If this is you on eBay...

[Brandon]

Maaan, I understand these models aren't mine, and people are free to do what they want, but busting up a model into parts and asking $15.00 for simple stuff when people are looking for the entire kit is a bit odd... I dunno.

The High Roller 4x4 Camaro was a childhood favorite, and to see it scattered, unbuilt across 20 auctions for things like the seats, or just the side pipes for $15 makes me cringe. It's icky and greedy...

This is for the Ram Charger, for which there is already a very strong market... and these wheel backs can be found in a number of kits.

www.ebay.com/itm/Wheel-Backs-ONLY-4x4-High-Roller-Dodge-Ramcharger-1-24-Truck-Model-Parts-SUV-/371408091097?hash=item5679a5b7d9

Rant over. I'd apologize, but I'm not going to.

[donculley]

Yeah ,that guy has been doing it for ages on Ebay . It ticked me off so much I wanted to see if there was a way to block his auctions from showing up . He recently broke up a Johan 1970 Hornet Stinger kit (something I've been looking for a long time ) ; asking 25.99 for the taillights, etc. If he sells one of the parts for those prices and the rest don't sell, what does he do - throw the rest of the kit out ?

[magnum4342]

Not only does this guy do this regularly, he has "been away" for about two years now. He's using it as a dodge, to ship whenever he damn well feels like it. I go out of my way to NOT buy from him!

[nighthawk]

I think it's amazing that people actually buy these scrap bits off him.
At outrageous prices, I might add.
(Yes, I got curious and looked at his feedback. I'll never do it again, promise)

[Deleted]

I'm sick of seeing his 8,478 items whenever I'm searching... He S U C K S!

[70spop]

I don't even have to look. I know the seller you're talking about. They also have a collection of old kits that have been on eBay forever and never sell. When the auctions time out and the kit hasn't sold (again), they often RAISE the price by like $20. Yeah, it's an old, hard to find kit, but if no one thought it was worth $179.95 (they're all Buy It Now options), why do you think anyone will pay $199.95?

I also wish there was an option to "Block Seller." I hate when I do a search and there are 20 hits, but 17 of them are his "$15 for a pair of door mirrors or a hood" auctions.

Brian

[70spop]

And Brandon, that seller seems to think that ANY old kit of ANY 4x4 subject is worth gold.

Brian

[donculley]

And his item descriptions are ridiculous ! I mean who would think 4 yellow inner wheel pieces are for a 1:1 full size Dodge truck ? LOL

I never looked at his other stuff until now- Wow, its just not models that he sells for stupid money ! He is selling blue card Hot wheels for 20.00 and up ; these are the same worthless cars son gets in the dollar box at toy shows !!

[Brandon]

A "block seller" feature would be awesome... that's a great idea.

[magnum4342]

Yes it would. Doubt it will ever happen though. I've actually spoken (months ago) to ebay about his "This seller is away..." tactic. They DON'T CARE!! It doesn't matter a flying fig to them what he does as long as he makes them a dollar!

[donculley]

Aug 24, 2015 9:55:57 GMT -6 magnum4342 said:

Yes it would. Doubt it will ever happen though. I've actually spoken (months ago) to ebay about his "This seller is away..." tactic. They DON'T CARE!! It doesn't matter a flying fig to them what he does as long as he makes them a dollar!

You're right, they don't care. I did ask about blocking sellers as I had a problem with another seller a few years ago, and they said they don't do that - but didn't offer any reason why .

[magnum4342]

Oddly enough, they act like they're all about the buyer. The last time I put "Non paying bidders will receive negative feedback and a non pay strike", I got a flag on the page, saying I can't do that because it scares customers off! My rebuttal was "SO?! They're MY potential customers anyway!" There were some colorful words in there as I spoke to ebay, that for the sake of decorum, I removed.

[Zombie Shay]

Aug 24, 2015 13:06:39 GMT -6 magnum4342 said:

Oddly enough, they act like they're all about the buyer. The last time I put "Non paying bidders will receive negative feedback and a non pay strike", I got a flag on the page, saying I can't do that because it scares customers off! My rebuttal was "SO?! They're MY potential customers anyway!" There were some colorful words in there as I spoke to ebay, that for the sake of decorum, I removed.

It's all about the buyer for sure.
I sold a very expensive rc car a few weeks ago. Sent the item. They guy said part of it was missing. Scammer is claming I didn't send the most expensive part. Opened a case. And they ruled in his favor. Now he is sending it back minus the part that he needed and I'm stuck with incomplete rc car and he got what he needs. I've spent hrs on the phone and getting no where. All they said was that after I get it back I can file a claim that I didn't get back what was sent. What a total screwing I took. The guy is a total smart a** saying just enough to let me know he screwing me. eBay has become a joke for selling. I've had countless non payers and nothing can be done. Except to file for non paying to get my fees back. It's just not with it anymore. I have 10 items not paid right now out of 40 or so items this last week. Totaling over 150$

[donculley]

I had a scammer last year that drove me crazy too- I sold an old redline hotwheel to the guy, and left him good feedback. after a month I get a threatening letter demanding I send his money back right away as I knew I was selling him garbage, and it was broken ; I am a rip off, and if I didn't get back he will report me. Well he reported me right after that email ,and Ebay had a case on me . I did write back to the guy ,saying he had no right to accuse me and call me names as I had over 1000 positive feedbacks. I told Ebay IF he sent the car back and IF it was the car I sent I would refund it, and requested a tracking # to prove he sent it back. I also told them to check his feedback page , as he left many bad ones due to things like "I don't like the envelope he sent it in and ' I don't like packing peanuts, he should have used bubble wrap" . 2 weeks go by and then the guy emails me for my address, saying he is on the road a lot and cant find it . A few weeks later I get notified that he wants Ebay to come up with a final judgment .I told Ebay at that time I never got a tracking # sent to me, and I never got the car back. They came down to a decision, and amazingly it was in my favor, but I still get a black mark for the sale. The guy was a real scammer and I know he wanted me to just send him the money back and tell him to keep the car - but I'm too cheap for that ! (I'm half Scottish) LOL. He never wrote to me after that either, the best I could do was block him from bidding on any of my stuff.

[magnum4342]

As I understand the rules, he was S-O-L! after two weeks from receipt of the car. Ebay never should have considered his complaint! I've been fortunate, only one scammer has tried me out. Swore up, down and over, that the item never arrived, never got a tracking number... well, he didn't! I smelled hinky on him when he first contacted me about how I ship.

I make my own labels, and for the most part will provide the tracking number, but in cases like his, with poor feedback behind him to boot, I withhold tracking numbers for myself. When he told ebay the item never arrived and opened a case, I provided both him and ebay with the same message: Tracking #:--------- Post office has a different claim!

He is now in MY cornfield!

[peteski]

I see this problem with this type of greedy sellers in all my hobbies. The problem is . . . eBay! Their fee structure enables this kind of behavior. Ever since they changed their fee structure, this kind of crap started to occur.

I've been selling/buying on eBay since 1999. IN the past, every time you listed something on eBay you had to pay insertion fee plus some percentage of the opening bid amount. You had to pay whether the item sold or not. Then if the item sold, you also had to pay a percentage of the selling price. That kept people like this guy off eBay.

Nowadays, usually there is no insertion fee and there is no fee for the opening bid amount. So sellers like this one can list their items at some outrageous price (or split kits and sell them piecemeal). Even if some or all of the listings do not sell, they can keep on re-listing them for zero cost! If the old eBay fee structure was still in place, seller would have to pay eBay for the unsold listings. None of this craziness would be happening as the seller would be losing money left and right!

I see this wit model trains and with small diecast vehicle models. I have been watching one 1:64 diecest from one seller listed at over $100 for about a year now! Nobody is biting and buying his overpriced model, but he keeps on re-listing it over and over (for free) hoping for some sucker to come along and buy it. Yet in that year's time I have seen dozens of the identical model listed by other sellers successfully sell for between $6 and $40 (I have a search set up so I watch those models). I bought the $6 one. :-)

So, thank eBay for being an enabler for these unscrupulous sellers!

[Brandon]

I started in 2000 and used to sell on eBay all the time. I haven't in years after they changed a few things. It's not worth the hassle...

[Bert]

I don't get it either. It would seem that the better money would be in a complete kit. Just like this auction,
www.ebay.com/itm/4x4-Lifted-Suspension-Axles-Frame-parts-ONLY-PULLDOZER-Chevy-Blazer-1-24-Truck-/371417633615?hash=item567a37534f
Except for a minor part or two this is common on five or six different model kits that you can get much cheaper. I guess he gets enough suckers to make it worth his while.

I have been reading this thread thoroughly and have only had minor problems with Ebay as a seller, but I don't sell in volume or very often. Is there an alternative to Ebay? If so, tell me about it.

[peteski]

Aug 27, 2015 13:03:24 GMT -6 Bert said:

Is there an alternative to Ebay? If so, tell me about it.

Sure, there are other auction or swap sites or groups where you can sell or trade. But eBay is really the only one which has the largest (worldwide) presence and the largest number of potential buyers. Where would you rather sell: some site where thousands of potential buyers will see your listing, or one (eBay) where millions will see your listing and try to outbid each other? There is no other auction site even close in size to eBay.

[magnum4342]

Sept 1, 2015 1:09:59 GMT -6 peteski said:

Aug 27, 2015 13:03:24 GMT -6 Bert said:

Is there an alternative to Ebay? If so, tell me about it.

Sure, there are other auction or swap sites or groups where you can sell or trade. But eBay is really the only one which has the largest (worldwide) presence and the largest number of potential buyers. Where would you rather sell: some site where thousands of potential buyers will see your listing, or one (eBay) where millions will see your listing and try to outbid each other? There is no other auction site even close in size to eBay.

You are correct, there is no site like ebay. But I think you're massaging the numbers a bit there. Millions of people will not see your ad. Only the few thousand who are looking for that item. Whether they be worldwide or not. Most Americans these days won't ship outside the U.S. because of unscrupulous people overseas and the nature of the postal service and charges. I grant you more people will find your item there, but those that really want what you have are looking at other sites to find it too. The drawback there is that it's mostly bargain hunters that know they'll get a better price because it's a lesser known site. It's a double edged sword to be sure.

[peteski]

Sept 1, 2015 9:45:43 GMT -6 magnum4342 said:

Sept 1, 2015 1:09:59 GMT -6 peteski said:

Sure, there are other auction or swap sites or groups where you can sell or trade. But eBay is really the only one which has the largest (worldwide) presence and the largest number of potential buyers. Where would you rather sell: some site where thousands of potential buyers will see your listing, or one (eBay) where millions will see your listing and try to outbid each other? There is no other auction site even close in size to eBay.

You are correct, there is no site like ebay. But I think you're massaging the numbers a bit there. Millions of people will not see your ad. Only the few thousand who are looking for that item. Whether they be worldwide or not. Most Americans these days won't ship outside the U.S. because of unscrupulous people overseas and the nature of the postal service and charges. I grant you more people will find your item there, but those that really want what you have are looking at other sites to find it too. The drawback there is that it's mostly bargain hunters that know they'll get a better price because it's a lesser known site. It's a double edged sword to be sure.

That was poor phrasing on my part. I should have said that millions of potential buyers will be able to find your item (if that is what they are looking for). The bottom line is that eBay by far has the largest number of users (compared to other auction sites). So your item's listing will be visible to the largest possible audience.

As far as international shipping goes, I have both bought and sold items all over the world without any problems. Sure, there are some countries where there might be problems with theft in-transit, but in majority of cases things are ok. If the buyer is willing to pay the postage and insurance then I'll ship it. Same goes for me - just a week ago I bough a resin kit from El Salvador. I had it shipped registered and insured (cost me $25) but the kit arrived in a week, without any problems. I also always check feedback history for the seller or buyer and that plays a bug part in my decision as to whether I'll be dealing with them.

[old school modeler]

I also hate the idea of parting out kits, if the kit is damaged or missing stuff in the first place just sell what is left. BUT the reason this is going on is that the value add up of the parts sold, even with some leftover is higher than selling a kit outright or selling a partial outright. I have to admit, I'm constantly scanning for the missing parts to a few choice annuals that I picked up with problems. Just the way things are.

By the way, good tip from a high volume seller that sees all manner of buyer scams, take highly detailed photos and list your auction as pictured, not 100% but probably your best defense against someone claiming missing parts or some other made up problem.

[70spop]

I get that the seller figures they'll get more all the parts than for the incomplete kit, the prices this seller asks are silly.

And as a buyer, I would LOVE IT if all sellers took several good, clear pictures of the CONTENTS of the kit they're selling. Many do, and are very obviously making an effort to show exactly what all is included in the auction. Some seem to be totally clueless. The extra special ones are where there is one out of focus picture of an open box with all the contents piled in, and no mention of "checked and complete," "I bought this new and it's complete," "sealed bags."

Or the ones that just spill all the parts and trees in a loose pile all over each other, like that's easy to tell if anything is missing.

Or posting 12 pictures of the box, maybe 4 of the instruction sheet, and then one picture of all the plastic inside the open box. WTF?!

And most of the time these photographic geniuses have either no written description or they have the typical "It may be complete, but I can't be sure. Look at the pictures to see what you're getting before bidding." Pass.

I will say that the nutty part-out seller at least posts decent pictures of the parts he wants to gouge you for.

Brian

[Deleted]

Yeah, this guy is out out of control!

www.ebay.com/itm/2-HEADERS-ONLY-for-Hemi-Revell-Chevy-Monza-1-25-Funny-Car-Drag-Model-Parts-White-/371444885825?hash=item567bd72941