachmann trolleys in HO listed with a "Buy it Now" price of £45 (around $80 or so!) and a starting bid that was exactly what you'd pay in a store for one. Shipping prices can verge on the crazy too. I just wish all sellers would actually list the shipping price on the item - having to email them is a pain and I would never bid on something without knowing how much I would be charged for this. Right now I'm finding loads of cheap older computer parts for one of my other hobbies (currently building a very cheap file store for our home network). There are still sensibly-priced model train items on eBay though they are getting harder to find - interestingly some of the over-priced stuff makes a weekly re-appearance often at a lower price, so it's worth checking often.

[SpaceMouse]

Generally, I've done well.

I picked up a Broadway E7 for $152 after seeing it advertised for $202. I was then told it was on sale at an Internet site for $139.

But on the good side, I ordered a MDC 2-8-0 for $127 on the Internet plus shipping, found a NIB on eBay for $56.99 with free shipping, and was able to cancel the Internet order. So I saved $78 on that one.

I'd seen Digitrax UT1's for $79 on the Internet and got 2 NIB for $40 ea.

I got a IHC 4-4-0 with decoder for $42.00

And I bought 120 feet of track and bedding for $72 and got a Bachman Plus 4-8-4 w/ smoke and 11 rolling stock and power supply thrown in.

Except for the E7 where I could have done $13 better if I had known, I've done pretty well.

[Anonymous]

The only really 'good' deals I've found on eBay are for stuff, primarily locos, that are older limited runs and pretty much not available anyplace else anymore. Sometimes the price is great; sometimes it ends up being what you'd pay if you found it in a store. Since I'd probably never find it in a store, though, I just judge what it's worth to me, and that's the maximum I'll pay for it.

I've rarely seen prices for current stuff on eBay that are much better than what model rr store sites and LHSs charge.

[Anonymous]

I have found that you really have to research any item you may be interested in on Ebay. Many items go for more than retail and the shipping charges on some are out of line, even considering package costs, etc.

That said, I have gotten some fantastic deals.... A brand new Trix Big Boy for $310 including shipping, a brand new Rivarossi Challenger (new style) for $172 including shipping. Brand new Command 2000 DCC with hand held, Loco & power pack for $30 including shipping.

Other items I purchased came out to about retail when shipping was added, but for me, since my nearest real hobby shop is 75 miles away this is acceptable since it costs more to drive there and back and I get what I want when I want it.

Like I said, research is the key to making Ebay work for you. It is very easy to get caught up in the bidding frenzy and end up paying way over retail. I have watched many auctions of items I am interested in and seen them go way out of line.

The only exceptions I make is for a particularly rare item that I "must have" but even then I try not to go overboard.

Anyhow, my 2 cents worth.

[jrbernier]

My eBay purchases have usually been for 'old' stuff, or 'out of production' limited runs that I missed. If I have the funds, I will buy it new through my LHS or a good 'on-line' dealer like M B Klein, etc...
Now, my son(20 years old) always seems to look through eBay first for new stuff, and has gotten deals or been burned on stereo, computer, and car stuff.
I have noticed that the prices appear to be going up on eBay, and there is a lot of 'new' stuff with 'buy now' pricing that is not even competative with the better discount firms. I have been selling on eBay since 1999, and have always made out very well(only been stiffed once by a deadbeat buyer). I can usually sell items faster and for more money via eBay that dragging them to the local train show/flea market. The advantage of the train show is the 'other' stuff I find, and the 'social' activity!

Jim Bernier

[SpaceMouse]

QUOTE: Originally posted by up_santafe


Like I said, research is the key to making Ebay work for you. It is very easy to get caught up in the bidding frenzy and end up paying way over retail. I have watched many auctions of items I am interested in and seen them go way out of line.

The only exceptions I make is for a particularly rare item that I "must have" but even then I try not to go overboard.

I agree. Research, and knowing what you want is key. I purposely looked for closeout of what I considered to be good products and started looking. I used to try to cherry pick an item at the last second to get the best price. Now I look at what I am willing to pay and add the shipping, tax, insurance, etc. and make a bid in the last couple hours. If i get it fine, if I don't--next. As long as you don't get wrapped up in it and end up buying a old SW1 or something--research and stick to your plan and you'll do all right.

[RMax1]

I have some limits on EBay of around $50 max and usually I won't even do that. I bought a bunch of undec Athearn F7 bodies for $1 a piece and a Proto 2000 E8 for around $50. I was ripped off once on another auction site and learned quickly that the site will do almost nothing to help you. From what I have seen it has the potential for a thieves haven. Check your sellers really well It's only real advantage is that you can find somethings there and just about no where else.

EMax

[ndbprr]

How about 100 pieces of code 100 Atlas flex track - new in the box - for $179.00, GG1's for $20-22. It is an auction and it is up tp you to set the limits. Caveat empitor!

[Anonymous]

I have basically quit Ebay for several reasons:

Got screwed
received broken item
received misrepresented item

I would rather not buy sight unseen (other than a few digital photos).

[rrinker]

I've done very well on Ebay, both buying and selling. I ALWAYS add in shipping, and won't bid such that the total plus shipping would go over what I can get an item for locally. I also refuse to bid on anythign where the seller won't disclose shipping costs up front or where the shipping cost is WAY out of line. I've sent enough items out now that I have a pretty good idea of how much it costs to ship something.

--Randy

[chutton01]

I have sold several model items on eBay, and I have always tried to:
a.) Take accurate, clear pictures (I do crop the resulting shots, and often need to up the contrast because I don't have fill lighting - the results are still accurate).
b.) Describe exactly what I have to sell, without embellishing or adding a 'hard-luck' story (mostly I say the stuff was never used, in the box, which is true - I do run the locos to sell a little on my test track first). I do try to get as many key words in the title description as possible, to increase search hits.
Note that I will not call my products 'junk', nor will I call them 'collectors items' - I simply state the manufacturer, description of the object, mfr code if available, condition, and let the buyers decide (they can google)
c.) I mail pretty quickly, within a short time of the auction ending.
Sometimes this hurts me, as right now Athearn AMD-103s seem to be popular - I have one never run (except on the test track) - however, for some stupid reason years ago I lost the package containing the handrails, and the instructions! I won't sell it on eBay in that condition (and saying no handrails/instructions means no bids), so it just sits around laughing at me. Dang, when (IF!) I ever find them, Amd-103s will probably be going for a dime a dozen...

[Anonymous]

Preface: I've been an avid eBayer since it was called AuctionWeb, so yes, I've had my share of the koolaid [;)]

eBay's been hit and miss for me in terms of finding what I want. I'm an SP guy, and there's prescious little of it to be had at the LHSs, so eBay is the next easy target for me. I'm pretty selective, so I stay away from the buy-it-now auctions for $4 under Walthers prices and items that look sketchy. I grabbed a very nice brass Balboa/Katsumi Pacific for about $100, the remainder of the Rivarossi Daylight streamliners I needed to make the Coastal for about $7 per, an MDC shay kit with all the NWSL parts for $39, P2K GPs for $40 shipped, and Peco switches for my yard for about $6 each, all darn good deals in my opinion. You need to watch shipping, as others have said. I've turned down a bunch of golden oportunities to get short-run or long gone cars because the seller wanted $9 shipping on a $7 box car.

Of course, nothing will touch the Athearn super-powered F7A I picked up at the last train show for $5 (new in box) or the 'big heavy' engine I bought last year for $30 sight unseen that turned out to be an Akane AC-9 (2-8-8-4, worth ~$400) in need of a new paint job, but those are the once-in-a-lifetime deals you can get locally.

If you shop carefully, avoid sellers with low feedback, and always pay with a credit card via Paypal it's a safe, fast way to get things done. I have a personal rule about not buying from any seller that has negative feedback in the last 6 months, no items sold in the last 30 days, or a feedback score under 98% (>100 feedback points). I only bid on auctions I can pay for with Paypal or local pickup, and I never ever accept COD shipping (FedEx or USPS for me, thanks). The biggest thing is to research what you want and stick to a self-imposed limit on how much you want to pay. It's easy to spend the last 5 minutes of an auction bidding madly because you want the item, and realize 2 seconds too late that you just spent $45 on an engine that Trainworld has for $29.99. An educated and controlled bidder will clean up on eBay. Trust me, I'm one of 'em [:D]

-dave

[Anonymous]

All good points! However, I won't buy anything where Pay Pal is required. I Had a bad experience with it and I can simply live without this one-more-complication-in-life! I'm likely as not buying something relatively inexpensive so the seller's amount of transactions doesn't scare me off and I use a money order. I do look at feed back. However, it's my experience there are always two sides to an issue and lots of bad feed back is simply retaliatory. So when there is bad, I look it over and see if I can see some indication of what's going on.

Specifically, I addressed this thread towards buying on Ebay and if your finding good deals out there, not buyer/seller protection or selling on Ebay. You can talk about whatever puts the starch in your collar, here! However, I'd like to ask you to stay within the parameters, please..... Are you finding good deals?

[Anonymous]

Well, I know that Bachmann was selling Spectrum 2-10-0 Russian Decapods for a bit over 120-- I found a copy on ebay in excellent condition for about 65-- I was told a little bit about the history of the engine by the seller (It was used to pull 10-12 athearn hopper for coal) and all in all that is a little jewel.

My LHS's were very tight fisted on the Riverossi Heislers at close to 350- and after bidding and winning one for almost a 100- mint in box with all papers .. I waited for the FBI to come knocking on my door. The engine arrived and runs flawlessly.

There appears to be a bit of a bargin going on with the broadway engines. I am watching those carefully.

I usually watch certain items that seem to sell for a very good price. Once in a while it goes way beyond it and I delete it from the watch list.

Someone earlier in this thread mentioned way too many "Buy it now" items that are obviously current retail offerings at prices at or above the LHS.. I mean c'mon! where do they get that idea hanh? It is fun to see them relisted for lower each week.

[tatans]

I've had good luck so far, buying out of production stuff, good prices, good selection as a lot of the old stuff is not being offered today, great service from sellers, stayed away from brass--it's for the wealthy anyway, I saw a brass tender go up to $400.00. but the other goods seem O.K.-- got some great deals on strange items, static diecast logging locos for instance, 3 individual logging cars in one box, etc. at very good prices, ebay has allowed me continue in this hobby at very reasonable prices, try and buy used H.O. brass track at a hobby shop! BUT you MUST be aware of what you want and don't be afraid to contact the seller. I also only use money orders--sellers seem to prefer them, and if you live in Canada tell your seller to ship ONLY USPS.

[Anonymous]

Tatans, you are correct on the OOP (Out of Production) items they can be a good find. I got the Walthers Barge and float eventually on ebay.. I paid over retail for both of them fighting off other bidders but I have them ready for the future harbor. I think it was 110- total
MSRP on these two items 3 years ago while walthers still had em was about 86- for the two give or take a little. I could due to the demand end up selling for the twice of the price or more in the future if Walthers does not bring back the line.

[Anonymous]

I am always interested when I see folks that won't bid on something on ebay if the shipping/handling charges are "way out of line." I think that is kinda silly. It's the total cost to the buyer that I think is important. It seems like that folks would rather pay $20.00 for something if the seller offers free shipping, but will ignore the identical item if the shipping/handling charge is $10.00, even if the winning bid is $2.00. Doesn't quite make sense to me. My concern is the bottom line cost. I could care less what percentage goes to the item and what percentage goes to shipping.

[Anonymous]

I have had good luck buying, but lately most of the offerings are at the extremes. Lots of low quality, toy train type stuff (standard LifeLike, Bachmann, and Model Power) that seem to get bid up pretty high. Lots of Tyco and AHM. Then there are the mas sellers that advertise 20-30 Athearn BB kits, but only 1 at a time, and usually above $5.99 each, which is a good buck or so more than many retailers, plus they want $5 to ship 1 car. They ned to separate the commercial sellers from the casual sellers.

[MudHen_462]

I've both bought, and sold numerous items, and have had very good luck in both buying and selling. However, Ebay is hiking their prices substantially around the first part of Feb. 2005, and I have a feeling that things may tighten up even more in the coming months. It certainly will make me think longer about posting an item after their increase.

[Anonymous]

All good things must end. The deals are few and far between these days. I have noticed it not only on Ebay but at garage sales and swap meets. You used to be able to get things are a resonable price, now you go to a swap meet and people want $5.00 under what you can buy a new one for in the store.

Bob

[Anonymous]

In the past three months I have bought about 40 items on eBay. Only one purchase was badly packaged and the couplings were buckled as a result, but esily repaired. Most items have been extremely well packaged and very promptly delivered.
A monorail set was $13 less than the discounted advertised USA dealer price and I was very pleased with my purchase - until I found the same item advertised locally in Australia at less than half the price in the USA! It certainly pays to do some detective work before bidding!
As in any auction, the bidder has to decide beforehand what his maximum bid will be and NEVER go above it!

[Anonymous]

I view eBay as a "last resort" buying venue, for out-of-production items that I can't find at my LHS or any commercial online distributor - I won't search eBay simply for a lower price. This approach has worked very well for me so far.

[douginut]

NOT good experience with E-Bay.
likethe other person here, Broken and misrepresented.
Desire Trolley, represented as good running Bachmann,
was a static model from the trolley and cablecar set.
had bettandorf trucks with peeling chrome plated wheels.
complaint to the seller got a threat to give me bad feedback.
I have not seen anything that I wanted that was not cheaper
at the Hobby Stop in Orem Utah. down the street.

Doug, in Utah

[mwalther]

Well, I don't remember the good old days of really cheap bargains. I discovered Ebay 2 weeks ago after someone here replied to my quest for the OOP Walthers car float stating one was for sale there. I bid, but lost and not having a the perspective that comes with experience on Ebay, I bid too low considering the level of my desire. I've since bought several other items, but have yet to receive any of them since the purchases are so recent. I find it fun to look for OOP items that I want and measure the total price delivered to me against that of my best supplier. I am amazed to waatch items still in production go for more than the retail price+shipping. I have chosen Buy Now when I find it to my advantage. I recently bid again on another car float and made what I thought was a high ball offer to cut out the riffraff upping me by a dollar or two. I made the offer at last minute after lying in the weeds for a week waiting. My head is still spinning after watching the price quickly rise past my high ball offer in that last few seconds. I'm disappointed that I did not get it, but I'm also glad I didn't pay what my competitor did. I now know what some of my competitors do, that like a good train line, another will be coming by again. I have also made it a practice to send Walthers a copy of the bidding outcomes for the car float in the hope of enticing them into producing them again. We'll see. In the meantime, if any of you have a car float gathering dust, contact me.

[mwalther]

Well, I don't remember the good old days of really cheap bargains. I discovered Ebay 2 weeks ago after someone here replied to my quest for the OOP Walthers car float stating one was for sale there. I bid, but lost and not having a the perspective that comes with experience on Ebay, I bid too low considering the level of my desire. I've since bought several other items, but have yet to receive any of them since the purchases are so recent. I find it fun to look for OOP items that I want and measure the total price delivered to me against that of my best supplier. I am amazed to waatch items still in production go for more than the retail price+shipping. I have chosen Buy Now when I find it to my advantage. I recently bid again on another car float and made what I thought was a high ball offer to cut out the riffraff upping me by a dollar or two. I made the offer at last minute after lying in the weeds for a week waiting. My head is still spinning after watching the price quickly rise past my high ball offer in that last few seconds. I'm disappointed that I did not get it, but I'm also glad I didn't pay what my competitor did. I now know what some of my competitors do, that like a good train line, another will be coming by again. I have also made it a practice to send Walthers a copy of the bidding outcomes for the car float in the hope of enticing them into producing them again. We'll see. In the meantime, if any of you have a car float gathering dust, contact me.

[Anonymous]

How about this for all the conspiracy types out there. Do you think that Walthers has a couple hundred car-floats in the back room and are putting them on ebay one at a time? Hmmmmm. I bet all of them are in the same hanger as the Roswell UFO's.

[Anonymous]

mwalthers, I too had a bid get away from me at the last minute. I too laid in the weeds for a week waiting and watching for a mint Riverossi (AHM) steam 2-10-2 the auction was at 40.00 and 10 minutes later it closed at well over $200- It took me 2 days go get the shakes out of my system I thought 40.00 was not bad for one itty bitty steam engine that is 30 years old. but tell that to the 12 or so bidders who all feasted on that carcass eye gouging and elbowing each other with last minute bids worthy of rail tycoons who only desire to acquire the item at any cost just to show the rest of us phesants who is boss.

After that experience I very carefully plan my purchases and cheerfully watch items sail past my maximum bid which is based on what I can get at the LHS or other location at a lower cost. I am happy to see the poor sap pay too much for the item.

Regarding the walthers barge I too paid too much for mine but wont part with it. I too hope that Walthers will take note of the sad state of affairs and the current prices these things are going. Hope that will float thier boat for a re-run.

[raynbecky]

I love E-Bay! I have had great success getting items and selling them. I have gotten my share of good deals on E-Bay too, too many to list. If you are patient and don't get caught up in bid wars you can get great deals on E-Bay. I do mostly use it for locating cheap brass and out of production kits and products. My last good deal was a whale belly tank car I got for $100.00 painted and weathered. It had a broken end-rail that was easily fixed with some super glue. The weathering job was well done and I replaced the trucks with Genesis 100 Ton trucks and now I have a beautiful car that is not available in any other form other than scratchbuilding or brass.

I have had a few bumpy transactions but overall my experience has been very positive. A lot of posters have given really great advice too. Check the feedback score. Read the descriptions carefully. If someone says "as is" or "all sales final" beware. Some of these people do this because they are not honest sellers. (Some do it because they don't want to be bothered but I won't bid from them.) If you are going to become a retailer by selling on E-Bay you should act like one. (That's my personal opinion and why I have 100% positive feedback with over 450 transactions under my belt, mostly as a seller!) I have also done a lot better on E-Bay than I have at the LHS or shows. I know it's because I'm covering a lot more territory and for that I'm thankful I have E-Bay.

[Anonymous]

Over the past 6 years I've had great successes on eBay, but mostly as a seller. I think I've only bought four items myself and three were photo items and one was an airbrush. My eBay feedback is 313 out of 350 people who have bought from me (some are multiple buyers, they only count once). But I've sold many more items than this, and many buyers don't bother to leave feedback.

I've been able to get rid of old and oddball photo items I've gathered over the years, being surprised almost everytime that someone somewhere actually wanted the stuff. It was too neat to throw away, and there is a limited market locally. I've sold off some of my model railroad items, most recently some new models that I won in local model contests. I've gotten more from them that I would have if I had offered them at local shows.

I've been mostly a model builder and have been thinking lately of offering some of my built models on eBay because they just sit on the shelf gathering dust. All I need now is the ambition to start the process!

I love eBay!

Bob Boudreau