Sjcm

I've said it before, but he's so far ahead in the chiseling game, he makes the rest look like amateurs. A thing of beauty that.

That would be some computer system. I mean the variances are astronomical just on individual models and liveries, or say one had a newer type of chassis or a motor that fails often. That sort of knowledge you can't really programme into an algorithm while bidding on someone's collection

That sort of confirms how I think they operate, i.e. they price things at what they cost + their % set profit rather than a proper valuation. Would explain the vast differences in cost for identical items you see on there sometimes, but I imagine the people selling the stuff are constantly cursing the buying department for overpaying😂

Hah, I totally missed that. That is bizarre on so many levels.😲

For a model by a major manufacturer, it's a bit ham-fisted. *gets coat*

Another oddity coming up to finishing and no takers. Not sure the Longmoor military railway ever had one of these but if he knocks it down to twenty I'll have a punt😉 Possibly actually unique

Think so seeing there was a bidding war for it. There has to be something there in that pile of bits that I'm not seeing to make it go for 60 pounds 😲

Another listing that falls into the "what am I missing?" catagory. Not sure why the remains of a Hornby Dublo tender and some princess plunger pick-ups has been bid up past 50 pounds considering you could get both complete loco's for that much. I'm speaking as someone who has a dismantled Dublo castle tender ready to go if this is a new strain of madness😉 Buh?!

They seem to turn up in bits frequently on ebay. Not sure if it's the motor (doubtful) or more likely the crappy chassis. Remember I had one years back where the plastic spokes had crumbled on one of the wheels and despite buying a new wheel set it still had tight spots when rolling, so I suspected more was up with it than I could diagnose.

Lucky escape methinks.

Well they're small metal wheels. Easily get in a large envelope so 1.15? I can get 5 padded envelopes for a pound, so 20p? I'm sure they do it cheaper with postage discounts and buying bulk and they don't even bother with padded envelopes.They can charge what they like at the end of the day, but I wonder how many people have purchased seeing 1 pound BIN and missing the 5 pound postage. By that time you're halfway through the purchase and probably will carry on whereas 5 pounds BIN, and you may move on😉

Yeah I just find the disingenuous listings annoying. A well known spares suppliers is asking 6 pounds for a single pair of small wheels, 5 pounds of that is postage. If you think it's worth 5 pounds then list it at 5 pounds and charge a pound for postage instead.

Spares are the bane of everyone's life in terms of cost so it does make sense to split things down. When I have spares to sell I just make sure they are well described so people can find them and then let them find their 'level ' in the market. When you have so many people taking the mick and even "reputable" spares sellers doing the postage scam its not hard to get a very good price. If we do ever get a new worldwide recession, I'm not bothering with gold, but buying XO4 carbon brushes and Hornby pannier tank chimney caps😉

I like the artistic camera angle to disguise the fact it hasn't got any buffers and it can't be that rare an opportunity when he's got another one listed.

I thought that, but I can make out Made in Yugoslavia? Mehano?

This is more a "what is it?" Is it a scratch built loco designed to look narrow gauge on OO track? Or a HO loco with a HO body. It's setting off my OCD Comfy looking seat

Oh I get that occasionally which is annoying as I obviously would stick on a best offer option if I was open to it. I usually find it's dealers, what I would class as a "cheeky" offer and it doesn't matter even if it already has a bid on it. One guy offered less than the listing price and ended his begging post with "PLEASE REPLY ASAP EVEN IF YOU REFUSE MY OFFER" 😂. I usually give them some old flannel along the lines of "lots of watchers/enquiries/wouldn't be fair to them to end auction early"...

One of these. http://www.tri-ang.co.uk/Ohd1.html

Think Rocket Railways have got the work experience guy doing the listings. Heavily weathered 4-6-4 diesel

See that's where your superior knowledge comes in. I would have clocked what the two motors were, but the rest, and whether it was reasonably complete or useable, not a chance.

Now that has out-gostuded gostude! Comedy gold from Hattons.

Yes but I presume you looked at the pictures and know more than the seller does which is how I like it when buying. Thing is, there are people in the kitbuilding section like yourself who pretty much have the skill set, knowledge and equipment to fix anything so the risk is less. Then there's the rest of us who can diagnose a fault and bodge a fix or buy a part. Then there's a growing(?) % of modellers judging by the repair video's on youtube who any sort of basic electrical or mechanical repair or service is akin to witchcraft. I sold a motor the other day and I spent literally hours fielding questions from 2 potential buyers asking how to fix them so they didn't have to buy mine😂. Not that I minded to be honest, but if I'm buying I'd much rather buy something off them than you😉

I find most of the descriptions of the items I bid on are along the lines of "found in loft, the red one with the big wheels makes a buzzing noise on the rails" so not much help.😉. Occasionally you get the deliberately imo "vague" descriptions which is a red flag. I always check the feedback not so much for negatives - anyone can get the awkward buyer or be left down by the post man and get a neg - but to get an idea of the seller. So a guy whose buying feedback consists of 3 pages of buying fishing equipment is unlikely to know if something is broken or just needs a clean. If he has 5 pages of buying railway stuff, then the description saying "untested" is very likely untrue. Likewise a dealer in general antiques/tat is again unlikely to be an expert, wants to move it on ASAP, and is therefore susceptible to a cheeky best offer.

Well I think you buy and sell modern RTR? Not a market I would bother with due the fragility of the stuff, the attempts by the manufacturers to make them hard to fix, and the cost of the parts so would never dabble in your Hattons bargains with my knowledge/skillset which seem on occasions risky to me. 😉I tend to punt on older stuff that is more robust but usually isn't tested so yeah there is a big risk I guess, but if I get a load of lemons that's my fault. One safeguard I find is looking at the sellers buying feedback and if they are obviously a railway modeller themselves I tend to steer clear if they are selling stuff as not tested/non runners as I think it's highly unlikely they haven't tried to get them running and know they're kaput. I go on the pictures mainly and if something is missing I'll pass if I know the part is hard to come by - what's the point in getting a bargain with a missing part if the part costs 2/3rds of the bargain? The other thing is the manufacturer - I'm going to leave well alone mainline/earlybachmann/replica stuff because even mint boxed there could be all manner of problems with axles etc, and of course certain models with inherent faults/motor types which you know have a high percentage of failures. I always bid low when I punt on a worse case scenario both in value and the risk it is broke, and if I get outbid that's fine by me but it never ceases to amaze me the prices some things go for given the other sellers have the same information and risk factor,.Often for the same or more than a "guaranteed" mint/ working item would go for.

I notice on a couple of photos he's got his boots on, so did he gradually get dressed or strip? And why no sock photo's? 😞