swap meet vs ebay pricing

[Brakie]

Don,In Ohio the fliers for the shows will read " "train show" or "swap meet" for regular train shows like you would find at fairgrounds,in a school gym or a rented building.The hosting organization will need to rent the building ,extra tables and in some cases chairs..Insurance will be needed as well.Either the local 4H club,High School band boosters or a caterer will be needed as well for the snack bar.Food will need to be provided for boosters or 4H club.The Bucyrus club saved money by having a local caterer run the snack bar at our show.

Now,even at a modest $25.00 4 tables will cost $100.00,plus transportation, the motel room and food.

A high risk for any dealer seeing he will need to clear his costs before he sees a profit..Of course a good day can net over $1,000 and have a bad day then you leave the show in the red.

[ezdays]

Yeah, I agree, anyone putting a few hundred bucks into an effort to sell anything, has a big nut to crack when the margin in slim. Most people that show at our local swap meets though really only have the cost of the table plus the gas to get them there and back home. A swap meet here only runs about five or six hours, and they're not the type to attract out-of-state dealers that would need to spend the night in a hotel. The real dealers are the ones looking at the profit margins, the guy just looking to get rid of some stuff he doesn't want, is just interested in not having to take anything back home with him. I can understand the dealer not willing to bend on price, but that doesn't mean I have to buy what he's selling. Competition, that's the American way.

[BR60103]

In Canada, it's rare to see major manufacturers at a show; something about crossing the border. A lot of them didn't come to the NMRA convention we had.
I have seen people like Rapido, Fastracks and Baccrus (rolling roads) and Sylvan. But they're all within a couple of hours drive.
We've also lost most of the really big shows, possibly due to fall-off in effort by the organizers.

[Brakie]

Don,I fully agree that a local dealer has the advantage as does the modelers just dumping his excess equipment..The professional dealer is the ones with the high risk and usually the best selection of new models or long oop models.

You would be surprise of the horse trading some of the dealers do before the doors open..Of course those of us that help set up the tables,cart the dealer's goodies in usually gets first dibs before the doors open and that's the only thing we get for several hours of work the day before the show and reporting at 6:00 am the morning of the show putting in around 12 hours and that includes tear down and clean up..

[ezdays]

Yeah, that horse trading is true at any swap meet selling anything and everything. They go around and snatch up the bargains and put them up for sale at their spot. Just like at a yard sale, the first people to show up might come well before you're open and the stuff they buy winds up at their yard sale or down at the swap meet a week later.

But, to get back in context of this thread, I agree that the best bargains can come from eBay if you're willing to take the risk.

[Catt]

If I am about to deal with someone on ebay for the first time the first thing I do after checking out the item is checking out their feedback. if it is 90% or higher I have no problem dealing with them.As you may know by now I am into Z scale as well as several other scales.Right now there are 3 or 4 dealers on the bay selling brand new AZL GP38-2 locomotives.The funny part is this loco's MSRP is $99.95.They are selling them for $118.95 with "FREE Shipping" Needless to say I don't even bother checking their feedback I just pass on by. :mrgreen:

[Charlie B]

about a year ago I was following a Blue Line PRR J (used) on Ebay. it sold for 25 bucks more than a brand new J that was DCC and sound equipped. I cant figure it. If you set a price that you will not go above you eventually will get what you want at the price you want.
The great buys are on Craigslist.
Charlie

[Green_Elite_Cab]

The funny part is this loco's MSRP is $99.95.They are selling them for $118.95 with "FREE Shipping" Needless to say I don't even bother checking their feedback I just pass on by. :mrgreen:

about a year ago I was folling a Blue Line PRR J (used) on Ebay. it sold for 25 bucks more than a brand new J that was DCC and sound equipped. I cant figure it. If you set a price that you will not go above you eventually will get what you want at the price you want.
The great buys are on Craigslist.
Charlie

There is (possibly was?) a hobby shop on Market Street in Philadelphia, that priced models like that. Models that MSRPed for $135 and normally sold for $80 on Ebay were all marked up to $150. Even the Blue-Box kits were selling high! If it was marked down, it was the bottom of the barrel.

I had unconsciously commented aloud how expensive these prices were, which attracted the attention of the shop owner. His response was, verbatim, "Someone will buy it". Being a particularly "Passionate" hobby shop owner, he proceeded to tell me with much energy, just what he thought about model pricing.

His theory was if someone wanted it, they would pay the price. Why should he discount his prices when someone will buy it?

It sounded totally nuts to me, but then again, few models ever appeared to loiter in that store for too long. Indeed, someone was "Paying the Price". I only ever bought a few models from that shop, some were lucky finds, others I probably got gouged. Pretty much every time I ever went into that hobby shop, I came out with a story to tell, so I guess it was a net positive in the end?

I have heard lately though, that the building that hobby shop was in went up for sale, so maybe he finally ran out of customers with deep pockets.

[Brakie]

about a year ago I was following a Blue Line PRR J (used) on Ebay. it sold for 25 bucks more than a brand new J that was DCC and sound equipped. I cant figure it. If you set a price that you will not go above you eventually will get what you want at the price you want.
The great buys are on Craigslist.
Charlie

Charlie,There are folks on e-Bay that must win at all costs regardless if the bids shoots above their MSRP..

I seen a Bev-Bell/Athearn 50' boxcar lettered for St.Lawrence Railroad sell for around $25.00..I bought one recently for $9.95 BIN with free shipping that had KDs and metal wheels. I normally don't pay that much for a use car but,it brought a end to a long "treasure" hunt that stretched over several train shows over the past 10 years and the price was acceptable under my personal e-Bay guide lines.

My best deals has been BIN prices and I avoid bidding..

What I don't like about Craigslist is the possibility of walking into a robbery. That has happen several times here in Ohio in 2014.

[ezdays]

Larry, you are right on a couple of points. There have been auctions long before eBay was a twinkle in the eyes of it's creators. I remember going to my first auction to buy equipment for the business that we were starting. I couldn't believe that people's bids on used items were higher than they would pay at a store for the same thing new. Just because someone things something is worth $50, doesn't mean you should bid higher, thinking you're going to steal it away. I think they call it, "auction fever".

Secondly, selling on Craigslist and Backpage is risky. There are cases here that robberies occur to both buyers and sellers. I was just reading an article by Kim Kamando about what steps you need to take when meeting people for these types of transactions. The rule of thumb is, meet them in some busy place like a store parking lot, and don't go alone. Deal in cash only. If you have to have them come to your house, do everything out in the driveway, and again, do not be by yourself. It's a bad world out there that you can't trust anyone, thanks to the few that you really can't trust.

[Russ Bellinis]

I have gotten some good buys at tran shows. I don't use ebay and try to support my local hobby shops. One that I have used has had a "deal table" for many years. The owner buys train collections from estate sales, and sell the items for a fraction of the price of new. He does some test running of Locomotives in the store before they go to the "deal table".

I've also noticed at train shows if you wait until an hour or two before closing on the last day, you can often get a deal from a seller who would rather knock the price down a little and sell an item than have to load it up and take it back home again.

Finally here in California there is a hobby shop in a relatively small town in central California that buys new releases in far larger quantities than he could possibly sell in his store. He buys in large enough quantities to get a good discount from the manufacturer, then sell the items at a discount at the train shows. I've never been to the store since it is @ 200 miles from my home, so I don't know if the store pricing is similar to show prices.

[cnrglen]

I think good deals are where you find them. I've found deals on eBay, swap meets, and other online dealers. I do find that I find better finds at swap meets, but I rarely buy new items as I'm mostly looking for kitbashing fodder.