Seems I ran across a site a while back but I can't find it now. Just a place for us to buy, sell, swap stuff.
Getting tired of ebay, paypal , rules, etc. etc.
Thanks
hoyardsale.com is a yahoo group. check it out. i get tons of emails from it but i did find a few goodies and you don't have to deal with the auction *** so much.
gomotorbids has some stuff but it is more hit and miss. a guy i know posted a piece about that last one. seems they mixed the N scale in with the HO and he couldn't get them to make it right. they buy out inventories and sell the items off at auction. you only deal with the one outfit that runs the site.
like you, i am about fed up with e-bay although i still use it now and then but it is my last resort. some guys still think it is great. good for them.
grizlump
I agree with griz,there's some mighty fine deals on HOyardsale.com
For us wee scalers there's NScaleyardsaleyardsale.com
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Iv'e been watching hoyardsale since the first of the year. Maybe I'm a cheapskate, but I don't have to take my shoes off to count the good buys I've seen posted. I've bought a few things without problems, but I have offered to buy several other items, been told by the seller that they were mine, only to be told in a subsequent email they were sold. I hear people complain about eBay, but I've been buying and selling on eBay since 1998, and have had VERY few problems. I don't bid if its not a bargain and if a sellers wants to charge $10 for $5 worth of shipping, I don't bid on his items. Like any auction, some people pay stupid money for items. Decide what you are willing to pay and don't bid a penny more!
HOyardsale was created for those of us frustrated with auction sites. You can post items for sale at the price you want to get, if it doesn't sell you can lower the price and repost it. If you are looking for any particular item you can make a WTB (want to buy) request and someone may have it. Patrick, the moderator, has the site rules clearly posted and does a good job keeping troublemakers out. It costs nothing to join, and you can set your e-mail preferences to avoid getting swamped with messages.
If everybody is thinking alike, then nobody is really thinking.
http://photobucket.com/tandarailroad/
grizlump9seems they mixed the N scale in with the HO
So does ebay. I've made a lot of complaints about it but they haven't fixed it, nor even bothered to reply and acknowledge the complaints. Its getting pretty bad on ebay--- if you shop there, beware!
John
I agree,items are often wrongly listed,like N in HO,but I think this the seller's chore to have his items listed properly.I don't think Ebay can check every single listed item (there are millions) to see if they're listed right.This would imply that they know the model train world for instance,wich I doubt.I can only guess that many sellers don't get what they could have if only their products were listed right.Just the same for sellers who have very poor selling strategy...can't blame Ebay for this....
Personally,I do use Ebay although I haven't played the bidding game for over a year,had enough of being sniped in the last ten seconds.However I like the "buy now" option,specially when a item is offered by a few sellers.I don't get "next to nothing" prices but I think I pay a fair value for brand new items.To me Ebay is a giant online store.
"I've made a lot of complaints about it but they haven't fixed it, nor even bothered to reply and acknowledge the complaints."
it's called "stonewalling" and i wouldn't be surprised to find that the techniqe is being taught in business school.
there are several ways to make a customer go away and quit bothering you. limited access to a human is one. personell who have english as a second language is another.
many businesses are quickly learning what their competitors are getting away with and then they too want to know "where is NO?"
insurance companies and cell phone outfits are prime examples, not to mention credit card operations.
they just hope you will become so frustrated that you accept the loss and go away.
not a rant - just an observation.
grizlump (grouchy german)
jfallon HOyardsale was created for those of us frustrated with auction sites. You can post items for sale at the price you want to get, if it doesn't sell you can lower the price and repost it. If you are looking for any particular item you can make a WTB (want to buy) request and someone may have it. Patrick, the moderator, has the site rules clearly posted and does a good job keeping troublemakers out. It costs nothing to join, and you can set your e-mail preferences to avoid getting swamped with messages.
Ill have to check back in to HO yardsale then and try it again then. When I signed up for it last, I got real tired real quick trying to go through 20 emails a day or more from postings of stuff I wasnt intrested in. It just got too time consuming reading and deleting emails from HO yardsale so I took my email off the list. Plus, I just wasnt sure how safe buying stuff off there was until posts like this come up. Perhaps its time to reconsider.
Chris.
as for hoyardsale, i have had three good experiences buying stuff there. i do think that it was originally a site where hobbyists offered their surplus equipment to others at a bargain. it seems that lately the type i call hucksters are starting to infest the site but that doesn't mean they are dishonest, just taking advantage of a free retail outlet. on the whole, i am glad to see an alternative to ebay even though i still use it on rare occasion.
ChevelleSSguy Ill have to check back in to HO yardsale then and try it again then. When I signed up for it last, I got real tired real quick trying to go through 20 emails a day or more from postings of stuff I wasnt intrested in. It just got too time consuming reading and deleting emails from HO yardsale so I took my email off the list. Plus, I just wasnt sure how safe buying stuff off there was until posts like this come up. Perhaps its time to reconsider. Chris.
With any Yahoo Group you have the option of how you want to receive messages - individually, in a daily digest, or best of all no mail. You read the messages on the Group home page, like I do for 18 of the 20 groups I belong to. For HO Yard Sale, I go to the home page, click on "Messages", which displays the most recent 25-30 or so. I only open those that interest me, not very many. Then I open the first message and close it. The next time I check in, that message will be highlighted so I know how far back I need to check out the messages.
Bob Boudreau
CANADA
Visit my model railroad photography website: http://sites.google.com/site/railphotog/
I recieve the e-mails from HO and N Scale yard sales and open those that interest me..No interest-no open its just that simple and takes a few minutes to look over 30 or more..Of course being a moderator on 3 forums and recieve modeling questions from the forums I am on I check my mail often.
I have bought many things off Ebay and have had little problems. None can be attributed to Ebay or Paypal. As with anything you buy sight unseen it takes a bit of check and double check and a little bit of trust. I always, no matter what site I use, read all the listing. Usually that tells me if they are selling what I think they are. If there is a doubt I ask or pass. Yes some don't know what the difference is between HO and N and usually that involves structures, but I haven't had an unresolved problem in that area.
I also check the feedback. I know Ebay has changed their policy, but I only buy from someone who has had many sales or if the item is priced low enough to give me a reason to give a new seller a chance. Also like someone else said I look at the shipping involved and figure that as part of the price I wish to pay. Not as a cost of getting the item as they say I'm suppose to.
All in all I treat Ebay, or any auction site, as a bargain place, not a full priced store. I have Hobby shops for that. If it's not a bargain to me, then I just don't bid. Lately that has been the case, not because of Ebay, but because the seller or the buyers have made it that way. It's still a market and they are getting what the market allows even if it's more than my market does. I can't complain about the prices or the sellers asking or the price they get. Like all of us, we would like to get the most for what we have and if someone is willing to pay more than me, then I suppose they can have it. Even the "rare" stuff shows up again sooner or later. So far, nothing I missed has killed me that I know of.
Todd
Central Illinoyz
In order to keep my position as Master and Supreme Ruler of the House, I don't argue with my wife.
I'm a small town boy. A product of two people from even smaller towns. I don’t talk on topic….. I just talk.
ChevelleSSguyWhen I signed up for it last, I got real tired real quick trying to go through 20 emails a day or more from postings of stuff I wasnt intrested in. It just got too time consuming reading and deleting emails from HO yardsale so I took my email off the list.
So just set yourself up for the 'daily digest'. You actually get two, sometimes three or four emails in a day, depending on how much traffic the list is getting, but each email contains a lot of other emails bundled up into it. I find it a very convenient way of keeping up with the HOYARDSALE list without getting inundated with emails.
Furthermore, I use Yahoo! email which permits me the ability to set up "filters" so the email can be directed to another 'box' that's not my Inbox, so I don't even have to worry about deleting them until I'm ready. They just accumulate in the other box until one day I'm tired of looking at 'em and delete everything out of the box. Real easy.
I don't know what email service you have but it probably has similar features.
grizlump9 as for hoyardsale, i have had three good experiences buying stuff there. i do think that it was originally a site where hobbyists offered their surplus equipment to others at a bargain. it seems that lately the type i call hucksters are starting to infest the site but that doesn't mean they are dishonest, just taking advantage of a free retail outlet. on the whole, i am glad to see an alternative to ebay even though i still use it on rare occasion.grizlump
Agreed. I have purchased a number of items successfully from HOYARDSALE w/o incident. And I also agree that it seems to be getting more "huxters" these days. But Patrick seems to be doing a reasonably good job of keeping folks in line.
HO Yardsale is a pretty good place to buy and sell items compared to ebay. Ebay has priced and nitpicked me out of using them to sell items. I just can't give them as much money as they want for selling and then be dictated to as to how someone can pay me or how to ship something. I will continue to buy but not sell on ebay, at least for now!
Patrick does a great job with the HOYardsale group. He watches every post and culls accordingly. I have made many purchases and sold a lot of items on the site with no problems. I prefer outright buying/selling to auctions. I'm glad it's limited to HO only as with ebay N, O and other non-desirable (to me!) things slip through much too often.
The Backshop Group on yahoo is another good place to sell. They do any scale and non-train items like books, DVDs, etc as well.
The railroad dedicated groups are another good place to sell or buy too. Plus you get the added benefit of possibly learning something new about your favorite railroad.
Roger Huber
Anybody have a link to the group?
http://hoyardsale.com brings up a generic page.
~ Jason
It's on Yahoo Groups: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HOYARDSALE/
You need a Yahoo ID to participate.
Thanks.
Hi all---Actually, HO Yard Sale was not created as an alternative to eBay. I created HO Yard Sale in June of 2005 as an alternative to other Yahoo Groups that I found to be cluttered and unfocused. While some had their virtues, it didn't make sense to me that ALL railroadiana, models, publications, and other items would be offered in the same Group. For some who like variety, that works. I believed, however, that a focused, HO-only Group was the way to go. In August of 2005, I created N Scale Yard Sale as well, eventually turning that over to Kim Saign of Round Rock, Texas.
While HOYS has certainly been (in my opinion) a sucess, I'm still striving to make it better and useful to its 3700 members.
A few months ago we added a complementary Facebook page, and 412 HOYSers have joined us there as well.
"...So does ebay. I've made a lot of complaints about it but they haven't fixed it, nor even bothered to reply and acknowledge the complaints. Its getting pretty bad on ebay--- if you shop there, beware!"
I'm curious what specific problems folks have had at eBay? If I ran the circus I might want to change a few things there, but they'd be mighty few and mostly format related. The OP mentioned swapping stuff as well as buying and selling, and of course eBay isn't much good as a swapping forum, so I'm glad there are other options. But for buying and selling I don't know of anyplace that has better selection, searchability, photos, convenience, or speed. After hundreds of transactions, both purchases and sales, over about ten years I can only remember two problems:
- One buyer finked out on me and didn't pay for a fairly valuable item I was trying to sell, so I had to go through the frustrating and time-consuming process of trying to contact him, waiting unsuccessfully for a response, and then re-listing the item.
- One seller shipped a couple of items to me in a flimsy package which was torn open in shipment, and one the items got lost.
eBay can't prevent stuff like that, nor can they prevent people from listing their stuff in the wrong category or asking too much for shipping or using poor-quality photos or whatever. But those have been the exception and I've been happy with the huge majority of my transactions.
I do get annoyed with the flood of commercial stuff on eBay when I just want to browse and see what individual people might be selling. On the other hand I like having commercial vendors sell on eBay since I can then compare their prices to those of other on-line stores, and since if I'm searching for a specific item I like having lots of options.
I don't do the back-and-forth one-upping bid thing, since eBay items sell for just over the second-highest bidder's maximum bid regardless of when bids were placed. Instead, my general rule is to bid one time, for the maximum amount I'm willing to pay considering the shipping cost, and as close to the end of auction as convenient. If the auction ends mid-day on a workday, I'll bid the night before. If it ends on a Saturday afternoon and I'm at home, I'm one of those guys who bids in the last 10 seconds. Sometimes I win, sometimes I get outbid, sometimes I forget or get busy and don't sign on in time and the item goes cheap to somebody else.
I've never had a problem as a buyer or seller with PayPal, and I like it for the speed and certainty. I've also paid other ways and accepted other means of payment, and regardless of posted "rules" eBay can't prevent an individual buyer and seller from agreeing on whatever means of payment they want.
Sometimes the speed and convenience and selection on eBay gets the better of me and I end up buying crap that I wouldn't have paid for if I saw it in person at a swapmeet. Sometimes sellers don't know what they have or how to describe it, and I end up with nice stuff at a bargain.
Anyway, I'm glad there are other options but I'm still a fan of eBay. Time to go browse and see if anything looks like a good buy in Toys & Hobbies > Model RR, Trains > HO Scale... right now it says there are 118,714 items to choose from. :-)
Dean
"I'm curious what specific problems folks have had at eBay? "
Bulldog fan,
Overall I've had pretty good luck on ebay. I buy and sell so have seen it from both sides. As a seller I had 3 problems with people not completing the transactions. Ebay did nothing to help me with the problems except to send me standard form letters which were of no help. I finally relisted the items and got an even better price so I guess I came out ahead!
As a buyer I have had no problems except when I failed to read the description 100%. From talking to others and reading feedback I think the majority of problems stem from people:
1. not knowing what they are bidding on
2. not knowing what they are selling
3. people not asking questions of the seller
I think it's important to consider the sellers feedback. If it isn't 100% then read what has been entered as feedback toward him and consider:
1. the feedback of the poster
2. attitude of comments returned by the seller toward the poster
3. see if the negative or neutral posts were all around the same time.
I dealt with one seller that had a 100% rating with over 10,000 posts. All of a sudden he was getting negatives. WHY? As it turned out he had a heart attack and was trying to remain on this side of the grass so ebay wasn't on his mind for a while.
I've also seen unreasonable people who failed to know what they were bidding on and/or didn't read or ask questions then got POed because it wasn't what they thought. Buyer beware! If it's an expensive item and there's no pictures or just a one-sentence description either ask or pass on the auction.
If someone doesn't give a good description....ask. If you aren't satisfied with the answer.....don't bid. One good thing about ebay is that there will usually be another identical item coming along soon.
I will continue to buy on ebay as I've gotten a lot of great stuff and good deals.
My selling days are over due to ebay's newer policies on paying and shipping. I don't care to use PayPal but they insist. I've done fine with checks and money orders over the years, thank you. They dictate the shipping costs which may or may not cover the actual cost for me. Their listing, selling and PayPal fees just cut in to my profit too much.
My 2ยข,