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EBay madness


Marcyg
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3 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

Remember this? I bought it for the opening bid. I think that @ianmaccwould agree that an allegedly working 0-6-0 chassis for under a tenner is a result. A Tri-ang Jinty chassis fetches at least that.

I've got it for a bit of an experiment and in the interest of not contributing to landfill, I'll probably put the body back on eBay if only to give us all a cheap laugh! :sarcastichand:

 


Well done. 
 

To be honest though this thread is a bit ugly at times. People who build these somewhat “difficult on the eye” creations may be young children, have learning difficulties, be partially sighted or have any number of ailments and yet people quickly chortle nastily at how they aren’t etched brass P4 finescale creations. This thread was originally about rip off eBay listings so yes if that chassis had been 50 quid then fair game but it was less than a tenner so that only left the ridicule directed at the item itself. 

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1 hour ago, Iskra said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284418544555?epid=1673716182&hash=item4238aa93ab:g:6IIAAOSwDZ1hIOvw

 

Some interesting weathering- £75. Anyone ever seen an 08 look like that in the flesh?

 

50 minutes ago, leopardml2341 said:

 

Both would seem to be overpriced for something painted in such a way that might not be to many others taste or methods of weathering.

 

How's that for putting it politely?

 

On a personal note, I think that in both cases somebody is trying to make about £40 over what the model should reasonably command in that condition.

 

That's definitely putting it politely.

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On 30/10/2021 at 18:16, Michael Hodgson said:

I hope I'm not being too sweeping and cynical in suggesting that these are the people who obsess about the box it comes in.

Any user alteration (no matter how good a job you might have done in weathering it or whatever) is seen as detracting from the object's originality and thus devalues it to a collector. 

 

On 30/10/2021 at 18:22, Paul H Vigor said:

I am SO glad I'm not a 'collector'! Life really is too short!


I want a box with it, I'm not too bothered which box, as long as it fits and it keeps my investment safe.  For me a box is an indication of how well it has been kept, and if it is unboxed it stands a chance of having being battered.

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44 minutes ago, Esmedune said:

 


I want a box with it, I'm not too bothered which box, as long as it fits and it keeps my investment safe.  For me a box is an indication of how well it has been kept, and if it is unboxed it stands a chance of having being battered.

 

"Investment" implies an expectation of a return - surely modellers spend money in anticipation of the enjoyment that the model in question will provide; and that alone.

 

If the model is physically degraded by operating it - so be it.

 

CJI.

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It would probably be better to say: I've paid for this loco, so I'm going to look after it. Meaning protect it against dirt and damage. Whether or not it ever becomes worth substantially more than you paid for it is something that only collectors worry about.

One thing that I have learned over years of dealing with all manner of antiques is that just because something is old, doesn't mean that it's valuable or ever likely to be.

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1 hour ago, MrWolf said:

It would probably be better to say: I've paid for this loco, so I'm going to look after it. Meaning protect it against dirt and damage. Whether or not it ever becomes worth substantially more than you paid for it is something that only collectors worry about.

One thing that I have learned over years of dealing with all manner of antiques is that just because something is old, doesn't mean that it's valuable or ever likely to be.

Ultimately, something is only worth what someone else is prepared to pay for it. 'Value' is often in the eye of the beholder! 

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29 minutes ago, Paul H Vigor said:

Ultimately, something is only worth what someone else is prepared to pay for it. 'Value' is often in the eye of the beholder! 

 

But it only takes one silly b****r to pay over the odds for something and you create a bandwagon that the got to have it brigade must jump onto. 

All you need to do is publish the auction results and the price goes up until the number of people who can or will pay daft money is exhausted. By which time something else is this week's shirt.

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The box theory works well except for HO scale Proto 2000 locos in the earlier style body separate to the chassis packaging.  They survive much better going through the postal system snugly wrapped without their box than with where nine times out of ten it spends its journey rolling/sliding from one end of the box to the other and back again, usually arriving this end as a kit of parts....

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17 hours ago, cctransuk said:

 

"Investment" implies an expectation of a return - surely modellers spend money in anticipation of the enjoyment that the model in question will provide; and that alone.

 

If the model is physically degraded by operating it - so be it.

 

CJI.

No return envisioned. However, one would aim to keep it in the best condition possible, especially between outings. Also, it is kind of an investment if you decide to buy a higher quality model, rather than a 60's Tri-ang version you plumb for a Heljan.

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31 minutes ago, jonnyuk said:

who is going to make an offer of £1?

The late David Somerset, former Chief Cashier already has !

 

It's not legal tender any more but the Bank of England promises  to pay the bearer on demand the sum of one pound.  That promise has no time limit, so if you take it to Threadneedle Street they will indeed give you one pound for it.  However nowadays it will take the form of one of "Maggie's Washers" as the Scots were derisively calling them when Scottish one pound notes were still in circulation.  Or if you take an old white fiver, they'll give you a current fiver for it.

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I can confirm that, back in the 1980's my Great Uncle Jack died and his place was cleared out which was when we discovered he did not like banks, there were White Fivers stuffed all over the place, collectors value upwards of twenty quid a note at the time, alas my Grandfather, also of the bung it in a shoe box school of financial management took the lot to the bank and got face value in exchange....  :banghead:

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4 hours ago, Esmedune said:

It's not a model train, but it is absolute eBay madness!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384317797007

I mean, how is that a BLACK FRIDAY DEAL????

 

Wow!

 

I've got four of those, I'll be RICH!!!!  :crazy:

 

I've also a couple of the larger O'Brien pound notes and a couple of tatty Scottish pound notes (Clydesdale and RBoS)  , perhaps they're worth something similar? :scratchhead:

 

Yeah.  :jester:

 

Back to railways.

 

If anyone saw the "Hornby: A Model World" programme last night, they would have seen a segment with our own extra special ebay vendor Rocket Railways setting out their usual range of preloved trains on a market stall.  They had received an example of the just released APT Train Pack* which they demonstrated on their market layout, snaking around 2nd radius curves.

 

Weird......

 

* On mature reflection, I suppose Rocket are also a conventional model shop and Hornby stockist, so its perfectly reasonable for them to get an allocation of APT models. and unfair to merely view them from the ebay angle!

 

 

Edited by Hroth
Review of sentiment....
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On 30/10/2021 at 18:16, Michael Hodgson said:

I hope I'm not being too sweeping and cynical in suggesting that these are the people who obsess about the box it comes in.

Any user alteration (no matter how good a job you might have done in weathering it or whatever) is seen as detracting from the object's originality and thus devalues it to a collector. 

Allowing for interpretation of the precise meaining of 'obsess' in this context. I'd say you are spot on and not at all sweeping or cynical.  Selling stuff on the 'Bay brings out the desire in the seller to get the best possible price for his thing he is selling. which we will call the 'item' for the purposes of this discussion.  In order to maximise the selling price, he/she attempts to create an impression for the buyer's 'information' of the quality and condition of the item, but is restrained by the trades descriptions legislation from being overly enthusiastic in his inventiveness, which we will call 'lying through his/her mendacious dishonest rotten false teeth' for the purposes of this discussion. 

 

So, he/she describes the item in terms that big up it's quality and condition, and tries to create an impression that he/she/the item's previous owner looked after it as if it was the formula for the cure for the common cold and written on micron thin porcelain.  This is where the box comes in; a box in good condition can be used to manipulate the buyer into an impression that the model has been rarely removed from it, or that it has been looked after carefully so by implication the actual model has been equally carefully looked after, and that in general the seller/previous owner can be trusted.  It ain' nes'arily so, as the song says.

 

Actually, the condition of the box is at best irrelevant and at worst misleading. so that a box in mint condition (which may anyway be a modern reproduction print) might actually mean that the loco was taken out of the box when it was orignially bought and never put back inside until it is sold on, which might suggest that the model is a high mileage beast on it's last legs and somewhat battered and worn.  Or a dogeared battered box, which would in this scenario perhaps detract from the percieved value of it's contents by suggesting a rough life,  might in reality indicate that the model is carefully put away after each use and has in fact been assiduously cared for and looked after.  To sum up, boxes don' mean a thing if they ain't got that swing, and they ain't, by and large, got that swing. 

 

My view is that a box is what you put a model in to post it to the buyer, and has no relevance beyond that.  I have a wardrobe top where my boxes are all stowed, in more or less perfect original condition after being opened to get at the goodies and chucked up there, because I live in a rented flat and may have to pack it all up to move at relatively short notice if my landlord decides to not renew my 6-monthly short lease agreement as he is perfectly entitled to do.  The value of this approach has already been proven when he refurbished my flat several years ago  and I had to live in the one across the hall for a month or so.

 

Hattons' 'pre-owned' listings are interesting in this regard; Hats are seriously fixated on boxes and will ask more for a scratched and damaged non runner with missing bogies and no couplings in a good box than they will for a complete unboxed runner, with slightly damaged runners in poor boxes occupying the middle ground.  Hats are pretty infathomable anyway, with identical items being listed as 'last one' and at differing prices.

 

Caveat emptor, boxes are irrelevant, models aren't.  I'd rather a good unboxed model than a poor one with a perfect box, and will usually pay less for it as well!

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