Ebay activity seems to have declined rapidly in the last couple of weeks.
I have a saved search that I look at every day. It usually has 200-300 listings per day that mee the search criteria.
It has dropped to about 50 per day this week.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I agree with Kevin on the Brasstrains folks, top notch service and packaging. Never an issue.
Also, Hon3 Blackstone prices are through the roof. I really wish people would refuse to buy stuff at massively over inflated prices. At this point, its cheaper to buy Brass, even with re-motoring and installing DCC and sound.
DoughlessBIN prices from retailers is crazy.
The Buy It Now prices for some Model Master paints are insane. I should have invested!
Update to the OP.
I have noticed that activity has slowed as usual through the summer months, but prices seem awfully high. I look frequently since I still covet a few items that pop up from time to time, but lots of rather mundane stuff is getting bid up pretty high. BIN prices from retailers is crazy.
- Douglas
Bought a bunch of brass through the years and never a problem with shipping but then I never bought one without original box, no preferrence, just worked out that way. Like I said before, latest accusition were MTH hopper cars, they came in box as shipped from china so no problems.
GP025My last brass item through the bay turned out good, but I also have limited myself to the folks out of FL for those items as well lately.
I stopped buying brass on eBay about a year ago when two packages in a row were packaged terribly. Luckily the locomotives were not damaged.
At Brasstrains Dot Com (the outfit in Florida), they really do a 100% perfect job of packaging their models for shipment.
Also, in my experiences with them, they are completely honest and accurate with the item descriptions.
I look for specific items related to GN, NP, and SP&S, there might be a few more items than usual, but nothing significant.
I have actually tapered off my browsing of the bay as the last few items I "won" were just not quite up to my standards. In fact the last item wasn't even what I bid on, and even though the seller said he was correcting it, it never came to be, but I did make it work though. (It was a frame and body of an Atlas yellow box received instead of an Atlas Classic frame, the same I asked y'all about in a thread). For the most part though, I almost prefer to order online from a B&M store or other online retailer, even direct from a manufacturer, even if the price is a little steeper.
My last brass item through the bay turned out good, but I also have limited myself to the folks out of FL for those items as well lately.
Kev
When this thread started back on May 25th, I didn't think that eBay activity was "through the roof". I agree with others that the bulk of model railroading activity is from December through April with the peak period being in January and February.
Rich
Alton Junction
Another Ebay trick is to use the minus sign for things you don't want. Try searching HO Consolidated Loco vs
HO Consolidated Loco -Bachmann
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
The level of activity certainly depends on demand. Yes, there are PLENTY of old cars, but I've not seen what I need and might get through an online store.
Amazon also is doing well with MR-related sales.
On eBay the purchase of newer items seems almost impossible for the prices being asked. There are allot of sellers and dealers that are out their minds with the prices they are asking.I have bought nothing on eBay in months due to this but have bought from some of my favorite dealers like train world, MTS.
NOW if you want used there are some good buys on eBay but it's a crap shoot most of the time.
Brass seems to be all over place in price and qua!ity. I stay away from brass because today's models being made are far superior than almost anything in brass. Now if you pay top dollar for some the brass being made today of which I can't and even if I had the money I would not spend it on brass. But if you can more power to you, have fun.
Dave
It seemed to me the prime Ebay activity has generally been January through April tax day.
It ussually started going down in Feb though.
Summer time has started and volume has dropped, as usual, IMO.
E-bay listings back to normal for this time of year.
This was surprising... a Key USRA Heavy 2-10-2 did not even make it to $200.00 when the bids were over.
JohnnypopperIt was a sad day when eBay did away with the wildcard character "*".
Very sad indeed.
One of my Warhammer armies is the "Bretonnian" army, and that would be mispelled countless different ways when people listed them.
The wildcard character let me search for:
"warhammer" +(bret*)
Then I could find most of the mispelled listings.
It was a sad day when eBay did away with the wildcard character "*". Many of my searches used this character to filter out much of the chaff and clutter from my searches. They say it's no longer necessary, but my searches have been much less specific and concentrated.
And don't forget the "-" in searches to filter out what you don't want to see, e.g. "-(cups,plates,spoons)" if you don't want to see ATSF cups, plates or spoons.
emdmikeI have tried to keep my brass buys to what Dan gets in at Brasstrains. To many non train people selling estates that have no idea how to properly ship brass.
I will agree with you whole-heartedly on that point.
Every purchase I have made from Brasstrains Dot Com has been packaged carefully and securely.
I bought a Key light USRA 4-8-2 on eBay once that was just tossed into a bigger box. The locomotive came out of the original Key box in transit. Miraculously it arrived undamaged.
Trainman440I actually recently learned about the OR command on Ebay.
Ebay used to have a long tutorial on their community pages that explained the proper syntax to use in the search fields to make better searches.
I have saved searches with all kinds of special commands in them.
I actually recently learned about the OR command on Ebay. Its super useful.
For example, instead of searching
-BLI ATSF
-BLI Santa Fe
-Broadway Ltd ATSF
-Broadway Ltd Santa Fe
-Broadway Limited ATSF
-Broadway Limited Santa Fe
I just search: (BLI,Broadway Ltd,Broadway Limited) (ATSF,Santa Fe), and every combination comes up!
This can be applied to things like "reefer" and "refrigerator", or "Observation" and "Obs".
You'd be surprised how many ways a seller can write a title for a listing!
You don't even know how complex my "ho brass" search is
Im sure most are aware of this little trick, but for those who weren't its worth knowing.
Charles
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Modeling the PRR & NYC in HO
Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/@trainman440
Instagram (where I share projects!): https://www.instagram.com/trainman440
trainnut1250One thing to consider is that many people stopped all discretionary spending when the pandemic hit due to finacial uncertainty - whether it be loss of job, loss of hours on the job or stock market uncertainty. This may be offsetting those who are buying more to keep themselves busy.... Guy
That is probably true for some, but apparently it doesn't explain the additional online buying spree. Perhaps that is a boost which offset those who are spending less.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Another thing to note, a big chunk of listings in trains on e-bay are not viable, things like mirroer listings.
Oh boy yes indeed. Lets see here I have made about 20 purchases on ebay since March. I think its fun just researching what equipment I want and more than likely its on ebay.
And I just received my stimulus money, so I will keep buying right now.
I have been keeping busy with my new layout, but dang Im sure getting cabin fever and need to get out and see people. They just now started opening retail shops so Im gonna visit my LHS.
Michael
CEO- Mile-HI-RailroadPrototype: D&RGW Moffat Line 1989
I have tried to keep my brass buys to what Dan gets in at Brasstrains. To many non train people selling estates that have no idea how to properly ship brass. Like Kevin, I watch the cheaper side of diesels on Brasstrains like a hawk and grab a deal when I can. Being able to do my own repair work, repowering and so forth helps. Even parts engines get my money once and awhile to keep my stash of spare parts stocked up as I do rework for others on older brass engines. Most new stuff has little to no interest for me. Older kits, older brass and estates tables once shows start up again are where I shop. I give Dan and his crew down there in Florida 5 out of 5 stars for accurate descriptions of models, excellent and fair pricing along with steller packing for a safe journey to me. While my wife and I havent gone hog wild on spending. We have saved back enough that with the extra boost from the Fed, we have been able to do some work/upgrades to our Jeeps and I have been able to get a few train items. If we do not spend some $$, the economy will stall out even more. We have to buy to keep things moving, even if its in small ways. For those that love vintage brass and can buy, its a buyers market right now and will be for some time to come IMHO. Mikie
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome
I'm not sure whether the total number of listings through all categories is up, but I am not seeing it in the model railroad searches that I do on a regular basis.
The number of certain brass locos listed has dropped in recent weeks rather than gone up. I kept expecting to see an uptick but it doesn't look much different to me than it usually does. The items that are overpriced still sit there like they always do.
One thing to consider is that many people stopped all discretionary spending when the pandemic hit due to finacial uncertainty - whether it be loss of job, loss of hours on the job or stock market uncertainty. This may be offsetting those who are buying more to keep themselves busy....
Guy
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
rrebell Craftsman kits can be had cheap along with alot of brass
I search for "ho brass" in auction format every day. Listing of brass auctions have easily quadrupled since the stay at home orders began.
There are a lot of models that show up very rarely getting listed.
The starting bids are all over the place. Many as low as 99 cents, and some three times what the value of the model is.
Brasstrains Dot Com of Ocala, Florida is also listing a lot more models than normal recently. Sometimes two or three pages in a single day. Many at very low prices.
It is a circus right now in the brass model world.
Accually the number of lisying never got above x-mas listings and is still running a bit higher but not by that much, yeah I follow this stuff. As far as price it depends on what it is. Craftsman kits can be had cheap along with alot of brass, othere items are going for a premium.
My best friend runs an online store for RC model sailboats and his sales have been off the charts since the health crissis started. I think this goes for most hobbies in general. We had a very chilly and damp spring, so most outdoor stuff at home was on hold much longer, so model trains kept selling locally. The local shop said they were quite busy with phone in and online orders that the buyer would either have shipped or stop by and pick up in person as this shop is based out of the owners house in a seperate building. Keeping cabin fever at bay is best done with a good hobby! Mikie