Let’s be honest, while it’s great to support your local hobby shop, sometimes what you need (or want) is only available online, and if it’s been out of production for a while your only option might be to go to one of the online auctions either through eBay, or to one of the newer trends, the live Facebook auctions.
I’ve been buying stuff through online auctions for years – first on eBay and now occasionally through a Facebook auction. Back when I got started in the hobby in the pre-Facebook days there were a lot of smaller sellers out there who sold exclusively through eBay because it was much easier and cheaper than setting up a website and store. If you were looking for things like Japanese and European prototype models in the US – eBay and MB Klein were pretty much your only sources back then, and MB Klein didn’t offer online ordering back then. So a lot of what I bought at the time came from eBay, and in order to keep my shirt when buying at auction I set a few rules that have served me well.
I won’t say that my rules always result in screaming deals, but I don’t think I’ve ever been ripped off when I followed my rules. Keep in mind these rules work for any auction shopping, whether it’s model trains, electronics, or even car parts. They work for both online auctions and in person ones. My rules aren’t revolutionary, I think that they’re common sense, however I’ll admit that it’s extremely easy to rush into an auction and get swept up into a bad deal because you didn’t follow the rules.
So what are my rules?
Rule 1 – Do your research: Know what you want. If it’s still in production, know what the MSRP for the item is and know what it’s selling for. If it’s not in production, search for it online to see if the listing are still up for it to give you an idea of what the selling price was. Trovestar is also a good source for finding the original MSRP for an item – searching their database is restricted to registered users, but Google crawls their database and results from the Trovestar database appears in Google search results. Search eBay too – look for past sales of the item to see what it’s been listed at and what it’s sold for.
Rule 2 – Set a budget: Now that you know what you want, AND how much it’s been selling for, set a budget. How much are you willing to pay for the item? Don’t worry about the asking price, figure out how much the item is worth to you and how much you’re willing to pay to get the item. You need to be pretty firm on that number too, don’t let the bidding carry you away ESPECIALLY IN THE LIVE AUCTIONS! It is super easy to blow past your budget as the bids start rolling in. The auctioneer starts getting excited, the bids start coming in quick and the price can go up fast – remember, the auctioneer is NOT your friend here. Their job is to get the highest price possible for the item, don’t let their excitement and encouragement sweep you up past your budget limit.
Rule 3 – Research the seller: Be wary of sellers with low feedback on eBay. Read the feedback – a seller with a high number on eBay could still have a lot of dissatisfied customers. Be cautious of sellers with low feedback numbers, low numbers doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re shady – it could be that they just don’t do much business on eBay, but the risk is definitely higher with those sellers. For Facebook auctions, search other Facebook groups for posts and comments about the seller – if folks have a bad experience with a seller they often post about it on other parts of Facebook.
Rule 4 – Read the description & check the pictures: Make sure that what you think you’re getting is actually what’s listed. Good sellers will note any wear or damage in their description AND include pictures of the wear or damage. Don’t be afraid to contact the seller if you want more pictures or have questions about the item. When it comes to model railroad items – if there’s customization on the item (added detail parts, replaced couplers, weathering, painting etc) do what you can to review the quality of the work that’s been done as this can impact the value of the item.
Rule 5 – Don’t be swayed by auction buzzwords: There are words that sellers use in their descriptions to try and influence the final selling price of their item – do not fall for them. Words like “collectible”, “rare”, and “hard to find” are all used by the seller to influence potential buyers to pay more for their item.
Sellers are trying to convince you that they have something special, that they have something that you can’t find anyplace else, or at least are going to have a hard time finding all to get you to violate Rule 2. Don’t fall for it! While you can find rare and hard to find stuff on the auctions sites, it’s just as likely that the item is actually pretty common and the seller either doesn’t know or doesn’t care that their item isn’t rare. There are sellers who use these terms in every single item that they list – even if the item is still in production and easy to find.
A few sellers have started to trot out the line that “this is from my personal collection” which is great if you’re interested in provenance of the item – but is utterly meaningless when it comes to the value.
Rule 6 – Don’t hesitate to walk away: Arguably this rule is as important as Rule 1. Don’t get so swept up in getting an item that you have to have it at all costs. Be picky, don’t settle for something that has more wear or damage than you’re comfortable with, don’t get swept up in a bidding war and blow your budget, don’t fall for the seller’s claims on rarity, don’t make a purchase if something doesn’t seem right. Odds are, the item you want will come up for sale again. It might not be tomorrow, or the day after, or even the month after, but it will come up for sale again, try again when it comes back. And if it doesn’t come back, be ok with that too…
Bonus Rule
This one isn’t included with the rest of the rules because it is more of a personal pet peeve – and it’s around price stickers. Something that never happened when I first got into the hobby but seems to be happening more and more lately is sellers listing items for sale that still have the original price tag on them with the listing price higher than the price tag.
This practice bothers me…
A lot….
While it may or may not be the price that the seller originally purchased the item for, that price tag represents a clear assignment of value to the item. If a sale price for an item is visible in the listing, and the listing is for more than the visible sale price – I will not bid on that item.
Some sellers will argue that the item is no longer manufactured and therefore is hard to find which justifies the selling price (see Rule 5), that may or may not be true, but they have a price affixed to the item and discontinued or not, I’m not paying a premium over that marked price.
My response to sellers who don’t like this approach – spend 5 minutes with some GooGone and a cotton swap and remove the price sticker.
It’s great that you managed to find this item for $5 – don’t list it for $25 and rub it in my face that you found it in some bargain bin for $5 or that the guy you got it from bought it new 30 years ago for a lot less than what you’re trying to sell it for…
PT Barnum used to say “there’s a sucker born every minute” and this is my attempt to help you not be one of them…