# New kind of Ebay ad



## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

Never seen one like this before.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/G-Building-...4d00b7c185


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## Ron Senek (Jan 2, 2008)

He stated it exactly right people want something for nothing.


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## cape cod Todd (Jan 3, 2008)

That is great. I really feel for the guy, the cost of supplies, the time, the talented labor that goes into building something nice isn't cheap and true no one wants to pay for it. AND the potential buyer probably gives him a hard time about the cost of shipping as well. 
I wonder if when someone bids on the "box house" that he will turn it inside out and ship it to them laoded with packing material to protect the sketched on windows and doors. 
I doubt that Ebay will find this item amusing, more and more they are all for the buyer. The latest is that buyers who do not pay will have their negative feedback removed?? This past week I put a few items on there to sell and Ebay now dictates the shipping depending on where the buyer lives?? According to them I can ship a 5 pound 12x12x24" box for $9.00 ??? What about me earning a couple bucks for handling charges IE. a box, packing, tape, gas to the P.O. and my time standing in line?? Oh yeah then there are the fees tacked on. 
my 2cents. 
i'm going to be watching that guys box 
Todd


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Hmm.. did not see any structures on the site: *https://canyoncreeksceni...trong>**

Man, is his stuff beautiful! Pricy, but you can see the effort that goes into each piece.

Indeed museum quality.

Greg 

*


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Love it!!! 

As for shipping, I'm glad to see them doing _something_ to crack down on the yahoos charging $30 to ship a postcard. (Yeah, I know--one doesn't have to bid on it, but c'mon... Just because you _can_ do it under the rules doesn't make it right.) It seems, perhaps, that the pendulum may have swung too far over to the other direction. Seems to me it shouldn't be too difficult to write software that would take the estimated size/weight of the package, feed those dimensions into the various shippers' pricing engines (like Travelocity, but for shipping) and come up with reasonable pricing. 

Later, 

K


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## rdamurphy (Jan 3, 2008)

EBT, it is certainly possible. That's the way I do all of my listings. You can use USPS or UPS, or for smaller iems, use USPS's flat rate boxes. I've even lost a little on shipping. 

The original goal was to save on fees, since eBay didn't charge a percentage of shipping fees. 

So, you could sell an item for .99 and pay a few pennies and then charge $25 for shipping and keep all of it.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

hmm..im on the other side..I think the ebay ad in question shows a whiner who has too large an opinion of himself.. 
it sounds like he isnt getting what he *thinks* his buildings are worth..well, if that's the case, he is probably asking too much! 

We cant see any photos of his actual buildings anywhere, so we dont know how nice they are, or not..but thats not the issue anyway.. 
If I scratch-build a beautiful model locomotive, and I think it *should* be worth $2,000, put it on ebay, and discover no one wants to pay more then $500 for it. 
who is actually incorrect about the models worth? me or the bidders? I am the one who is wrong..the bidders have the value pegged correctly.. 

I see the same thing in another hobby im into..restoring antique garden tractors.. 
you see a tractor that is worth about $200 in un-restored condition, a guy slaps some spray paint on it and thinks its now worth $1,000, 
then gets all offended when he is told he did a bad job, and dont expect more then $300 from anyone.. 
so he whines "but what about my time?"..your time is irrelevant.. 
people who restore classic cars, or spend years redoing every room in their house, understand that "their time" is meaningless when it comes time to sell.. 

Im not impressed by that ebay ad, I dont think its clever or witty..actually I find it rather pathetic and the guy comes off as a jerk.. 
I wouldn't want to buy anything from him.. 
the market is telling him what his buildings are worth..he gets offended and says the market is wrong, because he is SO awesome.. 
umm..no, thats not how it works.. 

Scot


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## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

I have to agree with Scot. The market will determine the value of an item. Here is a Ebay example for a Row 1/32 Big Boy. These originally sold for $12K. Now a starting bid of $7848.00 won't even get a gid. Why,there are now cheaper versions out there.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...&rt=nc


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Without seeing the cost of the buildings, it's hard to judge what really is going on. 

If they are museum quality, like Ray Dunakin's stuff, with full interiors, then they should be expensive, and possibly people have been hammering him for ridiculously low prices.. (although I would probably just ignore them rather than put such an ad up) 

If they are average quality buildings and outrageously priced, then this is indeed an overreaction. 

Without more information, it's probably unfair to judge the answer... 

Greg


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Could be, Scot. I know a few of those types myself. But having been in the position of having folks not wanting to pay even a reasonable amount for work done (not just in trains, but photography, graphic design, and other venues), I can identify with the sentiment. I see it as a response to the "why should I pay you $600 for your customized, painted, weathered, sound and control-equipped Bachmann mogul when I can get a Bachmann Big Hauler new-in-box for $150?" or "Why should I pay you $2,000 to photograph my wedding when cousin Jack just got a new camera?" syndrome. (And yes, those are more-or-less verbatim quotes I've heard from folks over the years; and if cousin Jack is a professional photographer, he's dreading that phone call, too.) Those are people experience has taught me that I wouldn't want as clients, so I'm just as pleased to see them walk out the door. And those are people at whom an ad such as this would be directly aimed. Cathartic, if nothing else. If you're payin' for beer, you ain't gettin' champagne, so stop whining when I tell you "no!" 

At the same time, you raise a very valid point about what "fair price" is. If you're sellin' beer at champagne prices, you've little room to complain when the market snubs you. Even if the beer is REALLY GOOD beer, and worth the price, it's still beer and there's going to be a large segment of the market that will see it simply as that. You as a brewer have to do a better job of making your market understand _why_ your beer is worth the champagne price, or do a better job of targeting your marketing just to those who already can make that distinction. Selling to the masses on ebay ain't exactly targeted marketing. You've got to expect that there will be "people like that." (Doesn't mean you can't vent once in a while...) 

Later, 

K


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Posted By East Broad Top on 29 Apr 2012 11:02 PM 
Love it!!! 

As for shipping, I'm glad to see them doing _something_ to crack down on the yahoos charging $30 to ship a postcard. (Yeah, I know--one doesn't have to bid on it, but c'mon... Just because you _can_ do it under the rules doesn't make it right.) It seems, perhaps, that the pendulum may have swung too far over to the other direction. Seems to me it shouldn't be too difficult to write software that would take the estimated size/weight of the package, feed those dimensions into the various shippers' pricing engines (like Travelocity, but for shipping) and come up with reasonable pricing. 

Later, 

K 
I was looking for a Video on E bay. The one I wanted cost 102 bucks to ship it from Portland OR. When I Emailed the seller about the cost of shipping he Replied to me almost immediately. he Thanked me for pointing it out and taking the time to E mail him. Some times the E bay calculator errors out. So If you see something you like and the shipping is outrageous . Take the time to E mail the Seller You may find out it is a mistake.

JJ


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

And now there are ads from a German supplier with $76 and change for shipping piece parts. Anyone that desperate for a part???


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## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

If its an iten that I'm interested in but the posted shipping is way out of lineIi will do what JJ does and e-mail them with my zip. Sometimes they will work with you and other times you just get a sob story. I always take shipping into consideration when bidding. High shipping just lowers the amount I'm willing to bid.


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## jake3404 (Dec 3, 2010)

I also think this bidder was just whining. It is an auction site, you put your wares up and hope you get top dollar. But if you dont, then that was the risk you took. It is called an auction. 

Now if this seller puts some moderate items that he doesnt want top dollar but causes buzz for his items that he then can funnel interest to his website where he sells "the good stuff" then I call him a smart businessman. But putting this auction up looks to me like a petty man that I dont want to do business with (not a good thing for such a small market.)


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## spincaster (Mar 10, 2012)

I've sold a quality product on eBay and found it was very much a mixed bag. I've dealt with a lot of great buyers and sellers but also a few jerks. I also buy on eBay but am very careful what I buy. Given the current commission that eBay charges, aprox 12%, I don't sell on eBay anymore. Was a great service that went sour IMHO.


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