I'd be interested to hear how others feel about some of the products they purchase from vendors online. For my part, I'm getting tired of getting--IMO--scammed. I've ordered items like "crates" and received a blob of casting with indistinguishable bumps supposed to be boxes that I'm supposed to paint. Yesterday I received what was advertised as "haystacks and hay bales." What I got was a package of stamped out little boxes and cuplike things along with a couple of small packets of green stuff and yellow stuff and directions as to how to spray this plastic junk with glue and sprinkle the stuff in the packets on them to make "hay stacks." Walthers agree that a "playground" I ordered from them, made by a German company, was not as advertised. The ad picture and the picture on the box show children on a playground and various other figures on and around the playground. What was in the box was a small package of stamped out items purporting to be playground equipment. No figures. This for $16.00. In many cases, the items are not worth the cost of returning them to the seller. I guess I'm a newbie who is just discovering that we model railroad enthusiasts are a ripe market for a whole lot of purveyors of shameless junk. Caveat emptor. eagle37
Personally I like to actually view the products I buy in person before handing over my cash. I know that not everyone has a great local hobby store to depend on, but having one close by can help to eliminate these types of problems.
You need a vendor you can trust. With ebay this could be a problem. BTW, I have had no problems with my hobby shop, mail ordering. Wolfgang
ok here are my pathetic stories...hahaha i know i am not a good joker ok lets get started, my couzin bid on a new proto 2000 C424 conrail from ebay it was really nice on the picture he got it paid $45 for it and here it comes and its a modle power thing.. huh next storie, we wanted to make a park for the layout buy it from walthers receive it andit is metal castings that are unpainted and evorything was unassembled and the week after they finnaly listed it as unpainted unassembaled kit..huh
I have to say I've been pretty lucky, but I'm also picky about what things I buy online. Sometimes I'll "take a chance" if the price is low enough, but I generally avoid any unknown items. And I try to research any items I'm unsure of. I've tried to learn packaging......for example anything Atlas with a blue liner is old....I don't care if it's "New in the Box", it's still old stock. It doesn't mean I won't buy it, but it means what I'm willing to pay will be lowered. Cast and detail items are probably the worst things to try to figure out.....I generally find that the good ones cost more than I want to pay, and the ones that cost what I want to pay may be lower quality than I will accept. At that point I usually turn to the forums and ask "who's bought these?" or check with club members. Online stores are much safer than ebay vendors, but I've had good luck with both. Lately I seem to be hitting the jackpot....I bought a $190 A+ B set of engines for $80 from woo woo woo woo woo woo, got a $100 set (A+B again) for $50 from Walthers, and got 5 SD60M's (new in box) off ebay for $30 a piece...sometimes it's just being at the right place at the right time. Maybe it's just that I'm too cheap to spend enough to ever really get burned.:tb-biggrin:
You have become waaayyy too used to the Woodland scenics Builtups.... This is how all modelss used to come, silly!!! No Figures, vehicles, or accessories!! Its only select manufacturers that include them!!! And White metal castings? That's been the backbone of detail in this hobby since...EVER! Learn to paint and Glue!
