eBay madness

[andy0113]

Hello all

Im not sure if this counts as Ebay madness, but I do feel slightly mad to be selling all my minifigs anyway for those who may be interested, Im currently selling a large number of minfigs on Ebay. There are some quite rare ones in there, Im sure the collection would be of use to someone:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=170416878818

Im also selling a Cloud City set and 4483 AT-AT!

Apologies if this isnt in the correct forum.... its been a while since Ive been here!

Andy

[Zorbas]

Whether this is real or there has been a mistake it's still pure madness.

Click!

[Karto]

Whether this is real or there has been a mistake it's still pure madness.

Click!

We European people use the coma to separate the decimals and the point to separate the 10³ - which is the correct standard, used in science. The Americans and the British do it their way: The exact opposite. One million is written as 1,000,000.00. That's also how it works on eBay. I had the misfortune to bid on ebay.co.uk when I was an unexperienced member. I made a bid of 70,10 £ and it came out as 7010... The seller was very kind, thank god. I pointed this out on the forum of ebay.com, asking if it would be a problem to accept both dot and coma as decimal separators or to link the use of it to the profile of a member. The only answer I got was 'you should have known', 'pay! you bastard' and 'I like belgian waffels'. It was quite funny because I knew exactly I would get this kind of short-minded answers

This German guy probably made the same mistake.

I don't think container lorry would go for more than ~600 , the maersk trucks though sell amazingly 2000 - 3000$..

Both Maersk trucks are quite easy to find in MISB / MIB. I have seen several of them on eBay and Brickling over the years (especially from the UK). They are still very rare and worthy sets. I have however not yet seen the 1525 Container Lorry for sale in MISB. Even crazy Pier from Milano doesn't have it (He probably has the most impressive Lego collection of sets from the 80s in the world, even better than the Lego vault in Billund from what I can see).

I have the 1525 truck twice and the only place I have seen it for sale was on ebay.be (atleast 4 times over the past 5 years) and by some Belgian sellers on Bricklink. I got one when I was about 10. I'm wondering if it was sold only in Belgium.

[CP5670]

Bidding on eBay has become nightmarish...people having crappy listings where you don't get enough info or you get an item that wasn't as described, those evil snipe bidders, and people paying ridiculous prices for sets they could get cheaper elsewhere (i.e. an 8258 Crane Truck sold for over $200 when it was available on lego.com and not on backorder). Bidding has become mad, rushing, and fearsome fight to get things anymore.

Yeah, it's especially odd how currently available sets regularly go for more than their MSRP prices. The only explanation I can think of is that the sets aren't available in some countries and people want to import them.

I can't really tell if ebay prices on the whole are higher than they used to be, although there was a time when they were always cheaper than BL, which is not the case anymore. The prices can be very erratic, and sometimes the same seller sells two identical sets a few weeks apart for $100+ price differences. I got most of the things I wanted 7 or 8 years ago, back when ebay was less popular. It was also easier to snipe back then, since few people did it with the non-real time interface and slower internet connections back then.

We European people use the coma to separate the decimals and the point to separate the 10³ - which is the correct standard, used in science.

You're right that the European convention on this is different, but I have never seen it done that way in scientific contexts, regardless of the country. The points are always used as decimal separators there.

[Zorbas]

We European people use the coma to separate the decimals and the point to separate the 10³.

This German guy probably made the same mistake.

That's exactly what I thought at first, being a european myself. Since the separation system is different in some countries, I kept examining the number in case I was wrong.

The point is that some other items listed from the same seller have a buy-it-now price that although that is very high, it seems that the separation that was used wasn't a mistake but was put intentionally. I'm guessing that from the numbers forming there.

[Karto]

You're right that the European convention on this is different, but I have never seen it done that way in scientific contexts, regardless of the country. The points are always used as decimal separators there.

I have almost never seen the point used as decimal separator in Belgium, France, Germany or The Netherlands during my studies or on my work. If I remember right, the only time I encountered this was within an American book of thermodynamics. The comma (and not the point) as decimal separator is part of the larger standardized metric system (SI) - which is still the standard in science (and ISO printing btw). The use of the point is only 'tolerated'. Another issue is that the point is commonly used as multiplication symbol in mathematics instead of '*' or 'x'.

I would like to know in which European countries, besides the English-speaking ones, you've seen the use of the point in science!? The only ones using it are from the Commonwealth, former colonies or nations that have been 'industrialized' by the Brit (ok, that's with China, India and the US about half of the world's population...).

Edited December 10, 2009 by Karto

[CP5670]

I have almost never seen the point used as decimal separator in Belgium, France, Germany or The Netherlands during my studies or on my work. If I remember right, the only time I encountered this was within an American book of thermodynamics. The comma (and not the point) as decimal separator is part of the larger standardized metric system (SI) - which is still the standard in science (and ISO printing btw). The use of the point is only 'tolerated'. Another issue is that the point is commonly used as multiplication symbol in mathematics instead of '*' or 'x'.

I would like to know in which European countries, besides the English-speaking ones, you've seen the use of the point in science!? The only ones using it are from the Commonwealth, former colonies or nations that have been 'industrialized' by the Brit (ok, that's with China, India and the US about half of the world's population...).

At least all the English language material I've seen from Europe is like this. I regularly come across math and EE papers by European and Russian authors (my thesis advisor is from Belgium, in fact), and I have never seen a comma used for a decimal separator in any of them. Maybe this is something that varies with the field.

Looking over this article, there is no global consensus on it. SI accepts both conventions to be valid, and Wikipedia says the dot should be used in its own articles.

The dot used for multiplication is positioned in the middle, not at the bottom. In fact, mathematicians often don't write anything at all for multiplication, and two things written next to each other are interpreted to mean some form of multiplication.

[Joe H]

So, how can this person even think they're going to get this price for such a common and readily available set?

Castle Tower Raid

[dhaas06]

So, how can this person even think they're going to get this price for such a common and readily available set?

Castle Tower Raid

If you thought that was bad, take a look at this one which leaves me dumbfounded:

Hoth Rebel Base

All I can hope is that it's some kind of joke, with the price being roughly 85 times the actual current value of the set.

EDIT: Sure enough, it was a decimal mistake, and the seller has since fixed the error. That's much better than over $12,000 USD

Edited December 20, 2009 by dhaas06

[jamtf]

If you thought that was bad, take a look at this one which leaves me dumbfounded:

Hoth Rebel Base

All I can hope is that it's some kind of joke, with the price being roughly 85 times the actual current value of the set.

Another seller who made a mistake with the decimals separator. I think the seller really wants $124.89 for the set. In case of doubt or if you are interested, I would suggest to ask him right away and I am quite confident he well revise his eBay advertisement accordingly since the prices of his other items seem to be quite normal.

[Joe H]

Another seller who made a mistake with the decimals separator. I think the seller really wants $124.89 for the set. In case of doubt or if you are interested, I would suggest to ask him right away and I am quite confident he well revise his eBay advertisement accordingly since the prices of his other items seem to be quite normal.

Well, I know that's not the case with the Tower Raid , which is still a big rip-off, hah.

[The Cobra]

Isn't 130 euros for a MISB 6035 a little too much?

[Dennimator]

Isn't 130 euros for a MISB 6035 a little too much?

Nope. The lowest BL price for a MISB one is $200, so they are all expensive.

[TechnicJuan]

Props to crowK, but this is crazy.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Custom-Lego-Techni...Z270509316508QQ

[Enilder]

Props to crowK, but this is crazy.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Custom-Lego-Techni...Z270509316508QQ

price is quite out there for me but i am sure that it's worth it to them. i wish it comes in yellow instead of red. still awesome though!

[Dennimator]

Props to crowK, but this is crazy.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Custom-Lego-Techni...Z270509316508QQ

That price is actually pretty reasonable, considering all the work, BL orders etc. he must´ve put on it.Those parts can´t be very cheap, also there comes shipping, probably from multiple sellers...

I don´t think more than around 40-50% of that is pure win, and then he has put down a lot of time building it, making the instructions, etc.

The fact that he sells a ROM of the instructions for $25 is outrageous though. For that price the least you expect is to get proper, printed instructions. A more reasonable price for a ROM would be around $10.

[Broken Bricks]

Sorry to go somewhat "off topic" here, but since I am a new member I was unable to create a thread to ask this question.

How much does overseas shipping to the US cost?

I am considering buying a set on e-bay from the UK but I am not sure about the shipping costs.

I plan on contacting the seller about it, but since I never purchased from another country I wouldn't know if he gave me an absurd figure.

If any of you could give me a ballpark cost (in USD) of shipping from Europe, particularly the UK, I would appreciate.

[Joe H]

Sorry to go somewhat "off topic" here, but since I am a new member I was unable to create a thread to ask this question.

How much does overseas shipping to the US cost?

I am considering buying a set on e-bay from the UK but I am not sure about the shipping costs.

I plan on contacting the seller about it, but since I never purchased from another country I wouldn't know if he gave me an absurd figure.

If any of you could give me a ballpark cost (in USD) of shipping from Europe, particularly the UK, I would appreciate.

Hey - if the eBay seller has a decent rating, I don't see a real reason to distrust them. However, to get a ballpark figure you could try checking USPS.com and navigate to the "calculate postage" section, select international, and then try to gauge the weight of the item and how it will be shipped. Without the weight and size of the package, though, shipping is rather hard to estimate. Not to mention, this method will prove to be somewhat inherently inaccurate since the seller won't be using USPS to ship the item.

Edited January 22, 2010 by Joe H

[Dennimator]

Chexck out this auction - a 30004 Battle Droid with STAP:

for $20!

That´s just crazy, over 2x the BL price...

Edited January 23, 2010 by Dennimator

[CP5670]

Hey - if the eBay seller has a decent rating, I don't see a real reason to distrust them. However, to get a ballpark figure you could try checking USPS.com and navigate to the "calculate postage" section, select international, and then try to gauge the weight of the item and how it will be shipped. Without the weight and size of the package, though, shipping is rather hard to estimate. Not to mention, this method will prove to be somewhat inherently inaccurate since the seller won't be using USPS to ship the item.

Even if you look at the right carrier's website, that might not give an accurate estimate anymore. I've noticed that many ebay sellers have hiked up their shipping charges in the last few years, for both domestic and international shipping. I don't think this has anything to do with actual shipping prices, but is a way to reduce seller fees that ebay increased a lot in 2008 (the fee is a percentage of the item price without shipping). The sellers technically aren't quoting a false cost since the price is for "shipping and handling," and handling can cost anything.

Edited January 23, 2010 by CP5670

[Joe H]

Even if you look at the right carrier's website, that might not give an accurate estimate anymore. I've noticed that many ebay sellers have hiked up their shipping charges in the last few years, for both domestic and international shipping. I don't think this has anything to do with actual shipping prices, but is a way to reduce seller fees that ebay increased a lot in 2008 (the fee is a percentage of the item price without shipping). The sellers technically aren't quoting a false cost since the price is for "shipping and handling," and handling can cost anything.

True, I was just responding to his question, of what a typical shipping cost should be around. With that information, you can then decide if a seller's estimate is reasonable or not.

Edited January 23, 2010 by Joe H

[legoman960]

I was looking on ebay for imperial soldiers and I found these blue coats for sale and it seemed like a really good deal. I can't get them but thought I should tell some people who could

heres the link

Click here.

[Broken Bricks]

This post is a contradiction...

On ebay things are only a good deal as long as you are the only one that knows about it. The minute someone else finds out it stops being a good deal.

Oh wait...are you the person selling these?

[xilefsson]

This post is a contradiction...

On ebay things are only a good deal as long as you are the only one that knows about it. The minute someone else finds out it stops being a good deal.

Oh wait...are you the person selling these?

that's an very interesting thought...

[Ratshot]

Oh wait...are you the person selling these?

I doubt legoman960 is Michael Freedmen , I've bought off this guy in the past and I don't think hes very cheap

Edited February 14, 2010 by Ratshot