Although we blame E-pay for the pricing of these questionable items. It's not their fault. It's the fault of those who submit these items for sale. E-pay doesn't fact check the pricing. They might encourage the seller to drop their price. They've done that with me but it wasn't because the price was wrong. They saw it as a way to sell the item. Marketing, if you will. Old word of wisdom: Let the buyer beware. Most of us here on TB and other such boards know the real value of any piece of train equipment. Most of us know when to back off. Most of us know to read the disclaimers but some don't. You can contact the seller but in most cases as I've learned, they aren't toy train enthusiast. They simply want to get rid of the item and someone has told them what they think, they can get. The sellers game in any brick and mortar store is: To introduce a buyer to the high priced items. Clearly more profit when these items are sold. Seldom does a sales person start with the cheap stuff. Same thing happens in the fun... business. You can ask me what that is and how I know. Now what?
I sold mine about a year or so back. Six of them , NIB. The lot went for about ten bucks more than they want for one car!
Was it truly any marketing ploy on their part? As they most likely knew naught of your item, it certainly was not due to any worrying that you weren't getting it sold, so the money came to your pocket. They wanted to move it so they could collect the fees. They were realizing zero from your use of their facilities, until it was gone to a new owner. And could care less at want amount it went. Just generate some cash flow to their coffers, that was their goal.
Well put and well played. You have to ask yourself what is the cost of doing business?? In business and I don' care what it is. That's the goal. Cash Flow!! Every business needs Cash Flow. The alternative is going bankrupt and closing their doors. That's what business is, plain and simple, quick and fast Cash Flow!! Dust queens sitting on a shelf isn't getting'er done. E-pay is no different. They set up a way and means for you and I and anyone else to sell stuff aka product. How it's priced is not up to them. But their cut of the sale is. That's how they get paid. Nothing wrong with that. That's the cost of doing business. What they want for you is to move your item quickly. That keeps the Cash Flow...well...flowing. Did I say that? No, I didn't say that. Did I?? Well you can take College Classes 101 to learn that or you can learn it the hard way. Either way it doesn't change the facts. Business, any business can't survive, function without Cash Flow. "Elementary Watson."
Also, I wonder if this suggestion of lowering sale price was automated (software) generated? Or was there possibly some dud sitting at a keyboard, working to fill a quota...? It might be interesting to learn just how they work the process.
You aren't the only one who would like to know. E-pay has some strange business practices, no question there. By the way with me the sellers have earned the "E-pay" opinion I have of them.
Another example of a seller who... 1) Cycles stuff up over, and over, and over... with most price points RAISED in the last few months 2) Knows less about N Scale than they think
I need to get with one of you guys with an Ebay account. I have some similar stuff to whats shown. I/we could sell it at top dollar...and split the profits and still make BIG $$$ each !!!
Dollars to (overpriced) donuts it's automated. Perhaps some algorithm that (sort of) compares previous prices for (what it thinks is) the same item and a "suggestion" to lower the price so eBay can get its percentage sooner than later. Except Reader's Digest SP locomotives, of course, which are exempt.
Oh, my, we have a late "winner" today!!! https://www.ebay.com/itm/BACHMAN-HIGHBALLER-N-SCALE-ELECTRIC-TRAIN-SET/124537977701 So this was found in your old store? Did it have a $200 price tag on it then?
So a crappy 80’s era Bachmann train set is somehow worth more than the newer better ones are today... not everything “vintage” is worth money. I have been following a seller that has “vintage” Digitrax throttles that won’t even work with a modern Digitrax system, for 3 years now... maybe 4 years at this point he was listing them for $299 and no joy, now one is $99 and the other is $149. I have seen both of these not sell for $10...
Question for the hive mind... what's better, "Perfect" or "NIB"? In this case, "Neither" is a perfectly acceptable answer... https://www.ebay.com/itm/Perfect-So...peed-Metals-Model-Train-Engine-N/193864707803 https://www.ebay.com/itm/MIB-Southe...Metals-Model-Train-Engine-N-Clas/114650705723 But wait! Right in between those two listings is... https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-N-Scale-Model-Power-Santa-Fe-Locomotive-Alco-FA-2/174607553634 Don't think too hard...
All, Have to love this one ! Minitrix N Scale 2-10-0 Steam Locomotive And Tender | eBay . Tom Price: US $140.00 Shipping: $15.00 Item location: Los Osos, California, United States Ships to: United States Seriously dude ?! california is in the UNITED STATES of AMERICA , where is your thinking !
Methinks this is eBay informing the buyer that the seller only ships to the USA. So if you're in Canada, you're out of luck, eh? Not a bad paint and weathering job. $140, though? Seems a bit high.
Decisions, decisions... https://www.ebay.com/itm/Con-Cor-N-Scale-Amtrak-U50-Diesel-Engine-0001-03301L-WORKING/254842226323 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Con-Cor-N-...Diesel-Engine-001-003305-WORKING/254842226331
OK so here are the listings I have been following. If you send this guy a message about the price, he will tell you (or he has told me a couple times before) that he sells these all the time at this price, and they are worth it... um... ok... https://www.ebay.com/itm/Digitrax-C...448511?hash=item1f17647fff:g:IVAAAOSwmwtaNt6I https://www.ebay.com/itm/Digitrax-C...464773?hash=item217953efc5:g:JNwAAOSwcUBYK0NR So here is a blast from the past, still listed and will be forever at these prices.
At one point, I thought that being a junk dealer on FeePay was my calling. I was amazed at what I got for junk. I labelled it as "junk" and even stated at least twice in the description that the stuff was 'JUNK". I used other descriptions such as "good for parts, only", "junk-might be good for parts". I noted that because the stuff was JUNK, I was selling it "as is", no refunds or returns. I was amazed at the snipe wars and positive feedback that I received. I could not get twenty dollars for a lot of five decent freight cars (Atlas, IM), but throw together a lot of three B-mann or MP boxcar shells, four undercarriages from TRIX or RoCo, a couple of boxcar doors from who knows where and six pairs of B-mann trucks and people would pay forty dollars plus shipping for it. I listed it at six for the lot and six for postage. I could not get forty five dollars for a test run only A-B pair of undecorated LL FA-1s, but I could get fifty for a lot of ten LL FB-2 shells in L&N. I listed the FB-2 lot at eight and seven for postage.
After all these years of watching these posts and actually seeing the ridiculous listings first hand... I would almost feel embarassed to put anything on eBay for sale. Obviously many of us have good quality, NIB or even 'mint condition collectable type' of N scale stuff. We probably will not get the prices we would expect... but... would hope to get a reasonable offer. What I wonder about is how many sellers are getting fair offers for good quality products. Why bother listing anything at a reasonable starting bid if it is going to be ignored for other less 'worthy' items. Sent from my SM-J737T using Tapatalk
Modeling the Southern Pacific, I have to wade through DOZENS if not hundreds of these High Speed non scale dummy GP-35 and the freight cars that came with them whenever I look for anything. At one point, EBlah automatically let the seller know whenever a High Speed item was posted that they were not actual running functioning model trains (probably no longer since they stopped doing anything to help their site). Still, High Speed is thought to be a MFR of N scale instead of a free give away junk item. Please, just make it stop.
