Postwar Prices?

Hey Andre -

Sounds like your "day dream" turned into a nightmare ... just sayin

Ah yes... twas just mite imbibed at the Postwar Pub sipping upon Marx PW wine, and thought a selection from the list of Lionel PW wines might be just the thing to really top off the evening... but once they handed me the Wine List... I sobered up rather quickly!

Andre

I've found the prices are high when I actively look, low when I don't.

Rusty

@Rusty Traque posted:

I've found the prices are high when I actively look, low when I don't.

Rusty

Isn't that a strange phenomenon?

Ah well. 'Tis what it 'tis.

Andre

Keep looking Andre ! 

You never know....a few years ago I walked into a train store to pick up a layaway and ended up coming home with my 2065 ! 

It was a consignment item that was marked $76.00 !!! 

One of my better purchases !

That's funny. At our club sale shows in January, I have been selling PW Lionel locos for around $25 or so with tenders.

Bob:

'Ya done good. No... 'ya done GREAT! That's one clean 2065 for $75!!

Roy:

Premium steam engines (2055, 2065, 2056, etc)? Or, the plastic "Scout" type? If they were of the "premium" line up, I was definitely in the wrong place!

Andre

Presently,PW Lionel prices are all over the place.There's no rhyme nor reason to what I'm seeing. A lot of the craziness is likely due to the cancellation of train meets so most of the action has moved to the online actions and auction houses. The prices will settle down once the train meets are back up and running. BTW, It too burns me up when sellers separate steam locomotives from their proper tenders or break up A-A or A-B-A diesel sets! 

You're seeing high asking prices, but what are they actually selling for?

Ricky:

Could be on the "no train meets".

Lou:

Checking for completed auctions for 2065's indicates decent condition engines only going in the $60-$75 range. BUT, you need to add shipping on top of that ($15 or so). So you win an engine, now you've got to find the right tender and win it, too.  Just sucks to see the engines/tenders split up in the attempt to extract more for them. Sometimes the ploy is pretty obvious, for the same seller is selling the correct tender in a separate auction, most times listed right below the engine!

Should I get serious about acquiring a 2065 or something similar, I will do my absolute best to avoid the "splitter" sellers.

Andre

Actually some of these folk split to just get some kind of return asap.   And if they don't, Murphy and all his pals will ask about a split for the next time it is listed.

But you sure aren't wrong either

Here's a completed auction yesterday for a postwar Alco Santa Fe 223. Anyone know why such a huge price?   

I don't have anything to add about the high price, but I HATE when people stack trains for photos, and it seems to happen a lot. Metal wheels on the shell, never understood it.

@franktrain posted:

Here's a completed auction yesterday for a postwar Alco Santa Fe 223. Anyone know why such a huge price?   

The 223/218C is the toughest of the red/silver PW ALCo's. I usually see these sell around $150-200 for a C8 example with no skirt cracks and boxes. But for $770.00 Really? Let's see if it gets relisted. I've seen a lot of items sell for high prices only to see them offered again a day later.

@Lou1985 posted:

You're seeing high asking prices, but what are they actually selling for?

This ^^^.  Some of those listings find a sucker, but a lot of them end without a sale.  

In addition, it's condition condition condition.  If you watch auction prices, you'll see rare items and mint examples of postwar going for BIG money.  At excellent and below, the prices plummet.

Technically, I understand what you all are saying about purchase prices. Some do trickle through at lower selling prices than the stuff I see with high starting bids or high "Buy It Now" price tags.

In my case, IF a piece is priced at what I consider too high, and there's no "Make Offer" available to at least try to obtain it at more equitable price, then as far as my $$ is concerned, the piece is beyond sensible reach for me.

If, after watching eBay for a while over the coming weeks/months, I come to the conclusion that it would be too expensive to pursue my lark concerning Postwar Marx/Lionel, I'll fold my tent and move on.

Hopefully, I've still got several good years of HO left in me!

Andre

Folks....the relisting of items and change in prices; even the listing of ridiculous prices....I think have " shills" involved.  Y'know.....friends or business partners jerking around the prices (such as enhancing the bid $$) for the seller. 

Have experienced it firsthand.

@redjimmy1955 posted:

Folks....the relisting of items and change in prices; even the listing of ridiculous prices....I think have " shills" involved.  Y'know.....friends or business partners jerking around the prices (such as enhancing the bid $$) for the seller. 

Have experienced it firsthand.

I agree!

@redjimmy1955 posted:

Folks....the relisting of items and change in prices; even the listing of ridiculous prices....I think have " shills" involved.  Y'know.....friends or business partners jerking around the prices (such as enhancing the bid $$) for the seller. 

Have experienced it firsthand.

To which Ricky T. said:

I agree!

To which I say... "Give us back our train meets!"

Traditionally, I was able to see, handle, negotiate price, much more enjoyably at a train meet, even if it isn't as coldly efficient as The Bay. (Time needed to make the trip, the expense of the trip, etc.)

Don't get me wrong, I live by eBay. (I live in quite a model railroading "void" regionally.) However, there is a lot to be said about the "adventure" and "event" nature of trekking to a train meet.

Andre