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unixphreak

The Day eBay Killed RC

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So who has the same frame of mind as me when looking trough eBay and seeing people that have no idea of RC (what kind/type of model/model name) they are selling but requiring a sky high purchase price. I am seeing it more and more, listing of I am no expert or I have no idea what car this is but here I want 400 for a "Rare" Raider with beat up body and was only 150 when new. with 7-8 more asking the same price. I have no problem with high dollar items and we all know what they are or those rare gems that seem to come out of nowhere. I am now looking at buying more re releases than vintage because of this blatant gouging.

 

Thank you for letting me rant. Happy Hunting.

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I can't find a Tyco Lamborghini with dual motors in decent shape under $250...and in black forget about it

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What annoys me is when the car is listed as 'rare' and 'vintage' but it's clearly a re-re or even an XB model, this is especially common with Hornets, and they are still asking £100+ when you can still easily pick the kit up NIB for about £70.

Some models get re-listed time and time again, don't sell, the price drops about 20 quid, still doesn't sell, so they take it off and re-list it about 6 months later for £50 more than before...

I also see non-tamiya models listed as tamiyas a lot, obviously non of us will fall for it, but it's annoying to see people who don't have a clue what they are selling asking top money for tat.

The problem is that when ebay first came about it was like a car boot sale online, and old r/c's weren't popular cos us lot were the ones getting rid of them, now it's seen more as the main place to get specialist things you can't easily find anywhere else, so people can pretty much ask what they like.

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You fellas ever go YouTube & get bored enough to start searching up "eBay selling tips"?! :ph34r:

soon find there's a fair few channels in recent years spruiking how to raid op shops & estate sales for old junk & listing all that crass on fleaBay for wishful high bux... and RC items are commonly in their radars :( 

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There was a local news story on the television last night about old Disney VHS tapes listed on eBay for $15,000 USD.  The sales pitch is something along the lines of how valuable these collectable tapes are or will be some day.  The "expert" they interviewed clearly stated not to fall for this, and to only buy things you will personally enjoy so there's no concern about making or losing money.

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3 hours ago, markbt73 said:

It's a bubble. It'll pop.

I agree that it will when we start running out of retirement money at the old folks home ;) But, it hasn't popped yet after three years of hugely inflated prices. Not only on ebay, but SOOO many Craigslist/Offerup doofuses think their busted up POS is worth big bucks. Gone are the days of $40 Grasshoppers and sub-$100 vintage restoration projects. Not only Tamiya, but look at the other OEMs also. There's no snowball's chance in H.E.Double Hockeysticks, that I'm finding a decent, unmolested RC10 for restoration under $100 USD. They made a TON of RC10's. So what gives? Uninformed sellers? Greedy collectors? 

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43 minutes ago, NWarty said:

It hasn't popped yet after three years of hugely inflated prices. Not only on ebay, but SOOO many Craigslist/Offerup doofuses think their busted up POS is worth big bucks. Gone are the days of $40 Grasshoppers and sub-$100 vintage restoration projects. Not only Tamiya, but look at the other OEMs also. There's no snowball's chance in H.E.Double Hockeysticks, that I'm finding a decent, unmolested RC10 for restoration under $100 USD. They made a TON of RC10's. So what gives? Uninformed sellers? Greedy collectors? 

Oh, I know. Several years ago, I had about 10 RC10s, purchased off Craigslist for a grand total of about $500 in two lots, including a nice low-use Worlds car and two new-built, never-run CEs (and a ton of others). Not to mention the $50 Clod Buster, the $10 (!) Clod Buster, a Raider for $30, an Icarus for $50, a nice Optima Mid for $100 (with another brand-new Raider thrown in for free), a Blackfoot for $60, a Frog for $30, and a new-built Nichimo Exceed for $50. All from Craigslist, all cleaned up and sold or traded away to fund my scaler/crawler habit (and MGB parts).

Now? There's someone trying to get $145 for a moldy Kyosho Big Brute, and a mediocre-looking RC10 for $200, and a few "collections" of newer Traxxas/Axial/Losi stuff being offered for very nearly the price of new ones (and "won't separate"). And that's it.

I don't know what's going on, other than our little hobby getting "discovered." But I can't imagine that it will stay this way forever. The speculators will move on to some other "hot item" eventually. I mean, look at Beanie Babies; they're not worth anything anymore.

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10 minutes ago, markbt73 said:

Now? There's someone trying to get $145 for a moldy Kyosho Big Brute, and a mediocre-looking RC10 for $200, and a few "collections" of newer Traxxas/Axial/Losi stuff being offered for very nearly the price of new ones (and "won't separate"). And that's it.

I don't know what's going on, other than our little hobby getting "discovered." But I can't imagine that it will stay this way forever. The speculators will move on to some other "hot item" eventually. I mean, look at Beanie Babies; they're not worth anything anymore.

Mark, you're absolutely right. Craigslist and even Ebay used to have a lot of vintage cars, now there's nothing. Everything seemed to dry up overnight. There's so little inventory, anywhere, nowadays. :(  

I can't even look at rctech as everyone wants exactly what they paid for it. No deals, no nothing. 

I just picked up an F103 accidentally. I got the friend discount because he wanted it to go to a good home vs. trying to sell it. I lucked out. 

This is the crap that absolutely drives me nuts: https://portland.craigslist.org/clc/tag/d/portland-80s-kyosho-c10-rc-truck/6873643343.html ($145 for this POS with rotted tires and no radio gear??? Oh it has a VALUABLE red bag too) :rolleyes:  

https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/tag/d/portland-vintage-rc-car-parts-etc/6874329142.html ($75 for this lot of s***???) 

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4 hours ago, magnumb said:

I can't find a Tyco Lamborghini with dual motors in decent shape under $250...and in black forget about it

This is true for quite a few Tyco/Taiyo models, and has been this way for about 10 years. There is an old forum (still up) where a lot of Tyco collectors used to discuss this at length, and the Lambo has always been highly prized. It's sister model, the Ferrari Testarossa, even more so. (However, the asking price for that is the height of hubris - and I will gladly debate any fool asking $2000 for one - so if you see them online, send them over to me :D There is no precedent for that price, that I am aware of, and I've been watching far too long)

3 hours ago, Rich_8717 said:

What annoys me is when the car is listed as 'rare' and 'vintage' but it's clearly a re-re or even an XB model, this is especially common with Hornets, and they are still asking £100+ when you can still easily pick the kit up NIB for about £70.

The problem is that when ebay first came about it was like a car boot sale online, and old r/c's weren't popular cos us lot were the ones getting rid of them, now it's seen more as the main place to get specialist things you can't easily find anywhere else, so people can pretty much ask what they like.

Agree about the re-re and XB stuff... but I think it was ever worse when they first came out. At that time, since the very notion of an R/C "re-release" was a pretty new concept in this hobby, there were some people who claimed they were "pretty much the same" - i.e. the remakes were the same as originals.

Which is sorta why some of us tried to write up lists of the differences, large or small, to help define a distinction between them... because those in the know (like here on TC) already knew one from the other. But it helps if more people (including the general public) are a bit more "aware" when selling, or can at least search up the details quickly on Google.

Of course, that still doesn't stop some sellers from wishful thinking :mellow:

4 minutes ago, NWarty said:

Mark, you're absolutely right. Craigslist and even Ebay used to have a lot of vintage cars, now there's nothing. Everything seemed to dry up overnight. There's so little inventory, anywhere, nowadays. :( 

True.

And while I do agree there are some crazy over-priced items out there. Absolutely. The above sentence from NWarty also points to the reason why the base price for a lot of things has risen, and there are not many $50 vintage restos around anymore. I personally don't think it's a bubble. It's part of a long term upswing, that all vintage toys go through - and it won't stop when we all die. But I'm just one guy.

Agree with @WillyChang about the Youtube vids talking about values. They're pretty funny huh. :lol:  When your toys are being breathlessly hocked in Youtube vids by skeezy dudes doing "how to make money" videos, you know your hobby has made it ;)

 

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I agree with all this. I enjoy taking an old TA02/03 and bringing it back but the net is chock full of people wanting more than new prices for these worn out chassis. Seems to be global as well..

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I have a feeling that its harder to "get parts" then 10 ish years ago ,   that stuff must be stocked somewhere.

And yes, if its out there.. its quite overpriced.  

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Its not just RCs though - its almost anything that involves collectibles. I collect old technical books and manuals (not so much now) and vinyl records. Before ebay I used to drive up and down the country attending book or record fairs in village halls and community centres and prices were always reasonable because it was always limited by the "hunting" around or pot luck aspect of the hobby. This is now gone. Everything you could ever want to collect is at your fingertips with minimal effort to find it so all there is left now is the battle of who is willing to spend the most money on something. Collecting as a hobby just comes down to the "collector" having the financial means of out-spending someone else.

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2 hours ago, Superluminal said:

Everything you could ever want to collect is at your fingertips with minimal effort to find it so all there is left now is the battle of who is willing to spend the most money on something.

True. And while the downside is often higher prices, on the other hand...

Without eBay/online trade, nobody who collects vintage R/C stuff would own even 5% of what they have collected, over the past 20yrs.

In the days prior to eBay, sure, you could drive all over the place and maybe find a bargain here or there. But it was hard work. And the "finds" were scattered. And finding anything larger, like new in box whole vintage R/C kits (not just spare parts) - was virtually impossible. In those days (late 1990s) I actually believed that zero new in box R/C kits of the 1980s models, even existed anymore. I never saw one in many years of hunting through newspaper classifieds, and hobby shop consignments, in the 1990s. Once the last kits from the "golden era" were sold by stores in the early 1990s, that was it. The best I could find were lots of parts, and some used cars.

Then came eBay, which I joined in 1999... and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw whole vintage kits listed. :blink: 

And at that time, in those first few years, prices were lower than they are now. But they quickly rose. And I remember seeing certain buyers on eBay, in particular one chap named "ocbanker", who were extremely hard to beat in auctions. Routinely outbidding everyone, and driving prices ever higher, as they amassed collections. This was before the days even, of typischdesign.

Years later, I got in touch with ocbanker... a banker from (where else) Orange County, USA. He told me he had amassed a large collection, but later lost interest and sold them all off and bought a real sports car (Porsche, I think) with the proceeds. :lol:

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i find the same applys to 1.1 cars i watch the live mecam auction on u-tube and just the other day i aw some mug pay 100.000 dollas for a hemi engine and just the engine no gear box if i was to pay that for that i would want the gearbox also so you would have a number matching item it just staggers me how much spare money these people have lying around their is always a mug out their for everything with money to burn. 

the other day i was searching e-bay for a 58099 skyline kit nib and sure enough one poped up and he is asking £450 for it witch is ridiculous then he had the check to email me and offer £25 of the asking price no i really really really want this kit and have done since i sold mine back in the early 90's but i am no way gonna pay that for one.

i do agree you see 80'/90's released kits that have been used and they are for sale at stupid prices. now when we buy these kits 9 times out of 10 they will end up restored on the shelf ending up costing nearly the same to restore it.

i know a lot of members nock the re're item but they are a great way of getting what you would end up with anyway a new kit pus in most cases better designed and the original flaws ironed out.

now with the news of the audi btc re're i have seen used originals started poping up on e-bay already and again for silly money why do these folk think they can ask this king of money for them when you will get the re're for prob £120 admittingly it will prob end up on the tt-01 or 02 but in all truthly they wont release it on the original chassis unless they will charge over £200 for the kit and that will then only ending up selling to us who didn't buy one back in the day or had one and sold or smash'd it up.

i dont see what all the moaning is about the tt-01 or 02 chassis anyway as i dought they get used for racing just bashing and them chassis are more than good enough for that and if anyone want to use them for racing then they would use a far better chassis anyway and if it was me i would just buy the shell.

i cant wait for this bubble to burst on these rip of merchants. its easy really if something don't feel right then don't do it or in this case buy it 

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17 hours ago, speedy_w_beans said:

There was a local news story on the television last night about old Disney VHS tapes listed on eBay for $15,000 USD.  The sales pitch is something along the lines of how valuable these collectable tapes are or will be some day.  The "expert" they interviewed clearly stated not to fall for this, and to only buy things you will personally enjoy so there's no concern about making or losing money.

Oh wow- i still have a couple of these around - my three-year-old daughter looks them up and down. Maybe I can persuade her to make money out of them - she'll get a new doll and I'll buy 2 NIB Blazing Blazers with the rest.LOL
 

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Don't forget one main contributing factor: eBay itself is no longer new, no longer the brand new, never experienced buying tool it once used to be. 20 years ago, eBay was a worldwide garage sale kind of operation, zero commercial sellers, no buy-it-now, no worldwide shipping and no paypal. That eBay ceased to exist years ago. The "real" people who once used to buy and sell there, the non-commercial collector guys, have, by and large, moved on. It's just another online retailer these days. 

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It's supply and demand, if you don't like the price don't buy it. If everyone doesn't buy then the prices will drop but if people want it badly enough and do buy then that is setting the market price.

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I disagree.  While there are a ton of poeple that have no clue trying to sell cars for big numbers, there are still reasonable people out there that know what they have and know what it's really worth. 

I picked up a lightly used RC10 A Stamp for $90 shipped to my door about two months ago and Grasshoppers and Hornets are a dime a dozen. Problem is this. When the cars with reasonable prices are posted they get bought right away.  

Most listing now have a buy it now price and they get snapped up quick.  I personally spent about 10 mins every morning and ev3ening looking at newliy listed cars on Ebay. This is how I find my deals. 

 

 

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Its a bit mixed tho..

About 10-15 years ago i spend ages and piles of money to scour 1/16 tank parts from all over the world ( litterly )

Even more on buying -rare- 1/14 truck parts build in small series .

Just to be able to restore them or make what i wanted to do .     

Nearly un-ubtanium, even with money to spend to get to your goal.

 

Now.. i just checked.. i can buy every part tree out there ( even the insane rare one's ) who , where years ago .. - just not there anymore -

Yes.. they come at a price.. but.. - its there -.

There where only a few vintage part dealers , ( jr - rc ?? ) and one decent ball-bearing guy on ebay.. - that was it -

 

Now..  click-and-get ..

 

 

I never bought many cars from ebay, but .. parts..   i think ( quick look ) , the situation improved with the ability to restore cars / keep cars going. 

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2 hours ago, Nick G said:

It's supply and demand, if you don't like the price don't buy it. If everyone doesn't buy then the prices will drop but if people want it badly enough and do buy then that is setting the market price.

Simple as^^^^^... There are enough well off 40-50yr olds chasing their childhood memories of their beloved Tamiya XYZ

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On 5/21/2019 at 8:20 AM, topforcein said:

 

the other day i was searching e-bay for a 58099 skyline kit nib and sure enough one poped up and he is asking £450 for it witch is ridiculous then he had the check to email me and offer £25 of the asking price no i really really really want this kit and have done since i sold mine back in the early 90's but i am no way gonna pay that for one.

Several years ago I was searching for a nib 58099 and won a bid for one at reasonable money ...sub 300 usd. The seller claimed that on his way to the post office he dropped the kit in the street and it got run over by a bus. Everything destroyed supposedly.

Later that year I did find one for also reasonable money. 

Last month I won a black edition grasshopper for 20$. All I needed was the neon wheels. I was the only bidder and it and seller claims to have shipped it. It never showed up, opened a case, never replied. Name was something trainsandthings. 

Just goes to show how dirty some of these sellers are willing to play. 

I am glad the re-re's are slowly bringing back things like old body sets and decals. Imagine trying to find a TA02 hks skyline in todays market.

 

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