Always loved these huge engines but these two are both DCC & sound yet much different prices. What's the deal? Or is one just overpriced? Thanks
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bachmann-HO-65102-EMD-DD40AX-Centennial-Union-Pacific-6929-w-DCC-and-Sound/162086962920?epid=1901413726&hash=item25bd22c6e8:g:lZ0AAOSwm8VUwxvG
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bachmann-HO-65101-EMD-DD40AX-Centennial-Union-Pacific-6900-DCC-and-Sound/112626807358?epid=2255395775&hash=item1a3914b23e:g:hTkAAOSwB09YM0GB
The first one is Bachmann´s MRSP, the second one appears to be a real bargain.
The UP DD40AX with DCC and sound has a street price (new) of about $ 170 - see here.
Because ebay.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
There isn't always a rational explanation. In some cases a seller is trying to get rid of items more quickly - lower prices usually speed up selling. In other cases sellers charge full MSRP - their choice.
It isn't uncommon for me to see items on Ebay that are priced at 2 x or more MRSP and wonder why people bother. Maybe they look at Ebay like the lottery, odds are way against a massively over priced item selling but you might get lucky.
Thats the real world basically, it not really a mystery if you observe market behavior.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
rrinker Because ebay. --Randy
riogrande5761It isn't uncommon for me to see items on Ebay that are priced at 2 x or more MRSP
Yepper. Case in point: I've seen older Proto 2000 Alco S1 switchers regularly go for <$50, which had an MSRP of $100(?) when they first came out. I picked mine up new for $25 back in 2005.
A year or so ago one particular eBay seller was asking $300 for a new Maine Central S3 switcher; touting it for being a special edition and having "unrivaled accuracy" and "outstanding realism" - just to highlight a few. Since there were a number of "new" MEC S3s up for auction at the time for <$100, I contacted the seller, pointed to the fact that the going rate was far less than their asking price, and that they were going to have a difficult time selling it. I was told by the seller that they didn't care for my "negativity".
Well, I just checked and the SAME locomotive is STILL up for auction at the exorbitant price. And, surprisingly, no one has bought it yet. If you do decide to jump on the deal, be sure to not forget the $8.65 for S&H. You can thank me later for the heads up...
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I think I got one of mine for liek $20 - from MB Klein even. SOmehow no one else saw this one and bidon it. They didn;t have the listign wrong, I didn;t have to do any tricky searches to find misspellings or anything, the description and title were right on for what it was. Woever at the time was handling their eBay sales even noted in his reply to me that I really got a steal. This was 11+ years ago, before they moved to their current location, and the S1's were still relatively new.
I do see most of them listing for closer to $75. ANother one that I don't get, the old Atlas GP7s, the rather crudely detailed ones, seem to always be listed around $100, and seem to sell. P2K GP7s on the the other hand, seem to only command $50 or less (I got all of mine under $40). The P2K is a MUCH better model.
Another one I see at train shows all the time is an A-B set of P2K FAs. They are indeed VERY nice locos, but train show sellers seem to think the pair is worth $200 or more.
There's no real rhyme or reason to it, Some peope have an overly inflated sense fo value for soemthing, some people pay attention to what sells and sell at simialr prices, or just hold off if they feel the going price is too low, and some people just have no idea what they have and sell at very low prices. Doesn't always mean they are losing money. But the dope who posts a relatively common item at triple MSRP and just keeps relisting every time it fails to sell is going to go broke from listing fees while waiting for a real sucker to come along and hit the bid button. Just because Life Like put "limited edition" on the box doesn't mean they ony made a few. "limited" for life like was a LOT - but limited compared to the production of their trains set level stuff.
rrinkerSome peope have an overly inflated sense fo value for soemthing
Which is their perogative, but those items tend to sit and sit. That started happening a lot when Ebay made it so you could keep relisting without a significant financial hit. Most of us scroll by that stuff looking for prices we can live with. The "key" as always is patience. It's usually a matter of weeks and you'll find what you are looking for for a fair price. Occasionally longer.
But the dope who posts a relatively common item at triple MSRP and just keeps relisting every time it fails to sell is going to go broke from listing fees while waiting for a real sucker to come along and hit the bid button.
But didn't ebay change pricing 4 or 5 years ago so there isn't that financial penalty for relisting over and over adnauseum items at 2 or 3 times MSRP. Isn't that we we so so much of that now vs. some years back?
Just because Life Like put "limited edition" on the box doesn't mean they ony made a few. "limited" for life like was a LOT - but limited compared to the production of their trains set level stuff. --Randy
Yes, whatever. Anyone who knows their product when searching isn't phased by "rare" or "limited" language. I totally ignore that. Again, sellers can put what they want, but they aren't pulling the wool over hobbyists who know their product.
be sure to not forget the $8.65 for S&H
I ALWAYS figure in total cost when looking at an item to buy. Some items have $12 or $14 S&H which puts me off 99% of the time. In a few cases, the item may be so cheap that after figuring in $14 S&H, it may still be an ok deal, it just depends. Today I just bought an Atlas 50' Evans box car for $19.50 - free shipping, so my total cost was $19.50. I'm ok with that as shipping to me usually is around $5-6 if the seller isn't far away, so that puts the price of the model at $13 or $14 - and it's a paint scheme that tends to go for closer to $30 on average. I won a Walthers All door Masonite lumber car for $13.50 plus shipping came out around $20. So overall cost is what you should always look at. I always look at shipping costs when considering whether to buy an item.
Another tip, vary your key word searches. Some sellers don't put in a keyword, like Evans in their title, so that box car that is a harder to find paint scheme didn't show up in the general search, but did when I removed Evans from the key words. I've often found items that may go unnoticed by searchers because I varied the search words to pick up those that fell through the cracks.
A long time ago I sold on Ebay but found it less hassle and a workable solution to sell unneeded items on the Yahoo Groups - no fee's and if you list items at decent prices, and are prepared to be patient, it works pretty well. I've sold almost all of the stuff I needed to although some items took 3 or 4 or so months before they finally sold. I keep it all professional, and it all works pretty well.
For non-train items, my wife has discovered there are lots of facebook garage sale lists in area's we live and we've found lots of good deals on furnature, and other house hold items that we can go pick up and save tons of money. I wonder if the FB sites like that are cutting into fleabay. Mostly it's 1st come 1st serve kind of thing and since we live in a fairly affluent area, you can get some pretty nice things people need to get rid of for good prices.
ebay is good for a laugh. Then there are the ones selling a diesel steam train engine tankcar. And have the tender coal car listed separately. Some of the names they come
up with are head scratchers. Of course selling the tender seprate from the engine is always a good one.
Some people just do cery poor research. Selling an old Athearn bb GP7. At an Atlas goldline GP7 price. Saw a listing once saying the loco pictured ( which was an Athearn). Was an Atlas goldline. he couldnt get the sound to work cause he didnt have the complete directions
the deals are there. Just hard to find anymore. Burried under all the overpriced relistings. Know what you are looking at. And you will be fine
i often wonder how often money returns demands for false advertising happen with those overpriced items
Wolfie
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
riogrande5761Another tip, vary your key word searches. Some sellers don't put in a keyword, like Evans in their title, so that box car that is a harder to find paint scheme didn't show up in the general search, but did when I removed Evans from the key words. I've often found items that may go unnoticed by searchers because I varied the search words to pick up those that fell through the cracks.
I totally agree, Rio. And this holds true for saved searches, as well. I find it hit 'n miss for locating items that I'm interested in. Because of that I regularly do a "general search" for a said item and try all sorts of key word combinations.
And I've found a few sweet deals because an interested item was NOT listed as it should have been. Patience, persistence, and knowing the going price are key to successful purchases and bargains on eBay.
Among the items I periodically check or ExactRail listings on Ebay. For a while there was only maybe 5 or 6 pages. In the last couple months ExactRail has had sales on Berwick 60' 7327 box cars and P-S 7315 60' waffle box cars, and this month the 4427 covered hoppers are on sale. I just bought one of the last potash 4427 D&RGW before they sold out - shipping was $6.xx - not bad from Utah to VA.
Now there is like 9 paged flooded with these same 3 models which were/are on sale, but for high prices. Anyone could go to E-R's website and buy a 4427 hopper for $29.xx right now vs. the 8-10 more prices on Ebay, and shipping from ER is probably lower than most Ebay sellers too.
Same thing with the Berwicks and Waffle box cars. It looks like someone picked up some on-sale at ER and is turning them around at a profit on Ebay. But you can still go to ER's website and buy the exact same thing for same or less (total cost). Many of the ExactRail items on Ebay are priced over E-R's own selling price so you'd have to be just daft to go to Ebay when you can go to Exactrail and ave a few bucks. Savvy buyers can bypass the dafties.
I guess the only silver lining is ExactRail sold some models to some dafties who are trying to make a profit and are now, in many cases, holding the "bag".
NVSRRi often wonder how often money returns demands for false advertising happen with those overpriced items Wolfie
It isn't really false advertising is it? It's more of a buyer beware system. You see a price, you see an item and you buy it. You choose or not. How can you go to a seller and ask for a return because of "false" advertising because the item was 'over priced'?. A large percentage of the stuff I see on Ebay could fit into that category one could argue. Hence the focus of this discussion.
I regularly see Athearn 2-packs of HO Fruehauf trailers, which MSRP (depending on run) $18.95 - $24.95 (from memory) being sold for $40, or more. Is that false advertising? Probably not in the legal sense. Anyone can look up the prices on Athearn's site to compare and deside if they are desperate enough to buy a long OOP item that is rare, and bite the bullet and pay 2x MRSP. I don't see how Ebay would let you force a refund over that. You agree'd to pay the high price.
riogrande5761 NVSRR i often wonder how often money returns demands for false advertising happen with those overpriced items Wolfie It isn't really false advertising is it? It's more of a buyer beware system. You see a price, you see an item and you buy it. You choose or not. How can you go to a seller and ask for a return because of "false" advertising because the item was 'over priced'?. A large percentage of the stuff I see on Ebay could fit into that category one could argue. Hence the focus of this discussion. I regularly see Athearn 2-packs of HO Fruehauf trailers, which MSRP (depending on run) $18.95 - $24.95 (from memory) being sold for $40, or more. Is that false advertising? Probably not in the legal sense. Anyone can look up the prices on Athearn's site to compare and deside if they are desperate enough to buy a long OOP item that is rare, and bite the bullet and pay 2x MRSP. I don't see how Ebay would let you force a refund over that. You agree'd to pay the high price.
NVSRR i often wonder how often money returns demands for false advertising happen with those overpriced items Wolfie
I was thinking more along the line of the example of the Athearn being sound as an Atlas goldline. To get a very inflated price. Now that you mention it. How many requests for refunds get done when somebody finds out what it costs?
Again, buyer beware. Once you win an auction, you're obligated to purchase the item within a period of time for the agreed upon price. This is also the case with a "Buy it Now" purchase. Once you agree to pay for the item via PayPal or credit card - it's yours. Otherwise, it's consider a breach of contract.
Refunds are given in cases where the seller "knowingly" failed to fully-disclose something about an item to the buyer before the purchase, or the seller "unknowingly" sold something that wasn't what it was or was damaged prior to shipping. This does NOT include finding out how much you overpaid for an item because you didn't do your homework.
tstageThis does NOT include finding out how much you overpaid for an item because you didn't do your homework.
I wonder if they are targeting who go shopping on Ebay when they are drunk. If you can sell something 2 or 3 times list, you don't have to sell that much to make a profit.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
BigDaddy
The holidays are upon us, and this only adds to the crazyness of the ebay pricing and wishing. Along with bidding wars. Just like any other auction be it online or in person. Also watch the shipping costs on some of those real bargain auctions. I have seen shipping charges so high it wipes out any savings one might get from that item. The holidays is not the time to be buying trains, its time to be selling as prices realized at auction will be higher normaly. Then it tapers off after the first of the new year then bottoms out once nice weather returns to the colder areas of the USA. Summer time on a rainy day is train buying season. That is when I stock up on kits and projects for the coming winter. Mike the Aspie
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome
Yea, but the true-life example that I gave earlier has had that Proto 2000 S3 switcher for the same price the entire year. Some eBay sellers are just notorious for selling things at 2-3x MSRP or the going rate. And the astounding thing is that they eventually find folks that are gullible enough to pay it.
Out of 103 items purchased on eBay, I think I've only paid for one item above MSRP and it was only slightly above. All my other purchases have been - on average - 20-30% below MSRP. A few I was able to obtain for 60-70% below MSRP (new)...but those have been the exception.
The worst enemy to a good bargain anywhere is not doing your homework and make decisions based on emotions alone.