Small Scale Military Headquarters

I just whent through some of my old viewings on e-bay. Back in April 22 or so a Putt Putt Maru went for $177 Around that time a Spinach 109 went for $188 (I believe that) Now Aviaton nut has a BBI Zero that I think is up to $122 or so . Good for them bad for us. I guess as collectors this is good news but come on. I guess when Toys R Us had the Putt Putts I should have gotten some them. But they had plenty I will get them next time thinking ended up getting me nothing. Now I have to pay $177 for one Yikes !! I guess I just have to look at my Samantha's and sigh.

pickelhaube wrote:I just whent through some of my old viewings on e-bay. Back in April 22 or so a Putt Putt Maru went for $177 Around that time a Spinach 109 went for $188 (I believe that) Now Aviaton nut has a BBI Zero that I think is up to $122 or so . Good for them bad for us. I guess as collectors this is good news but come on. I guess when Toys R Us had the Putt Putts I should have gotten some them. But they had plenty I will get them next time thinking ended up getting me nothing. Now I have to pay $177 for one Yikes !! I guess I just have to look at my Samantha's and sigh.

If you ask me Ebay is getting out of control. Theres too much price gauging going on thats why I try and avoid ebay when I can.

I don't think that it's price gouging. If the bidders went a little bit nuts during the bidding, why is then the sellers are being accused of price gouging?

I was watching the green zero auction that Aviatornut has on too. He did start the auction at a fairly reasonable price. It's the bidders who jacked up the price to $122. So yay for him, because everyone wants their auctions to go well. And he did it fair and square.

So it's simple economics really. Demand will dictate the price. So I think we just have to accept the fact that this hobby IS getting more costly. With everything going up these days, I dunno why we are expecting the prices of these toys to remain relatively the same as 3-4 years ago.

If you look at the buy it now prices, it looks as if they all are price gauging. Some of the same auctions sit there for months because no one smart enough will pay that very high price for the item.

Nothing stays the same. Am I complaining because when I bought my first car in Texas, gas was 16 cents a gallon and when I drove home to NYC, a year later, the same gas was 26 cents. Nothing stays the same.

EBay creates a market place. If these guys have the deep pockets to pay for what they want, good on them.

Nobody is going to feel sorry for collectors whining that toy and dolly prices are too high.

Toy buying is a crapshoot. When something like the Dauntless is up for pre-order at a given price and we buy it, it can be a "bomb" and will be up for sale at half the price we paid after a few months, or it could be a "gem" and sell out and then next year we could get three or four times our purchase price. Who's to say at this point.

EBay has bargains to those that are patient..

The 21C 1/6 WSC, was for on clearance sale priced for $50 a few years ago and it now goes for anywhere from $250 up to $500. Saying that, last year eBay listed one for $69, MIB, Buy It Now. It went in five minutes to a board member who gave it to me for the same price. Bargains are around, and so are gentlemen who treat other people the same way they want to be treated.

TTT

well sometimes the ones sit at buyitnow for a long time for many reasons...
seller integrity, shipping costs, location, ebaystore, unknown shipping fees (they tend to be very high), and crazy expectations in the small print - ie must be paid for in three days and returns must be made within 7 days etc, does not take paypal &c

myself - when Im doing a search i try to limit what i spend my time looking at - and pretty much brush past all the buy it now clutter unless i see a good price.

You all are right some bidders on ebay get out of hand That is why i am also going to try to avoid ebay

caesarbc wrote:If you think it is too expensive, then don't buy it.

I agree. I sell on eBay and as a buyer I have bought most of my various collectibles there. If you do a little research and see what e-tailers and other outlets are asking for an item you can get some really great deals, common sense is all that is needed. Sure there will always be some idiot asking $65 for an aircraft you can buy at WM for $40 but there is also an endless supply of idiots who will fork over the cash. People sell on ebay to make money, not to perform a public service.

Nobody is forcing you to click on the bid or buy it now button!

Edit to add that I'm not talking about any one person here but about the mindset.

The biggest perception on ebay is "it's the only one" and I have to get it now.

Which creates the high bidding. I was in a frenzy when I first started messing with ebay and I spent hours buying stuff. Only to see the same items a few weeks later for less.

As a friend of mine said, just wait they'll be on again.

Speaking of pricees, have you seen what Tamiya wants for their tanks on their own site?

Almost $900 for the 1/16 Sherman! The Panther is like $1200

Hi,
Pardon me for jumping in but I just wanted to add my two cents. Ebay is a global marketplace. That meams buyers and sellers world over get together to trade different wares, all the while negotiating a myriad of obstacles like payment terms, shipping arrangements, product condition, seller and buyer reputation, etc.

Having said that, not everyone has a Walmart in their backyard so they can drive down the street and pick and choose from whats available. There are plenty of people around the world that understand this and therefore turn to ebay to get the same item(s) at competitive prices.

There really is no such thing as price gouging for collectibles. As one person already noted, if you dont want to pay the price, then by all means dont. Lots of times you can wait a bit longer for an item to come down in price or perhaps another seller will come along to sell the exact same item at a lower price. Now, that doesnt make the first seller a "crook" if someone decides not to wait and pay the price he's asking. It means the buyer might be under time pressure to get the item, may have deeper pockets than you and would rather spend a few extra bucks now than get into a bidding war, etc. Also, its not the seller's fault if two or more bidders get into a heated bidding war, driving up the price of an item in the process. If they did their homework and noted the same item was available elsewhere on ebay, does that make the seller any less reputable because of this?

The point I'm trying to bring out is that if no one buys an item at an inflated price, then the seller will eventually have to lower his price, take it off sale, or another seller will come along and offer it at a more affordable price. Its really capitalism working at its finest, particularly if you see the process work from both sides of the fence.

Cordially,

Lightning2000
www.themotorpool.net

Very well said Lightning.

I don't know what happend to the $122 Zero but another one sold for about $99. I better go ahead and get another one before they go back to triple digits. Were these things ever at Toy R Us ?

pickelhaube wrote:I don't know what happend to the $122 Zero but another one sold for about $99. I better go ahead and get another one before they go back to triple digits. Were these things ever at Toy R Us ?

Never saw one in my local TRU, and they are pretty up to date on their BBI stuff.

Just a tip: I was looking for a green zero for myself. So I was browsing along, and saw that Aviatornut auction.

I didn't want to wait for the bidding to end, so I just went to his website. I saw that he has the Zero in stock for 59.99.

I asked him if it's available. He said yes. I paid 69.99 shipped for it, and I got myself a brand new green zero.

It totally pays to be an informed buyer

Now they have a S1 Panther MIB up for bid that will go off today and that rascal is up to $162.50. What is going on ?

sweet!! I have 2 of those.

A month ago these were going for about $36 to $50 YIKES!!!

Another S1 Panther just went out at $88 on e-bay.

I remember passing up a Panther way back when for $39, however I bought one a few months ago from a fellow boardmember, in used but good shape Funny to see them going for so much. Even the Winter Panthers can get pricey depending on the seller. 21c really needs to re-release this vehicle in a non-winter scheme and with a diecast hull

Here is one that I truly don't believe. Back on May 10 a Spinach 109 went for $70 !!!! What a steal. Sometimes someone does gets lucky As long as it is not me. I gues that I was a loser in another life as well

A loose Panther is on sale for $138 on E-bay Also there is a lot of a Panther ,US half track and Tiger for $145. The lot is not that far fetched but a Panther for $138 and change? I remember not wanting to go for a Panther that was over $40 MIB !! I guess those days are long gone. What will happen if they ever re-release them?

with the obvious popularity of the xd Panther, i'm quite surprised it hasn't been re-released by now. They've re-released pretty much every other of the older vehicles, including the Patton.

I'm sure it will get a re-release eventually...

aferguson wrote:with the obvious popularity of the xd Panther, i'm quite surprised it hasn't been re-released by now. They've re-released pretty much every other of the older vehicles, including the Patton.

I'm sure it will get a re-release eventually...

I've wondered that myself. I hope we see it released again as well.

But first they have to release the Jagdpanther!!!!