Man......EBAY

[Finnsllc]

Its so frustrating looking through used listings. What a  @$#% Show. Prices are just way beyond what i think is reasonable. I was looking for a parts car, Yeah, I can buy a new kit for the same price. Where do you draw the line? What i mean is, Leta just use a hornet restore as an option. Parts are around, But a kit can be found for $80 so why restore? I mean, If anybody would buy a kit to retore that means you are breaking up a new kit to fix an old beat up one. But thats the only way it makes sense to do it in the first place. A used hornet is $50 to 75 more than a new kit!!

[svenb]

I've found that unless you can get a project tamiya for nothing it's never economically viable to restore one!. 

And the prices on ebay😯 ridiculous, there's a M06 with a Alfa body on well used for over £800! 

[Fabia130vRS]

Yup. Bunch of crappy used M05s, M03s, TT02s and a lot more... all prices are around 200$ with crap electronics and tires to throw away. 
 

I got to admit its the nice people from Japan selling those high prices.

[futureworks]

19 minutes ago, Fabia130vRS said:

got to admit its the nice people from Japan selling those high prices.

It’s become comical; here are a couple of cracking examples, just parts! 😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆

[67CamaroSS]

I've seen some of those high prices, especially for body kits.  Just give it time, nobody will buy them and they will come to their senses.

[Saito2]

When I was hunting for a used Traxxas Bandit, I ran into the same issue. Ebay, C-List and Marketplace all had used examples for more than what they were new. Do these things ever sell or are folks too dumb to shop around? One quick look at the Traxxas website will net you a new one with radio gear for $160. Why would I want a used one for over $200?

[El Gecko]

53 minutes ago, futureworks said:

It’s become comical; here are a couple of cracking examples, just parts! 😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆

These two may be a case of mistakenly inputting the Yen value rather than pounds, assuming the software would convert automatically?

[TurboRSR]

23 minutes ago, El Gecko said:

These two may be a case of mistakenly inputting the Yen value rather than pounds, assuming the software would convert automatically?

If you go to ebay.co.uk you will see it in GBP, if you go to ebay.com you will see it in USD and so on, the currency changes after the country code in the domain. 
There is a lot of ridiculously overprices RC items from Japanese sellers on eBay that never get sold. 

[Fabia130vRS]

13 minutes ago, TurboRSR said:

If you go to ebay.co.uk you will see it in GBP, if you go to ebay.com you will see it in USD and so on, the currency changes after the country code in the domain. 
There is a lot of ridiculously overprices RC items from Japanese sellers on eBay that never get sold. 

But to admit some of that stuff we havent seen here on the old continent for God knows how long.

I am tempted by this job lot and other items from the seller.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/133643258350
 

I asked him if he would sell off the body parts of the Mini Rover... he wouldn’t separate anything. Being a little bit annoyed by the prices... I told him he is selling used and damaged junk for above 200$, now I see he put a small discount on most if not all items  but still expensive, and some stuff is indeed rare

[isomer1]

I've been suspicious traders are gaming the eBay market algorithms. Regular 'store' prices from Tower etc now get listed as 'Great Buy' because the median prices for the items have been high for so long. If you look at the listings on yahoo auctions (where most in Japan sell internally) they're not nearly as insane as the current eBay prices - maybe 10% over what you'd want to pay but not terrible. I have never gone through the white rabbit express or other agencies, but you might look at them as an option for buying rare bits from Japan.

[Fabia130vRS]

2 minutes ago, isomer1 said:

I've been suspicious traders are gaming the eBay market algorithms. Regular 'store' prices from Tower etc now get listed as 'Great Buy' because the median prices for the items have been high for so long. If you look at the listings on yahoo auctions (where most in Japan sell internally) they're not nearly as insane as the current eBay prices - maybe 10% over what you'd want to pay but not terrible. I have never gone through the white rabbit express or other agencies, but you might look at them as an option for buying rare bits from Japan.

I have looked over ar buyee.jp and rare stuff going for acceptable prices, thats true

[futureworks]

27 minutes ago, isomer1 said:

If you look at the listings on yahoo auctions (where most in Japan sell internally) they're not nearly as insane as the current eBay prices

Here’s an example, £around £20 or $25 from Yahoo, but also listed by a re-seller on eBay for £131. The usual game is they list on eBay, and if a seller bites, they buy the item from Yahoo.jp, and make a great margin. I see this happening a lot with kits, parts and pretty much anything else you’d care to mention.

[mud4fun]

To be fair here, I have to mention that I got two brand new Dyna Run Super Touring motors from Japan last year, they were literally mint and they only cost me £70 for the two. Over here in Europe they were selling for £150 each! So it does pay to hold out and shop around. Also prices vary depending on demand. Way back in 2003 I bought up hundreds, if not thousands of Thundershot parts because at the time they were dirt cheap and people were more interested in SRB's etc. Then the re-re Thundershot based buggies clearly fed demand and the prices shot up so I now find it astonishing that parts I have (in the hundreds) are being sold for silly money. I suspect if I wait a few years the prices will go back down again. 

Also I bought, and I'm not kidding, about 12 used thundershots and 6 used Avante buggies for no more than £25-75 each back in 2003-2005. They were so cheap at the time that I was buying whole Avante chassis just to get a front gearbox or a front hub to keep my runner going. 

Current prices will dwindle again as demand falls post pandemic and once all the collectors have got their fill of the latest crop of re-re's?

Tamiya are also pushing prices up to a point that is quite frankly silly and in the long term IMHO is counter productive and will bite them on the bum. If they are charging £400'ish for a re-re Top Force Evo then I look at that price and think, hang on, I can get a Schumacher CAT L1 Evo for not much more and that is a modern buggy with full manufacturer technical and parts support. I had the same last year when faced with what to buy myself for xmas. Did I go for a re-re Tamiya or buy a new modern 2WD, I chose to get a Schumacher Cougar instead and don't regret it one bit. I am now enlightened into what modern buggies offer and am even more relectant to spend silly money on Tamiya so they need to be careful. They are potentially pushing people onto other manufacturers and once you shift it is difficult to come back. They need to sort out their after sales parts supply issue ASAP and get some better support in place or they face a declining market. I've been a hardcore Tamiya fan for 50 yrs but am now weary of their poor after sales support and stupid pricing policy.

[Problemchild]

I know what you mean 

demand is high 

supply is low 

There are bargains but few and far between 

I picked up a full painted neo scorcher shell and wing before Xmas for £8

going back 2yrs ago I picked up a bear hawk with brushless combo for £90, a grasshopper 2 for £46, a box of almost 2 falcons for £100 and a Baja King for £60.

Lots of people are at home without having to commute and are already seeing their family too much and they need a hobby which isn’t to go out drinking - getting back into Tamiya makes sense 

I think that we are all looking every day says a lot

JJ

[Sprocket]

Kits, used, and parts are incredibly high priced on EBay!

[Killajb]

I used to search Ebay for used models and hunt for parts to restore them..  had up to 100 cars at one point.  I sold off the lot and started over a few years later.  I've only purchased new kits for the most part. 

I'm glad I've grown out of that "buy and restore" phase to be completely honest.  When I finally completed a restored model, it was rare that I could actually run or enjoy it as the bits were so brittle that I always feared something would crack and fall off, even moving it around from the shelf! 

The pricing for things these days has swelled way beyond my reasoning.  I absolutely love this hobby, but not the point of obsession at which my quality of life will suffer due to endless searching or overpaying for an item just because I have to have it.  No thanks.  Of my 20 car collection, 3 were purchased used from the LHS because they were super good deals and I couldn't pass them up.  I'm fine with that. 

I will hold onto my earnings and love the models I've got I suppose.  If something special comes along and isn't priced above what I think it reasonable, then I'll try to grab one.

 

 

[Sprocket]

I would love to buy and restore, but I too have been priced out. 

[Fabia130vRS]

6 hours ago, futureworks said:

Here’s an example, £around £20 or $25 from Yahoo, but also listed by a re-seller on eBay for £131. The usual game is they list on eBay, and if a seller bites, they buy the item from Yahoo.jp, and make a great margin. I see this happening a lot with kits, parts and pretty much anything else you’d care to mention.

 

the british secret servis strikes success again!

we are on you, blody Japs!  

Wow. This opens my eyes. Thank you

[futureworks]

3 hours ago, Fabia130vRS said:

the british secret servis strikes success again!

we are on you, blody Japs!  

Wow. This opens my eyes. Thank you

Yup, it seems to be pretty standard practice due to Japanese auction sites not being open to foreign bidders (unless you use a proxy like buyee or Jauce). I’m sure a lot of the items on eBay from Japanese sellers are not owned by those individuals when listed. Most yahoo.jp and in-country auctions tend to be open bid auctions, rather than buy it now. What I’ve seen is eBay sellers from japan notice new items being listed on yahoo, which they think will have a margin for selling internationally. They basically copy the images and create an eBay listing, and then bid on the yahoo item. If the eBay item sells quickly, they know how much they can bid on yahoo to make a margin. If they don’t win the yahoo auction, but the eBay listing sells, they just cancel the sale. 

[Problemchild]

There are still some cheapish 2nd hand kits out there. 

they are just about 25% more expensive 

I just think competition for lots of higher so auctions go higher and this BIN prices are inflated 

JJ

 

[Juls1]

About 6 months ago Ebay got flooded with overpriced tamiya items from Japan. I ended up stopping looking because 50% of the listings where this overpriced stuff from Japan. 

[TwistedxSlayer]

17 hours ago, svenb said:

I've found that unless you can get a project tamiya for nothing it's never economically viable to restore one!. 

And the prices on ebay😯 ridiculous, there's a M06 with a Alfa body on well used for over £800! 

I whole heartedly know this!

[Sweatpants]

I have used sendico a lot lately to track down rare kits.  MANY of them pop up on ebay from the same seller at double or more in price.  You have to be so careful with it.  Sendico is challenging because the listing names are terrible.  but the deals are way better.  this last round i got

yokomo mr4tc rr basically rtr, never run

trf415msxx reinhart nearly ready to run, never used

tb evo3 never run, with a lot of hop ups

ta05 vdf gold edition with all gold hop ups

all of it to my door in canada for 850 canadian.

 

most of these are NEVER seen in canada and if they are, id pay 5-700 just for the vdf alone.

 

EBAY on the other hand is impossible.  i bought titanium hinge pins for my ta03 resto along with a set of light weight blue axles for about 55 dollars.  the next day the same seller had the ti pins at 140 dollars and a pack of two sets of axles for 100 bucks.  Got a set of trf shocks, with tech racing caps.  33 dollars.  similar shocks a few days later, 250 dollars.  250 for used trf shocks from 20 years ago.

 

 

 

 

[Hobgoblin]

Now, I have had an experience that has had me really going "man... ebay"

A seller had multiple items I wanted but I am near the knuckle this month so I basically chanced a lowball offer on a motor and transmitter, they responded positively with a fair but slightly too high for me price. I apologised for being that guy and explained I couldn't budge. Made my decision and paid full price for the motor only... 

A package came today and inside was the motor, super chuffed! 



But the box was rather large and there was something underneath the motor... 



Wow! Occasionally lady luck smiles on you. The seller absolutely blew me away by sending the transmitter too! Messaged to say thank you and offered to pay when I can and they replied confirming it was a gift. I will admit I got a little choked up. My wedding should have been next month but has been cancelled, my birthday is about a week away so I've been feeling a little down about how I've just totally drifted through a year and nothing is falling into place. Really nice act of generosity and kindness has set me right back up.  I've had loads of really positive experiences with ebay but this one was absolutely perfect! 

Just to add a bit of balance to this thread, you still can find honest and genuine sellers! 

[Problemchild]

That’s awesome 

I bought a technigold off a guy and he was local so dropped it round 

he was looking at my collection and said he was about to order a 3D printed A5 part for the Terra Scorcher - I had 2 spare so I gave him one. Then he showed me the back of his van that was full of Tamiya parts and was saying if I needed anything include always ask 

there are some really genuine people out there 

JJ