I’m just writing this to put my opinion out there for what it’s worth. I see on this and other forums e-bay referred to by various unflattering names (evil-bay) for example and was wondering what would cause someone to do this? E-bay is nothing more than a tool to shop. If you don’t like the price on a particular item don’t bid on it! If you go to e-bay and expect to find stuff being given away you will be disappointed. I have used e-bay for several years now and had one item that was not as stated and the seller took it back and refunded my money quickly. I know there are unsavory characters out there but I feel it’s wrong to vilify e-bay because you couldn’t get the latest kit for next to nothing. As I said e-bay is nothing more than a tool and everyone can get hurt if they use a tool improperly. And know I don’t have any connection to e-bay other than being a satisfied user. Have I found everything I’m looking for, certainly not but that won’t stop me from looking!
I have to agree with you masonme. I have used E-bay for quite some time and have not had any problems. I don’t go on there looking for a bargain, but if i do get one, thats a bonus. I use it for 2 things. Firstly items that are currently OOP. Second, when i don’t want to place a large order with the main shop i use but i just might want a couple of items. I look for sellers who’s prices are around the same as the big model sites. I generally stick to the buisness sellers, but on occasion will buy from a private seller when they have something i can’t get else where. But i do check their reviews. But at the end of the day, as you say, E-bay is just a tool.
I can agree with that [dto:]
I think people who sell are not happy with some of the rules and regs,not sure though.
I like eBay as well. I’ve scored several great deals on there that I’d never have found anywhere else ('cept maybe a vendor table).
My latest was a Minicraft 1/144 PBY Catalina for $12.50 shipped.
The biggest problem IMO is the eBay rabbit hole. Can’t seem to get off that site without bidding on like five things!
I’ve sold a few items on there as well and haven’t had any problems with the rules, so not sure what the issues are. I guess some people are never happy.
Whhew good thing you posted something about a model or this thread would not be long for the world.
I call it evil-bay not because of bad experiences but because it’s so darn easy to spend money there!
[dto:] Guilty as charged!
I love Ebay.It’s a great place to find almost anything that has ever been for sale.Old model kits,CD’s,DVD’s and most recently books.Last week I bought four hardcovers for a total of $22 that would have cost well over $100 in a book store.
I just got a Reaper kit my LHS couldn’t get access to. If you do your research on shipping then you won’t get hosed. I’ve emailed several sellers to shipping verifications because the listed cost was out to lunch. Some leave it others offer reasonable costs. It’s not eBay itself, it’s the people who jack their Shipping to pad profit or the 10 seconds remaining snipers.
I like Ebay as well and have sold and bought things on it for years.
By the way, the former CEO, Meg Whitman, is at HP across the street from where I work. [:D]
I shop there a lot, never have had a bad experience. In fact, I’ve had better service there than at many retail places.
I have sold and bought there. Two times I had items sent not as described but was refunded my money without any problems. Then again, I’ve heard of horror stories from other people. Sometimes you do get lucky and get really great bargains.
September 8, 2011 I received an anniversary email from eBay congratulating me on 14 years of membership (I started a little earlier using my wife’s user ID to bid on some stuff though). My feedback is 1124, 100%.
EBay is a valuable tool for finding out what an item is worth at that moment in time.
If I see someone trying to sell a kit I am interested in at a buy/sell/trade forum; I do a quick eBay search to see if that is a reasonable price to pay. I also check Squadron, Great Models and other online sites to see if it is a deal or not.
Likewise if someone is looking for a kit I have, but have no interest in any longer, I check those same sites to see if it is worth it to offer mine for sale. If it is a kit I paid good money for but is not worth that amount right now, I will pass on trying to sell mine and keep it for when the value goes back up.
When contemplating an online trade, I sometimes use eBay and other sites to determine whether or not the deal is a fair trade. That way both modelers get roughly the same amount of value and neither one feels like they were taken advantage of.
I remember back in the day when I could browse all model kits for sale that week and it would take just over an hour. EBay was populated by regular folks just trying to get rid of models or looking for great deals.
Today, many online retailers populate the site as their primary or supplementary store front. It is still possible to find great deals, but nowadays, you have to sift through hundreds of models listed at full retail price to find the guy selling his old, unwanted kits for pennies on the dollars.
Additionally, modelers who once would list kits at a fraction of its worth now raise their asking prices to more closely reflect prices listed by dedicated retailers selling at full price. They don’t realize that the buying public would rather pay a couple bucks more to buy new from an actual retailer than to save a few bucks to take a chance on a used kit that may or may not be complete. They get soured because their items don’t sell and they are out all the initial listing fees.
I continue to surf eBay daily, albeit not as closely as I used to do. I will randomly search a few pages looking for deals, but mainly use it to find specific items that I want to build.
For those of you who dislike eBay and will never use it, I say stay away. One less person looking for the great deal means my chance at getting an even better deal increase. All it takes is one other bidder looking for the exact same item at the same moment in time to make that great deal go away.
After 14 years, I’ve learned how to sift through the MSRP prices and find the great deals. I won’t share my techniques, but I will say that bidding before the final minute isn’t the way to go.
I’ve never sold on Ebay but have bid on items with account that I set up under my wife’s name. She fas a Paypal account and for me thats the only way to go because of the buyer protection plan. For bargain hunting try the auction only option. You sift through less clutter and sometimes find good deals that way.
I love ebay and use it to buy most of my models, dvd’s and books anymore. I’ve only had two bad experiences: one with a buyer, the other with a seller. Ebay cleared up both issues, so their customer service gets a thumbs up from me.
I think some people call it evil-bay, because it’s so addictive and causes them to spend lots of money.
I like eBay. I just bought a model (The Varyag) and a set of barrels for it for a total of less than $ 50. Rob’s right that the $ 5.00 kits all seem to have gone away. Those were the “good old days”. But it certainly opens up a world of options for stuff.
It’s funny I haven’t bid on anything in a long time, and the last time I did I dropped out when the price got ridiculous. But the very next day, sellers who had been passed over had the same kits listed “buy it now” for about half what the auction resulted in. I pretty much just look for good deals on buy-it-now. As long as you look at the shipping costs before you commit, it’s a great place to buy stuff.
And Paypal is great, the other ways all are PITA’s.
I must agree you don’t get the same bargains you used to get. But it does give you a lot of choice all in one place. And i have got a couple of kits from there that have been OOP for years.
And paypal is a great feature. I don’t have a credit card, so without paypal it would be a pain for me to order from outside the UK. I just wish FSM would start useing it.
I have yet to find a kit I was interested in for less on any site than I could find it on eBay. The strange thing is that several of the deals were from the ebay store of a physical hobby shop. Two out of my last three purchases were like that… $58 shipped for the Trumpeter Mig-29, and $41 shipped for the Eduard 109 E-4 ‘Balkan’ special edition. SB wanted $104 plus shipping for the Mig, and $80 for the 109. Both of the sellers were model shops with B&M stores, one in the US and one in HK.
The Hellcat I bought was from a private seller in Canada. Nearly $50 for that one, but it came with a full resin cockpit, montex masks, and one of the Eduard PE sets.
One thing I haven’t been able to find many deals on is aftermarket sets. Bought a nice set of brass MG17 barrels for the 109 for under $10 shipped, but that seems a rare find. Resin, PE, and brass goodies I see are typically only 10-15% off of SB most of the time. It doesn’t ever seem worth it to buy paints or supplies from eBay either. And someone needs to sell a Frogfoot for less than $100. 
Add another person to the ‘eBay is evil!’ camp for all the money I spend there!
So let’s recap…Ebay=Evil-bay to some peopel because they can’t control themselves. Seems like some people need a refresher course in personal responsibility.
Ebay rules are easy.
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Check shipping prices BEFORE bidding.
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Bid once with the maximum you’re willing to pay for a given item. Never look back nd NEVER get involved in a bidding war.
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If there’s a Buy It Now option at a reaonable price (including shipping) But It Then.