Festive bargains! Are they taking the mickey?

[The Doc]

Just received an email from one of the big online model railway retailers. Their "Pre-owned festive sale" with up to 20% off sounds tempting, but don't go shelling out your money unless you are really desperate. I couldn't see any bargains myself, but maybe you are feeling more flush than me. How about a Gresley teak coach (pre-owned) for £41.00, list price £41.50. Wow, a 50p reduction for a used item! Or a Heljan class 25, a snip at £148. Oh, but wait, it's described as a non-runner.

There are plenty more described as poor runners, or with various bits broken or missing, but still costing well over £100.

They rather remind me of a Harry Enfield character who ran a junk shop called "I saw you coming".

[Fazy]

Yes they are. But if someone is willing to pay over the odds why wouldn’t you. Just look at eBay the same thing goes on.

[ColinB]

Unfortunately, in most cases you have to use that thing between your ears and not get carried away with the hype. I frequently find it is is cheaper to buy a model off a retailer that has it on discount new, rather than the more expense item on EBay used.

[JJ73]

" Or a Heljan class 25, a snip at £148. Oh, but wait, it's described as a non-runner."

Some how I don't think Sam From Sam's trains will be too pleased if he heard about this!!! 🤔😐🚂🚂🚂

[VESPA]

I think I know who we are talking about here and much of their secondhand is way overpriced. I think non runner usually means ideal for parts otherwise rubbish. I only buy new now as there are good bargains to be had if you look.

[Twintop]

I too have been looking at that site, as I have decided that I am unlikely to buy any more new engines as I have over 50 and at age 65 won't get a lot of use out of any new ones. Plus, they are so expensive now.

So, I have been looking at used ones on that site every day as I thought if I could get cheap locos for £20-£30 I might get a couple to play around with and maybe mend or at least use as spares.

However, I was also staggered to find non-runners or ones with bits broken off for ridiculous prices, so I won't be buying any of those either ! The only comfort is that they seem to be describing the faults.

[Bulleidboy]

Bargains can be found on Ebay - especially if the seller is not a railway modeller/shop - check their other items. I recently bought a R2300 Bournemouth Belle set, described as new, and it most certainly was. I paid £125.00 It said £129 on the box) - there were five or six others for sale at £250/£300 - my sellers other items were ladies clothes and shoes, no other railway items at all.

[threelink]

It really does make you wonder. Who in their right mind will pay the sort of prices that are asked for rubbish these days? It drives me mad because, being a mean old man, I knock up all my locos and stock by buying rubbish and cobbling it into usable items. Pre-pandemic, locos cost me an average of £8.00 a throw, carriages £4.00 and wagons £2.50. The average went up a bit post covid because I had to buy from auction sites, so incurring postal charges Now I can't even afford the rubbish. It's a good job that I have a lot of junk in hand that will see me right for a few years. Maybe things will have calmed down a bit by then. If not, I can see a lot of people deserting the hobby to the detriment of all - especially the manufacturers.

[AndyMac1707817969]

When you are selling just a single item, all you need is one person to buy it. It does not matter if 99 people out of 100 or 999 out of 1000 think it is too expensive. You just need the one person who thinks it’s worth that. Selling items for higher prices just means it takes a bit longer for them to sell, they will sell eventually. Starting at a high price you can always lower it, doesn’t work the other way round.

[threelink]

@AndyMac

I entirely take your point, though I do not think it is the odd one out of a hundred who is falling for daft prices on single item purchases. Over-pricing is widespread, particularly on auction sites and the prices are being paid, clearly. I had a stall at a train fair a month or two back to get rid of surplus items. Amongst other things I was selling wagons (mostly old Triang/Hornby but all complete and in good order) at £3.00 a pop which I thought reasonable. I sold out in record time because, apparently, the nearest cheapest were twice that price. Not surprisingly no-one was buying at those prices and the trader next to me was moaning that his takings did not even cover the price of his stall. I do not pretend to know what the answer is - in the long term, market forces I suppose. All I know is that it is annoying.

[Tony57]

Hi

I too have had the same email as the Doc and looked at the offerings, If they want the price they are asking why don't they do the simple repairs like replacing the missing buffers couplings etc. I doubt they paid half the price they are selling the pre owned items for.

Like many others i am also priced out of buying new now a days, so I am looking at and buying 30 year old ringfield powered locomotives with a max spend of £50 per transaction, I have pick up a number of good conditioned locomotives for reasonable prices. Some with very little use and no repairs needed.

[The Doc]

As some have commented, there are some ridiculously overpriced "bargains" out there, but equally we can find good value stuff if we are patient. I recently bought a couple of tank engines off ebay: a Hornby J52 (£24) and a Bachmann J72 (£18), both in LNER green, and both described as good runners. They are both noisier than the latest offerings, but run as smoothly as I could wish for. Considering Bachmann's newer J72 is over a hundred quid a little bit of engine noise doesn't bother me.

[Rana Temporia]

One of these well known sellers often shows 50p junk box items at high prices with a sign at the back saying “restoration project.” One I saw would have needed virtually a complete loco to “restore’ it. I also don’t understand the point of one of the box shifters selling second hand for more than they are selling the same item new??????

Like others on here most of what I buy is older and often in need of repair but even these are often going up in price now. I have stopped buying new as they are often not repairable or the parts are not available. Another problem I have is that I live in a small house and of necessity use first radius curves. All my older stock works fine on them.