Should trains.com setup an ebay equivalent dedicated to model trains?

[DigitalGriffin]

I notice a lot of people on here use ebay to find and sell the train equipment they want. Do you think a special website dedicated to model train auctions is a good idea. They already exist for other hobbies. (ie: audiogon.com)

Here could be some benefits:
Possibly lower overhead for auction sales (less commision)
Page displays that make searching easier and better detailed
?Sales/Purchases? from people you know on the forum. (Feel more secure about not getting ripped off by a scam)

BTW: I am no way affiliated with Kalmbach publishing or trains.com. It was just an idea I was thowing around.

[TrainFreak409]

A train website hosting a train auction? That's nuts...[:D]

I would be very interested in it. I think that it would be a better source for train related material, since we are all train enthusiasts here. And with people like AggroJones and others who custom weather, it would make a place for quick sales. I think it would work, but it wouldn't be as popular as eBay, though.

[ukguy]

One downside to this is that you would not have the number of sellers (or buyers to raise the price to a seller acceptable level) that you do on a site like e:bay. How many people 'find' stuff in their attic to sell and would bother looking for a dedicated site when they already have an e:bay option.

The people from the forum who would use this already have access to the 'classifieds' section if they want to use a 'connected/related' sales option.

I also think the overheads would be higher as the volume of sales would be nowhere near that of e:bay and therefore the cost per unit of sale for the host would be greatly increased.

I also dont see how the search would be easier or better?

Despite what you think, you don't 'know' people on this forum and there is no limitation on who can join, therefor we could be infiltrated by a bad element VERY easily.

On a top level it would seem like a good idea but when looked at closely (as I am sure Kalmbach has) I do not think it would work, or we would already have it.

Sorry for the negative response.[:)]

Have fun and be safe.
Karl.

[ProtoWeathering]

Do you think some one like Mellow-Mike would get $810 for his artistry here?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5989346251&indexURL=2

Or that I could get over $100 for a custom weathered car with my feeble (next to Mike) attempts?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5989092067&category=38271&ssPageName=WDVW&rd=1

I think not. These are exceptions and defiantly not typical, but everyone who sells wishes to get a fair price and to do so you need the most exposure. In the fall and winter months there are 60-80,000 daily sales posted in HO scale alone. No one but eBay can provide that kind of market place.

With over 20,500 listings in HO scale alone today, the market comes to the seller and determines the price.

Leave it to the experts.

Jerry

[Anonymous]

That's what a reserve price is for.

QUOTE: Originally posted by ukguy

One downside to this is that you would not have the number of sellers (or buyers to raise the price to a seller acceptable level) that you do on a site like e:bay. How many people 'find' stuff in their attic to sell and would bother looking for a dedicated site when they already have an e:bay option.

The people from the forum who would use this already have access to the 'classifieds' section if they want to use a 'connected/related' sales option.

I also think the overheads would be higher as the volume of sales would be nowhere near that of e:bay and therefore the cost per unit of sale for the host would be greatly increased.

I also dont see how the search would be easier or better?

Despite what you think, you don't 'know' people on this forum and there is no limitation on who can join, therefor we could be infiltrated by a bad element VERY easily.

On a top level it would seem like a good idea but when looked at closely (as I am sure Kalmbach has) I do not think it would work, or we would already have it.

Sorry for the negative response.[:)]

Have fun and be safe.
Karl.

[Anonymous]

Whoa, Neutrino, that was you? Darn, I nearly drooled[:D] when I saw that car. Too bad I didn't have that much to spend at the time.[V] Very nice weathering...the next great of eBay weatherers?

I voted for very, but after considering it, I have to agree with most of the replies. I doubt Mellow-Mike could get that much out of those spine cars if it weren't for eBay.

uspscsx

[Adelie]

Problem is that a good number of items that are listed with a reserve end up with no bids meeting that reserve. That wastes everybody's time.

I'm not opposed to the idea of a model trains only auction site, but I'm not sure it is a good deal for sellers. Ebay generates huge numbers of potential buyers, probably exponentially more than a specialized site could hope to generate. If I'm a seller, I want larger numbers of potential buyers. Sure, I can put a reserve on the item, but that only prevents me from selling it at an unacceptable price. The goal of the seller is not simply to not sell to low, but rather to sell.

In short, I think ebay has the market for that sewn up. I've seen computer auction sites, but they generally have few items, the items have minimum bids that are too high. That could well be the result here. The bulk of sellers are, no doubt, simply place the items on ebay.

Plus, with auctions or any buying and selling, there are conflicts. Overall, this forum is a positive place. But looking at the threads that deal with "me vs. some reseller" they tend to get contentious. We don't need more of that, particularly amongst our membership.

Guess I agree with Karl.

[CNJ831]

Both Karl and Jerry are quite correct. Today's eBay is a huge company that took years to establish and operate properly. Its success is largely based on the enormous volume of business it conducts, allowing for a significant profit. To duplicate such a service in a very limited, specialized format is downright scarry to even consider. Several individuals have attempted to start model railroading auction sites in recent years and all that I am aware of failed miserably.

You would likely have a very limited seller base (compared to eBay) mainly offering common items at not much below street prices. Both seller and buyer would understand the value of most items and bidding would likely be very limited. The company itself would have to monitor sales and address all sort of problems typical eBay sales wouldn't face (actual quality, completeness, operating characteristics, etc.). I see a nightmare of problems from the auction company.

I tend to think the folks at Kalmbach would rather burn down their offices and go on unemployment than to get involved in such a venture. [:D]

CNJ831

[ClinchValleySD40]

Not at all. Trains/Model Railroader is not the in auction business. There are plenty of those sites currently available, no need for any more.

[ProtoWeathering]

Thanks for the nice comments uspscsx.

I'm never surprised at the prices Mike gets for his work. He deserves every penny.

[Anonymous]

There is already Choochoo Auctions somewhere on the web. I've never visited the site, but see it being spammed on some groups once in a while. A most recent message got a reply that it was too bad there was only toy trains on the site and not scale models.

So someone is already doing an independant model train auction site.

Bob Boudreau

[skiloff]

As much as I'd like to see a train only auction site, I have to agree that it likely wouldn't work. ebay really is the best place to buy and sell and they already have everything set up. Why would you bother re-inventing the wheel?

[IRONROOSTER]

I voted Unlikely. Ebay has a train section already. Having more auction sites, means having to go to multiple places to see what's available. Though I suppose if ebay prices get too high, we'll need competition.
Enjoy
Paul

[jfugate]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Neutrino
In the fall and winter months there are 60-80,000 daily sales posted in HO scale alone. No one but eBay can provide that kind of market place.

With over 20,500 listings in HO scale alone today, the market comes to the seller and determines the price.

Leave it to the experts.

Jerry

Jerry is absolutely right. There is no benefit to trains.com running their own auction site.

The best auction site will have the most traffic, and with over 100 million ebayers online these days, I don't think MR with its 170,000 subscribers could hope to have an auction site that will ever hold a candle to ebay.

If MR's site was free even, I would still post my item to sell on ebay where it will be seen by more people and fetch the best price.

[ukguy]

Thanks for the info, I know what a reserve price is and what it is for, however as Mark (Adelie) so eloquently clarified, it is pointless trying to sell items which will regularly not meet their reserve, sellers just wouldn't waste their time/effort with a site like that.

Maybe I should have elaborated on my sentence a little more,

QUOTE: buyers to raise the price to a seller acceptable level

but I thought it was self explanitory.

I also agree wholeheartedly with Mark on the following point.

QUOTE: Plus, with auctions or any buying and selling, there are conflicts. Overall, this forum is a positive place. But looking at the threads that deal with "me vs. some reseller" they tend to get contentious. We don't need more of that, particularly amongst our membership.

And also Paul.

QUOTE: Having more auction sites, means having to go to multiple places to see what's available.

it sometimes takes long enough to find what you want on the web without duplicating even more resources.

Have fun & be safe,
Karl

[Trainnut484]

I don't know if this has been noticed or not, but Ebay is advertised here on the forums. If the ad has been here for a while, that's my bad as I just now noticed.

Take care,

Russell

[davekelly]

I'm gonna have to vote "unlikely" on this one. While the idea sounds way cool, I'm going to agree with the folks that the exposure for sellers would probably be less and the number of sellers would be less also. I like the idea that this forum is not attached to any seller/buyer endeavor (except of course for Kalmbach - and well it should being that Kalmbach foots the bill for this) as it gives an sense of independence. We can come here and compare notes about different hobby shops (brick and mortar and internet) and applaud/condemn ebay. Let's keep this place (the entire trains.com as well as the forum) limited to the exchange of information and ideas.

[ARTHILL]

We should all do what we do best and this is a great forum. Ebay sells stuff. I like them separate.

[mecovey]

"Mellow Mike's" efforts are absolutly first rate - what an artist! But as to the question Do you think he could get $810 here...I don't know how he (or anyone) could get $810 anywhere for a car and two trailers.

[mecovey]

oops -5 trailers

[cacole]

Remember, if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.

[Anonymous]

I hear much complaining about E-Bay commisions and an equal number of fraud complaints. I don't think this is an area that will help promote our hobby, with sellers wanting the best possible price and the buyers wanting huge bargins. It is an exercise in creation of potential conflict that E-Bay is best left to address, and be well paid for.
Will

[areibel]

I think Unlikely.
Choochooauctions is a good site, but they are mostly collectable O and S scale stuff- some HO, some N, but not much else unless your into Lionel or Flyer. There actually have been several other model RR only auction sites, and they've bitten the dust- MRRauctions.com and collectorauctions.com are the latest casualties. If you want to see why they don't make it, go to auctions.yahoo.com, then "toys", "models", "railroad". They usually have anywhere from 100-300 auctions going total for train stuff. But most of what you'll find is someone trying to get big money out of junk. There are some auctions on there that have probably been running for 16-18 MONTHS! One in particular is for an old Lionel transformer. The seller keeps relisting it for $9.99, and has been doing so for a long time. It's not an auction, it's a storefront that's cheaper than Ebay to list on.
All the strictly MRR auction sites suffered the same problem. The sellers thought they had the same bunch of crazies that inhabit Ebay, and they priced accordingly. But no one bought much! There were few good deals, and no real bargains. And no sales means no profits, which leads to no auction site.
And for cheaper pricing, well I'm not so sure about that! An auction site would probably take another person or two to run, another server, more bandwith, etc..And I don't think Trains.com is going to start shoveling money out the window. All considered, Ebay is cheap. Look at what a plain old classified ad costs in MR- $25 minimum. Not ripping on them, but that's what it costs. An auction on Ebay costs anywhere from thirty cents to a couple bucks to list, depending on the starting cost. And the final value fee is a couple percent of the sale price, so you're going to have to be selling in the $800-$1000 range to be hitting that $25 cost. And if it doesn't sell, you're not out more than the listing fee. Can't beat it!