Deals on ebay?... Not so much

eBay is a far cry from it's original state, and I think they pretty much ruined a good thing. At least from a sellers point of view. It was much better back when it was the original concept... A place where people sell unique one-off items. Then they got greedy and started all the 'buy it now' nonsense. All that did was bring in a flood of 'get rich quick' types selling junk, because they took some seminar on making a living off eBay. It's chased away a lot of the quality buyers with the real money, which in turn has chased off most of the people with good stuff to sell. Try selling something of any real value on there now days, and the bids you get are ridiculous. Sure, there's times when you can get lucky and have a high bid. But most people are looking for some $19.95 type of item.

Dave
http://www.dpdproductions.com
- Featuring the NEW 'Military Aircraft' Photo CD -

I find ebay is best for not too unusual oop kits, kind of rare kits often sell for way to much, the more expensive kits ($30+) where they can knock the price down also seem to be worth looking for.

Now that I don't have a good LHS I use online sellers more but when I did have a good one I would buy from my LHS unless I could save at least $8-10, I figured the couple of extra dollars spent was worth it if it helped keep the shop open.

I do still find decent buys on ebay even with regular kits, about a month ago I got a 1/35 STRV103B Swedish S Tank and a 1/35 Academy Humvee Maxi-ambulance for under $20 including shipping. Overall I seem to find the best deals on car models, don't know if that is an actual trend or just with the kits I'm looking for. 

Papa-Echo-64 wrote:

Last week I sold a small 1/72 scale RESIN 'garage kit' of a Viper Fighter from the new Battlestar Galactica that I paid $22.00 for at a Con last year in KY.....it sold for 97.00!! Gotta love it!

Whoo-hoo!  My friend, laugh yourself all the way to the bank.  "More power to the seller!"  My point exactly.

You can still find deals on eBay.  The key is how you search for things.  Many people will list things funny.  If you search by model name, or scale, or name of the vehicle, you will find stuff that has been listed funny and not found by others.  These can usually be had at a good price or for almost pennies since others don't find or bid on them.  I agree that the "Buy It Now" stuff has gotten crazy as well.

 

Good luck finding them gems on eBay.

I think its worth looking.....heck I some of us did get our 1/35 Hooks for a lot less than retail with FREE shipping....I recieved mine 8 days before my shop did.

I do wish in some ways they broke eBay in two seperate sections.....ONE for mas market and the other for just that 'GARAGE SALE' kinda feel.....just simple folk....NOT these online sellers who probably do not even stock their own stuff...some are just sellers for others. Seems it was more personal and easier when they first started out.

 Smaller sellers have more to loose...they ship or pay faster for that GOOD feedback....look at some of those 'BIG TIME SELLERS' they have sold 3,600 items and in the last 3 months have 30 NEGITIVE and 40 neutural....they do not care at all. I try my hardest to buy from smaller sellers unless the deal is just too good to pass up. I like to sale more than buy anyways and I have  a 243 100% positve feedback. of course if you get out bid by Papaecho04....thats not me

Still the deals can be found...especially for CD's and DVD's!

Last week I sold a small 1/72 scale RESIN 'garage kit' of a Viper Fighter from the new Battlestar Galactica that I paid $22.00 for at a Con last year in KY.....it sold for 97.00!! Gotta love it!

Well, you can get a good deal from time to time.  If you're lucky enough to be one of the low bidders and no one else is bidding to drive the price up. I've been lucky on a few occations.  Very few.  It's really a matter of right place, right time, no to few biddrs.
As for the buy it now, that's just going from bidding to on-line shopping.   But as for good deals on ebay?  It's a gamble.

I saw a rare kit one month go for like $10.  Later, the same kit came up, this time it went for $28.  Yah, some people are stupid enough to pay a high, rediculous price.  More power to the seller.

I agree, you can find better deals on online hobby stores v.s. buy it now.  

Cheers,

I've been doing pretty well on ebay lately.  Just got a bunch of kits for well below the MSRP (two Hasegawa F-15s for $24?!)  I agree that the amount of "buy it now" sellers is ridiculous.  Seems that everyone thinks their Hasegawa F-18 is worth its weight in gold.  Unfortunately people tend to agree with that.  And thankfully Hasey is re-releasing their two-seat F-16s this year.  $21 is much more reasonable than the $45-60 that the kits have been getting on ebay!

 

 

shaun68 wrote:

We should be  petitioning for more 1/48 helo's. I mean who has the room for 1/35 rotors?

Eeerr....We should be petitioning for more 1/72 helo's. Who has room for 1/48 rotors???? ;)

Cheers!

Gertjan

All the time. I religiously trawl the aircraft section looking to snap up bargains. Generally I try to steer clear of anything in the US - only for the reason USPS is a killer to mail anything down under. Most of my bargains come from the UK now. After postage, I'm still saving plenty. The going price for Tamigawa planes here is now about $A50-55 ($US40), while Tamiya's new 307 WRC has a $A60 ($US45) sticker on it. I will say you don't find many helos, bargains or o/wise, on eBay.

As an aside, I was at one of my lhs today & saw the 06/07 Academy catalogue. They are planning on releasing the CH-53 Sea Stallion in 1/48. No release date obviously, but can't wait. We should be  petitioning for more 1/48 helo's. I mean who has the room for 1/35 rotors?

I have, but mostly with jet kits. I picked up an Italeri 1:48 UH-1D (are those OOP?) from eBay and it was a lot less than was being offered at one of the LHS. I usually ignore the online vendors and look for individuals sell off their old kits because of the very reasons you stated. I'm not suggesting the prices the vendors are asking for are too high, but I think sometimes they do have a ripple-effect on the pricing within the rest of the market. As long as people pay the buy-me-know prices, vendors will keep using that option.

It's gotten to a point for mewhere eBay is only opportunity buying. I have a wish list and if I see something, great - but I don't go there anymore on a daily basis browsing the isles. Even if I don't win an auction, it's no big deal, another one always comes along. I've actually saved some $$$ on kits because of that.