How do you value buying a loco kit or kit built loco on eBay

[hayfield]

I was wondering how others value what they will spend buying a second hand kit built loco or unbuilt loco kit off eBay

 

I must admit this is a wide subject and will depend greatly on whether the kit in question is still in production or discontinued, and is further complicated if alternatives are still available

 

In question to start the ball rolling, you can easily buy a Wills/Wills Finecast/Southeastern Finecast LSWR/SR T9, each will have a different value. The value of a T9 is further complicated by the Westward version with a wide cab. What further complicates matters is that all of these require wheels, gears and motor. What added value do you put on a complete kit 

 

I have just bought an unbuilt Westward T9 which is the wide cab version,  I would not  pay as much for an unbuilt SEF version.

[Barclay]

An interesting question - I think the answer depends entirely on why you want it. I sometimes buy an old kit from K's perhaps. I enjoy building and improving them, but I won't pay over the odds because there's usually another way of producing the same loco., or indeed other examples out there. In such cases I do set a strict limit. However there are times when something is rarer or there isn't really an alternative, where I can throw caution to the winds - the Sayer Chaplin diesel shunter kit being a case in point for me, though it was galling to see one go for little more than half what I paid about a year later. I don't regret it however because I really wanted it and now I have it ! 

[PenrithBeacon]

I think it's a question of what do feel is right for you and how much you can afford anyway. Added to that is whether the seller will accept returns and the quality of the item. I always set a bid which is my valuation and make it a rule not to engage in a bidding war. An unbuilt item I will offer less for.

Having said that, my valuations are often for less than others are prepared to pay. Last week I lost in bids for 2 D&S wagons which went for huge sums. Both could have been scratch built in Plasticard in less than 5 hours,which is weird. 

[burgundy]

There is also something about the skill with which the kit has been built and painted. I have seen a couple of items on e Bay where the kindest thing to do would be to strip them and reduce back to kit form. 

Best wishes 

Eric  

[Bucoops]

I very rarely buy anything built or started - depends on how much I want one and how good what has been done so far is.

 

Value is of course highly subjective. I usually do a search of previous sales to see what I can find, as well as seeing what I paid previously if I have one already.

 

But it boils down to how much I, and other potential buyers, want it.

[melmerby]

17 minutes ago, burgundy said:

There is also something about the skill with which the kit has been built and painted. I have seen a couple of items on e Bay where the kindest thing to do would be to strip them and reduce back to kit form. 

Best wishes 

Eric  

Some on ebay where you should just melt them down and use as ballast...🙂

[melmerby]

I bought a nicely built Finecast 1854 saddletank body for £20 at a stand at Warley, likewise an unmade Nu-cast (ex-K's) GWR Auto Trailer (in the wrong box), for the same price.

Both these were maybe 7 or 8 years ago.

I bought a, complete with etched chassis, unmade Finecast Metro for £60, probaby 2018 (Warley again)

Currently being built (on another topic)

 

So not just ebay to consider.

[Kris]

Some of the kits I have purchased from eBay have on the steep side, however these tend to be kits that appear once in a blue moon only. The last lot of ngauge brass coaches that I purchased went for about £50 each. These were unstarted and in some cases are little more than scratch aids. Since purchasing them a couple of years ago I have not seen more turn up.

[46256]

I have just bought a DJH LNER garratt off eBay. It came complete with wheel sets. I paid roughly half of what it would cost direct from DJH . I have just completed the build, complete with high level gears and motors.  In respect of locomotive size, the most expensive kit, pro rata, has been a Stanier 262 T, purchased from Australia. The postage alone was quite expensive. 

[Graham456]

9 hours ago, hayfield said:

further complicates matters is that all of these require wheels, gears and motor. What added value do you put on a complete kit 

Personally I don’t put any extra value on e bay buys. Because you can’t be sure of how it runs, so I base my value on it being glued together, which I find often the epoxy wasn’t mixed fully and has gone rubbery Keyser,kits will need a new motor and gears,for certain wheels might, with a big might be all right then we have the updating bits to add to a old kit like sprung buffers , so I don’t see the point of paying extra  for a old kit built, and then spending more than a Still available kit currant price, 

I just bought a keyser bayer peacock 322 class for £57.00  and I have got away with the motor as she came with a unknown five pole open framed motor with a weird built in gearbox like the K’s hp2m dud  but bigger than the gutless wonder kerser supplied,but am in the process of rewheeling her with markits,body is good to go apart from the number plates being  wobbly transfers

Edited April 11, 2023 by Graham456

[melmerby]

2 hours ago, Graham456 said:

I find often the epoxy wasn’t mixed fully and has gone rubbery

Devcon 10 minute epoxy used to do that anyway after a few years☹️

 

Great if you want to dismember something for a rebuild.

[Graham456]

44 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Devcon 10 minute epoxy used to do that anyway after a few years☹️

 

Great if you want to dismember something for a rebuild.

Devcon 10  minute  one of the culprits was it !

thank god for super glue, as whilst 10 minute was fast compared with the 24 hour stuff it was still a long time hold a bit in place untill it set, especially if you wanted to get on with building the kit,solder sets in seconds,it just takes awhile to build asbestos fingers,so I didn’t use epoxy  much in my early kit building days

Edited April 11, 2023 by Graham456

[hayfield]

Twenty years ago I bought what I could afford and what was cheap, I did (and still) get some great bargains, but once I got most of the classes I wanted, I then wanted to improve the quality on the items I am collecting. One issue is I have not been as successful in selling off which I have replaced as quickly as I should have done and I recon at least half of my collection needs to go. At last this year I am selling 3 times more than I am buying to keep

 

I decided to standardise on etched chassis and can motors, so always on the lookout for more modern kits as well as etched chassis, decent wheel sets and modern motors. There are rare times where I will buy ready built kits if they are very well built to save build time. But the other thing is if I am interested in a kit that is still in production, once it goes over a certain price I would rather pay extra and buy from the manufacturer, unless its full of expensive extras I want to keep. 

 

Certainly with one exception I will not pay over the odds and often happy to wait for the kit others miss. I also am happy to do a bit of farming, mostly for wheels and motors, but the odd etched chassis is found, selling off the unwanted parts cheaply

 

The exception is Westward kits !!  These I remember when I visited Puffers of Kenton weekly to spend some of my wages. I got very friendly with both Chris and John and memories of not being able to afford them. As I have just said in the opening reply, I have just bought a wide bodied LSWR T9 kit. I paid £70 for a mint kit which is far cheaper than a new SEF kit. So I am not chasing kits by what I think is over paying

 

Likewise I bought a Keyser GWR 15xx, still sealed up for £37.50 , which I think is well under the market value as its one of the less common kits. The first thing I did was sell the wheels and motor (I am building to EM gauge and neither these are of the quality I required) these realised £29, I have plenty of DS10's spare and this will buy me a set of Gibson's.  So a rare kit updated for a budget price

[hayfield]

On 11/04/2023 at 09:04, Barclay said:

An interesting question - I think the answer depends entirely on why you want it. I sometimes buy an old kit from K's perhaps. I enjoy building and improving them, but I won't pay over the odds because there's usually another way of producing the same loco., or indeed other examples out there. In such cases I do set a strict limit. However there are times when something is rarer or there isn't really an alternative, where I can throw caution to the winds - the Sayer Chaplin diesel shunter kit being a case in point for me, though it was galling to see one go for little more than half what I paid about a year later. I don't regret it however because I really wanted it and now I have it ! 

 

Barclay

 

It sounds that our thoughts are similar,  The first thing is how much does a kit cost, I use Southeastern Finecast as a price guide where tank locos often go for £90 and tender locos either side of £100, wheel packs vary between £45 to £80 and a basic motor & gears £30. So a complete tank loco will set you back £165 ish and a tender loco £210. I accept other modern kits can be more expensive. On the other hand I would discount older less quality kits

 

Secondly and more importantly how common is the kit, I would pay far less for a common kit (K's 57xx are not worth much) or s SEF M7 or N7 as they come up often and command less, where as a SEF I3 or R1 are quite rare and if you want one you have to pay for it.

 

I find the more challenging aspect, is obtaining the wheels, motors and gearboxes. Often buying a kit or in some cases a kit built loco to obtain the additional parts. Etched chassis is another area I look out to convert older locos

 

In short I am happy to pay £100 for a pristine kit with a (desired) set of wheels and gears, but sometimes would not pay £50 for a pristine kit without wheels and motor. 

 

I recently bought a N7 kit for the wheels and chassis hopefully selling the body off cheaply doing someone else a favour. Likewise I bought a complete (with wheels and motor) SEF 2251 kit allowing me to sell a built 00 gauge one for less than the cost of the Romford wheels and 5 pole motor it has. (if it does not sell I will split it up as 3 very cheap lots). I try and be realistic with my starting prices, though others may disagree