Tofufi

Something is only worth what someone will pay for it... I'm often surprised by what does and doesn't sell. I've seen locos go so cheap I had to buy them, despite not really needing them. I've seen other, run of the mill, stuff occasionally go for silly prices. For unusual one-off items like those, I see no harm in trying a keen price and then reducing it if nobody bites :) (That said, I suspect £100 is closer to the mark than £200!) Edit: I've been trying to sell a single one of these, extremely nicely repainted, for £15 for a long time. But maybe being a one-off is putting people off.

The price has already been halved to £100!

I'm pretty sure eBay lets people check out as a guest now. In this instance, they usually have a nonsense username and, of course, 0 feedback. https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/paying-items/buying-guest?id=4035 This is probably how they 'appear' to have two usernames.

Compared to this, it's still a veritable bargain... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204429553938? Edit: which is a bargain compared to this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225698775807 which is nearly what a complete good condition version of the loco would cost.

In fairness, once you buy postage from eBay is automatically marks it as despatched. I always try to despatch parcels within a few hours of printing labels, simply as I don't like to print the label and then find I've sold something else before I go to the post office. Also, bear in mind our local post office is open 7AM-8PM most days, and closes early at 7PM on Sundays. In theory I could despatch something at 6.30PM on a Sunday night, and indeed I have done so before in the same walk as collecting a takeaway! I do agree however that sellers shouldn't mark an item despatched if they have no intention of sending it immediately. On a few occasions I've had a buyer ask me to delay despatch until they are back from holidays. In those circumstances I mark it despatched (and tell the buyer I have not posted it yet) as otherwise eBay marks it against your seller performance.

A quick ebay search shows good (and sometimes boxed, which we all know adds a lot!) ones going for £50-80. Rough ones such as this probably could get £20 on a good day... but not from me.

Thank you! As the blanking chips have different circuitry on the boards I wasn't sure if it was that straightforward! Having looked again, it seems what I thought was a blanking chip in my other loco may have been a decoder... (marked ESU).

Hi everyone, I've recently bought a Heljan Class 16 diesel, which it turns out is DCC with sound chip. It's got a 21 pin plug/socket from factory and currently doesn't run on DC. I've not got, nor wish to have, DCC (sorry!) and wish to remove the DCC from the loco. I have a few blanking chips which are also 21 pin, but all differ visually from the blanking chip in my other Class 16. If I fit one of these spare blanking chips, will I likely fry something? Or is it likely to be OK? One of my 3 x spare 21-pin blanks has two small toggle switches on it, the others don't. Cheers!

Tri-ang XT60 as used in Lord of the Isles, Caley Single etc :)

I can't fault most of your logic. However, if the items are as described, and the seller has performed well (i.e. item listing is accurate, item posted quickly, combining postage when requested, friendly comms etc) then positive feedback is deserved. If someone is stupid enough to bid more than something is worth, and then regret it later, that isn't really within the control of the seller... If I agreed to pay £1000 for something worth £10, and the seller sent it quickly and it arrived well wrapped, I don't think I could complain. The seller didn't force me to pay over the odds for it. Of course, if the item isn't in the condition described, that's different and further discussions should be had. My belief is that 'neutral' feedbacks are more for situations where items are dispatched slowly, or the listing not accurate. In my situation I'm not sure what more could have been done to earn a positive feedback after the auction ended...

Indeed - thank you. The best bit is the buyer is now selling them on Facebook as being in 'fair' condition... 🙄

Already done! Just wanted to vent a bit! 🙃 99% of eBayers I deal with (as buyer and occasional seller of model railway items) are great, but there's always one...

I've just had a buyer complain to me (with neutral feedback - thanks...) that they didn't feel the item they bought was worth what they paid. It was on an auction, with clear photos and described as playworn with scuffs (but no physical damage), and corrosion to couplings - so hardly described as being brand new. They didn't argue the description, just seemed unhappy at how much they had chosen to bid. I can't control what he chose to bid... 🙄 and got a neutral feedback despite offering a full refund. Wonderful.

Grand, even better! - Thanks 🙂 I look forward to seeing it there!

I've only just stumbled upon this thread 🙂 I went to Bristol railway exhibition last year (my first railway exhibition in approx 15-20 years) with a friend of a similar age (mid 30s) last year. Despite him not having much interest in railway modelling (or at least, no interest in spending the time himself), this is the one layout which stood out most for him and me. He has asked a few times if it will be there this year - I'm sure he will be disappointed to not see it! Maybe we'll head down to Taunton 2024 to see it 🙂

I ended up winning a few lots from this auction (which is still ongoing, with one further lot I'd like an item from). Most auction houses aren't experts, but the prices today have been fairly reasonable even including buyers commission - when compared with similar items on eBay. It must have been an incredible collection. And to collect 117 warships when only 71 of the real thing were built is pretty impressive. It's a good reminder to me to try to restrict my collecting to modest quantities (normally 1 or 2) of each loco type!

The H van was only made up to 1981, so by now they will all be classed as 'historic' and permitted to drive within ULEZ zones without charge... 🙂 I fear we've digressed somewhat on this topic...!

Those motors are still pretty sought after. This one sold for £25 (as did another), and standard 3 pole XO4s go for £10-20 each so he's not far off the mark here... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155449309223 Far more robust than most modern motors...

A while ago, I had a couple of the static weathered locos included in a job lot I bought (intending to keep other items). I stuck the weathered locos on eBay at £20 each - the BoB/WC/MN (I don't recall which) sold within a couple of weeks and the GWR City of Truro took a few months to shift. There is a market for them, but probably not a huge one! I don't think the ones I had were that realistically weathered, but I'd rather have £40 in the bank and (presumably) someone happy with the locos rather than sending them to landfill 🙂

That's all fair. What I mostly objected to was the buyer's very confident assertion (and general unpleasant attitude) in stating I should have spotted this problem - despite it being clear from the listing that I don't model EM gauge. And despite it not being clear enough for them to notice until after they had fitted pickups and tried running it over some points! As someone who mostly collects Tri-ang and older kit-built stock, back to back measurements are something I don't often consider! We've agreed a small refund now, and hopefully that'll be all.

So, the buyer has now requested £35 back to cover 'half the cost' of new wheels and axles. He has claimed the wheels might be damaged by removing them to fit new axles. I'm not even sure that new axles are needed - could the wheels not be eased out on the existing axles? Does anyone know if it's possible to change the back to back dimension on ultrascale wheels without ruining them? At the moment it feels like I'm being taken for a ride...

This week's eBay dingbat... I bought a job lot of kit built locos described as OO/HO gauge. When they arrived they were all EM gauge. I sold them on with what I considered to be a fair description, stating they were untested on track. In addition, the specific loco in question had no pickups or rear coupling (listed in the description) so it's clear it is a bit of a project. My buyer bought two locos, left positive feedback and seemed happy. A few days later starts sending unpleasant messages threatening me with ebay returns process and 'black marks' as one loco derails on pointwork, which he claims is because the wheel back to back dimensions are slightly smaller than the 16.5mm which is correct for EM gauge - and differ from each other by 0.5mm on the different axles. He has sent a photo of the end of an axle protruding slightly from a wheel - something which is visible clearly in the auction listing photos. He has claimed it could take up to a year to get the spare parts from ultrascale. I don't believe it's reasonable to expect a seller to measure wheel back to back dimensions on every loco, especially when it's clear from the listing that they don't have a way to test EM gauge or know anything about it. I'm happy to work with him if he's unhappy (and have offered him a refund), but there's no need at all for him to be unpleasant about it. 🙄

Roythebus, I've sent a message :)

Indeed. It was definitely sold at auction on Tues as a single loco, no other items with it. More amazing, it seems to have sold at £400!

As a final update... The buyer who had agreed to send the money didn't (and ignored a couple of ebay messages), until I sent them a paypal invoice - so thank you to the person on here who suggested to get a buyer's email address before sending a refund! The buyer who ignored me completely failed to pick the parcel up from the post office, so 3 weeks later it was returned to me. I put it back on eBay and it sold for the same price a couple of days later. :)