More eBay Humor

OC Engineer JD Jan 16, 2009

  1. Shortround

    Shortround TrainBoard Member

    4,332
    5,037
    93
    Loved BS&T. My 8 track would pull the tapes out of the cartridge and crumple it inside. Beside when my father boroughed the car he ask how much it cost. And if I remember how much I owed him. :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: $500 in '71.
     
    Hardcoaler likes this.
  2. freddy_fo

    freddy_fo TrainBoard Member

    1,091
    4,328
    47
    I'm old enough to remember the 8 tracks and even have some vinyl but dang... digital has it's advantages. My shipmate/friend back in the early 90s got himself a pristine 71 cougar. So proud of it and even snagged a bunch of 8 tracks to go with the stock radio. I wanted to kick the p#$* out of the dash every time that POS ate a cartridge.
     
    Hardcoaler likes this.
  3. jtomstarr

    jtomstarr TrainBoard Member

    1,245
    1,181
    38
    All,
    It is not just those Damned RD -Readers Digest- items, Cab ROOF LEsS Loco's it is items like these HO scale lot of 10 Rolling Stock Parts or Repair | eBay regardless of SCALE as well which people charge or think they could try to sucker us . then again there are this who See a ATLAS / RiVAROSSI Locomotive example> 2-8-2 USRA Light Mikado Steam Locomotive ATLAS Made In Italy 11854 June 1969 | eBay< or a MINITRIX Loco and immediately see just the importer ATLAS and well it's ATLAS and place a X $ without realizing it's what 40 ? 50+? years old and think it will sell for the $ they want for it. yeah right.. Good Luck I say.

    Tom
     
  4. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,558
    22,732
    653
    Again I must ask- Where do they come up with these goofy dollar amounts? $152.13? Do they believe it somehow helps them land a sucker? Or do they simply enjoy having the world laugh at them? :confused::rolleyes::confused::rolleyes::confused:
     
    jtomstarr and Hardcoaler like this.
  5. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

    10,673
    44,835
    142
    I'd have thought that eBay Sellers of all things from soup to nuts would have friends who were knowledgeable in various sectors, like trains. It seems not. This locomotive will now appear weekly for the next two years .......
     
  6. Rich_S

    Rich_S TrainBoard Member

    838
    1,618
    34
    It's only a guess on my part, but I think they are using an inflation calculator. Example, a product that sold for $19.95 in 1970 according to the inflation calculator would sell for $146.69 today. I'm finding more and more folks on ebay "Selling Estates for a friend" and the seller knows absolutely nothing about the items they are selling. Since they have a complete lack of knowledge, I believe if an original price sticker is on the item, they use the inflation calculator to come up with a current price. So if we run those numbers through the inflation calculator we'd find in 1970, that $152.13 price tag is $21.98.
     
  7. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,558
    22,732
    653
    Hmmm. An interesting theory. Seems very possible.
     
    Hardcoaler likes this.
  8. Shortround

    Shortround TrainBoard Member

    4,332
    5,037
    93
    Rather like the prices of old homes and cars keep going. Of course the increases in trains is because of the increase in quality and technology.
    Or is it just old age? :oops:
     
  9. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,558
    22,732
    653
    Certainly they have increased in price, due to quality and abilities such as DCC with sound. Unlike older trains, such as Lionel, N scale does not appreciate in value in the same fashion. Yes, some N is desirable and priced accordingly. And there are some collectors of N, but nowhere near the numbers of tinplate. So demand is not comparable. In more recent years, we have seen the limited run scenario, which keeps prices up on some used N. But older stuff such as that Atlas steamer simply does not deserve top dollar, let alone higher pricing at all. Used pieces such as that one, even in pristine shape, are well down in the lower half of the pricing curve.
     
  10. jtomstarr

    jtomstarr TrainBoard Member

    1,245
    1,181
    38
    Last edited: Dec 14, 2021
    BoxcabE50 likes this.
  11. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

    10,673
    44,835
    142
    This is curious posting. The Seller has a pile of old N Scale cars with Rapido couplers and he/she has decided they're worth $16 Ea. An order results in shipment of a random car. An order also "benefits charity", but with 90% of the sale going to the Seller. Amazingly, 11 have sold.

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/384547374397
     
  12. Shortround

    Shortround TrainBoard Member

    4,332
    5,037
    93
    I'ld have no idea how to answer such and ad. Except a lot lower and I get to select the units.
     
    Hardcoaler likes this.
  13. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

    10,673
    44,835
    142
    There are always dozens of listings for bunches of old 1970s N Scale cars, some with fair prices. What I can't figure out is why Buyers pay high prices for these when they don't need to. Perhaps they spy special cars they want to fill in a collection, but that doesn't square with this Seller's lotto approach.
     
  14. JMaurer1

    JMaurer1 TrainBoard Member

    2,310
    1,729
    53
    There is the 'make an offer' choice on this ad...maybe they are making an offer and requesting a specific car, although there aren't any that I see that are worth more than $2-3 max.

    But the proceeds go to Adopt a Husky (I didn't think Huskies had a problem being adopted since I never seem to see anything but pit bulls at the shelters)
     
    Hardcoaler and mtntrainman like this.
  15. jtomstarr

    jtomstarr TrainBoard Member

    1,245
    1,181
    38
    All-
    Have to Like how some people attempt to sell on ebay at x $ Looking at this listing >
    poster of trains from the catalog, quite old minitrix size n | eBay to this ebay seller it seems that this piece of Paper has Mechanical parts to warrant $29.90. some if not most ebay vendors never cease to amaze me to the point of laughing at their $ or question their $ for an item at this point I would say both.

    Tom
     
  16. umtrr-author

    umtrr-author TrainBoard Member

    2,835
    3,394
    78
    The "benefits charity" listings are cheerfully ignored here unless it's 100 percent to a bonafide organization that I've heard of. Otherwise, in my head it's just another attempt to get more eyeballs.
     
  17. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    67,558
    22,732
    653
    Agree. I look at these come-ons as seeking a "pity purchase". Looking for a buyer who does not get past the "charity", to the actual item they do or don't really need. My aid stays local, anyhow. Where I can get face to face with real people.
     
    MK, Shortround and Hardcoaler like this.
  18. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

    10,673
    44,835
    142
    When I sold my Dad's large lot of LGB trains on eBay requiring local pick up, I received a number of messages from "Buyers" with stories to tell about their charities or their troubles, some followed by a request to ship the entire lot to them or to ship one car out of the lot. There was no way I could verify any of it. (The successful Bidder was a fine person who I met after he drove 700 miles to pick everything up while on his way elsewhere. Quick payment, all went well.)
     
    Shortround likes this.
  19. Shortround

    Shortround TrainBoard Member

    4,332
    5,037
    93
    This has been the fact for well over 10 years. That's why I find very little 'eBay Humor'. Just like when a big corp. bought Milwaukee's news papers and then all the little local papers that did fantastic and cheap advertising. Now there's nothing out there. Of course that was also when the internet was beginning. eBay has never compared to those little papers. I put two snowmobiles, two boats and an orchard tractors in those local papers and sold them to people over two hundered miles away.
    All the N gauge trains sold to a girl in the community.

    Rich
     
  20. PGE-N°2

    PGE-N°2 TrainBoard Member

    911
    1,272
    33

Share This Page