This is a trivial thread - but curiosity gets to me occasionally . I noticed on ebay that there is Sanger Halifax kit on offer and bids have (with postage) passed the cost a buying the kit direct from Sanger. This seems a not uncommon occurance - people paying more than the cost price for a currently available kit. Anyone know why??
bidding fever.
Most likely because they have more money than common sense.
Most of the people who but thru EBAY have absolutly no idea of what a kit is worth. Point in example, a C-119G in worth around $30.00 to $40.00 retail which does not include shipping (shipping is always extra). People are paying $40.00 and up for this and that is before shipping. Now I buy thru EBAY but I try to measure my buying vs the retail price of the item. If the two (price plus shipping) don’t add up to the price I’d pay for a similar item without shipping, I don’t buy it from EBAY.
I think bidding fever is closer to the truth. I don’t buy much on eBay anymore because of the irrational pattern of much of the bidding.
Regards, Rick
LOL that’s really funny. I agree with u.
Bidding fever. I don’t like it when people do that on something I want (like the past 3 Dremel Model 219 Speed Controls I’ve tried to buy) but it’s nice when they do it with one of the items you’re selling… case in point:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=6513571986&ssPageName=STRK:MESO:IT
I thought it was going to go for $10 or less… go figure!
I remember about a year ago someone paid around $160.00 for a set of decals for a Devastator torpedo plane. You never know ?
emo07
I pretty much limit my E-bay bids to items which are no longer in production, and/or very hard to find. Add in the occasional good deal.
You never know what your going to get, and sometimes pieces are mssing, but I’ve always been able to work things out with the seller.
the only things I have bought on ebay have been kits that are not mainstream… the price for a 1/32 P-51 will always be higher than the cost for a 1/32 P-26… so I went for the P-26 (about $18.00) have bought the Monogram OS2U for 10 dollars etc… if I see the word “rare” in the listing I wait until the last day to bid because as I usually see… someone is going to pay “rare” prices for a readily available, but out of production kit…
It seems to be a combination of things. Bidding fever, lack of common sense, the “I want this thing at any cost attitude,” lack of knowledge of its real value, etc. I spend a lot of time on ebay watching certain items and bidding on them up to a reasonable amount.
I have been wanting a 1/48 Monogram Pro Modeler F-4E for quite awhile. They sell for $28 plus 7.5% tax in the LHS and have been going for $20-30 plus shipping on Ebay. I just got one in the mail today that I paid $14 plus $5 shipping. Sometimes, patience is rewarded.
Darwin, O.F. [alien]
exactly!!! thats my experience… if I wait it out and bid what I think is feasible for the kit… and LET IT GO if it goes beyond that… I almost always see one for less later…
like the OS2U I spoke of… the first one I got outbid… and because of a bidding war it went for like 32 dollars plus shipping… the same day I noticed the identical kit with 6 hours left for 7.50 dollars… I bid 10 and by that night I had an email from the seller saying he would mail it the next day…
with ebay stuff you gotta bid last second and keep it in your watched item list or whatever it’s called. i waited months for a dumb ol’ computer game, ya just gotta be sly
I have seen the irrational bidding on some stuff I sold. I had a set of 1/32 F-15E decals that were still in production. I started the bidding at $1.99. Would you know it, they sold for $55!!! What was up with that??? I have noticed that decals are a hot seller on Ebay. I have bought some airliner decals for next to nothing. And they were out of production!
I’ve had a pleasant 4 years on ebay, collected models that I probably would have never had access to otherwise, and currently waiting on the UPS man to bring the new digital camera I purchased this week. [;)]
I discovered another little trick you can use on ebay that has ALWAYS paid off for me… When you go to search for an item, instead of entering just the so called “Label (common) Name” and searching those results, search something other than the full label name… for example: Jim’s looking for a Kodak EasyShare DX6490 digital camera, and that’s what about 85% of ebay users would type in the search window. You have to think, some people list items using something other than the items OFFICIAL name, which shadows them from the search engine, thus fewer visits… thus fewer competitors… thus lower cost! [:D] I’ve gotten some AWESOME deals that way! ie: 1962 sealed 1/72 Aurora civilian Aero Commander, $4.00 including shipping! [:D]
Hmmm… I’m looking for a “Piedmont Airlines” decal sheet for a 1/144 DC-3… [:)]
Take care,
Frank
well I got a set of decals for 9.99 for a F-105G Wild Weasel and got 2 sets of decals for free for a F-4J and some other F-4 probably 1/100 scale unknown type of F-4. then I also got a Hasegawa Mig-29 for 9.99 but I paid a little over 21 bucks because Shipping was 12 dollars . I also got a Academy 1/48 scale F-15E for 14.95 and a 1/48 scale F-84F for 24.95 (well I really wanted that kit) but a couple of years ago I got a 1/32 scale Hasegawa F-16 for only 20 bucks and it sells in the Squadron catalogue for a little over 40 bucks.
I’ve run the gambit on ebay (also have been on it since it’s inception) - initially, I paid way too much for 2 different b-58’s (oop at the time), then smartened up and did what oldhooker suggested and have gotten some great deals on some very rare kits -
very important ebay lessons:
1.) come up with a maximum bid and stick with it
2.) don’t get suckered into a bidding war
3.) let it go, patience will reward you with a new listing of the same item
4.) place bids at the last possible moment
5.) beware the last minute bidding software which will beat you everytime