ChrisR Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 I have bought many models on eBay for a few years. Since they introduced the new shipping method I bought very little as the shippig cost escaleted skyhigh.Yet there are sellers that will ship for much less and I just buy from them. eBay is great to fill the gaps in my collection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramfins59 Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 I only started buying models on EBAY this past September and so far I've picked up almost a dozen cars for my 1950's builds that I would never have gotten as cheaply from vendors at model shows, even with shipping costs included. I've found promo's, old builtups and a couple of interesting diecast kits that fit right into the 50's theme. Of course if you let yourself get carried away and try to buy everything you see you're going to wind up with no money left for your budgeted expenses. Plus, you've got to set a limit for yourself on how much you're willing, or can afford, to bid and spend on a particular item. Common sense and restraint should obviously rule here, unless of course you've got very deep pockets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FASTBACK340 Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 I think that's the entire point: Deep Pockets People refer to e-Bay as "evil" when that rare OOP kits sells for what someone is willing to pay for it. I wanted an original issue AMT Hurst Hemi under Glass kit soooooo bad I had headaches. I stepped up, paid my money, and put it safely away. Spent a lot of money, but it's what I wanted. I'd still be hunting down parts for the Barracuda if it wasn't for e-Bay. My bench seat came from Washington state, some rare & hard to find trim, and countless other odds-n-ends I found while sitting comfortably in my recliner. Evil? Hardly...... e-Bay is my friend. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 Of course if you let yourself get carried away and try to buy everything you see you're going to wind up with no money left for your budgeted expenses. And blaming ebay for that, as I've seen some people do, makes about as much sense as blaming your car if you get pulled over for speeding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 Of course if you let yourself get carried away and try to buy everything you see you're going to wind up with no money left for your budgeted expenses. Plus, you've got to set a limit for yourself on how much you're willing, or can afford, to bid and spend on a particular item. Common sense and restraint should obviously rule here, unless of course you've got very deep pockets. I think that's the entire point: Deep Pockets People refer to e-Bay as "evil" when that rare OOP kits sells for what someone is willing to pay for it. I wanted an original issue AMT Hurst Hemi under Glass kit soooooo bad I had headaches. I stepped up, paid my money, and put it safely away. Spent a lot of money, but it's what I wanted. As said above, some folks complain about eBay when things sell for more than they want to pay. We used to have a vendor who came to NNL East who had great old annuals and other scarce kits. He had enormous prices on them. People would come to me and complain that we needed to MAKE him sell them for cheap money. But at the end of every show I'd see people walking around with those kits. They paid the price, so the market had spoken! When I want something on eBay it becomes a game with me. For instance, I like those old Heller Citroen trucks. You can go there right now and there will be "Buy It Now"s for $100 or more. I put them in my search agent and bid on a bunch of them that went beyond my bid price. Oh well. Eventually I got a few in the $15-25 range. And that's the market. In the end I got what I wanted at a price I wanted to pay. And unfortunately I've known people in the hobby that put buying models before taking care of their obligations and family. That's sad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niteowl7710 Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 The only messages I get from eBay are the "Watch List Item is Ending Soon", along with the associated messages you get when you bid and either win or lose the item. Plus one weekly e-mail about items on my "Saved Sellers" list, and one weekly e-mail from my "Saved Searches" filter. At this point I am only interested in very particular kits to complete "collections" of certain kits (all the Tamiya Nissan Skyline GT-Rs, or Lexus kits for example) so I opt out of all general "Hey Here's a Model" communication as there are 94,000+ items in Automotive kits right now, but if one of them isn't the single run Aoshima w/U.S. LHD Infiniti Q45 kit, I don't care about a single one of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinfan5 Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 The only messages I get from eBay are the "Watch List Item is Ending Soon", along with the associated messages you get when you bid and either win or lose the item. Plus one weekly e-mail about items on my "Saved Sellers" list, and one weekly e-mail from my "Saved Searches" filter. At this point I am only interested in very particular kits to complete "collections" of certain kits (all the Tamiya Nissan Skyline GT-Rs, or Lexus kits for example) so I opt out of all general "Hey Here's a Model" communication as there are 94,000+ items in Automotive kits right now, but if one of them isn't the single run Aoshima w/U.S. LHD Infiniti Q45 kit, I don't care about a single one of them. James covered what I would say, although , I do get saved searched emails pretty regularly, sometimes daily I have been buying less kits on Ebay but more supplies, most of my kits are now coming from HLJ, its cheaper most of time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramfins59 Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 As said above, some folks complain about eBay when things sell for more than they want to pay. We used to have a vendor who came to NNL East who had great old annuals and other scarce kits. He had enormous prices on them. People would come to me and complain that we needed to MAKE him sell them for cheap money. But at the end of every show I'd see people walking around with those kits. They paid the price, so the market had spoken! When I want something on eBay it becomes a game with me. For instance, I like those old Heller Citroen trucks. You can go there right now and there will be "Buy It Now"s for $100 or more. I put them in my search agent and bid on a bunch of them that went beyond my bid price. Oh well. Eventually I got a few in the $15-25 range. And that's the market. In the end I got what I wanted at a price I wanted to pay. And unfortunately I've known people in the hobby that put buying models before taking care of their obligations and family. That's sad. Tom, you're absolutely right, it IS sad. If my budget is tight I won't bid on anything (and it seems like those are the times that the item I watch, even though I don't bid on it, will sell for a $20 or $30 price, but if I had bid on it it would go up by 2 or 3 times that price) When I lose a bid on something I would really like to have, I don't lose any sleep over it believe me. I know that at some point down the road another one of those items will come up for auction and I'll try again. As James Duff said above, in my case, I don't care a bit about anything but a car from the 1950's that I don't already have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 (edited) I don't care a bit about anything but a car from the 1950's that I don't already have. I think we're all like my dog Ted. He loves rawhide chews (model kits). He knows what cabinet they are kept in (eBay) and begs for one every chance he gets (we bid). He can have 5-6 already on the den floor (our collection), but he wants a new one. I can sneak the used ones from the floor back into the cabinet, and he gladly accepts it as new (the models we forgot we had). When he gets the new one, he'll happily chew it while sitting in the middle of the ones he had been ignoring (groking a new kit). The next day he wants another new one.(back to eBay) Edited November 22, 2013 by Tom Geiger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FASTBACK340 Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 At this point I am only interested in very particular kits to complete "collections" of certain kits (all the Tamiya Nissan Skyline GT-Rs, or Lexus kits for example) so I opt out of all general "Hey Here's a Model" communication as there are 94,000+ items in Automotive kits right now, but if one of them isn't the single run Aoshima w/U.S. LHD Infiniti Q45 kit, I don't care about a single one of them. Watch this people, I'm going to blow James' mind. You casually mentioned looking for specific kits on e-Bay. You mention there's 94,000+ kits, but you want the single run Aoshima Q-45 w/ LHD parts. I HAVE IT: PM me if this is what your looking for..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eshaver Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 N E V E R E V E R !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! E- Bay earned it's name . Because of their inept call takers , because of their way of doing business , because of their deceitfulness, I REFUSE to ever do business with them ever again. My professional reputation was RUINED by them, NEVER NEVER NEVER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramfins59 Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 Watch this people, I'm going to blow James' mind. You casually mentioned looking for specific kits on e-Bay. You mention there's 94,000+ kits, but you want the single run Aoshima Q-45 w/ LHD parts. I HAVE IT: Image.jpg Image 1.jpg PM me if this is what your looking for..... John, you had a '59 Dodge promo and now you have this Infiniti...!!! Is there anything you DON'T have in your stash...??? LOL. Maybe you should compete with EBAY. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FASTBACK340 Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 I'd rather "do the right thing" as I'm a firm believer in maintaining my Good Karma. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FASTBACK340 Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 BTW: I work for Infiniti. I have a few more different kits I think..... But if this is what he's looking for he has first crack at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1930fordpickup Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 IMOP I think that the early problems with Ebay are the cause of the name. Yes it is the other people that are the cause, but such is life . I feel they have the best selection there is . I have purchased a few things. Only a few problems all but one resolved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niteowl7710 Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 For as annoying as PayPal can be, especially to the Sellers, it has to be better than what eBay was in the first few years. Win an auction, wait around for the Seller's Contact Information, have to get a Money Order made up and sent off, hoping that someday you might get what you bid on. Now with the complete integration of PayPal into eBay I can buy a kit in 2 clicks of the mouse and track it the whole way to my front door, even if it's coming from Hong Kong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinfan5 Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 (edited) For as annoying as PayPal can be, especially to the Sellers, it has to be better than what eBay was in the first few years. Win an auction, wait around for the Seller's Contact Information, have to get a Money Order made up and sent off, hoping that someday you might get what you bid on. Now with the complete integration of PayPal into eBay I can buy a kit in 2 clicks of the mouse and track it the whole way to my front door, even if it's coming from Hong Kong. That two clicks is nice, but can very dangerous at the same time , unless you are like some people and forget that they placed a bid on a Vette kit Edited November 23, 2013 by martinfan5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 For as annoying as PayPal can be, especially to the Sellers, it has to be better than what eBay was in the first few years. Win an auction, wait around for the Seller's Contact Information, have to get a Money Order made up and sent off, hoping that someday you might get what you bid wo Oh, the good ole days. In the beginning I found a niche selling car brochures. I'd sit there on a Saturday listing them one at a time and every few listings I'd do a refresh and the ones I had just listed already had bids on them! Sell through was like 100% and everything got multiple bids. Once I found a third party listing tool, I was running 50 auctions a week, all ending on Sunday evening. By 11pm that evening I'd send out my "Pay Me" email invoices. By Tuesday the checks started coming in via mail. My wife knew to put all the eBay mail in a designated box. On Friday after dinner, I'd set up a card table in our foyer and fill all those orders. My invoice rules stated I mailed every Saturday so if you were late with your payment, it would be an extra week. Nobody complained. So I'd open all those envelopes, retrieve the check and pack the brochures. The mail clerks knew they'd see me with 50 pieces on Saturday morning so I'd get there early, before the crowds. My wife's job was depositing all the checks and telling me how we did. She liked that part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James2 Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 I never call it evilbay any more, it's FEEbay now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nxr Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 Evilbay to the seller and Lovebay to the buyer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevyfever2009 Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 (edited) I never call it evilbay any more, it's FEEbay now! Its funny you people call it that yes they charge fees for selling ect: but when you auction stuff off at a public auction they charge you fees and.commission do u call them a feebay too or when you buy a used or new car you have to pay sales tax on it and then you pay taxes on it every year until it is old enough where you don't have to , you buy a house and you pay taxes on it every year also SO my point is everything we buy or sell we pay taxes on so why complain about it when you do it every time you buy something youpay a tax on the item its part of life Edited November 23, 2013 by chevyfever2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James2 Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 ^^^ Most likely a Wal-Mart employee!^^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevyfever2009 Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 ^^^ Most likely a Wal-Mart employee!^^^ Wrong I work with troubled youth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PappyD340 Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 I have bought several items off of Ebay and have never had a problem, and most of the 1:1 automobiles have some tremendous photos when doing research for a build!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1930fordpickup Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 Its funny you people call it that yes they charge fees for selling ect: but when you auction stuff off at a public auction they charge you fees and.commission do u call them a feebay too or when you buy a used or new car you have to pay sales tax on it and then you pay taxes on it every year until it is old enough where you don't have to , you buy a house and you pay taxes on it every year also SO my point is everything we buy or sell we pay taxes on so why complain about it when you do it every time you buy something youpay a tax on the item its part of life We are just tired of paying taxes on things we already paid taxes on when we bought it in the first place . Signed Grumpy old men that we are becoming. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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