Steve Featherkile said:
If I may…One of the joys …(Big Snip) . as a prospective buyer, do not enter into a haggle, unless you are serious.
Great story Steve! Thanks for posting it.
thomas prevost said:
(Snip) What bothers me are sites like ‘The Favorite Spot’ that have their own robo bidding against ligit bidders to dive the price up to what they want for the item…Is there any evidence of this? I’ve dealt with him and got the same item several times for different prices.
I gather he’s a retailer with quite a large stock, mostly B’mann…
never had a issue with the favorite spot either…have gotten many items from him at different times and the only problem I have ever come accross is the last 10 seconds out bid that ticks you off after winning it for 5 days…but then that happens alot …and not just with the favorite spot…heck Ive done it from time to time…all part of the game… later All…Gerry
Ebay had many complaints of this last year including mine. Ebay noted “there were discrepancies” and would send them a warning about policies. But not much seems to have changed, as I have seen the same desciptor, i.e. broken truck or weathered being listed many times when there have been bidders. If you bid above their lowest desired price they will then sell it. My feeling is if they have a minimum, make that the starting bid vs robo bidding.
I see, Thomas. Thanks for the heads up about this. I hadn’t noticed this particular seller handling much in the way of used or broken stuff, but I guess it happens… On pretty well all the listings I’ve seen of his, he says it’s all new from B’mann - (or maybe sometimes some other mfrs; I wouldn’t know about that - actually I thought he was strictly seller of new from the factory B’mann…)
For the past year or so I’ve been under the impression that he’s liquidating B’mann’s 1:22 stuff, that B’mann was going to stop producing it, and that 1:20 was the new thing, and that B’mann would concentrate on that, and the WAY overpriced (IMHO) trains in this newer scale.
I don’t know what the 1:20 are like quality wise, but B’mann hasn’t been noted for great mechs in the past, making me reluctant to play with their toys…
Interesting thread. Big box stores post their price and that’s what you pay, period. But, they regularly have sales on almost everything. That makes you the buyer feel that you have gotten a bargain. That whole process isn’t much different than a little haggling at the train meet.
We recently sold our house and bought another a few states away. Both transactions were amicable and both sides walked away with what they wanted. I priced my house about 7 percent higher than what I really wanted. The buyer guessed at what my real price was and offered 15 percent below my asking price. I suggested we meet in the middle and he immediately agreed. Pretty much the same thing happened with the purchase of my new home. The point is that most buyers and sellers have a pretty good idea what an item should sell for but it doesn’t hurt to to go fishing to see where the other side really is. So in my opinion haggling is perfectly acceptable and no one should take offense.
walt
You know what’s really interesting? The public almost NEVER gets to see the REAL bargains at these meets anyway… They were snapped up, carted a few tables down and marked up 25-30% about half an hour before the doors opened. I saw one particular locomotive change hands 3 times in 15 minutes. (I think the record I ever withessed was a set of white leather early 70s Dodge/Plymoth bucket seats at Carlisle… They changed hands 4 times. Going from $50/pair to $275/pair before 10AM… )
But, back on topic - Somebody once told me that the tightwads and turds are there to make you appreciate the normal folks more… but after 2008 there were suddenly more cheapskates than customers (many of those who still HAD jobs and money decided it was suddenly OK to be extra rude and pushy?). Add a few fraudulent chargebacks, a bad check or two, and like a LOT of others, I was OUT of biz…
Please remember that when you low ball some guy at a meet.
As fot me, I’m (mostly) out of the selling game now… except when Kim over extends the checking account… So I only have to deal with right cheap ba----ds a few times a year these days. And for some reason I really don’t miss them. Sometimes I DO miss the friends I made and the regular customers. But the guys who wanted me to cut my own throat? Not at all…
I haven’t noticed the favorite spot using robo bidding but what keeps me away from bidding with them is their high shipping cost. Buy a loco from them and it is $21 to ship. At that price I figure the shipping into the items total and suddenly its not such a deal.
It is funny how some things can be haggled and others are not. I have haggled, real estate, cars, furniture, jewelry, trains, yard sale finds but groceries No.
If you want to see some real cheap skates go to Yard sales. They bug me even more than the cheapos at train shows. I have seen all manner of items cheap as dirt and a steal at the tagged price and the cheapo offers half or even less.
At box stores I do ask for any sales, upcoming current or ongoing, then ask for any discounts, price matching etc… Of course it all depends on what you are buying, a DVD NO but a TV YES.
Your seat example MIK reminds me of that TV show where they swap and barter up until they get what they want. I wonder if the TAX MAN ever comes after them??
Bottom line to keep everyone happy and in business: if you are going to haggle be nice and fair. We had a saying in the car business. “Pigs get fed Hogs get slaughtered”
John Le Forestier said:
I see, Thomas. Thanks for the heads up about this. I hadn’t noticed this particular seller handling much in the way of used or broken stuff, but I guess it happens… On pretty well all the listings I’ve seen of his, he says it’s all new from B’mann - (or maybe sometimes some other mfrs; I wouldn’t know about that - actually I thought he was strictly seller of new from the factory B’mann…) For the past year or so I’ve been under the impression that he’s liquidating B’mann’s 1:22 stuff, that B’mann was going to stop producing it, and that 1:20 was the new thing, and that B’mann would concentrate on that, and the WAY overpriced (IMHO) trains in this newer scale. I don’t know what the 1:20 are like quality wise, but B’mann hasn’t been noted for great mechs in the past, making me reluctant to play with their toys…
From real experience, their 1:20.3 rolling stock quality is top-shelf, A1. Same for the Forney, K-27, 2-8-0, 2-6-6-2, Annie…Running the snot out of all of them. I compare them to AMS/Accucraft. The long caboose is simply stunning.
Sorry, a bit off topic but I see so much “tribal knowledge” out there when it comes to certain manufacturers. Like anything else you get what you pay for. 1:20.3 stuff costs more than the “old stuff” because it is that much better and then some. If the scale is not your cup-o-tea I certainly understand, but do not shy away from them over perceptions of quality based on the cheap disposable boxed sets of the past.
Just a quick note about Favorite Spot, like others I too have gotten some pretty sweet deals there, like my LBH passenger train set was bid and won for less that $90, that’s a screaming deal no matter who you ask.
On train show decorum, as a buyer I’m always honest with the sellers, if they notice I’m looking at something, I’ll very often just say, “its nice, but I don’t have enough money for it.” a couple of times the seller has then asked me how much did I have and then sold it tome for that amount. One time I had a $20 stashed in the corner of my wallet, the seller noticed it and said “I thought you said (the selling price) was all you had?” to which I replied “Yes it is, but I need to get lunch and a hot dog and a coke here is $20!” to which the seller said “Oh Yeah, you ain’t kidding there!”
