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Rare Kits... prices.


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i buy a lot from ebay. i try to not overpay, but i have also noticed quite a lot of the older truck kits are going for a lot these days.i use scalemates to find different packages. i also keep a price in my head based on the previously sold searches and if i find i can afford it, i will bid only up to my highest amount, never older.

 

if there is a buy it now, i watch it for 24 hours. occasionally i will get an email offer for a discount, 5 to10% maybe. 

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I’ve also noticed a decline in sellers on eBay, and when I looked that topic up on the eBay forums, they’re all pretty much sick of the way eBay is conducting their business as of late. I could be wrong, but lately, the items available to view seems to be declining. I remember when I would be scrolling forever, and now it seems that the scroll always comes to an abrupt end. I think the whole community has shrunk lately. 

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19 hours ago, stitchdup said:

Remember to watch theitems  you are interested in, I've been given some good offers from the sellers occaisonaly

That happened to me a couple of weeks ago.  I was watching a Jo-Han '59 Olds chassis, Buy It Now for $10.  The seller sent me an offer for $7.50 and I bit.  I have a resin Olds flat-top 4-door body and interior, and vac-form glass.  So I just needed the chassis.  Buying anything Jo-Han for less than 10 bucks on eBay seems like a deal these days.

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Yesterday I (apparently) looked at a built AMT '66 Skylark (Craftsman, molded in green)--no Buy It Now, but a starting bid of $115. 

No bids, no watchers. 

Just got an email inviting me to make an offer. :rolleyes:

I already have one, and parts of another one. Maybe I'll offer him $35. :lol:

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5 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Yesterday I (apparently) looked at a built AMT '66 Skylark (Craftsman, molded in green)--no Buy It Now, but a starting bid of $115. 

No bids, no watchers. 

Just got an email inviting me to make an offer. :rolleyes:

I already have one, and parts of another one. Maybe I'll offer him $35. :lol:

Had a sorta funny experience for a watched item I kept getting “another chance” email. Seller had an opening bid for auction of $25 for an AMT 34 Ford 2 in 1 but also had a make offer as well. It closed and relisted twice with no bids but I did make an offer for $20 both times and was rejected. Listed a third time. Same thing, made my offer and this time accepted! Guess the seller decided a sure thing was better than nothing! My perspective is, why list a starting price auction  bid then have a make offer at the same time! Stands to reason it’s going to be lowballed especially with $15 shipping!

Edited by JohnU
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I think all scale model prices are up and inventories (especially paint and supplies) are down due to the pandemic. The models prices that I have witnessed go thru the roof are Wingnut Wing 1/32 WWI aircraft kits - owner Peter Jackson (yes, the film director) had to shut the doors last year for financial reasons and the kit prices on eBay are nuts. The $150 Gotha bomber kit goes for $1000-$1200! Wouldn’t be surprised if it goes up more....

I think once life returns to normal and we can all spend any discretionary money on things other than scale models (and mail order wine in my case!), prices may drop and the market may be flooded with unbuilt kits. At least there might be a lot more entries at the next in-person model contest we attend?

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I don’t think anything is really rare or elusive in the Internet era. You can find anything with little effort. In the old days you could search for a specific kit for years at shows and such. 

Same with most collectibles. There was a specific stamp item that I had always wanted but had never even seen one in person, looking at shows and through dealers for 20 years. Enter eBay and there are a few of them available nearly every week!

Edited by Tom Geiger
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On 3/20/2021 at 8:37 PM, JohnU said:

 My perspective is, why list a starting price auction  bid then have a make offer at the same time! Stands to reason it’s going to be lowballed especially with $15 shipping!

They are expecting offers higher than the opening bid, not lower.  It's a case of "what kind of offer would make them think about ending the auction early".  But when they've got the item overpriced (based on the opening bid) then the whole thing is messed up.  

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57 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

I don’t think anything is really rare or elusive in the Internet era. You can find anything with little effort. In the old days you could search for a specific kit for years at shows and such. 

Same with most collectibles. There was a specific stamp item that I had always wanted but had never even seen one in person, looking at shows and through dealers for 20 years. Enter eBay and there are a few of them available nearly every week!

I had been looking for a particular book since the 1970s. When I got on the net around 2000, I soon discovered ABEBooks.com and found a copy at a very reasonable price in minutes! :blink:

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Ebay has made a change with their connection with PayPal. You can use PayPal to buy something. But the seller's payment has to be processed through Ebay and they now require a link to your bank account. I know someone who sold something. The buyer disputed something about the item. Ebay sided with the buyer even though my friend proved he was right. And then Ebay took the money out of my friend's bank account.  Reason Facebook Marketplace is booming with forums with kits for sale. I was going to sell quite a few kits on Ebay because I have way too many at age 66. I'll never get even half of them build. But not now knowing Ebay is connected to your banking account. And the Facebook model selling forums have people offering $5 on a kit worth way more than that. I guess you set up another banking account with a small amount of money in it to use with Ebay.

 

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I did have a small (under $100) bank account tied in with PayPal, but closed that a couple of years ago.  They currently have no information relating to my banking, only credit card info.  And they will not get any, nor will anyone else.  The day either PayPal or eBay makes such a demand will be the day I close out my remaining (buying only) business with them.

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I too have been noticing that there seem to be fewer items on Ebay, frequently listed by high-volume flippers of estate-sale junk....and people hoping a sucker will buy their insanely over-priced kits/junk lots. Prices seem to have at least doubled in about 8 years. I'd love to find a way of locating re-builders and gluebombs that doesn't involve Ebay (very high shipping prices) or Paypal (just don't trust 'em).
I received an email from Paypal recently asking for "confirmation of identity" and a ream of personal data and documents. I thought it was a spam/phishing message at first, but apparently it has something to do with Canadian tax law.  I'd be much more comfortable just cutting Paypal out of my life entirely, thanks very much! I barely trust 'em with my linked credit card. There's no way they're getting anything else.

 

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47 minutes ago, ewetwo said:

Exactly guys. I feel the same about my cell phone. No one has that number except a special few. And I'm not going to add all these apps to "make transactions simpler and easy". Not me. I'll use my credit card than you.

 

Personally, I feel more secure using my PayPal account than handing out my credit card info to every Tom, Dick and Harry on the web. My wife has had her credit card compromised at least 3 times in the past five years. 
Never had a single hacking issue of any kind using PayPal.

I use it over a credit card whenever I can.

 

 

 

Steve

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8 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Personally, I feel more secure using my PayPal account than handing out my credit card info to every Tom, Dick and Harry on the web. My wife has had her credit card compromised at least 3 times in the past five years. 
Never had a single hacking issue of any kind using PayPal.

I use it over a credit card whenever I can.

 

 

 

Steve

I use my PayPal for everything I buy online....

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