No After Market?

Rob Gronovius

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But the eBay savvy crowd has learned how to weed through the "power sellers" and find the original style guys like you and me trying to sell off kits at a reasonable price and find like bargains. But learning how to do so is like finding the best fishing spots. You just don't tell.

LOL 

I'm a big fan of eBay and have been on it since 1996. In the nearly 20 years it's been in existence, it went from an online swap meet where modelers like us basically sold off stuff that was no longer wanted to get money to buy stuff we now wanted. It developed into an online store for countless professional vendors where ten different sellers are selling the same exact kit for basically the same price. Only difference is their location which effects shipping costs.

But the eBay savvy crowd has learned how to weed through the "power sellers" and find the original style guys like you and me trying to sell off kits at a reasonable price and find like bargains. But learning how to do so is like finding the best fishing spots. You just don't tell.

The Northern Illinois swap meet table contents appear to be primarily composed of kits older than 10 or 20 years.

I presume the former owners disposed of them mostly due to newer , more detailed kits appearing on the market.

The last show I attended did feature a table of kits being sold because the owner is now deceased.

Some dealers also sell " collector " kits such as the old AURORA brand but I have never  witnessed those dealers make a sale of those old kits as prices are very high.

I wonder what percentage of the purchases of really old kits go to collectors vs builders. I suspect the collectors don't care that much about PE and resin aftermarket.  If the collector market is a big portion of the sales, I can see vendors loosing interest in aftermarket stuff.

plasticjunkie

Evilbay is hit and miss as you may find a great buy now and then but for the most part, the pricing is ridiculous and even more are the shipping charges. $8 for a tiny pe fret?

The model shows I have attended lately have yielded some purty nice buys.

Evilbay is hit and miss as you may find a great buy now and then but for the most part, the pricing is ridiculous and even more are the shipping charges. $8 for a tiny pe fret?

The model shows I have attended lately have yielded some purty nice buys.

mississippivol

It's always cool to see one squirreled away in a box after you've bought a kit.

Even cooler if somebody at Aber accidentally inserts two photo etch sheets in a package because the two stuck together during manufacturing...............

I've suspected dealers might do that sort of thing..............

It's always cool to see one squirreled away in a box after you've bought a kit.

They might be selling the PE sets on eBay. Very lucrative to do so; charge about $2-5 shipping, $10 or more per sheet and you've got a big money maker.

TARNSHIP 

Thanks for the insight.

As I only have attended local shows for the last few years and the same dealers sell at each show, the lack of after market could very well be confined to my area.

I have actually purchased more ex-stash after market items at very good prices ( primarily Fruil and Tamiya tracks ) at one Chicago hobby shop -than anywhere else.

Hobby shops in my area started buying stashes over the last few years but only one shop has actually been re-selling after market items in their shop.

Spruce, that must be a regional thing. Down here, from Louisville, KY to Anniston,AL,  Memphis, TN to Chattanooga and Knoxville,,,,,,,,there are plenty of sellers with aftermarket resin and photoetch for sale. I attend 8 different shows,,,and I have bought Phantom cockpit sets off "resale" tables, as well as Verlinden, KMC, and True Details upgrade parts, seats, and etch.

One guy "does it right", he has his decals sorted in different boxes by scale, next to those, he lays out his resin and etched stuff, sorted by scale, then his paperback and hardcover books, and then his "stash plastic kits", again, batched by scale. So, looking at his stuff is just a matter of me looking at the things on the left side of each of his "sections". He has been at about 15 of the shows we go to over the years.

Rex