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Anyone want a 'Brit' ?


Il Grifone

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Looks like the seller wasnt happy last week then with the way the original auction went - I kept an eye on it and with a day or so to go it was up to ??255 then it dissapeared - so obvioulsy didnt reach his lofty expectations.

 

Chris

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hmmm

 

am I the only one who is not concerned by this?

 

Assuming his parts costs were say ??250 for loco, sound decoder, extra speakers, smoke unit and lighting etc that leaves ??500. At a modest ??35 per hour (phoned your local car dealershop lately?) that comes out at approx 14 hours - I'd struggle to produce a loco to that spec in that time .....

 

 

Besides, if no-one thinks the job is worth it then it won't sell will it biggrin.gif

 

 

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hmmm

am I the only one who is not concerned by this?

Assuming his parts costs were say ??250 for loco, sound decoder, extra speakers, smoke unit and lighting etc that leaves ??500. At a modest ??35 per hour (phoned your local car dealershop lately?) that comes out at approx 14 hours - I'd struggle to produce a loco to that spec in that time .....Besides, if no-one thinks the job is worth it then it won't sell will it biggrin.gif

 

Sensible comment from someone who likes to build/enhance loco's! However, this is one hell of a lot of dosh to part with just for a standard (sorry for 'orrible pun) Brit!

Let's see what happens!

Sincerely, Penny Less

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Sensible comment from someone who likes to build/enhance loco's! However, this is one hell of a lot of dosh to part with just for a standard (sorry for 'orrible pun) Brit!

Let's see what happens!

Sincerely, Penny Less

Maybe, but part of me feels nostalgic for an Ebay that was purely auction-based, where an item would find something resembling its true value, although bargains could still be found.

 

It seems to me that this seller has modified the loco for the sole purpose of selling it on Ebay, which is the only way a ??35/hour labour rate comes into it. Let's face it - if you or I were to sell a completed kit (which we'd previously made for our our pleasure), there's no way we'd try to recoup that kind of money. Sure, put it in an auction, and if someone really wants to spend ??500+, that's up to them, but by putting an item up for ??750 "Buy It Now", it seems a bit... mercenary.

 

Somehow, it makes me all misty-eyed for the "old" Ebay...

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You're still in time she's been relisted.

 

Anyone agree with me that they wouldn't put smoke oil anywhere near a ??750 loco? (Or a 750p one come to that.) (My Britannia shows the scars of her (now disconnected) smoke unit. Luckily only inside where it doesn't show.)

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Guest Max Stafford

For ??750 I'd want a real one...! ;)

In fact, forty years ago, that and a minute's walk would have got me one!

 

Dave.

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I think that ??35 p/h may jsut have to cover slightly more overheads at a car dealer than its does for a guy sticking trains together in his shed......

 

Still, if someone feels that ??750 is a fair price for a RTR loco, thats their business (wish it was mine! ;) )....After all I've seen Lima 37s at over a ton jsut 'cos they were a different livery to the one next to 'em on sale at about ??35......

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I think that ??35 p/h may jsut have to cover slightly more overheads at a car dealer than its does for a guy sticking trains together in his shed......

 

Still, if someone feels that ??750 is a fair price for a RTR loco, thats their business (wish it was mine! wink.gif )....After all I've seen Lima 37s at over a ton jsut 'cos they were a different livery to the one next to 'em on sale at about ??35......

 

 

That's why main dealerships charge more like ??60 (plus vat) ...... wink.gif Don't get me wrong, I'd never consider spending that much either, but then I have the skills to do the job myself .....

 

The eBay seller is a trader, and has produced this loco to sell, so I guess that's why he is seeking to maximise his profit. Clever eBayers will realise this and also realise that as a business getting towards the end of the year he will also want to get some kind of return on his investment, the price will come down in the new year once the Christmas money burning a hole in the pockets of buyers is spent on other items laugh.gif

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Gentlemen

 

Let me straighten out some poor assumptions made on this topic. Firstly I built this loco but I am not the seller! Lets go back about just over 1 year. I put 2 Brits and another loco in the "for sale" part of RM web and NRM. All locos sold with 1-2 hours of me posting. I had plenty of emails and I did the right thing and sold it to the first 3 people. Now I could have done far better as offers came in over the next couple of days but I stuck to my guns and let it go at the advertised price...."first in first served". I did make a mistake by listing it on NRM first and then RM. As they sold on NRM very quickly I forgot to mark them "sold" on this forum for about 3 days. My mistake, but I have noticed that 1 person posting on this very topic who had a go at me for "advertising on 2 forums", not marking it sold quick enough and finally was extremely annoyed that I would'nt build him a loco at a better price.

 

Back to the topic in question, I must say their is a certain amount of pride to see one of me very early- built locos that may sell for this price. Nice one and best of luck to the seller. What he does is his business. But I think that's another story and not for this forum.

 

I have quickly learned to keep my opinions and my little "tricks" to myself because down the track someone is likely to claim it as their own idea.

 

"I think that ??35 p/h may jsut have to cover slightly more overheads at a car dealer than its does for a guy sticking trains together in his shed...... Still, if someone feels that ??750 is a fair price for a RTR loco, thats their business (wish it was mine! )....After all I've seen Lima 37s at over a ton jsut 'cos they were a different livery to the one next to 'em on sale at about ??35......"

 

So how much did it cost to build? How do you work that out? Putting aside the cost of loco/parts etc would it be fair to say that if a person has a full time job and does this in his spare time. Why would he expect anything less than what the market is prepared to pay? The prices people are prepared to pay for my work is easily shown by my sales history. When I am using my limited free time to work on a loco I don't waste it on jobs that are a fraction of what I can sell in the market and history has again shown that people are prepared to pay. They know my workmanship and trust that I'll do a good job.

 

Dont get me wrong I do favours (when the circumstances support it) and if something comes along that's a real challenge that has not being done before "I'm in".

 

Those 3 locos sold for somewhere between 350-400 GBP......from memory. If you think 750 GBP is bad I took on a job for a well known train company and the 2 locos in question went well above 1200 GBP each. I don't go looking for the business they come to me! 99% of you will never see my special builds nor, after seeing some comments on other topics on here, do I wish to share!

 

I could drive some of you "green" with envy for example with a class 141 I am building. Full sound, correct proto lights working dash controls and fan forced smoke which as much as I dislike the elite this is one of the better controllers for it as it has more than 2 decoders. You actually get to control the smoke while driving it. There is far more that that I could mentioned here.

 

My point is that the guy I am building the 141 for has purchased locos from me before and I am building it at a cheaper price than the Brit. In this instance I am taking a big loss but the challenge is worth it.

 

This is my day off today and I plan to rest and enjoy myself. I hope this answers some of the emails I have received on this topic. If you have an issue with price you need to take it up with the seller not me. "Do it on ebay" If you think its crap thats ok too but be constructive about it. I had a discussion with my wife today on this topic and while I will continue to do what I do for those who like and seek my work, and the 1 big positive has come out of this for me....I have learned to say NO and hope to soon build a loco for myself again as its been a long long time.

 

m

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??350 is rather different from ??750, especially since the parts etc. were sourced from this sum.

 

This sort of speculation is what makes collector's items (of all kinds) have such high prices.

 

Some would say this is good business, but I will keep my opinion to myself.

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