The next time you think internet prices on used toy train items give any indication of market value . . .

It says who the seller is: "Onlinebookshop". Perhaps there is some way to contact them and tell them that your book is not worth that much. I searched up your book on Amazon.com, as someone would to find it themselves. Why would they click the $32 used copy over a $15 new copy? Crazy people.

Agreed that ASKING price and SOLD price can be drastically different. That's why I only search 'completed listings' on ebay when I want a 'value' for an item. 

As for the huy offering your book for $32??? More power to him.....if he gets it....it's all on the buyer. 

A seller on there had the Carp book on dealer displays up for over a grand. I messaged him thinking it was a mistake... nope

When I try to sell something on the internet (the Bay, or the Forum), I usually think "Geez, I didn't know it was worth so little"....!!!! 

Sounds like the same person selling old Tyco HO worth all of $2.98 as "Rare and hard to find" with a reserve of $35.00.

 

I think there are too many reality shows that don't deal with reality. I have a extremely rare Lionel US Army switcher I can let go for a $1,000 too!

I've got 100 acres of ocean-front property in Kansas that I can let go cheap. Only $1,000 an acre.

 

Send your check to...

Your book is not the only one LEE. I have shopped for CD's and see the same issues. 

Who thought that?  Even "complete listings" may be salted with prices from bidding

wars where two somebodies were gonna get something or die trying.

Might not be a bad buy. By the end of the century, it might be ocean-front property.

  

Me thinks Rich is horning in on my valuable ocean front property in Wyoming.....as well as Utah........Nevada....my 8000 foot elevation property in Illinois.

   Lees' post reinforces the old P T Barnum adage.......

 

The bigger question is swindling the type of moral behavior, we want our society to gravitate to or would we prefer people dealing with honesty, integrity and a concern for humanity?

Didn't know you'd written this book.   Seems very interesting and I am going to buy a copy. 

 

I just checked on amazon and there's now 3 new starting at $32.07 and used at $32 even.  Then down below 3/4 down the page above product details there's a link to a $14.95 price.  very interesting. 

Yep, which is exactly why I bought the DVD with all of the Lionel Display Layouts for something near 20 bucks. The Carp book has been overpriced on the secondary market (the Bay and other places) for years. Not the author's fault but I refused to pay the prices I was seeing. 

I see lots of used stuff on da Bay for more than new:  Ross switches; CDs; MTH and Lionel.  It must work sometime as people keep doing it.

 

Bill

Yeah ... and how much shill bidding is there on eBay?

WOW.....I have WAY to much to do rather than be the moral police for GIANT Amazon. Millions of transactions an hour......where would I begin????

 

The flip side of the 'protect all' coin is called being a responsible and EDUCATED adult that doesn't need constant hand holding. If ill will was aimed at children or the mentally handicapped I can see stepping in......otherwise BE AN ADULT. 

Wash your mouth out with soap! Who says it's not worth it?  It may not cost that much for someone that has at least a double-digit IQ, but that doesn't measure it's worth.

Back in January, people were trying to sell the annual Union Pacific calendar on eBay for significantly more than what it would cost to simply go to the UP website and buy it yourself.  It was "rare" the day it came out.  Or so some said.

 

Most of the "gougers" also had very high shipping costs associated with the item as well.

you think that's bad Lee, look at this link from the page with the correct price!

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer...sed&sr=&qid=

 

Now, that's a MARKUP!

Have seen that before when looking for used out of print books. Prices all over the place with a mint copy half the price of a copy in fair condition.

 

Maybe Lee autographed this one!

Hasn't this always been true?  You have to decide whether you want relatively free markets or not.

 

Personally, I want hobby sales to remain totally free market, and I want the SEC to watch out for our retirement accounts.  If you have a penchant for telling sellers their price is too high, you become an " officious intermeddler" - not a classy title.

 

Opinion.

Regardless,   Lee's book is a must for anyone planning on doing a streets layout.  If anyone else has an idea for creating a book on an o gauge topic, Lee would be the person who could provide advice on how to make it happen.

$79.95 and the seller has a 96% rating!

I got the deal........ On my purchase...... $14.95

  Click screen shot to enlarge.

Nothing surprises me any more.

 

Rich: You have property for sale,  I have a bridge and a swamp. Cheap 1000.00 per sq ft.

 

As for Lee's book. I heard they were signed by the author.

Amazon has this kind of thing all the time.

My sister in law once sold rare books as a business and she said it was common for people to brag about how much they paid for a book, which explained why you see high end prices like that online. They're trying to reach the, "too much money - sucker" type of buyer.

I did a book of re-enactor cartoons back in the early 90s, self-pusblished, and someone alerted me to a copy of it on eBay a year ago. I followed that listing with great interest as the book went for a pretty high figure (over $70, I sold them for $10 each if memory serves but in all fairness it had been out of print since the mid 90s). I even contacted the seller, telling him I was the author and offering to sign it for the buyer if they wanted and asking to pass my info along to the winner of the book. He never replied.

Phinias Taylor Barnum was right.  A sucker is born every minute.  (Us Taylors are seldom wrong.  )

Wow! That is crazy.  Is there something I am missing here?  Why would someone do this?

I hope you get a percentage of selling price, you can pay for your train addiction that way!

 

I have a terrible gut feeling that someone would believe you and actually try to buy that. Ha ha ha!

I just want to know how long it took their Moms to write all those great seller reviews.

FasTrack & GarGraves track, notoriously, above list, and often before even figuring in the astronomical shipping.

Wow! That is crazy.  Is there something I am missing here?  Why would someone do this?

I don't know why I never put this together before, but I think this is what's going on:

1. As he writes his ad, the seller does not own a copy of the book. Therefore, he is out $0 for his "inventory".
2. The seller knows he can acquire a new copy of the book for $14.95.
3. The seller places an ad on Amazon.  Unless I am missing something, this does not cost him any money.  His marketing expenses are therefore $0.  He only pays something if he sells something.
4. The seller crafts an ad that he hopes will draw in some under-informed rube.
5. Some rich and/or lazy and/or not particularly bright rube clicks the ad and buys the book for $32.
6. The seller buys the book from any other source, fulfills the rube's order, and pockets $17 (i.e., > 100% markup).
7. The seller pays a fee to Amazon.
8. Amazon wins, the seller wins, and the rube probably never realizes he lost.

Somewhere, PT Barnum is laughing till he wets his pinstripe pants.

 

One has to wonder if the seller has an entire "bookstore" set up in this manner. 

 

Steven J. Serenska

This was a common practice by a few sellers of postwar Lionel in the 70's & 80's. Check the listing prices in the MR classifieds of the time.

I just watched an episode of American Greed on TV.  You would be surprised what people will do to their parents and family members much less strangers.

 

So it goes,  Joe

And nobody mentions the Nigerian prince who needs an advance to get his million bucks out of some bank somewhere?  AARP has a whole series on how older folks are getting fleeced.  The kids take their credit cards, and the scammers get them to find an old receipt with the number on it.

 

We are practicing not answering the phone.  It is tough, because for 70 years the phone rings and we pick it up and say hello?  No longer, thanks.

I'm afraid you're wrong about this, however.   It's a common mistake to attribute this saying to PT Barnum. However, it is almost certain that he never said it. Many accounts indicate it was actually uttered by David Hannum, spoken in reference to Barnum's part in the Cardiff Giant hoax. Hannum, who was exhibiting the "original" giant and had unsuccessfully sued Barnum for exhibiting a copy and claiming it was the original, was referring to the crowds continuing to pay to see Barnum's exhibit even after both it and the original had been proven to be fakes.

 

I do, however, like one of Barnum's actual quotes: 

"The desire for wealth is nearly universal, and none can say it is not laudable, provided the possessor of it accepts its responsibilities, and uses it as a friend to humanity."