eBay aauction

Hi Mark.  Thank you for your reply.  I was commenting on that same fact, that bidders seem to go crazy, and I would like to think that I can keep below my “ceiling limit” . I think there are those willing to bump up the price, for what reason I cannot imagine?   Best wishes. Kevin

[user=1801]Passed Driver[/user] wrote:

Hi Mark.  Thank you for your reply.  I was commenting on that same fact, that bidders seem to go crazy, and I would like to think that I can keep below my “ceiling limit” . I think there are those willing to bump up the price, for what reason I cannot imagine?   Best wishes. Kevin

The reason ? is so the seller can get more money !
It has been known that some sellers get their mates to bid to force prices up  - commonly called   shill bidding
Shill bidding policy | eBay

Hi Ron.  Thank you.  But I didn’t want to suggest that trick, but I am certain that is illegal , but impossible to prove,Best wishes.    Kevin

Used be quite common, the art here was bidding just enough so that the final bid was not yours. eBay does keep an eye on bidding patterns.

Watch out for new items bought from a box mover and resold for 20%-50% more. My On30 locomotives were $60, currently listed at $100-$130. Current annoyance is new boxes and new locomotives being sold separately. Caveat emptor.


Nigel

Hi Nigel   Thank you for your reply.  Beware alright , not so very long ago I attempted to make a purchase on the phone from Peters Spares, the salesman at the other end of the line “got his shorts in a twist??”I wanted to pay by card, simple? To cut a long story short , someone was very rude. Consequently I will not returning to Peters Spares. Alas that limits the supply of Hornby Spares .   Best wishes.  Kevin

Re Hattons, deliveries to france. They have changed their system, and now use DHL, who Will not deliver to us. Thry have joined DPD, and CHronopost, who will no longer deviate from main road. We are 500 metres from main road, but makes no difference. We now have to collect from Post Office. All 3 have been send Google Earth photo, but will not budge. john

That must be a great pain for you John and I had no idea their system had changed, as I received a delivery from them just a few days ago into my post box just a few seconds walk from my front door.

Bon courage mon ami, as their service is otherwise pretty good and their postal rates to France remarkably keen.

Bill

Bill, tis irritating, especially as i was the guinea pig in helping them try their returns from france to uk, with DHL. They collected then, with no problem, but since advised they will not deliver. Orders by post, are fine, so small stuff, ok. It was flexi track i was, buying, which English post office will no longer accept. French post also have a new system. They have a Rectangle, slightly bigger than a house brick. If package does not pass through, its mortgage time, as cost goes through the roof. I spoke to DPD, who say their drivers have specific time in day to deliver, x parcels. Anything off route, no chance, as no overtime for drivers. john

I do find it odd that, given that mail order and parcels are the way of the future, so many roadblocks keep getting thrown up to deter us. 

I should think the PO would be getting more aggressive (ie accepting of non standard) with their parcels policies since it should save their corporate lives (who writes letters anymore?). 

John

when i send a present to my son in america, it has to pass through the rectangle. We bought 2 china mugs, wrapped as small as possible and i took them to PO. They failed the rectangle test, and cost of postage we about £23. I took them home, he went without.  Flexi rail has been banned for some time, as 33  inches long. It makes no sense now to buy from uk, as  any saving disappears in carrier costs. john

Bypass the PO, use Amazon in the country you want it sent to. My wife ordered a birthday present Monday at 11:30 pm for her great niece in Australia, arrived today.

Flex track can be cut into 30" lengths plus the odd 6", that resolves the length issue. Just needs a cooperative seller.

Nigel

nigel, just spoken to post office. 24 inches is their maximum length for any parcel. They  will not accept anything longer. Using amazon, same result. john

The postman rang my doorbell today and handed me a parcel containing 6 yds of Peco 0 gauge track.  We don't even have door to door delivery in my area so it's nice to see that little bit of service.

John

Re posting strange things.

I have had some success with these kerb-side depositary type box systems where you buy a barcode online and then present it to the array of locked doors outside the local petrol station/convenience store.  Different labels can be bought to correspond with differrent sizes of parcels.  I found them both cheap and reliable, and of course, they are non-human so they are open for use anytime day or night.

Never used them for yards of track but I sold a guitar once and it went via this facility.  It arrived in one piece within 2 days.

Probably not a French thing but I suspect US originally??  When the local Post Office is heaving with people all trying to do things that take forever, I found it a very refreshing change.

When you are having stuff delivered, a lot of petrol stations (in the UK) can be cited as delivery points and if buying from eBay (I'm a fan by the way), selecting the "Collect from Argos" option has always worked for me.  They even have their own counters!!  The beauty of the Argos thing is that you can ask someone else to collect something if you send them the code on the email you get.  At the Post Office, they need all sorts of ID and proof from your messenger and even then often prefer not to release the parcel.  No wonder they are losing business!!

Model shops remain a safe option but in London expect to pay about 20% over the Hattons/Rails price -  for locomotives, that's too heavy for me so I tend to get all the little stuff at model shops and the big stuff online.  I suspect I am in a growing band of similar minded people.

Hi Folks,

Re Ebay:

When I am searching, I type in what I might be interested in buying, such as Triang, Superquick, or just OO gauge. I then set the search to 'Buy it now' and 'Newly listed'. Thins brings up all the items that you can buy without having to bid for them, and can throw up the occasional bargain!

Alternatively, I will set to 'Auction' and 'Ending soonest' as the preferences, and this shows only the items that you bid for, and again you might find something that has not received much attention and is a good buy.

You can also set a maximum price to save you getting carried away!

Also, I would strongly recommend scrutinising the listing to make sure what you are looking at is actually worth buying. Some peoples idea of 'Very Good' is not the same as mine…

Finally, I keep my expectations in check. When I am buying a 50-year-old model, I don't expect it to work out of the box.

All the best!

Gordon :-)

Hi John,

I don't know what track you need, but have you tried buying in France? Mico Modele sell track, including Peco and Roco. Their site is available in several langauges and do mail order.

See https://micro-modele.fr/en/

Hope this helps and other outlets will be available. For example, I have a model rail shop 40 minutes drive away in Angers.

Bon courage,

Bill

Hi Bill, like I said Peco code 124.  I can get it from a place in London ON (http://www.modelrailwayimports.com/).  I put my order in on Monday, posted Tuesday and arrived today.  Pretty good I think.

I will avoid ordering from the US if at all possible.  Postage is ridiculous, I usually get dinged for tax and it takes ages.  Much better for me to order from UK, even for US made products.

My nearest brick and mortar shop is about half an hour away but they're only good to me for paint, glue etc.

John

18" then (17.71"). You will be adding joints and fish plates anyway.
Nigel

[user=1879]Yelrow[/user] wrote:

Bill, tis irritating, especially as i was the guinea pig in helping them try their returns from france to uk, with DHL. They collected then, with no problem, but since advised they will not deliver. Orders by post, are fine, so small stuff, ok. It was flexi track i was, buying, which English post office will no longer accept. French post also have a new system. They have a Rectangle, slightly bigger than a house brick. If package does not pass through, its mortgage time, as cost goes through the roof. I spoke to DPD, who say their drivers have specific time in day to deliver, x parcels. Anything off route, no chance, as no overtime for drivers. john

Hi John,

I don't know what track you need, but have you tried buying in France?  Mico Modele sell track, including Peco and Roco. Their site is available  in several langauges and do mail order.

See https://micro-modele.fr/en/

Hope this helps and other outlets will be available. For example, I have a model rail shop 40 minutes drive away in Angers.

Bon courage,

Bill

[user=565]Brossard[/user] wrote:

Hi Bill, like I said Peco code 124.  I can get it from a place in London ON (http://www.modelrailwayimports.com/).  I put my order in on Monday, posted Tuesday and arrived today.  Pretty good I think.

I will avoid ordering from the US if at all possible.  Postage is ridiculous, I usually get dinged for tax and it takes ages.  Much better for me to order from UK, even for US made products.

My nearest brick and mortar shop is about half an hour away but they're only good to me for paint, glue etc.

John

Hi John,

I remember getting caught out not by postal charges, byvery steep UK customs duties once when ordering tools from the US, so am careful to only order what Ican't get elswhere, such as those effective 'Hump Yard Perveyance' WIT point control system.

Good result with that deliveryand have fun with your next sections of track laying.

Bill