Doughless I'm not interested in buying a used or nearly new item at close to its original MSRP.
I'm not interested in buying a used or nearly new item at close to its original MSRP.
Doughless With shipping prices rising, and with them pushing out the small garage sales guys willing to sell their items at a loss, I find Ebay to not be a very desireable place to buy.
With shipping prices rising, and with them pushing out the small garage sales guys willing to sell their items at a loss, I find Ebay to not be a very desireable place to buy.
Rich
Alton Junction
With shipping prices rising, and with them pushing out the small garage sales guys willing to sell their items at a loss, I find Ebay to not be a very desireable place to buy. I'm not interested in buying a used or nearly new item at close to its original MSRP.
The ebay retailers who use it as a store front are not nearly as competitive as the hobby shops who have a website.
- Douglas
I just skip an item if I think is it too expensive. Sometimes, however, if it isn't out of line and it is a seller I have done business, I'd being willing to pay a little more. I also try to get multiple things from a single seller to save on shipping costs. As I don't have an LHS, eBay is the closest thing I have.
Even once in awhile a seller is willing to do something custom if you ask. I have a 3D printed park shelter from one and within the last week I got some custom LED lights for a bunch of my Athearn drive engines that I don't have the ability to use the stock lighting system any longer.
Just like anything out there eBay has the good and the bad.
rrebell E-bay has rules to protect the buyers. As for the goods, e-bay used to charge fees based on starting price for trains plus listing fee and a few other, now the charge a final value fee so less people starting their listing low and letting it build so less bargins for us dedicated e-bayers. Also stores are more common on e-bay and they have their own rules.
E-bay has rules to protect the buyers. As for the goods, e-bay used to charge fees based on starting price for trains plus listing fee and a few other, now the charge a final value fee so less people starting their listing low and letting it build so less bargins for us dedicated e-bayers. Also stores are more common on e-bay and they have their own rules.
These purchase were all Buy It Now so setting an artificially low starting price wouldn't apply.
Based on my experience, about 95% of the people selling on ebay have been reputable and if there is a problem, they try their best to work it out. There will always be shady people no matter where you go.
There are still deals on EBay, the issue is that there is an overwhelming amount of chaff, people trying to take advantage etc. which has to be waded through to find the deals - but that is no different than anything else associated with the internet nowadays (clickbait, scams, political discourse on Facebook and Twitter etc.).
Seems like the issue is with the internet in general, not EBay specifically.
This is not hard to understand, some people on Ebay are trying to make money, like a real job to feed their family.
Other people are just getting rid of things they no longer want and are happy to get a few dollars in the process, as quickly and easily as possible, and are happy the items go to someone who wants them.
When I was just a teen, my father explained - "the value of anything is only determined by how much the buyer wants it, and how much the seller wants to be rid of it".
All the recent changes at Ebay have eliminated a lot of the second group, but there are still a few on there just using Ebay as their "yard sale".
I once bought a lot of train stuff, and some other struff (tractor parts), and sold stuff (not trains), on Ebay. Now I hardly even go on that site for anything.
Sheldon
hon30critter Hi John-NYBW, I made the same decision when I was just starting in the hobby. I bought some passenger cars (can't remember who made them) and figured I would have some fun modelling the interiors. Unfortunately finding the right interiors proved to be quite a challenge, and when I did find them, they were expensive. It didn't take me long to decide that cars with the interiors already installed were a much better solution. Cheers!! Dave
Hi John-NYBW,
I made the same decision when I was just starting in the hobby. I bought some passenger cars (can't remember who made them) and figured I would have some fun modelling the interiors. Unfortunately finding the right interiors proved to be quite a challenge, and when I did find them, they were expensive. It didn't take me long to decide that cars with the interiors already installed were a much better solution.
Cheers!!
Dave
I would have been happy getting just the interiors for what I paid for the complete car with interior. Even if they have been glued in place, I should be able to pop then out. If not, I can just swap the under carriages since they are generic Rivarossi cars and the components are interchangeable. I wanted interiors for two lightweight NYC coaches and what I found was one NYC coach and one Empire Builder coach with interiors. Now I have a third NYC coach and all I need to do is find one other cheap interior or coach with interior.
richhotrain It so often depends upon who is the seller and what that seller is selling. I will give you an example. Go on eBay and search for Rapido Monon. I failed to buy some Monon coaches when Rapido first produced them. Ever since, I do occasional searches to no avail. So, I got a bit excited when I saw one New for sale. But, the seller, gabetrains, wants $219 for just one coach. I will pass. In fact, this seller has several other listings, and all are at ridiculously high prices. So, his items linger on eBay. I missed an auction in November when 4 new Monon coaches went for $200 - - only $50 per car. Rich
It so often depends upon who is the seller and what that seller is selling.
I will give you an example. Go on eBay and search for Rapido Monon. I failed to buy some Monon coaches when Rapido first produced them. Ever since, I do occasional searches to no avail. So, I got a bit excited when I saw one New for sale. But, the seller, gabetrains, wants $219 for just one coach. I will pass. In fact, this seller has several other listings, and all are at ridiculously high prices. So, his items linger on eBay.
I missed an auction in November when 4 new Monon coaches went for $200 - - only $50 per car.
The same thing has happened with the MTH equipment now that they have gone out of business. It is selling at a premium. I bought the five car passenger set for the 1938 20th Century Limited but not the two car add on set. I figured I could always add that on later. Now both the five car and two car sets are selling on ebay for a higher price than what they originally sold for new. I bought the MTH streamlined Hudson for the 1941 Empire State Express but instead of buying the MTH cars that went with it, I opted to build a train with second hand Walthers Budd cars. Big mistake. I had nothing but trouble with those cars which I documented in another thread while the MTH cars for the 20th Century have performed flawlessly. On ebay, the asking price for the MTH ESE 5 car set is $600 and up.
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I'm upgrading a number of vintage Rivarossi passenger cars with interiors, body mounted KD couplers, diaphragms, weights and metal wheels. I needed to get some interiors for a couple of 1930 lightweight coaches. I went out to ebay and there were a number of listings for the old IHC interiors, all in mid twenty price range. Then I came across two different listings for 1930 lightweight coaches with interiors, both selling for $15.99 plus shipping including one which is a duplicate of a car I am upgrading. Both of them were Buy It Now as opposed to auctions. It was a no brainer to get the complete cars over the interiors. If I choose I can turn around and resell the coaches sans interiors and get back some of my money.