TOPIC:

I was browsing through ebay today and it occurred to me that others on this forum were probably doing the same. It also occurred to me that we could very likely end up competing bidding for items, driving the price up, even if we were not interested in the whole lot.
An example is this "hybrid" model:

I'm after a SRB gearbox, but not interested in the XR311 stuff. I was wondering how we could handle such a situation.
The conventional way would be to buy it and re-sell the unwanted bits, paying fees to ebay and paypal twice in the process.
Now, I am not looking to break any ebay rules here, but I wondered if there was another way.
Thoughts?

Martin wrote:

but I wondered if there was another way.
Thoughts?

Yup there is

I'd say with the time & possibly expense of contacting everyone to check if they intend to bid or not, or organise something, you'd either miss the auction, or make up the bidding cost saving in phone calls/texts, & I think you'd be more than lucky to ever manage to get all involved organised at once.

The only real solution to keeping sales/buys/swaps "cheap between friends" would be to put an ad on here saying you intend to list on Ebay next week, or something like that. However, this wouldn't address cases where the seller is A.N.Other, or you spotted the listing with less than a few days to run, or those mis-listed "Buy Now"s that sometimes occur.
I have from time to time, spotted Ebay listings that I know would be of interest to someone else, & let them know, but only refrain from bidding myself once they have confirmed they intend to do so. Doing this on a large scale just wouldn't work.

You're kind of at the mercy of hoping everyone's on line reading messages/email whilst you're browsing Ebay, or have everyone's phone number, a free call plan, & of course, enough time to do the contacting (Only to be outbid by A.N.Other2).

If you decide to have this particular one, I might be interested in the remains if they're cheap enough, but to be honest, out of all the SRB junk-piles there's been recently, they've all been making around 60GBP. Buy it & break it for spares to recoup costs?

Martin wrote:

I was browsing through ebay today and it occurred to me that others on this forum were probably doing the same. It also occurred to me that we could very likely end up competing bidding for items, driving the price up, even if we were not interested in the whole lot.
An example is this "hybrid" model:
...
I'm after a SRB gearbox, but not interested in the XR311 stuff. I was wondering how we could handle such a situation.
The conventional way would be to buy it and re-sell the unwanted bits, paying fees to ebay and paypal twice in the process.
Now, I am not looking to break any ebay rules here, but I wondered if there was another way.
Thoughts?

Interesting post ... and several issues there...

In nature, the fiercest competition comes from ones own species - I don't see why Tamiya collecting would be any different.

I buy in one of two ways on eBay - "Buy it Now"s where the the price is a good (i.e. low) one, or sniping - where I put in what I'm prepared to pay at the very last minute - neither of those methods push the price up.

I know some people badword about sniping - their rationale is that the sniper should have followed eBay's guideline about putting in the maximum your are prepared to pay at the earliest opportunity, so everyone else has a chance to respond ... but TBH I have no sympathy - they lost because either they didn't bid high enough, or they didn't follow that guideline either - and bid less than they were prepared to pay.

As for paying eBay/Papyal twice - well, I'm with you on that, IMO they have a virtual monopoly and abuse that charging too much and continually increasing fees ... but on the other hand, your chances of getting ripped off are lower than with other internet sale methods, and a lot more people see your listings - before that audience existed, collectibles had a much lower value.

I'd caution you about thinking there are bits there to resell - the body looks worthless (with the possible exception of the seats & fire extinguisher, if you can get them out cleanly), the chassis parts (the ones that haven't been butchered) have so little value you'd be lucky to cover the cost of mailing them ... the XR311 wheels and tyres have some value - but one of them has been badly glued ... I wouldn't bid more than you're prepared to pay for the gearbox - IMO with the postage cost there, the starting bid is at or very close to it's actual value.

I hadn't actually looked at the listing properly, I didn't realise the chassis is half XR311 half SRB, so no, it's barely worth the starting bid... I've no idea why, but the XR311 & Cheetah are nowhere near as popular as SRBs, & despite the rarity of good spares for them, they never make much money (I've just landed 4x boxed XR311 wheels & tyres for 12quid, had another decent pair a few weeks back for 3quid). As far as I've seen, it's really only decent original torsion bars that generate any interest.

The Rough Rider rear wheels aren't worth squat (Gave up trying to sell mine, couldn't even cover listing costs).
If the UJs are any good, they're worth a few quid, but more likely they'll be shot...

Just a suggestion, but is there anything stopping you dremelling out the rear bracket on a later/re-re case to look the part? Or are we on an originality mission with this one? I have got my nose to the ground for parts for you, (There was an ideal candidate tonight, but no time to do anything about it) but like I said above, the comms to organise this sort of thing take too long for scoring bargains - the bidding usually all happens in the last few minutes, so you're kidding yourself if it looks cheap with a few hours to go...

Well I started out aiming for originality at least on the main components, but I'm rapidly changing my mind
I just bought this .

It's a real shame it's not the other lug that's broken as I have that side of the box in good nick. For some reason all the MkI gearboxes I've seen are broken on that side. I just have to work out how to fix it now (chemical metal?).

Chemical metal ain't very strong or sticky. If you're planning to use it, I suggest you make a wire support "hoop" to do the mechanical work & act as a support for the goo, which should be treated as "for looks" only.
To do your "hoop", use stiff wire, preferably stainless (Look for stainless bicycle spokes on Ebay, they're cheap & have lots of other uses). Bend it around a drill bit of the same diameter as the wishbone pin or cage screw (Whichever lug it is you're fixing), so that the pin/screw will be bearing on the wire not the goo. Drill 2x holes in the remains of the lug, the same size as the wire, 1x hole either side of the pin-hole/tapping. CA glue the wire hoop into the holes. It's a good idea to "bruise" the wire hoop with a pair of side-cutters, to create more of a key for the goo. Degrease everywhere the goo is intended to stick, with acetone (Nail varnish remover) or cellulose thinners, or petrol & make sure it's properly dry before putting the goo on.

Incidentally, American "JB Weld" is far superior to UK's "Davids/Unibond Chemical Metal", so if you can lay your hands on that, it will be much better/stronger (Be warned it's an overnight cure time though) - if you find some, let me know, cos I've run out...

eddrick wrote:

...
Incidentally, American "JB Weld" is far superior to UK's "Davids/Unibond Chemical Metal", so if you can lay your hands on that, it will be much better/stronger (Be warned it's an overnight cure time though) - if you find some, let me know, cos I've run out...

I am going on holiday to the 'States/Canada ..... not until July 2013 though

You can buy it here, but not many places stock it (Or have heard of it!). It's also relatively expensive, but it's well worth the extra cash

eddrick wrote:

... barely worth the starting bid....

It's up to thirty-six quid (+ twelve for postage) with 7 minutes to go

I notice the seller has changed the description which may or may not have influenced the price. I don't think this is possible once there are bids on an item, so I guess it's a good reason to put a (low) bid on any item that has been listed inadequately.

Edit: Sold for