eBay Purchases and Expierience


RCShadow

RCShadow

Member
Having seen all the posts about getting good deals on eBay, and having made most of my purchases either through my LHS or from Model Train Stuff, I thought I'd give eBay a try. I purchased four items off of eBay and am satisfied with the expierience overall.

First, I got an Athearn Tank Car for $6 after making the offer to the seller...

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It has seen some wear but for the price + shipping, not bad at all. It tracks well and stays coupled...what more could I ask?

Second, I found a Walthers Gold Line Bulk Head Flat Car for $12 and was won in auction...

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This one is NIB and I couldn't be happier. It performs like my other Walthers Gold Line cars and again, the price was way better than what I could do from a retailer.

Third, I got one that was a BIG surprise in a good way :). This one is a flat car with a load of packaged wood. I got this one for $18 in auction. I guess you could call the win a snipe cause I made my bid at the last second.

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What the surprise was the condition. It looked like it was brand spanking new. The load was put on very nicely with straps and little tiny wood strips are under the loads just as you would expect. I couldn't have done a better job myself so I am very satisfied. It tracks well and remains coupled at all speeds. Very happy.

Fourth, I got a Doodlebug for $50...

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I received this one today and have tested it and it runs fine for the vintage. It is a bit noisy but does what it is supposed to do. All the lights work and doesn't have a scratch on it. It came in the original box too with all documentation.

The cars were shipped very quickly and packaged well. The Doodlebug took the longest to ship but the individual I purchased it from dragged his feet a couple of days before finally getting it in the mail.

Overall, I am quite pleased and have had some reservations eased about eBay. I have never purchased anything from eBay before and will probably buy more cars this way as the wife...errrr...budget, lets me (he he).

I lost several other auctions in the process. One I was sad about because, being a pilot, I would like to find a flat car with a plane load and lost a Athearn flat car with a Beechcraft V-Tail Bonanza on it. You got to love V-Tail doctor killer planes lol. I've only flown straight tail Bonanza's though.
 
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Welcome to the Dark Side, RC!:cool:

I've always used eBay whenever I want something that my LHS can't get for me, such as long-out-of-production items. I always verify the sellers feedback rating before I bid. Usually try to find the Buy-it-now items if available, so I don't have to go thru the bidding wars. My experiences have been 98% positive; the one less-than-perfect transaction I had was not due to any malice on the seller's part, just a dumb oversight.
 
CSX_road_slug said:
Welcome to the Dark Side, RC!:cool:

I've always used eBay whenever I want something that my LHS can't get for me, such as long-out-of-production items. I always verify the sellers feedback rating before I bid. Usually try to find the Buy-it-now items if available, so I don't have to go thru the bidding wars. My experiences have been 98% positive; the one less-than-perfect transaction I had was not due to any malice on the seller's part, just a dumb oversight.
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Dark side lol. It was pleasant overall. I was starting to get fond of the "make offer" thing. I figure all they can say is "no" or "are you kidding?!?!". All I have received back was "no" or "that is below my cost". I am glad you have had good expierience and it is good to know. Thank you for the input.

As a note, I still haven't found any Bachmann F7's (DCC equipped, Tsunami) locomotives for less than Model Train Stuff. The closest I can seem to find is $104 and some change + shipping. These are new units of course. Haven't seen any used ones for a good price either. I love those!
 
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Yep, ebay can be a source of good deals. Not going to make a real killing, but you can beat the typical going prices by a few bucks here and there.
 
I took the Ebay plunge this spring and have had VERY good luck. I have only bought from people with 99.5% or better ratings and have been very happy with every purchase. I missed one that I really wanted but I stuck to my limit that I set for the item and am just waiting for another one to come along. I don't buy from anyone that has high shipping costs and I don't buy unless there are good pictures of the item. Know what you are bidding on and ask questions if you want more info. Use common sense and a little restraint and you will do well.
 
Burlington Bob said:
I took the Ebay plunge this spring and have had VERY good luck. I have only bought from people with 99.5% or better ratings and have been very happy with every purchase. I missed one that I really wanted but I stuck to my limit that I set for the item and am just waiting for another one to come along. I don't buy from anyone that has high shipping costs and I don't buy unless there are good pictures of the item. Know what you are bidding on and ask questions if you want more info. Use common sense and a little restraint and you will do well.
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All good advice and thank you Bob. I had to really show restraint with the flat car with the plane. It got up to $50 and I was out. I love that car and even tried to find another in auction to no avail. I'll keep looking though at a later date, I'm at my budget for the moment for my hobbies. Grrrrr.

EDIT: I looked and there is another flat car with a Bonanza but I'll have to wait a month or so and search for another. Darn it! I'd love to have 3-4 of those!
 
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RCShadow I am right there with you as far as the budget goes and you are not a sniper, you are a winner, that is how eBay works. I learned that the hard way bidding on a Lionel B&O Hudson. I was first bidder and stayed high bidder until the very last second. "When in Rome do as the Romans do" It is how the eBay game is played. There is even software available to make last second bids. I don't use it, but I have seen it advertised.

Speaking of wives and budgets. My wife is wonderful, but I can't tell her what I am looking at in the Lionel Catalog or it shows up at my door! She really spoils me and has blown my budget more then once!

I am primarily a Lionel guy and I love eBay for all the MPC era equipment available and I look for cosmetically good, but not running locomotives. It's a great way to get high value locomotives for a fraction of the price.

I will share my experience with new sellers. I wanted a Lionel Bicentennial train ever since I started playing with trains full time, but the book value is $1007 and that was too high for my budget. I looked for months with no luck until a new first time seller listed the complete train; locomotive, 13 boxcars and the caboose for auction. I was the only bidder and I got it for $274.58 including shipping! I can only think because it was a new seller that no one else bid. I was skeptical of "new in the box", but when it arrived I was amazed! it looked to be in mint condition! It was packaged so well that I kept the box to put it away because I only intend to use it around the 4th of July. In fact it is still on my main line because I keep making excuses why I don't put it away. Truth is I love it so much!

I have had very good results with new sellers and I have yet to have a problem with them, but they are a small fraction of my purchases.

Another thing is to be cautious of "mint condition", "new", "NIB"(new in the box) and "NOS"(new old stock) from my experience less then 10% of them have been really new. And watch out for pictures that don't match the descriptions, for example they show multiple items in the picture, but the descriptions say "only 1 particular item is for sale"

I am not a collector, I play with my trains so mint condition can be a waste of money for me.

I am also cautious of sellers making profits on shipping. I feel I have very little information to judge a sellers integrity so for me a measure of them is honest shipping.

I have bought hundreds of older train items on eBay and I my experience is 99% positive. I have only had one ignorant seller and it was the only time I needed eBay's buyer protection.

Set in your mind what you are willing to pay and don't exceed it, if you can resist the temptation that is.

Louis
 
Thank you Louis for taking the time to express your experiences, great story of your success on eBay. I have to admit my wife would let me do anything I wanted but I had to ask her to play "governor" with me with this new adventure.

I understand what you are saying about shipping charges. I saw several auctions where I thought the shipping was way out of line so I by-passed those. I figure if it was there today, it will be there in the future.

Thanks again for your thoughtful and complete post!
 
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You are welcome, I always get so much help on this forum, it is the least I can do and I am glad to be able to help in any way I can.

My wife is a real character. She helps me to set my monthly budget and she squeezes me to bring it down as much as possible. Then she goes out and buys me something she found out I was interested in and blows the budget! I tell her and she says "what I spend does not count" ok, but would you at least check MB Klein. She just orders from Lionel's web store, but she does use my LRRC discount.

I needed a lot of help with my budget at first because I had a bad case of "I need that" Now I am doing much better controlling myself, but I still spend too much. I even started selling a few things I am not using on eBay and so far I have been able to get what I paid for them, but only because I bought them cheap.

Good thing trains hold their value!

Louis
 
I acquire most of my fleet of ebay i have some pretty good experiances just be aware of high shipping cost and know the equipment worth as i seen some of the older bachmann F40Ph's with the split weight go for 150 which is way too much for that unreliable set up
 
LATX said:
I acquire most of my fleet of ebay i have some pretty good experiances just be aware of high shipping cost and know the equipment worth as i seen some of the older bachmann F40Ph's with the split weight go for 150 which is way too much for that unreliable set up
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Yep, good advice. The Athearn flat cars with the Bonanza V-35 load is going for $40-$55 w/o shipping. I did some research and Athearn's MSRP was in the $18-$22 range. I think I will back away from that.

On most of my purchases, I did do at least a cursory Google search to see what I could find before I bid.

I do pay attention to the shipping. Some of the shipping charges are just stupid. The Doodlebug I won was kinda like that. The shipping was a little more than I would have liked but the wife liked it and it did turn out to be an ok deal I guess.

I am tempted to put one of the new Kato P42 motor/truck setups in it though lol. It's like putting a Porsche engine in a VW but hey, it sure would run quiet and, um....probably quick lol.
 
I've bought stuff on E-bay for many years, and this is how I do it.
1. Know the true value of the item you're bidding on.
2. Make sure the pictures are sharp and clear, and there is more than one.
3. Make sure the shipping costs are reasonable for the item.
4. Know your own limit!!!
5. Place your max bid anytime you want to, and go no higher. I will place my max bid and then forget about the auction. If you're outbid E-bay will notify you.
Following these few rules, I win about 95% of what I bid on.
 
and dont get caught up in the must win at all cost, alot of people ,have had a set limit in mind but the built in alpha male in us sometimes blows that outta the water just to win lol , hhhhumm i even won a EM-1 2-8-8-4 when i was under the influence :p so, you can lose control when you least expect it lol
 
It can be hard to separate what the true value is and what we "think" the value is to ourselves.

This is a good topic and it is good therapy for eBay junkies.

Louis
 
blackz28 said:
and dont get caught up in the must win at all cost, alot of people ,have had a set limit in mind but the built in alpha male in us sometimes blows that outta the water just to win lol , hhhhumm i even won a EM-1 2-8-8-4 when i was under the influence :p so, you can lose control when you least expect it lol
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:rolleyes::D I remember that!! hehehehe! :D

As a seller on ebay, I love when 2 "alphas" get into a bidding war, as a buyer, I see the signs now and just back away.
That reminds me, I've gotta check on some auctions I have closing today!!:)
 
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