E-bay?

[simon1966]

I used to get stuff of e-bay all the time. Still do run regular searches for certain items. I do not understand the logic of the many retailers selling on the site that just list stuff "buy it now" for at or very close to full retail. I guess they sell some of it, because otherwise they are just throwing mone away on listing fees.

[ClinchValleySD40]

I buy a lot of stuff on ebay. Never had any problems.

I know how much I can purchase something either on line or a local hobby shop. Subtracting the sellers shipping charge gives me my high bid. Doing it that way I lose a lot more auctions than I win, but I never pay more than what an item is worth.

I get a kick out of seeing people bid a lot more than an item is worth just so they can win. It's not a contest, but to each his own. If they have money to throw away, must be better off than me.

[cisco1]

Ebay isn't the place it used to be ,that's for sure. Do some research on what you're after, be patient and set a limit on what you'll pay, and I think you'll be surprised at what you can come up with. (Just purchased a NIB Spectrum 4-8-2 for $68.00 shipping and all!) There seems to be more junk listed now than a year ago but the hard-to-find stuff and true bargains are still out there. Above all, Support your LHS first. After all, this is suppposed to be fun.
Chris

[Anonymous]

Brakie,
You mentioned P2K GP's for $39.95 on e-bay. That does not include shipping. I just purchased 2 P2K GP9's from M B Klein (aka model train stuff) directly (not on e-bay) for $29.95 each, plus $5.00 shipping. I decided to give e-bay a try. I bid on quite a few items, all being offered by modeltrainstuff.com. They have quite a few P2K engines, and within 2 days, the biddding is over $30 on each. Some are $50-$60. They have Athearn freights going for $6-$8 each. Apparently most of these people have no clue. Just about everything I have seen so far has been overbid beyond what an internet dealer will advertise during a sale. I will watch how it goes for a few days, but it doesn't look very promising. It's not the dealers, but the crazies that overbid. It must be like gambling, a disease.[:D]

[cacole]

I don't know about the other scales, but the HO area has recently been taken over by the so-called "power sellers" who seem to be going around and buying up massive amounts of the old Model Power products and pricing them at more than retail. The last time I checked e-bay (yesterday) the first three pages were nothing but Model Power rolling stock and engines, with the rolling stock all priced at $4.99 or so beginning bid. Model Power is not worth half that, in my opinion, because it still has truck-mounted horn hook couplers that are practically impossible to change, plastic wheels, and is very thick plastic with no detail.

[Anonymous]

I get most of my locos from eBay. My general rule for bidding is my maximum bid plus the item's shipping is less than or equal to the lowest price I can find on the internet without shipping. I remember about a year ago eBay was flooded with Athearn BN locos at great deals. Now all the locos seem to have disappeared. I frequently laugh at people who bid higher that internet discount store prices. Honestly, if you are oing to "do it eBay", do your homework and don't bid over the lowest price you can find on that item.
Reed

[Anonymous]

I have sold lots of items on ebay. Some I have made out on pretty good, never thought it would go for as much as it did. Others, because of too low a starting value, I ended up pretty much giving away. What's neat about ebay is you can find things long out of production, Varney, Ulrich, Ambroid and others.

You have to know what something is worth! I bid the amount I am willing to pay for an item plus shipping and let ebay keep me bidding until this point is reached, or I win the auction. I have gotten very good deals on some things and I have let an item go when it gets bid over what I am willing to pay. I have found there are great deals on brass items. Most of the time, even the high end brass pieces sel for less than brass dealers list them at.

Some of you are unwilling to build your rolling stock and buy RTR stuff. Why not buy built stuff from ebay?

[jfugate]

Many of the recent rolling stock that has been added to the Siskiyou Line roster came from E-Bay, prebuilt, preweathered, with Kadees, and properly weighted to NMRA specs.

And reasonably priced, too, considering it's completely done and ready to run.

I'm a big fan of E-bay for buying and selling model RR stuff. It's the world's largest continuous swap meet.

[jfugate]

QUOTE: Originally posted by enduringexp

Brakie,
I decided to give e-bay a try. I bid on quite a few items, all being offered by modeltrainstuff.com. They have quite a few P2K engines, and within 2 days, the biddding is over $30 on each. Some are $50-$60. They have Athearn freights going for $6-$8 each. Apparently most of these people have no clue. Just about everything I have seen so far has been overbid beyond what an internet dealer will advertise during a sale. I will watch how it goes for a few days, but it doesn't look very promising. It's not the dealers, but the crazies that overbid. It must be like gambling, a disease.[:D]

Bidding wars are common on E-Bay ... to bid successfully on an item and not fuel a bidding war takes some savvy. Here's what I do:

1. I use advanced search (completed items) to see how often an item like this shows up on E-Bay and what it typically goes for. If this search reveals stiff competition and "winner's curse bidding" (winning the auction but paying more than the item is worth) then I pass it by.

2. When bidding, determine your maximum price, then bid an odd amount just over that. High bid wins, and if you bid $20, then you and 90% of the rest of the bidders bid like that so you will lose the bid. But if you bid $21.97 and the rest of the bidders bid $20, you win! Never, never, NEVER bid a round number at a typical milestone price point on E-Bay because you will lose, sure thing. Always bid an odd amount just over a milestone price point by at least one bid increment.

3. Incremental bidding is poor practice and only fuels bidding wars. Bid your maximum (odd amount as in #2 above) as late as possible in the auction, ideally less than 10 seconds before the auction closes so you can't get outbid. If you bid your maximum early in the auction (a practice which E-Bay encourages because it tends to cause a higher price on the item, which helps E-Bay) you give away your knowledge of what the item may really be worth for free, and you signal your interest in the item early enough that irrational bidders may start driving the price up beyond reason.

All these bidding techniques (and more) are demonstrated in the video "How to Bid and Win!" by myMemoirs Video, the same outfit that's producing my HO Siskiyou Line video series. If you use coupon code MM0102, you can get their video for $14.95 (+ $4 S&H).

See: http://mymemoirs.net/ebay-secrets.php for more on the ebay secrets video.

[Anonymous]

Maybe what Joe is saying is right, I don't really care. I bid what I am willing to pay and no more. I don't watch the auctions and I try to stay as un-emotional as possible by not even looking back to see if I am still winning. If I get out bid, so be it! I think the reason some folks (and I love to sell to these folks) get in bid wars is because the game has become less about getting a good deal and more about winning a stupid auction. I agree with Joe about: "Round numbers bad"! "Odd numbers good"!

[Anonymous]

Eight AHM Krauss-Maffei's, an A-B-A set of metal Mantua Sharks, two Overland NW-5's, Mantua 2-6-6-2's (they'll be re-released someday,) all the great old Revell buildings--These are some of the things I've found on eBay. As much as I hate their management, my hobby wouldn't be as much fun without eBay.

As for current production items, you definitely want to shop mail order first for price, but there are great deals on eBay as well. The overcharging of postage is a problem. However, more and more sellers make it a point to charge only the actual amount, which is all you can ask. Small items are often not cost-effective, but you can often find things like rolling-stock in lots. Just keep your head and bid so the overall price is less than mail order.

Jeff
Moose Flats Railway

[leighant]

Story of my one eBay train buy: I model East Texas Santa Fe with emphasis on forest products industries. Over 20 years, I saw a picture in one of the off-brand train magazines (not Kalmbach) of a Protex private tankcar on a siding in Houston, Texas, with a note that it carried lignosulfate, a byproduct of paper mills used in setting concrete. Great car for shipments over my line. Later found color pix of similar cars in a rolling stock picture-book. No decals available for Protex, planned to decal letter by letter or have custom decale made "someday".
Then on one of the model rr bulletin boards, saw a photo of what I call a beginners layout, guy had a train with a string of 3 or 4 Protex tankcars. Whaaaa?
Researched and found they had been out 2 or 3 years before. How could I have missed them except that for 3 years, my city of a quarter million population has had no hobby store except Hobby Lobby, and most hobby magazine advertising features locomotives but not inexpensive rolling stock.
I researched online. Found that the car was available only in an assortment of cars
I didn't want. Had been sold separately a couple years earlier. Asked at a couple of "local" hobby shops 200 miles from where I live. Checked about 10 on-line dealers.
Found it on eBay. Bid the opening $4 plus a buck-something shipping and "won" the auction.

eBay is good for that kind of buy. Yesterday, I saw a discussion about powering lighting for buildings, street-lights etc on the layout. Someone suggested using a cheap train-set powerpack (I have a box with half a dozen people have thrown away) Someone took up the suggestion and figured they could find a cheap powerpack on eBay. I can't see bidding on something like that, where almost any hobby shop has a "pile of junk" bin with stuff like that for a couple of bucks.

I have found eBay valuable for finding things I can't travel the country searching, like a 100 year old postcard of the main street of the town of under 2000 pop in upstate New York where my grandfather was born in 1882.

But for items you can find at any LHS? Not for me.

[Anonymous]

But is mainly just that...window shopping.

Unfortunately, I live in an area without decent LHS. The one that is local caters more to R/C and only gives a limited amount of shelf space to the other hobbies. So I turn to e-bay and try to find some deals.

And deals I have found, but only by being careful not only what I bid on, but knowing how much my total with shipping will come to.

If I ever have any doubts about how much things should cost, I take out my copy of the Walthers catalogue to get me a ball park figure. If my total comes up to more than what I see in the catalogue, I don't bid.

So far I've purchased six locomotives (four of which are out of production), a boat load of detail parts (large lots that work out to $1 per detail set), and quite a few freight cars.

A few thigs I look for in a seller, or try to list myself when I do sell somethign that no longer "fits", is a good feedback going back atleast four months, posted shipping charges at a reasonable rate, and the offer to combine shipping on multiple items.

[Anonymous]

I agree on the cost of shipping. I saw an Atlas engine that some one was charging $15.00 to ship. For a 2 lb. package anywhere in the US, using USPS Priority, it should cost no more than $5. I sell a fair amount on ebay and I always charge actual shipping, I think it is a better selling point.

[hd8091]

I've generally had good luck with e-bay but after making some stupid mistakes I learned to do my homework. I still support my LHS whenever I can if the price is close. It is a good place to buy power and building kits and out of production kits. If you're looking for bargins , they are few and far between. I've never been seriosly burned but be sure to read the approval rarings .

[vsmith]

HERES THE MAIN PROBLEM WITH EBAY

Ebay is still agood source for buying items BUT it is getting more and more over-run with online stores selling on it. THAT is the problem because they are often charging the item at the retail price.

Example: I wanted to buy a Bachman Spectrum large scale Porter Locomotive , I know by calling around that a LHS is selling it for $89.99, I look on ebay and low and behold there it is, starting at $69.99, and a Buy-it-Now price of $79.99 but shipping is $10, so if I opt for the buy-now option I am spending the SAME money but I have to WAIT 2 to 3 weeks to get it. I could opt for the auction and place my bid at $70, well it doesnt take long for that Outbid notice to arrive, now the price starts creeping upward, and can soon surpass the Buy-It-Now price and even the price of the LHS. So in the end I could actually end up spending MORE than driving down the street to the LHS and just buying it that afternoon.
( In the end I got my Porter at a train show for only $60![:D])

Now Ebay primary advantage is thru the individual selling off their own stuff or non-hobby people selling off Uncle Ernies collection after the funeral. (sad, but it does happen alot) Then you can and do find some very good deals, but its getting harder.

Sellers, even the non-hobby ones, are getting greedier. A small loco I once bought thru e-bay at $49.00 about two years ago is now $69.00, Why? because the some sellers are researching what the normal retail price is and charging accordingly.

[Anonymous]

I use eBay cautiously. I never bid on items at or above retail.

I never use anything but a postal money order. I pay the charges for shipping and insurance on some really valuable items as well as delivery confirmation.

Occasionally I find a needed item at buy it now and I snap it up. I spend some time each week doing nothing but planning my purchases and working out what goes onto my railroad.

I also bid on a budget so I am very careful what I bid for. I am in close contact with two hobby shops near me and occasionlly buy items cheaper than what ebay has.

I once bought a riverossie heisler for about 110 dollars versus 3 times that in retail value. The 2-6-6-6 is stubbornly stuck at 350- I hope to see lower prices on this someday. I have considered selling off two good engines because they take up room best used by other engines. I find multiple copies of these same engines at wildly different prices so I choose to wait on these sales. eBay nickels and dimes you to death on the various fees for listing, selling an item so I may just keep the engines and seek a local sale.

Another thing I have learned is last minute "Sniping" I am a sniper and I am not ashamed of it. I purchased a item several times this way. What happens is that I am at eBay 10 minutes before the item closes. at 2 minutes I throw in a bid to see if there is others bidding. Once I secured the winning bid I get the item.

If however the bidding takes off within 2 minutes I double the current bid plus 1/3% (Be sure this is the AMOUNT you are able to pay. Once you submit a proxy bid (Ebay bidding to your maximum) you are legally bound to pay. I wait until about 34 seconds before end of auction and slam the large proxy bid in. This kills the current winning bidder out and does not give them the time to figure out the new winning bid and the auto bid keeps up with them.

I rarely have to fight for a item. Once I witnessed a Athearn Open top Heinz Pickle tank car sell for $65.50. This is in the Mint, unbuilt form. Who ever had to pay that kind of money must really really want the kit. (Retail price in 2003 was about $5.60)

Another thing is brass. Anything brass people fight for. I once saw a junk brass engine sell for several hundred dollars. I felt sick becuase to me that is a waste of good money.

Once in a while something good pops up from the past. Two words... Grab it. I have a tyco water tower and coaling tower kits for maybe 7 bucks total. This saves me at least 40 dollars of what a nice kit or built up offerings by walthers and others. After they were built they are ready for service and one of these won a small award in a model contest.

Never use Pay Pal. Never give your credit card out. Never use western union. ALWAYS do the following:

Email the seller with questions, be ready to send a money order next day after an auction ends. Ask for mailing address of shipper. Print out your sale to be enclosed with money order. wait and wait some more. It will take about 10-12 days to get the item. Sometimes not as many days. Stay in touch with the seller. Once you recieve the item check and make sure that it is what you want.

When you are satisfied, leave a positive feed back for the seller. There is a growing number of sellers refusing to sell items to anyone with less than 100% approval rating. And certain sellers will not accept payments such as credit cards from malaysia or other areas due to piracy and fruad.

There is alot here but it can be very good supplement to your hobby once you decide what to bid on and at what maximum price. Do not bid retail or above check your prices with your LHS, catalog etc.

Good luck

[AntonioFP45]

QUOTE: Originally posted by enduringexp

Do many of you buy things on E-bay? I have found that most items (new, in box) are priced at or higher than the online retailers, but their shipping and handling charges are outrageous. I just purchased 2 Proto 2000 GP9's from M.B. Klein for $29.99 each plus $5.00 total for s/h. $64.98 for 2 Proto 2K's seems pretty good to me. Any reason to use E-bay other than to make E-bay and the sellers rich?
Tim

Tim,

It all boils down to "Caveat Emptor": Let the buyer beware.

I've bought a number of locomotives and cars off of Ebay. I still use Ebay, but I learned a lesson also. When Athearn stopped making the FP45, I got "too anxious" and paid too much for a Santa Fe unit that came up for bid. I should have listened to my friend Cmarchand's advice to be patient as sooner or more of them would be offered on ebay. He was right! I winded up purchasing 4 more units at much lower prices. I now have a suprlus!

It's important to do your homework! A few days ago, an HO Proto 2000 SCL SD45 (brand new) was being bid on. Seller: Model Train Stuff. At that point the bid price was $27. Time for homework! I called an LHS. He had the same unit going for $110. I also checked an internet discount dealer who had an identical unit for $74.99. So after having done this research, I went back to Ebay and waited til there were only a few minutes left on the bid. I swooped in and won the unit for $50. Shipping is $5.50, so IMHO I got a pretty decent deal!

Again, the trick is to not jump the gun and study what sells. In the "SEARCH" box, I'll type in something like: FP45, E7, or Proto 2000. You'll see a lot of the same stuff over and over with a wide variety of prices.

Be aware also! For those of you that buy Brand New Proto 2000 off of Ebay or an LHS, if the units you win are "first run" and have been sitting on the shelf 4 or 5 years, check the axles as even new in the box the plastic center pieces can crack once you put the unit on the track. Nothing wrong with the locomotive, just been sitting too long. Replacement axles are something like $1.30 each. Put them in and you're good to go.

[tatans]

Agree with a lot of the above,especially brass, I bid on an old brass engine in not too bad shape and which I thought was a reasonable and fair price, all was fine until the end, it went nuts, the engine went for $560.00. Next, I went to a reputable brass dealer on the internet and saw the same engine in almost mint condition and guaranteed for $325.00. I also had a seller send me a small package from California to Canada for $1.75 postage by USPS, where do some sellers charge Shipping charges of $9.00 or $15.00 come from????

[n2mopac]

They key to e-bay is patience. I have bought many items there, all for less than I would pay at my LHS, and most of them took me weeks or months of bidding to get. The you have to keep you emotions out of it and not get caught up in the bidding. If you know what you want and are willing to wait until you find the price you are willing to pay you can often find it, especially in locomotives.

Ron

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith
Sellers, even the non-hobby ones, are getting greedier.

Why is it when the buyer gets something really cheap it's a "good deal" or the buyer's being "smart" but when a seller gets a high price (no one is twisting any buyer's arm on ebay) he's being "greedy"?

I think there's been a shift in ebay sellers that is not being accounted for. When I first started doing ebay way back when what you saw for sale were used items or stuff that folks (individuals or stores) didn't want around any more. That's why there were bargains. Now that people are selling brand spanking new stuff - you won't find the bargains, at least on those things. Internettrains and other retailers have to buy the stuff at some price and will not sell for less than that (well, they could, but it would be dumb). The bargains are still there if the criteria that was used at ebay's beginning is used - ie: stock overruns, used items, damaged boxes etc.

Of course if someone doesn't calculate in shipping costs, then that's the buyer's fault. There is a reason why shipping on ebay is usually higher than on the interrnet. Sellers are charged by ebay for selling their items a percent of the final selling price. ie: Seller sells something for $50.00 and charges $5.00 shipping. He's charged by ebay a percent of the $50.00. If the seller sells for $40.00 and $15.00 shipping, he's charged by ebay a percent of the $40.00. Thus for the same cost to the buyer, the seller can make a slightly higher revenue on the sale. Of course if the buyer bids $50.00 knowing full well what the shipping cost is - that's not the seller's fault.

Like everyone else says. - figure out what the total is you want to spend. Subtract the shipping/handling cost and bid appropriately.

[Anonymous]

Dear Tim,

I could name a hundred superb Sellers who use EBay as a tool to support the hobby of model railroading. Many true, are the local Hobby Shop trying to expand their market place. Others, perhaps to move an item that has not sold locally after collecting years of dust while resting upon the shelf. I have even come across Manufactures using EBay as a fast way to off load hard selling items.

I would be more cautious on auctions that use statements such as "I have no way to test these items" or "I know nothing about trains" and read carefully. Also if it states NEW in BOX, it should be new, not LIKE NEW and over ten years old. You apparently found a great deal which most deals if below RETAIL (MSRP) then is a good deal. However, why do some items sell above retail price? Sometimes, to international buyers who's dollar is stronger and the product is not locally available. Other times, because that guy bidding is bidding against the last guy who sniped what he though was a good deal. Buying is often emotional rather than need and EBay in someways is much like the discount house and mail order catalog that is a tool bringing the world market closer. However, while many write about items costing more, most new items seem to sell below retail . Sometimes, even flood the market forcingprices down. Good for consumers, bad for retailors. NOT ALL SELLS WILL BE THE BEST, nor be the WORST. Nevertheless, Winning an AUCTION is surely as exciting as the excitement to opening that Priority mail box upon arrival day. Model Railroading: World's Greatest Hobby

[Anonymous]

Austin's dad,

I agree with you.

I once won an auction for a Dale Earnhardt diecast car that I thought was a really good deal. I put my bid in during the last minute (forgot to check earlier in the day) and won. I got an email from another buyer saying "Take the car and shove it up your _ _ _" At first I was a little miffed. Then I laughed for about an hour. Some folks need to get a life lol

Here's another hint that I've used before buying some motorcycle parts. I emailed some of the folks that had bought from that seller previously and asked about their general feeling for the stuff the guy was selling. This might be a good idea for the more high end items.

[Anonymous]

What is so bad about PayPal that several folks have warned others not to use it?

[Anonymous]

Well, I have been following (and bidding) on E-Bay lately. I have made a few purchases. I don't understand the mentality of HighIron2003ar, though, about "sniping". If you are willing to pay a certain price for something, why don't you just list your max offer and let the system work? In my experience so far, all the people "sniping" are paying far too much for items because they are addicted to the game, just like a gamblers addiction. I can't understand why anyone would bid $10 plus $5 shipping for an Athearn BB kit available anywhere else for $5 or less. I started looking for a new, Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP for my daughter for Christmas. $79.99 at ANY retailer in my area and on the net (I bought one at Circuit City online, $79.99 and free shipping), yet these idiots on E-bay are paying over $90 plus shipping. What that does, in reality, is show retailers what the market will bear and drive up prices across the board. They are screwing themselves, and screwing us. Paying too much isn't WINNING, it's just STUPID.