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EBay madness


Marcyg
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I've been robbed by Gostude! (OK, that's a very misleading statement, and not actually true in the strictest terms).

 

I bid on a few O gauge San Cheng items at a Midlands auction recently and was delighted to see the prices had not even come close to my top end bids. Rubbing my hands with glee I called up to see what the delivery procedure was. They told me to wait for the invoice arriving on Friday. Meanwhile, checking on ebay new listings yesterday I noticed a few items that were the same as the ones I'd won. Chuckling to myself I thought "I'd got the same as those for less than HALF what he's offering them for!".

 

Well, it's Monday so I called to see where the invoice was - I'm moving on Saturday so a delivery was urgent. "What bids?" they said, "we didn't get anything from you!". Their website has not registered my bids! AHHH! He was selling 'my' models!

 

It turns out (they are confirming) that I had not waited for a pop-up message to appear after confirming my bids (I thought that was enough!), which automates the bidding process and sends a summary email. So probably my fault. I'm gutted, especially as I'd already earmarked them for my new loft layout.

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I've been robbed by Gostude! (OK, that's a very misleading statement, and not actually true in the strictest terms).

 

I bid on a few O gauge San Cheng items at a Midlands auction recently and was delighted to see the prices had not even come close to my top end bids. Rubbing my hands with glee I called up to see what the delivery procedure was. They told me to wait for the invoice arriving on Friday. Meanwhile, checking on ebay new listings yesterday I noticed a few items that were the same as the ones I'd won. Chuckling to myself I thought "I'd got the same as those for less than HALF what he's offering them for!".

 

Well, it's Monday so I called to see where the invoice was - I'm moving on Saturday so a delivery was urgent. "What bids?" they said, "we didn't get anything from you!". Their website has not registered my bids! AHHH! He was selling 'my' models!

 

It turns out (they are confirming) that I had not waited for a pop-up message to appear after confirming my bids (I thought that was enough!), which automates the bidding process and sends a summary email. So probably my fault. I'm gutted, especially as I'd already earmarked them for my new loft layout.

 

Always sensible, I think, to place commission bids by 'phone and keep a note of who takes them. I have heard of commission bids sent by post taking too long to arrive and thus missing the auction or they can simply get overlooked when there is a lot of commission bidding. So always best to be on the safe side I think - and hard luck this time but you might at least be able to find the difference between what he paid and what he's asking - bet that comes as a shock!

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I know exactly what he paid, unfortunately. If he sells at the prices he's asking he'll be doing very well indeed!

It's usually the case - I saw what he was bidding on something clearly identifiable at an auction a while back and I too knew exactly what he paid - his profit margin at BIN was several hundred percent!

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Hello all,

 

I do like this thread, but why not ask a question on the item or point out the price to them?

 

I sometimes wonder about that Ozzy. About 18 months ago i was outbid at a live auction on a box full of whitemetal kits, including some Cotswold originals (parts still wrapped in original tissue paper so 'as sold'), because I din't fancy going over £200 to end up with more kits than I wanted just to get the ones I did want. They went to a dealer whose name has appeared here in the past and I asked one question to check the contents of a kit that still interested me - he didn't even bother to reply. And I stopped counting how much he made when his profit margin was well over 150% - he cleared the lot within two weeks (I wonder if he pays Income Tax or - like at least one other - trades as a company in order to avoid paying it, although that one was registered for VAT). These folk get through large sums of money buying stock at can make a right killing on some stuff but I suspect the 'regulars' all live very comfortably or take expensive holidays.

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..........I wonder if he pays Income Tax or - like at least one other - trades as a company in order to avoid paying it, although that one was registered for VAT).

 

 

Mike, I've often wondered if some of these 'traders' declare their income from Ebay to the revenue.....

 

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Mike, I've often wondered if some of these 'traders' declare their income from Ebay to the revenue.....

 

If your suspicions are grounded you can always report the fact to HMRC in particular with possible VAT evasion. They have a team who are particularly active on ebay misuse by traders and I believe ebay itself recognise it and cooperate well with HMRC. Inland Revenue tax evasion though can be quite complicated to pursue with many tricks being played.

 

The real problem is that many who trade through ebay do not realise that they are real traders in the eyes of HMRC - "just clearing the loft guv"

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I've been robbed by Gostude! (OK, that's a very misleading statement, and not actually true in the strictest terms).

 

I bid on a few O gauge San Cheng items at a Midlands auction recently and was delighted to see the prices had not even come close to my top end bids. Rubbing my hands with glee I called up to see what the delivery procedure was. They told me to wait for the invoice arriving on Friday. Meanwhile, checking on ebay new listings yesterday I noticed a few items that were the same as the ones I'd won. Chuckling to myself I thought "I'd got the same as those for less than HALF what he's offering them for!".

 

Well, it's Monday so I called to see where the invoice was - I'm moving on Saturday so a delivery was urgent. "What bids?" they said, "we didn't get anything from you!". Their website has not registered my bids! AHHH! He was selling 'my' models!

 

It turns out (they are confirming) that I had not waited for a pop-up message to appear after confirming my bids (I thought that was enough!), which automates the bidding process and sends a summary email. So probably my fault. I'm gutted, especially as I'd already earmarked them for my new loft layout.

 

Tried offering him a few quid over what he paid? You never know, he MIGHT be interested in a quick sale (yes, I know, his prices suggest otherwise, but worth a shot?)

Edited by 37255
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Tried offering him a few quid over what he paid? You never know, he MIGHT be interested in a quick sale (yes, I know, his prices suggest otherwise, but worth a shot?)

Just had a look at the 08 and he's sold it already. A couple days ago I thought I'd bought that for £120. I was wrong, he did...

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This seller has several other railway items for sale including these

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3378490473

which to the best of my knowledge are not made of metal. It seems they come from a house clearance & he freely admits he knows nothing about trains.

He shows plenty of photographs & gives full information on how to pay including Paypal & where the items can be collected if needed. It’s not like he's operating from the back of a van under a railway bridge.

Now his spelling or grammar might not be correct in every aspect but surely a little research might not go amiss before we have the execution.

Incidentally he now has a feedback of one. Does that make him ok ?

His spelling and grammar doesn't seem to be correct in ANY aspect. I have to say that if I was selling something as expensive as that I would put in some time a: researching and b: proof reading to maximise my sale potential. That's what makes it suspicious to my mind, however it does mean that someone might get a bargain. It looks to be a very nice model.

Edited by Talltim
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He had this that didn't sell. Wonder why?

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-1-2-inch-gauge-loco-with-tender-train-live-steam-lovely-must-see-40-long-/221062837353?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item33785f3469

 

Even if the guy's dyslexic surely he could get a mate to give the text a quick look over?

Yeah, sorry that the item I was referring to. Apologies, I hadn't realised I was replying to a post so far back in the thread

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I sometimes wonder about that Ozzy. About 18 months ago i was outbid at a live auction on a box full of whitemetal kits, including some Cotswold originals (parts still wrapped in original tissue paper so 'as sold'), because I din't fancy going over £200 to end up with more kits than I wanted just to get the ones I did want. They went to a dealer whose name has appeared here in the past and I asked one question to check the contents of a kit that still interested me - he didn't even bother to reply. And I stopped counting how much he made when his profit margin was well over 150% - he cleared the lot within two weeks (I wonder if he pays Income Tax or - like at least one other - trades as a company in order to avoid paying it, although that one was registered for VAT). These folk get through large sums of money buying stock at can make a right killing on some stuff but I suspect the 'regulars' all live very comfortably or take expensive holidays.

 

Having been to a goof few auctions in my time and observed things myself, I have to say that, frustrating as it is when lots get hoovered up by dealers and sold on for 3 times as much, I'm not sure that it quite the route to riches suggested. Jjust think about it - the average wage in this country is around £2,200 per month before tax. Bearing in mind that dealers don't make their money by listing stuff at the prices quoted, they actually have to sell them to do that, that is a lot of money you have to make week in and week out, every single week of the year, just to make average wages. The more irritating ones are the ones who have well paying jobs and can fund the auction buying as a hobby - and in such cases, the actual money that they make won't be megabucks, but by sucking up all the nice stuff and selling it on they inflate the price for the rest of us.

 

I'd also suggest the tax & NI thing is a bit of a red herring. Anyone selling on Ebay registered as a business who is not reporting to the HMRC is nuts, and I suspect that most of them know this and complete their tax returns. Let's face it, if you have no regard for the law and want to get rich, you aren't going to deal in model railways, there are plenty of more *ahem* profitable lines!

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Having been to a goof few auctions in my time and observed things myself, I have to say that, frustrating as it is when lots get hoovered up by dealers and sold on for 3 times as much, I'm not sure that it quite the route to riches suggested. Jjust think about it - the average wage in this country is around £2,200 per month before tax. Bearing in mind that dealers don't make their money by listing stuff at the prices quoted, they actually have to sell them to do that, that is a lot of money you have to make week in and week out, every single week of the year, just to make average wages. The more irritating ones are the ones who have well paying jobs and can fund the auction buying as a hobby - and in such cases, the actual money that they make won't be megabucks, but by sucking up all the nice stuff and selling it on they inflate the price for the rest of us.

A dealer who in the past has frequented an auction I attend fairly regularly turned up at one earlier this year with a buying limit (because the market area he is in hasn't been too good of late) and he intended to spend no more than £25,000. Another - who I think might have pulled out because of the state of the market on Ebay - regularly attended 4 auctions a year spending between £12,000 and £20,000 a time; he was trading under at least two names on Ebay and didn't put on silly BIN prices.

 

As far as buying at auction is concerned it all depends on the lotting but basically a private buyer will beat a dealer every time because the latter has to take into account his margins and how long it will take him to clear the trading stock he is buying. In a slightly different area a couple of years ago I was outbid at auction on a complete collection of GW magazines (I wasn't trying too hard because I wasn't sure where I could keep them) and the book dealer who bought them subsequently had them in his shop for 4-5 times what he had paid, because it will take him a long time to sell them. But as private buyer I could, and did, outbid him on a late Victorian GWR service timetable for the simple reason that he knew how much he could retail it for and I was prepared to outbid him. I got the TT for an amount I was prepared to pay and that was probably less than 60% of his retail price had he bought it.

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I was considering bid on this (might just be worth an overbid on £6.50 + P&P and she would clean up OK) but then I saw "Reserve not met"!

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hornby-Dublo-LT-25-Freight-Locomotive-Tender-1960s-/230829176467?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item35be7db693#ht_500wt_1362

 

(At least) £50 for this tat??!! :O

Edited by Il Grifone
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but the seller does say "I know nothing about it, so unsure how to list it"

 

Just someone who hasn't a clue on the value of anything - but that's no surprise when someone outside the hobby probably thinks all locos on ebay sell for over £100.

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