For Sale/Buy forum wonderings

4

Jeff

I read both several times a day, I have found that if you see something you like/want you need to get it because if you snooze you lose. On the buy, I check to see if anyone may want an item I never play with.

Brent

#3...and no pictures no sale.

I do 1 mostly.  If I look at it every day they I know and remember well enough what I saw last week, month, etc.  sometimes I use the search feature but only to look for something I remember seeing months ago.

If I have money and want something, I do a search and then check when I go online. If I'm broke, I try to ignore it. Seeing something I'm not in a position to purchase is just too frustrating.

Don't look if you don't want to see something you'd like to have....

Gilly

I don't remember.

If you subscribe to the forum, you can get an email whenever something new has been posted.

I only look at new postings. No pictures and I usually don't bother reading the post.

Also, as soon as I see a guy saying he will charge the 3% fee for taking PayPal I'm out.

#2 mostly.  My wants are pretty narrow these days so I don't look at everything that's posted.

I'm with MartyE about photos...no photos no sale.

Also, I'm not a "collector" and when I see a photo of an item in a box or shipping container and not an actual photo of the piece, it rarely gets a look.

#3 usually.......

4

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I'll say this here as politely as I can.  For the most part (and yes, I realize there are always exceptions), items placed for sale here are priced fairly -- often priced to be considered "a good deal" by the veteran sellers with a good reputation.  If you're gonna expect these sellers to eat even more of the deal by covering the 3% Paypal fee, then you're not a good match for most sellers on this forum.  Alternatively, there's always the money order or personal check avenue if the 3% Paypal fee on an already great deal is too much for you.

David

I figure paypal gets enough of my $$ when I sell things on eBay so I always encourage using the 'friend' option to save the 3%.

the "good deals" from the "veteran sellers" are because they know on this board your item will never sell unless you are practically giving it away or it is a rare piece that a lot of guys are looking for.

I've listed items for fair prices and most of them didn't sell unless i went well below the minimum i would let it go for.

Eating the fee as you put it, it just the cost of doing business.

I have bought from quite a few members over the years. All using PayPal, never added a fee 

But think of the gas/time you waste driving to the bank to deposit a check or money order. Wouldn't you prefer to just click your mouse and have the cash in your account?

I feel the benefit of accepting paypal is mostly on the side of the seller. Faster transaction, faster you have the money and the item is gone.

Paypal works both for the buyer and seller.  The buyer gets his item sent out MUCH quicker than waiting on a snail mail payment to be delivered and the seller has the cash in hand almost instantly.

Personally, I'll take Paypal if the buyer uses the gift/friend option.  If for some reason he can't/won't send the payment that way, that's his choice so he can add the 3% or whatever it is to the total to cover the fees for his decision.  Otherwise a check or MO payment is always an option although I can't tell you the last time someone mailed me a check or MO (or when I last sent someone else a check/MO)

To me asking for the 3% is that same as if a guy at a train show told me to add $1 to the price on any item I buy off of his table to cover the cost of renting the table and driving to the show.

But hey, thats just me. It's fine if guys ask for it and its fine if 99% of the forum members agree with it. 

Let's let this go now so the moderators don't lock the post before this guy gets the answer he is looking for

I successfully bought an MTH Hudson on the buy/sell - good deal, and fair to both of us.  I tried one sale, but screwed it up due to not reading the rules closely enough. Caught a bunch of grief for that.  I now stick to eBay, and when buying I get spectacular deals in my favor. When I sell on eBay I start at $1.99 and am always embarrassed at the ridiculously high prices I get as a result.  I use PayPal for its convenience.  My excessive profits more than pay for it.

I don't sell on Ebay any longer -- got burned by a buyer and Ebay sided with him.

I kissed away 15 year Ebay account due to the bad taste leftover from that transaction.

Agreed... but not because I give a hoot whether the moderators will lock the thread or not.  That's a culture that I absolutely dislike about this forum.  I can respect the guys who run this place for several things they do for this hobby, but instilling this aura of "Gee... should I say this or that here... and if I do, will they disagree enough to make the thread disappear?".  Well, let's just say it's not one of their finer traits. 

David

I do likewise and I have a label set up in gmail to put them in a separate category.   I guess that makes me a big ol' 1!

If you are going to list an item for $100, then say "please add 3% fee for Paypal," why not just list the item for $103?

If you are going to list and item for $100 then say "plus $15 shipping anywhere in the continental US," why not just list the item at $115 "with fee shipping?"

Nothing in life is perfect, I like posting for sale items on the ogr board and over the years it has been great. But there are some who want you to ship to them for free and not pay the Paypal fee. 

A case in point, I posted a free bridge to anyone who wanted it, just pay shipping. A fellow emailed me if I would ship it too him across the country for free. He did responded first but I said no, the second guy got it. The first guy did nothing but curse at me and telling me I was a thief for not sending to him, for free. This from a guy on the ogr board . So you see not all &$: holes are on eBay. 

Although it seems at times guys on this board expect to get items cheap and it is getting worse. 

I have been a member of eBay since the very beginning and have had nothing but great deals buying and selling. 

I usually check about once a day, but since I have a VERY short list of items that I want to buy (mostly scale Reading or B&O items), I usually don't read a post unless there is a chance that an item I want might be listed.  Long gone are the days when I would buy something primarily because it's a good deal.

My preferred method of payment as both as buyer or a seller is paypal.  I have added protections as a buyer (not available under the gift option) and convenience as a seller.  Postal money orders have become a huge hassle in that my local post office never seems to have cash on hand.  For other money orders or checks, I need to go to my credit union or mail them in with a deposit slip.  Either way, there is a hold on me getting the money until the check clears.  For me, I happily eat the 3% paypal fee for the convenience.

Jim

BTW, for those that think that accepting a personal check and driving to the bank to deposit it is too much of a hassle...

I have a online checking account through https://home.capitalone360.com/

I can deposit checks using my smartphone.

I just use my phone to take a picture of both sides of the check, then upload to the bank using the app.

I know that many other banks offer that same feature.

Could not agree more. If an item is priced fairly it does not sell. If it is cheap it goes in a NY minute.

I'm a number 4... cannot let a day go buy w/o checking the for sale / buy forum...

Much too simple, sensible and logical of a solution!

But I think you have a great idea here!

#1... I check it about once a day--if I see one of my road names in the title, it gets a click.  Otherwise, I'm moving on.

I'm a #4 for the most part.  If the seller will only accept a postal MO or PayPal it's a no deal.  Also no pics no deal.  I'm also very leery of sellers with a high community ranking.  Many of these guys use us just to sell their wares.

As a seller I accept checks and if you're a regular I'll ship before the check clears.  I try to keep my prices lower than the  buyer can find elsewhere.  I'm not selling to make a profit.

Also I support bartering as I'm usually selling to buy something else off the board.

That might be good for used items but new mint in sealed box. What is wrong with that.

Nothing, if you're a collector, but I am not.  Also, if I was buying it from a LHS or online dealer, nothing wrong with it still in the shipping box.  But a previously purchased item to me is used whether it's been out of the box or not and something that is a number of years old and with no warranty all command a lower price.

However (isn't there always?), I recently bought a Williams/Samhongsa 3-rail brass USRA 2-8-2 (Buy Now on E-Bay) for less than $200 to the front porch.  It came in the shipping box (but had been taken out to photograph and probably run as well at one time) but looked like new to me.  TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS for a BRASS engine...UNBELIEVABLE.

I've been looking for one since I got into O-scale (either didn't have the funds or too late with the offer) and when I saw the price I couldn't refuse, didn't even care if it ran (which it did) as I'm going to modify it into a Seaboard class Q3 Mike.

If it's something that you've been looking for for years I can see making some exceptions.

But I don't buy to just "put it up" in the closet for whatever reason.  They're made to be taken out and run.