While I myself think it is important for us all to watch out for each other. Here is something to consider and I have seen this happen on other sites of different themes. If the sellers gets wind of this site allowing links to their auctions, and then defaming the auction, e-bay has been known to step in and threaten action if the site doesnt take down the links. Now, as I said, I believe in us sticking together, but caution should be the rule of the day possibly ? After all, bidders have to be of knowledge and be careful what they go after, what is it, "Caveat Emptor". Avoiding the "Bay name" might be safer, and refering to it as an "on-line offering" which allows us to look for it on our own. So, just some food for thought ....yes ? fatalxsunrider43
Actually they went higher than that, in a much shorter time. Some of the Kadee and Mt stuff simply went nuts and I gave up on collecting, sold everything... Nice to contemplate if you have it, but if you need one, yikes! Boxcab E50
Nothing to do with the auction site but MTL are still using that 32 year old tooling with it's molded on details and everything else and charging $20+ MRSP.
The original question was very valid and not defaming the seller or the auction. I look at sellers that state "High auction value" and give a little discount off of that. sometimes they sell, most of the time they don't. My question is "When"? A date would be nice. Was it before the collector market collapsed or after?
Why might I ask do you think that is fraud? Any item is worth what the buyer will pay for it. It may not be worth $500 to you but in previous years it was worth over $700 to someone. If the seller can get that much for the car, more power to them. I wish I had that car and could find the person willing to pay that. There is a magic C&O hopper that I would like to get, going rate is around $150, more than I think it is worth. One popped up the other day, I went to $50 on it and quit, it sold for $85, more than likely to one of those places that will try to resell it for $150 again.
Someone who obviously either has money flowing out of their.. you know what.. Seriously though.. That's really just a scam to sell anything of a piece of rolling stock for more than 200.. and thats really high.
Like everything else in life that sells for a price, there is always something that appears out of the normal for those that don't look at the overall picture. When a new penny in 1909 was put into circulation it was spent as a penny, traded as a penny, changed hands as a penny until someone noticed that some of the those 1909 pennies had a limited production. Some had different marks and some never made it into circulation. Try to get a 1909 S VDB penny for a penny today. Most prices are at least 10000 times ($100 and up) the original value of that date and mint marked penny. Same thing with regular production items from manufacturers in this hobby. Signals get crossed in production and some cars come out in the wrong color, a different #, or just slip out of the plant when they were only a test run of one or two items. Someone who collects in this hobby looks for these items and will try to have the most complete collection with every example of a car or loco in their collection. When someone has an item that is a one of a kind or a very limited (usually less than 25) known variety, the price is what that person will pay to have it. Don't sit back and judge something you see on an auction site as fraud, unless you take the time to look at what is really being offered, and then can determine without a doubt it is an attempt to be fraudulent. Even then it is hard to prove someone didn't "accidentally" leave out a decimal point, use a wrong description, or really not know the object they list. They might be making the same mistake individuals here make when what they think they see is really somthing they don't fully understand or know about. We all see the obvious listings with high shipping to cover low starting prices. The words "rare", "collectable", and "hard to find" are way overused in listings also. Buyer beware is always stressed, but maybe we should also state viewers become educated on what you are criticizing, before making remarks that might offend those who participate in this hobby in a different way than modelers. The model train manufacturers produce their products to sell to a main targeted market, but there always seems to be a secondary market that comes into play. This sometimes makes the original production harder to find for the primary market and allows premium pricing to occur for those willing to pay the price. The part of this thread I'm commenting on came from someone viewing a widow selling her husbands "collection". That collection has a value that can only be determined by previous selling prices at auction and what the market will bear today. Not an attempt by her to be fraudulant, but to get something in return for her husbands "hobby" that does have a value to her. Hopefully those who have a desire to complete a part of their hobby that might be missing will also put a value on those items. Have fun in whatever part of the hobby you participate in and become knowledgeable in as many areas as you have an interest in. Don't put down people who are in a different scale, different type of hobby within the hobby, or don't have the "knowledge" base you have. Keeping an open mind will leave you the ability to learn something new. Maybe you can return the favor of passing that knowledge on to someone who doesn't possess that knowledge and is open to learn. Sounds like maybe what these forums are for. Having fun, gaining knowledge, making friends, and most of all sharing the good that comes from being a part of a worldwide community (that didn't exist when I first entered the hobby) makes being a member here worthwhile. Stepping off my soapbox now and hoping words I've written aren't taken as offensive, overbearing, or directed towards any individuals posting or reading them. John
It's always buyer beware.. I hope no-one buys that boxcar. --- Just as an example of my ebay purchases.. I try and get Atlas freight cars on average of 4-8 a piece MTL's Ill go 6-10 a piece.. I haven't really done engines on ebay.. but looking now.. I'll lowball bids.. If I get one at a extremely good price.. Sweet deal for me.
All this over the top priced, collectible nonsense only seems to apply to Micro-Trains. When they produce a car that's obviously going to be popular in such a limited run that it sells out before most that want one to actually run on a layout are able to get their hands on one or with a printing mistake the price on that auction site jumps into the hundreds of dollars, when other manufacturers occasionally do the same we have threads telling them what we think of their marketing and manufacturing processes and threatening never to buy their stuff again. If it was an Atlas car from the 1970's selling for $560 that would be cause for alarm but for Kadee/MTL cars it's not unusual.
I found that box car online at a collectors site. That car sold for right at 300.00 in 2005 MTL RCO 24010 ROCK ISLAND 57715 BLACK DOOR - RARE! 7 $298.03 Who is to say it didnt INCREASE in value in 5 years? Collectors are a strange lot. They will pay an arm and a leg for something if its for something they feel they really JUST GOTTA HAVE!! Whether its the last piece they need to complete a set or better yet...its one of those "I now have something you dont" type things...LOL. Back in the 90's I 'collected' Nascar stuff of a certain driver. I never thought of selling any of it. It was all mine! In the early 2000's I happened to see one of the things I paid 15.00 for in 1995 was selling for over 200.00 !! I still had no intention of selling anything. I was a 'collector' of Nascar stuff I WANTED. By 2005 things in my life went south (details not necessary). I decided to sell off some of my 'Nascar Collectibles'. Items that sold for 200.00 plus just 5 short years earlier where then (2005) selling for near the original shelf price (15.00) I paid in 1995 !!! I ended up selling everything on 'FeeBay' at near cost. That same year I got back into trains. I watched FeeBay and decided ...yes...even I could make money on N scale trains. I bought 'estate sale lots' and sold em off piece work. YES...I made some good money. Lots I bought for 200.00 I sold for near 700.00 + piece work !!! I even kept some of the things that 'struck my fancy'. This went on for 2 years. When FeeBay started their increased fee crap along with PayPal fees...I got out. By that time I had accumulated a nice little 'collection' (things I liked) of n scale stuff and had made enough money...that 2 years ago I was able to send my daughter off to college with a nice little nestegg to hold her over for awhile. "Dads" near broke and on disabilty now...BUT..."Dads" daughter is in college and making a life for herself. The moral of the story...never try to figure a 'collector' out unless you are/or have been one. Just sayin. :tb-wink: .
Seller Shows Photo of HO Car and Lists In N Scale - More Never Mind. I should have slept on it before posting. Some E Bay sellers are just more professional than others. Most don't use photos of HO scale cars when selling N. Most don't sell something then tell the customer after they paid that the item is not in stock. Most communicate with their customers.
New Life Like E8 KCS Kansas City Southern locomotive - eBay (item 170601542697 end time Feb-14-11 17:07:45 PST) Wow! Where are these people when I'm selling something????? Sometimes I pull up a chair, get the popcorn out and just watch a good bidding war on ebay, just for the entertainment value. Ron
A friend of mine was selling a bunch of new Life Like E-8's. A pair of Illinois Central went for $218.00 Mind boggling.:tb-shocked:
