Another Seacrest Auction

[bob turner]

I can so longer than you can.

[E7]

Say it ain't so Joe!

[up148]

You guys are just a bunch of so and so's.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

.

[up148]

Really, I was looking for another usage of "so" as a novel extension of the frivolity that was taking place. One of us misunderstood what was taking place, maybe me.......but I don't know.

[bob turner]

Lemme see if this works:

I can only hope so for next month, :wink:

That was Martin a page ago. I have no idea what he was hoping for that would last only a month. It really wasn't important, but somehow it generated a few extra posts.

[ScaleCraft]

Somehow this four-year-old Seacrest Auction thread keeps resurrecting itself.
Near as I can tell, the purpose is to report the massive increase in pricing from original 'winners" now sellers.
Very strange.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

.

[sarge]

...the massive increase in pricing...
Very strange.

I'm not convinced this so-called huge spike is real, other than asking (not real selling) prices on the 'bay and the price for new Chinese plastic, what little there is of it. Other than a few odd pieces which I don't own anyway, I'm not seeing my train portfolio going up "massively" let alone keeping pace with the cost of food and energy, so I guess I'll continue ruining the fictitious value with torch and airbrush, then play with them all.

So much of this huge increase is eBay dreaming and idle chatter, it seems.

Yes, very strange and sounds suspiciously like the hopes and dreams of disappointed collectors trying to talk their portfolios up (much like the classic car people).

[Rufus T. Firefly]

.

[sarge]

As one who is buying and selling in that genre, I find those anomalous rather than indicative. For every western road OMI one-of-25 piece that finishes someone's collection in Aspen, I can point to a hundred brass import pieces that just stay where they are, KTM stuff, older OMI, even domestics like well-done CLW and Kemtron are very approachable and affordable and flat in price. Much like the classic car market, a few models from a few marques go stupid at auction, but the vast majority won't get the owner anything like a return on investment let alone some meteoric profit.

There always will be Overland UP turbines and Oriental tunnel motors just like there always will be Ferrari Dinos. Neither are indicative of a general ballooning in market prices when one of the icons people like to hold up as examples sells for stupid money.

Now, Chinese plastic with all the IT is another story, but thats because of trade issues with China, not because of some increase in collector value. Different kettle, different fish. Are we all getting rich or going to the cleaners' depending on if we are buying O scale or selling it?

Don't see it. Not yet. I can sell for even money and buy for even money over the age of this thread anyway.

[robert.]

Profits may not be all that high.
Did the Seacrest auction price include commissions?
Did the Seacrest auction price include shipping and insurance?
eBay takes 15 percent from sellers. On everything now. Tax, shipping and insurance.
If you take those thing into account. You would need to see 35-45 percent over prices from Seacrest. Before a profit is realized.
to be fair i do not know what commission was charged during the Seacrest auction. Most auctioneers get 18-22 percent in house bidding. with 20-23 online bidding and another 3 percent for credit card payments.

[bob turner]

Dunno. We have watched doorstops escalate, but there are still bargains to be had. Check out Carey's latest acquisition - he did ok - on the other hand we watched an Adams Diesel top $300. I like these things, but over fifty bucks is pushing it.

I am not buying anyway. The Greek wishes I was selling - nope.

[Chris Webster]

Somehow this four-year-old Seacrest Auction thread keeps resurrecting itself.
Near as I can tell, the purpose is to report the massive increase in pricing from original 'winners" now sellers.
Very strange.

I've bumped this thread a couple of times because I enjoy looking at nice models and figure other users might find what I'm seeing interesting. I am not actually buying or selling brass myself.

I can point to a hundred brass import pieces that just stay where they are, KTM stuff, older OMI, even domestics like well-done CLW and Kemtron are very approachable and affordable and flat in price.

One thing I really like about O is how well old models and old tooling holds up - there are a bunch of 25+ year old models that only need modern electronics to be added to them in order for them to be *better* than current production models coming out of the factories today. I'm thinking of stuff like the Red Caboose Geep with P&D mechanisms & trucks, the P&D F-units, tower-drive OMIs, Pecos, Oriental, PSC stuff, etc, etc., etc.

Even Erik Stott's/MMW's pilot models are not that more accurate than the 30-year old stuff; IMHO, Erik is just mostly adding more features (working doors, an engine behind the open doors, working fans, etc.)

HO guys who bought models 30 years ago have seen their models obsoleted by better tooled models at least 2 or 3 times over the decades.

[ScaleCraft]

HO guys who bought models 30 years ago have seen their models obsoleted by better tooled models at least 2 or 3 times over the decades.

At Least.
Look at sale prices on some of that.