Questions on buying used

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J

Jerome

New Member
The links below are to items I am interested in. The items are listed as "new" or in "like new" condition. If you look at these items there are no real bids on them yet, I have been told that people wait until the last bidding moments before submitting a serious bid. My question is, does anyone have a rough gauge of what some of these items might be worth? This is so I will know how much to bid up to, cause right now I do not have a clue. Some of these items have gained 2000 views!



http://cgi.ebay.com/Mixed-Lot-of-23...goryZ484QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem



http://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-of-50-HO-Sc...ryZ11644QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem



http://cgi.ebay.com/90-Piece-HO-Sca...ryZ11644QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem



http://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-of-9-Tortoi...ryZ11644QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem



http://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-of-20-HO-Sc...ryZ19130QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
When its a mixed lot, I generally use a rule of thumb, $3 per item. Some of the items in that first lot aren't worth much though.

Don't waste your time with the tortoise lot, you can get 12 NEW ones for $124 on eBay, in eBay stores, so 9 @ the current price of $102, bad deal.
 
I suspect this guy has bought up some stock from a hobby shop that has gone out of business. As Josh said, mixed lots always seem to include some good stuff and some junk. Since the auction doesn't close for two more day, you'll see bidders come in a few hours before the time is up. I find that most mixed lots almost always sell for more than what you could have gotten the items for individually. There's nothing rare or unusual in what this guy is selling so I see no reason to get 20 freight cars, all from different eras, when I have an interest in only two or three.

For whatever reason, people have already stated to bid up the tortise machines way beyond a reasonable price so stay away from that. I'd also be concerned about the fact the seller only has 13 sales total.
 


Thanks so much for the thoughtful responses. Particularly what is of most interest to me is the Atlas track.

http://cgi.ebay.com/90-Piece-HO-Sca...ryZ11644QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Here the items sell for about $4 per track section on the Atlas site and the seller has 40 new. The current bid is at $6. Retail, we're talking $160 just for the track sections. I am thinking $125 for a top bid?

Thanks for the advice UP2CSX. A longtime friend referred me to this bidding after having just recently bought HO scale scenery models from the same seller. Plus his member feedback is 100% positive since 2001.
 
Jerome, the bid will be way higher before this auction is over since it also includes all the cork sections. My question is - do you really need 40 sections of flex track? That's 120 feet of track. That's a mighty big layout. You can get a 25 pack of new Atlas flex track for $70 at http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/product_p/atl-16825.htm. If you really need the 40 pieces, I'd put in a bid of $125 right now and see if you can scare the other bidders off. I suspect some moron will end up paying more like $200 for this lot, which is more than he'd pay at discounted new retail but it's worth a try.
 
E-Bay is fun, but like many auctions, people get caught up in the moment and tend to overbid. The good thing about e-bay is that if you don't win, odds are you can find another auction selling what you're looking for :)

I know people wait till the last minute of the auction to make their bids. I don't bother. I just determine what the item is worth to me, what my max offer would be, and that's what I bid. I let the auction take care of it from there. If I win, great. If I don't, then someone else must have had a higher value for the item. Good for them.

Lots are interesting, especially when you see pictures of closed boxes in a pile. In that case I would request additional pictures. If they are not willing to share pics of each item, then the value I place on the lot goes down. I assume the box contains an item in poor condition.

Have fun with it. Look for sellers with high activity and positive feedback.
Doug
 
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