Keep in mind when wondering the resale web. Look over the pics carefully. Not all the never opened likenew are truely that. Especially with these estate sellers onebay. I have gotten quite a few items lately that are clearly missing parts and opened. obvious to anybody who would take two seconds to look. So use a big screen monitor to look ver those pics. before buying. my kadee log car was new never opened yet the A and B packet were open and the K2 brake gear was gone. now I need to find the K2 gear. always something
Be very careful so you dont get caught short.
Shane
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
Yeah, I get a laugh when I see ads on Ebay of locomotive kits, branded as "new", when half the loco has been assembled. I'm guessing the sellers have never seen a new loco kit before.
Simon
Been there! I bought a Roundhouse steamer from a seller who has the most iron-clad "buyer beware" statement I've ever seen. When I opened the box, the drawbar was broken (no biggie) and most of the wires between loco and tender were severed - that will take some time to figure out.
Apparently the seller thought that doing a simple visual check was way too much to ask!
Jim
Being diligent is somethng which escapes me even at train shows. Been burned before!!
They are great places for vendors marking up their stuff. Looking carefully at things is far more difficult when distracted. Besides looking at things on a large screen, certainly worthwhile asking questions. I would avoid vendors who are un-responsive or ignorant. Just my $0.0002 cents.
Happy Holidays!
Always good advice (although from the title of the thread I anticipated a warning not to overeat today ) to have a healthty skepticism about what is being sold and the people trying to sell it. Some people say "well the person was not intending to be misleading they just didn't know what they were selling." If you don't know what you are selling then don't use words and phrases suggesting that you do know! And don't price it like you do know. Just sell it as is where is. Ah but that reduces what people are prepared to pay for it. Well yeah.
Maybe this is why I am still in that dinosaur era of preferring to buy what I can hold in hand first, versus seeing a picture (which might or MIGHT NOT be a picture of what is being sold) on the always reliable internet. Not that you can't be taken for a ride buying that way too. But then more of the shame is on me.
Having said that, let's not forget that there is also plenty of stuff that IS "new in box" and yet is busted and/or missing parts. And that sad fact can range from model trains to brand new automobiles.
Dave Nelson
As I do a lot of my modeling via the web as I don't have a LHS, I find I get very careful myself. Even I have gotten items that weren't I thought they were. Most of the time though it is my fault for not noticing details.
There have been a few times that there were issues. One issue I do remember was a flat car that was listed as an Athearn but actually was an MDC (pre-Horizon Hobby). I wasn't looking for an MDC for the project but I decided I could use it and the seller gave me a partial refund over the issue. (Still have the car and actually relettered it to be closer to prototype.) I can't remember a situation where the seller wasn't responsive to the issue.
I have an acquaintance in one of my model train clubs that buys a lot of stuff at shows & off eBay
they brag about the bargains they get on some of the items. My question to them is, "Did you test run the locomotive before you bought it?"
The other question is : "do you think that MAYBE there is a reason why the seller is selling what he is for the price that he is?"
I rarely buy on Ebay unless it is a rare piece of brass I have been looking for and even then I usually know the faults and flaws of what I am looking at. The one frustrating thing from me as a buyer is when I try to correct a seller with info that might help them sell the item and nothing changes. For instance There has been a seller on Ebay trying to sell a Hallmark MKT caboose nicely painted for a fictional road for years at a very inflated price. These commonly go from 70.00-150.00.
I also sell about twice a year on Ebay usually items that need culling. Bought on sale and no longer need and never used. But I am very upfront about usage, anything broken or repaired and I take a lot of good pix. The locos I sell are always the few that i tested when new on a 4 foot test track and r as new as used can be. Thats why good pix of the wheels are important.
I still have burn burned a cople of times as a seller. Once was when I sold a tested and lightly run a locomotive that I had purchased new with sound from MB Klein. Well I sold it, packed it very carefully, learned my packing skills from buying and selling brass, but was surprised a week later the buyer requested a refund for it being defective. When I got it back discovered from the markings on the bottom it had been reprogrammed and run only at a large club. Which can be a sketchy endeavor for newbies. Yep the decoder was fried.
The other time was a when new in the box Genesis loco that somehow wound up in Chili when I do not sell to any foreign buyers is something I will never understand. This person claimed it was very used with dirty wheels and ran poorly. How he was able to give me negative feedback was very frustrating. What is the point of excluding foreign buyer in the listing when there seems to be a work around.
In the end communication is key in any transaction. Ask detailed questions about the item wherever online it is and if they are not willing to get back to you, well there is your sign.
SB
The other time was a when new in the box Genesis loco that somehow wound up in Chile when I do not sell to any foreign buyers is something I will never understand. This person claimed it was very used with dirty wheels and ran poorly. How he was able to give me negative feedback was very frustrating. What is the point of excluding foreign buyer in the listing when there seems to be a work around.
Call me silly or paranoid, but your words of wisom are the reason I avoid buying locos from any re-seller. Not into cracking into a loco to make it run. No thanks! With Klein's demise, finding reputable places is become increasingly hard.
they aren't dead they are being bought out & are still in buisness under a new name
thomas81z they aren't dead they are being bought out & are still in buisness under a new name
Check their website. They literally state on it they are closed permanently.