ebay

[RAM]

I found what the problem is.  The sprocket is loose.  Can this be glued to the flywheel.  The
flywheel is not loose.

[r0bert]

yes, super glue should hold it, rember, less is more

[Woody Elmore]

The last post reminds me of the tombstone in a (I think) Dodge City cemetery -  here lies Lester Moore
                   killed with four shots from a forty four.
                   no Less, no more.

As for Ebay I was bidding on a Grandt kit to convcert a Bachmann mogul to On3. The person who outbid me is paying more than list price plus pa$4.50 for postage - when the parts could be shipped in a padded envelope for about a buck. I calculated my highest offer based on what I would pay Grandt to ship the parts to me. Someone didn't do their homework.

[lanny]

Woody's advice on 'doing your homework' before bidding on eBay is, in my opinion, one of the biggest determining factors in whether you have a 'good' or a 'bad' experience on eBay (ther are others, of course).

When it comes to final bid price, for myself, I always figure the shipping fee as part of the price, and like Woody, am often amazed at the prices people pay to get something ... more than if they ordered direct from the mfg AND paid shipping fees.

lanny nicolet

[Stephen Warrington]

I just got 4 TYCO crane sets for $20.00 bucks plus 5.00 shipping for all 4 which I think is a pretty good deal now to dig out the spray gun. I already have 3 ICRR big hooks on the roaster one is a old old AHM set that I need to replace the orginal poorly modeled trucks on but I got it for free and not complaining.

I have seen some items go for 1.99 and the shipping charge for standard mail be over 20.00. I avoid any auction that has an outrageous shipping charge tacked on to it. Look first then decide to buy and don't get carried away.

Stephen

[RAM]

After more checking i found the problem with the 2-8-0.  It has a cracked sprocket.  This is just a guess.  It is one of those dollar parts that they don't sell.  You must buy the whole power unit.  I may be wrong , but they only list a parts number for the hole unit.  Now i need to find the phone number and give them a call.

[Guilford Guy]

I got an IHC diner for 99 cents and 5$ shipping

[LD303]

you HAVE to watch the shipping!! 
   recently i came across an auction for 36 freight cars, a couple of locos  and some passenger cars.....the opening bid was $8...... no one had bid and there was only like 30 hrs left.....i thought that was strange,until i read the descrption very closely,  the guy was selling lots.....each car was a lot, $8 each, and you had to buy a minimum of 2 lots....$16, the locos were 2 lots each...$16 each, in order to buy the entire lot it was like $250 MINIMUM!!!  i dont recall the s&h,  but it was a totally misleading and potentially costly auction for an unlucky bidder,  no one did bid and i havent seen it re-listed.
    always read everything twice, ask yourself if you want to pay that much and then get a maximum bid in your mind and dont go over.....my guidlines...never pay more than wholesale for new stuff....that includes s&h, never pay more than 50% wholesale  for used stuff in excellent condition , and other misc. pieces or parts lots, take them on a one-at-a-time basis and look closely at the pics to see what it is or whats in the lots,  and always make 100% sure that the ''rare', ''collectable'' and ''old'' stuff youre looking at is indeed what they say it is......too many folks find dads old tyco stuff in the attic and want to sell it like its pre war lionel!!   

[Spule 4]

Been on eBay since the 1990s with no problems.  All good advice, know price, know your limit, know what you are bidding on, ask questions, etc.....

....and know how to be quiet when you need to, I got a totally mis-listed LGB Ballenburg rack steam loco once for $45, they often break $500+, new from LGB was $900.....

[JM]

Spule has a good point about knowing when to be quiet.
I was looking for ''parts''on EBAY, I needed rolling stock parts, diesel parts and any detail parts I could find at a good price, I saw an auction for ''HO scale parts lot'', the pictures showed several boxes of misc. ods-n-ends and a couple disassembled steamers and what looked like a jumble of wires.....the price was around $12 and $8 shipping and I figured there was at least $20 worth of parts so I bid on it, after some last minute dodging of a sniper attack...lol....I got it for like $26, when I recieved it and started taking inventory I was more than pleased, both locos...a Rivarossi [which I think was a 2-8-2, but was missing the front and rear trucks and the front cover on the boiler] and a 0-4-0 switcher ran great after cleaning, and the stuff in the boxes was amazing....working signal lites,cast metal switch throws,a huge jumble of railings,stanchions and ladders...all brass or steel,3 Kadee coupler height gauges,a box full of motors,bushings, drive train parts and wire, a ton of Athearn parts and a med. size box of cast engine and car detail parts, plus a bunch of other stuff I can't remember......short story long.....a couple people bidding on the lot  asked what was in the boxes and what was ''this or that''....but the seller was totally clueless about what anything was, I saw a lot of goodies and I sure wasn't going to tell him what he had......study those pics closely...look at those lots and box full pics and see what you can pick out......you'll probably end up with a early Christmas!!!

[RAM]

After more checking i found the problem with the 2-8-0.  It has a cracked sprocket.  This is just a guess.  It is one of those dollar parts that they don't sell.  You must buy the whole power unit.  I got my parts and I was right.  you must buy the power unit, motor, flywheel, belt, gear, to get the sprocket.  So it ended up costing me about what a new locomotive would cost.   

[lanny]

Hey, thanks guys! I'm about ready to put a bunch more HO stuff on eBay and some of the comments in this thread contain some great 'education' for sellers 

In all seriousness, Shipping charges are really 'off the wall' with some eBay stuff. I don't understand how folks think that they will be able to sell something and charge double or triple the shipping fee in order to make a few more bucks.

GG you got a good deal ... depending on how the car was packaged, $5.00 is not bad for a shipping charge. .99 for an IHC diner is a great price.

The 'shipping charges' on is 'gonna get a lot more crazy! Anyone want to guess what will happen to eBay shipping fees after the May postal rates increase! 

lanny nicolet

[Woody Elmore]

Having sold a bunch of stuff recently on Ebay I became familiar with rates for US Mail and UPS. It is amazing how much postage can cost on an item.

I see people selling small items like trucks, valve gear, brass parts and things like that and use Priority shipping when the stuff could go regular first class.

If you watch infomercials, they often tell you that you get a second item "free-just pay postage." it's obvious that they make money on the shipping.

Again the advice for Ebay is to research an item and come up with the top price you'll offer and include shipping in that figure.