Has the arse has dropped out of the kit trading market?

[Babelfish]

Just my take (although other guys have commented on its too) but just lately it seems to me that hardly anyone is buying second hand (but unstarted) kits any more. Selling yes - but not buying.

There seems to be loads of tumbleweed blowing around not just here on the trading forum but on other modelling forums too. Lots of lines cast into the trading river - all baited with bargain models - but the fishes just aren't biting like they used to.

eBay is still moving, but even that's slower now. About all that seems to be really popular is the Wingnut Wings kits that have gone OOP. Other stuff is going for peanuts - if at all. Have even snagged a couple of good buys myself (armour).

I wonder why this is?

- Steve

 

[Nap]

Hi Steve

A good question like many I have kits I would like to get rid of but no takers and as you have at really good prices as well .

Short of "giving them away" which I have seen on eBay with prices starting at 0.99p and going for not much more

Perhaps there isn't the interest in older releases with so much new stuff coming out

Nap

 

[Chrisr]

Perhaps there isn't the interest in older releases with so much new stuff coming out

I think that's the crux of the matter.

There are so many superb sculpts coming on the market these days that unless a piece up for sale is of the same standard people won't be interested in them - unless its a rare old classic or it fills a niche interest for a particular modeller. Those that seem to go quickly for a good price are the OOP Almond Sculptures, Poste Militaire and Grieve figures - classics in their day, and classics today - these are now being re-released which shows just how good they were when first released.

Chris

 

[tomifune]

Over here its even worse. You don't sell anything on e-bay unless its under $30 and mostly just accessories sell, not figures. I get Squadron Models emails and you wouldn't believe the sales they have weekly and they're a retail shop. $350 1/16 scale armor going for $136!! Take another 30% off our special sale price and so on!

Bob

 

[tonydawe]

I'm always on the look out for figure and bust kits that I want (Mike French - Tiny Troopers Zulu figures - for example) but most of the stuff for sale on pF's Markets page is either painted or not interesting to me. I don't think the "arse has fallen out" of the market, but perhaps the post-Euro sell off will see some Grey Army demobilization.

 

[Forté]

Just had a look through the trading forum and one of the biggest put offs for me is being asked to pay using PayPal as 'friends and family' as this gives the buyer no protection if things go wrong.

Whenever I sell on eBay it's always paypal and postage is always signed for to protect myself against the old " I never received it" scam.

The whole recaster issue doesn't help either personally.

 

[jai]

why not buy old pieces? We are collectors of toy soldiers for years, most likely those pieces are already part of our gray army ...

 

[peedee]

Maybe its what I have always hoped for.
My pet gripe is people selling a £10 kit years later with the words OOP very rare attached and for twice the original value....it's still a £10 quality kit from a previous time, perhaps some people see the emperor's new clothes view of older items...they are not all worth the 'collectable' price.

That may be fine for some things but not, in most cases with what we make.
Just my point of view, and what I miss arguing about with Adrian Cowdry !

P

 

[Babelfish]

Just had a look through the trading forum and one of the biggest put offs for me is being asked to pay using PayPal as 'friends and family' as this gives the buyer no protection if things go wrong.

That's a very fair point and I must confess to being "guilty as charged" on the friends & family thing myself.

But from a sellers point of view it's understandable given that in most cases you're already knocking them out at a loss (sometimes a big loss), so you don't want to get clobbered by fees as well. As a seller, I have on a few occasions been contacted by guys uneasy about sending a F&F transfer and offering to add a quid or two to the asking price in order to cover the PP fee. I'm always happy to accommodate that.

There'll always be the occasional unreliable character, but based on experience I'd say that 99.9% of guys on here are absolutely on the level, and once you've dealt with someone a couple of times it becomes a non-issue anyway. As a buyer, I personally have no qualms about sending F&F payments to guys like Kev, Tommi, Brian in Denmark and numerous others on here, some of whom I've never met in person.

- Steve

 

[Alex]

But when you send money as a friend, it is the person sending the money who is now paying the additional fee. So not only you are paying this fee, but you have no protection whatsoever. I would do it with someone I know very well but would expect the same in exchange when time comes to prepare the shipping label.

 

[Babelfish]

Alex, you don't pay a fee if you are paying with money in your PP balance.

- Steve

 

[1969]

Alex, you don't pay a fee if you are paying with money in your PP balance.

- Steve

I think that only applies if within the same country, there is a charge if international.

 

[Ferris]

Recent experience selling some kits via PF tells me people actually are buying, even older or non-mainstream pieces. The price needs to be right though.
I have also bought quite a few figures on here, sometimes one I was actually looking for, sometimes just because I consider it a good price.
I think most collectors get greedy when tempted by a low price, or offers of buy 3 for the price of 2, or similar. I never understand offers at the same asking price as any other webshop offers...it does happen a lot.

Adrian

 

[Forté]

A lot of that is really up to the seller to set the price and take into account extra costs. Just like a shop would really. It's also why I use the auction part on eBay. Set the price a little lower than I'd honestly prefer and hope for the best. But making sure photos are clear and the description is as detailed as it needs to be so people know what they're buying.

 

[megroot]

I usely buy trough PF when I find a figure that fits in my periode.
But after the SMC show where I bought alot of figures, I gonna keep it quite. Otherwise SWHTBO is going crazy. She is the one who is getting the package from the mailman when I'm at work.

Marc

 

[Babelfish]

The price needs to be right though

Very true. It needs to be fair. The impression I'm getting though is that more and more buyers on forums seem to be expecting you to almost give stuff away.

Example: I recently posted up some plastic kits (armour/planes) on another site, one of which was a 40-quid kit (at full retail, excluding postage) for which I was asking 29 quid posted. More than fair. In response I got a PM from a guy asking if I'd accept a (quote) "cheeky offer" of 22 quid posted. I politely declined, and that was the last I heard from him.

All of us like a bargain, but some guys just take the piss.

- Steve

 

[Gary D]

I used to buy from the market forum but I have quit looking at it. I get frustrated when I open a link on something I like only to find out they'll only sell in the U.K. or the U.S. It's a waste of time and pisses me off. They claim it's because shipping is too expensive but I'm thinking it's just b.s. as I buy from the U.K. all the time and shipping isn't that bad at all. There's a good likelihood they didn't buy the kits in their home country to begin with. Maybe just laziness?

Gary D

 

[theBaron]

It goes in cycles, as do so many things.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Bailey]

Well, I still browse the for sale section of the forum to see what people are selling. The reason I haven't bought much recently is that (1) the seller is often overseas (non-US) in which case the cost of shipping tends to increase the price so that the kit is no longer that good a deal or (2) they aren't kits I'm looking for.

I've been active on this forum for the last 6 years. In that time, I've managed to collect many of the older kits on my wish list. Yeah, there are still some I'm keeping an eye out for, but it's a much smaller number than it used to be.

As for the shipping, I generally assume overseas shipping will be too expensive to make it worthwhile so I don't even bother asking how much it would be. If people want to share that on the for sale post (shipping to Europe is X, shipping to North America is Y) it might help. But, if the end result is that the figure is just a few dollars/euros/pounds cheaper than a new version, I'll probably keep waiting until I can find a second hand version in the US. Most of the time kits will sit around for months or years before I actually get to painting them, so it doesn't hurt me to wait. None of that is meant to come across as a complaint or criticism of prices. I'm just explaining why I haven't bought anything from sellers here for some time.

 

[swralph]

I've bought a few kits from a few of members on here,and have to say I've never had a problem.
I buy quite a few kits of ebay also and very often buy new kits from companies.
I've just spent a fair bit on Verlinden kits from Historex Agents,and a few of them have, made in Belgium on them.
Plus I've just sold a couple of painted busts on ebay.