Question about sellers

Run far away......unless the price is right and you are willing to take the risk.

That's a conundrum here...if it is NIB, even if advertised as NOS, I would probably buy it...but ONLY if the seller will accept returns (minus shipping).

FWIW...I am aware that several unscrupulous sellers, use friends as "schills" to pretend to counter offer...jack up the price. Often within minutes before the sale time expired...

Havent bought much off evilbay since i am a see/touch/feel type of buyer. That said, my purchases have been good experiences...But beware of the "selling for a friend" nonsense!

It's a gamble. With modern trains, I worry more than with older trains that don't have electronics. With modern trains, you may be looking at an expensive board replacement. With older trains, it's maybe a rewire or worst case, an armature. I have been lucky getting trains that run just fine. I only had a couple that were DOA. Usually the "not tested" means the seller was lazy. You also need to look at the price. If it is a steal, then it may be worth buying it knowing the worst case repair may be in order.

George

I usually stay away from anything that is listed as not tested or unable to test. The very few times I did jump on something not tested, it didn't work. I had a feeling they wouldn't work but I knew that I had a good chance to repair them easily and cheaply. One instance was an MRC Pure Power that was listed as tested to "power on". Basically it was plugged in and they put a picture of it with the green power light on in the listing. Since I have experience with the failures of these transformers, I jumped on it because the price was great. As I expected, it didn't work. About $15 bucks in parts and I was in business. If you aren't willing to accept that you will more than likely get something that doesn't work, stay away from those types of listings.

I take the chance, especially if the loco/tender look great.  Case in point, i recently took delivery of a 671 Turbine with a 2671 tender from a seller on eBay.  He was selling it for a neighbor and did not have and had not sold any trains at all.  His pictures were deplorable, but the loco and tender were boxed and from what I could see in the pics, they looked real nice.  His buy it now price was $129.00, I could not resist.  Fast forward 4 days and I was pleasantly surprised at what I received.  With the exception of a non working smoke unit, both loco and tender were in like new condition and ran well after servicing.  As a side note, this loco and tender were so pristine, the slotted screw heads were not al buggered up.  I am HAPPY!

You win some and you lose some.  If you know the seller it helps

I have purchased a locomotive that was promoted as serviced and running which did have serious running issues pulling a train. The seller did take it back with return shipping refunded as well as the purchase price. I have continued to purchase from this seller. 

If you pay with PayPal and friends and family, you give up any recourse. If the seller won't let you pay the 3% fee then realize it's a red flag at least.

It's a hard pass for me. Every time.

Chicago Dave posted:

How do you guys feel about sellers that say they haven’t tested/run engines? I mean when they sell several kinds of products like track , transformers etc..Do you believe that or just shy away from those people?

Don't care, most of the time. Common sense, seller's other items, track record, "attitude", photo quality (bad photos will, indeed, really put me off my feed; inexcusable), any political or religious content or too many flags (I do run far away from these things - this is an auction, not CNN) on the listing. I have done a lot of eBay transactions since 1999 and have had 95% good luck. Only one actual rip-off.

Not being a "gotta see it, gotta touch it" kind of buyer the mail-order aspect of it means little to me. Most of these items I could never touch or see in real life before a purchase anyway, as is true with most of us. Not everyone lives in PA or NJ, so it's eBay (etc) or no way.

Most sellers are just trying to sell some stuff. Apparently there are not many bad apples in this field of interest, though there certainly are a few, unavoidably.

If they don't specify in the listing then I will ask if it's been tested.  If not then offer a price you're comfortable worth in case it needs work.

Don

As a seller, although not on E-Bay, my business philosophy for 48 years has always been this:

1. I test everything I sell
2. I guarantee everything to work at factory specs
3. If there is a problem I will either fix it free of charge or refund your money. YOUR choice.
4. If you desire me to have me fix the problem, I pay your shipping costs
5. If I am selling junk, though, I will tell you - you are buying junk!  It doesn't work! NO guarantee!

Any seller who says they 'don't test' or have 'no way to test' their items - yet they're listing over 500 trains on E-Bay - well, why not tell that seller to invest in a $35 transformer and test their stuff!

Easy, right?

Yes, we all make mistakes. BUT, be responsible, be honest. Really, it's not all that difficult.

-Len Carparelli

Even buying "new" trains from dealers, who may appear reputable, involves risk, as I learned the hard way recently after purchasing a new old stock Legacy K4, out of manufacturers warranty, but nevertheless new in that it hadn't been run nor tested. It arrived with loose motor mount, screws rattling around in tender, and bad Railsounds Lite board.

The other item I learned is find out who is responsible for return shipping before you buy. The above dealer charged me a hefty initial shipping charge, and they're only in an adjacent state, yet wanted me to pay for return shipping for repairs. That's when I did my research and found out that while they're an authorized Lionel dealer, they're NOT an authorized repair center. Fortunately, I know Gunrunner John and took the item to him for repairs.

After this fiasco, I'd rather have items tested, but only if they're an authorized repair shop or someone I know of and trust who knows trains.

Weird stuff can happen on Ebay, just as everywhere else in life. For me, that's no reason to be paranoid about it. Personally, I don't hesitate to purchase items that haven't been tested by the seller, even they're not new. Ebay has a pretty bulletproof policy of allowing buyers to return items if they're not satisfied, regardless of whether the seller has said "no returns." That doesn't matter. I've used this policy a number of times, and don't worry about returns at all.

Buying, I prefer MOB, like most buyers. Also, if I'm selling an item that's MOB, I'm not going to test run it for anybody. If I do, then it's no longer MOB, but used, and items are almost always worth more if they're mint rather than if they've been used. Some people also buy for their collections, and want a mint items.

"Test run" is a red flag, in fact, sometimes used to mask the reality that the item has had significant run time. Also, some people get "mint" and "test run" confused, saying that the item is "mint - test run only." If it's been test run, it's no longer mint! As stated, sellers get higher prices for mint, unrun items.  I've had to explain that to more than one buyer over the years, that if the item is mint and unrun, the possibility exists that it may not run perfectly out of the box. Not everything works right out of the box! That fact shouldn't need explanation to anyone who reads posts on this Forum! I even mention that in my ads, to make the buyer aware of the possibility before he purchases. Should be obvious, but it isn't to some people.

If something that's mint doesn't work perfectly, I've found that almost always it has nothing to do with anything deceitful on the part of the seller. That's true with things that are used, too, because (assuming the seller is informed), if there's a problem causing dissatifaction by the buyer, he's just going to return it anywhat.

Bottom line is that the vast majority of times I've had little or no problem buying or selling things on Ebay over the years, and I've used them a lot. 

I'd buy a sealed 15 year old TMCC loco in a heartbeat. I've had 100% success.

I wouldn't touch a legacy loco outside of the factory warranty.

RickO posted:

I'd buy a sealed 15 year old TMCC loco in a heartbeat. I've had 100% success.

I wouldn't touch a legacy loco outside of the factory warranty.

You can say that AGAIN! Nick

I understand the power sellers POV.  Some of these guys are flipping products picked up at garage sales, estate sales, etc. and it may not be worth their time to bench test every item.  Even if they did, if they sell it as untested then they don't have to deal with a buyer's expectations that it must be perfect and work.

I have had little problems, but will never use PayPal friends and family

I prefer to test my stuff before selling it. And I prefer demonstrating it on test track before the sale.

New, mint, new old stock are a crap shoot as far as I'm concerned.   Just read this forum if you think otherwise.