A reminder from our old friend Marty Fitzhenry on helpful points to add when asking for help! 11/26/2024

Thanks Marty will always remember what he has taught me and others!

Alan

@Alan Mancus posted:

Thanks Marty will always remember what he has taught me and others!

Alan

The forum was always a brighter place with Marty here.  He certainly was a great asset and friend to many.

Good post, Marty.

”Many members looking for help pull the anchor up and never let anyone know the outcome.”

Succinctly stated by Mr. Fitzhenry, and one of my pet peeves.

@MartyE quoted @Marty Fitzhenry:

"If used, is it a fleabay queen.  Fleabay has lots of junk for bargain hunters.  Remember, you only get what you pay for."

Marty F. was spot-on, except for this. The provenance of used items is irrelevant, unless you are talking about a specific seller, with an established reputation. There is plenty of junk sold at train shows and on Ebay, but there are plenty of treasures, too. You can "get what you pay for," but you can also find great bargains, both on Ebay and at train shows.

If you said that you bought something from Trainz on Ebay, then (a) it is probably in good condition, (b) you paid a fair price—not super-low, but not above the market price—and, (c) Trainz will stand behind their product. But there are also sketchy sellers on Ebay, too, and while I'm not aware of any, some of them may have a bad repution. The same can be said for train shows. There's a booth at the Amherst show that I know will have a large selection, fair prices, and is willing to negotiate in good faith. But there are also bad eggs, too.

The advantage of buying on Ebay as opposed to at a train show is that Ebay does offer the purchaser some protection.

I agree on Marty's assessment of eBay because you have to remember how eBay was. When it started it probably went through its own ups and downs, and Marty and others were right there from the start. It has become a bit better, but I'm sure that there are sellers in various trades(meaning outside of trains) that are no very reputable. There still is of course the chance of getting run up the river by someone on eBay, but you would have to have not dealt with them and their reviews are probably terrible. That's what I would say is the only real problem to anyone who uses eBay, not really looking into a new seller.

@MartyE

Marty, would you say that eBay has probably changed from how Marty had known it, but it could still hold true what he said?

@Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:

I agree on Marty's assessment of eBay because you have to remember how eBay was. When it started it probably went through its own ups and downs, and Marty and others were right there from the start. It has become a bit better, but I'm sure that there are sellers in various trades(meaning outside of trains) that are no very reputable. There still is of course the chance of getting run up the river by someone on eBay, but you would have to have not dealt with them and their reviews are probably terrible. That's what I would say is the only real problem to anyone who uses eBay, not really looking into a new seller.

@MartyE

Marty, would you say that eBay has probably changed from how Marty had known it, but it could still hold true what he said?

@Marty Fitzhenry made the original post quoted above in 2015. Ebay had long been an established by that time and was a reliable and reputable source.

If Marty F. didn't want to personally work on items that had been purchased on Ebay, that was his choice that reflected his personal biases, and that's fine. But again, the source of a second-hand locomotive has no bearing on diagnosing and solving a problem with a locomotive or other rolling stock, unless you are talking about a specific vendor who has a known reputation that could be directly relevant to the specific problem.

@MartyE reposted Marty F.'s post for current and especially new members. What Ebay was like in 1995 has no relevance to current OGR forum members trying to solve a problem that they have today.

@Matt_GNo27

I know who posted and who is quoted. I still say that eBay is very much buyer beware if you don't know who you are dealing with, and that I believe is at the heart of what Marty was saying.

The heart of the post is easy...supply as much information as you can.  Period. 

I can still hear Marty’s voice in my head each time I have had an issue with an engine and running through basic steps to solve problem.
Thankfully we still have many knowledgeable folks on the forum to help share their knowledge with us.

That's great stuff. Especially about closing out your problem if you solved it. It sounds weird but if I use Google instead of the forum search engine the answers are right there and ALWAYS from this forum. One of my first buys was a Trainz RailKing UP GP9 with PS2 for $175 and it still runs and smokes like a dream. I think about Marty whenever I run it.

Yeah, I'm an eBay buyer more than I should be and have gotten some duds but am happy for the most part and have no plans to stop buying there. As a tip, I once read that you should be wary of any seller that does not have a > 99% rating. Then there's communication. I saw a PS3 0-6-0 for $250 that looked pretty good and had a video of it sitting still smoking. I asked if it ran well and got a string of weird answers. No thanks.

Bringing this back to the top as we enter train season and folks will begin to pull out their trains and will need help.