When I see MIB brass M-10000s going for $255 and MTL cars with asking price of $145, I really have to know --- is there any point to putting up scratchbuilt or recrafted factory models that are exactly prototypical (and you can't find anywhere) if you're going to wind up taking a loss?
Ive seen custom made products go for big money and also next to nothing. And if brass stuff is now being made in plastic the price of the brass comes down drastically. Certain brass pieces still go for a mint. And it can be cyclical. Ive seen certain items go for well over original retail (stuff out of peoduction). Then a few months later they fall out of favor after a bunch hit the auction site because of the high prices.
By "that" auction site I suppose you mean the only auction sit that counts - and that is eBay. "Real" modelers tend to be goal-oriented. They have specific intentions and they are searching for items that are in alignment with their goals. Some of them are well-off financially and can afford to buy interesting items that are not relevant to their goals - on impulse - just to collect. But mostly, people using eBay are just window shopping. That would make them "impulse" buyers - if they buy.
I just bought some locomotives on the bay, I got two lifelike Erie Built A-B undec engines for my Milwaukee fleet for $135.00 and a pair of A unit ALCo PA's for conversion to the older Erie built engines for $38.00. When it comes to buying I do it with purpose. Randy
same here...I use Ebay for a purpose...I look for specific items...Ebay has been my friend in that respect. I've found many items I needed AND paid prices ranging from very fair, all the way down to ridiculously 'cheap'...if the price (on a bid item) goes too high for my rationale, well c'est la vie....the market is what it is!...generally, people do and run businesses for profit...to make a living. I'll never begrudge anyone for 'asking' AND getting top price for any item they care to peddle. It strikes me strange that so many folks in this and other countries don't 'get' business for profit...if one were to read most of the threads on this and many forums (that deal with manufactured hobby items) one would think that these manufacturers exist for the sole purpose of providing the hobbyist an item he/she desires...profit and earning a living be darned... I would agree that Ebay may be the only recourse for a rare item that the buyer MUST have (above mentioned brass and any other type of collectible items)...in fact, I believe Ebay even markets to that type of item/individual...wasn't that the original philosophy?...Now, of course, whole stores, sponsored by 'normal' retailers/wholesalers exist on the site...no doubt due to the high visibilty there...can't fault that! Great business and another marketing avenue. Ebay, for me, is simply another source for product... Respectfully, Bruce
As a modeler with a layout, I use EBay only for very needed items, i.e., I have a specific purpose. Others may vary. However, I do know that there are some MT cars that are supposedly worth hundreds, even in this market, such as the State of Illinois car. So, those are probaby sought after by collectors.
When I go to ebay, I'm always looking for specifics....even if the specific is just "BNSF cars". But if something catches my eye, I'm not above an impulse buy.
Sometimes I swear it must be just me and one other guy that want the same N scale stuff on there. I say this because I seem to always get outbid when I do bid but, if I decide not to bid on something, the item always seems to go for next to nothing. For example, some Bachmann 44 tonners that I decided not to bid on went for less than 40 bucks a few days back! :rats:
Russ, I have that same problem. I recall in the early 2000's trying to get an OMI brass Jordan Spreader. If I bid "my price" I never won, and if I didn't bid it would go for $100-150 less than I was willing to pay. And I probably watched several dozen auctions go this way. I finally just gave up. I seldom ever "impulse buy" on eBay. I have a lot of searches set up and if something I want goes very cheap then I'll jump in, and other times I am looking for a specific item like my recent ballast car buying spree. But otherwise it's mostly just browsing and looking for unique or harder to find items. I guess I really just don't have one specific "m.o.". I think regarding scratchbuilt, kitbashed, custom painted, and/or custom weathered....it's a crapshoot. Unless you have a good reputation already--or have excellent photos of excellent work--it's a tough go I would think. I have bought some weathered stuff on eBay that turned out pretty good, but I'll admit sometimes I think that regardless of the quality that's something I desire to do myself someday and don't pull the trigger. I've thought of trying to sell some of my customized items but haven't done it yet on eBay. I did sell some superdetailed/weathered Amfleets at a show once and got what I was asking even though it was considerably less than the time I had put into it.
+1 I hate that kind of respsonse "+1". How about, "Ditto" or What Boxcab, said. I agree with the above and buy with a purchase. Unlike some of you, I stay off the Epay sight. To much money being spent on trash. But wait, did someone say Life Like, Erie builts? Darn you! Now I got to go take a look. I need two Erie B,B,'s for my Union Pacific Mail train. Oh well, I guess I can break my own rules...right? But I won't get into a ridiculous bidding war. No sir~!
The Erie Builts are getting pretty scarce, the two I got were the first ones Ive seen in a while. As far as I know I've got the only ones on E Bay in the last year that were priced under $500.00.. yes, thats right 500-700 bucks is a normal price for these. Even though I want them I simply don't have the money to spend like that. I really expected to be outbid on them. Fate smiled on me I guess... Randy
I check for mostly out of production and or vintage craftsman kits of structures from MAGNUSON,RAILHEAD,WESTERN RAILCRAFT ect..mostly because i know what these kits looked like when new,you have to educate yourself on the item you are bidding for on what its MSRP was i get the impression that alot of sellers dont have any idea what they have and some sellers are all to aware of the scarcity/desirability of the items they are selling.
Two reflections, I shop very much with purpose, often with a directed saved search that I will run for months to find what I want if it is on the pricey side. If it's something relatively rare I may have it run a long time with no hits. Every once in a while I'll find something out there I didn't even know existed, and BANG, yeah, that's an impulse buy, as I know I may never see that again. When I've sold my custom work on Ebay I've had very good results, but it takes work to get the photography right and the information there, and I have a 100% rating over 500, so there's some confidence there that helps. But its been a long time since I sold any custom work on Ebay because I can sell it direct from my web page now or by custom order. I'll admit that one of the reasons I got into custom building and resin casting was that my very first Climax 18-tonner built-up that I put on Ebay went absolutely stratospheric into a bidding war. That convinced me.
You never know what is going to happen and it's hard to put a value on "recrafted factory models." I guess I'm kind of a hybrid - I am both a collector and a runner. I collect Burlington Route cars but I also will buy old runners to weather and put on the layout. I will pay for a good car that is nicely weathered but I'm not going to go crazy either. I might put days into a scratchbuilt Washington & Old Dominion caboose (they had one) but I don't suspect a lot of people are going to bid because they don't model (or have even heard of) the W&OD. It's like restoring a car, it's more of a joy of ownership than a money making venture. Speculators are sucking the life out of the market for the runners, too. Plastic models are taking a toll on brass. Just before Kato announced the E5, a Hallmark E5 A&B unit when for over $530 bucks. After the announcement, I got a set for $150. I was bidding on some of those, too. Didn't win any, though. I'm sure the price would have gone up if I'd have bid higher but I still probably wouldn't have won. I won't pay a lot for a side project. Andy Tetsu Uma
That other guy is also shadowing me on HO stuff. If I bid, he always outbids me by 50 cents or a dollar, and if I don't bid, the item goes for minimum price on ONE BID. IT'S AN OUTRAGE!
I have used ebay for years looking for specific items. usually those that at retail , I could not afford ( machinist tooling and etc. ) boy what an education in model rr stuff. i just won a log car for 12.89 and then next auction a 2 pack of the same thing I " won " for my max bid of 51$ plus 11$ frt ... I just shows to go ya that on any given day prices could be low or high, something about one day the bug and the next day the window.. something evil here lurks in ebay ....
