I've started adding web links to sites I feel serve as a good ebay alternative. Nothing against the bay per se, but there are many other avenues out there to procure that special car that you're lusting for.
I recently placed an order at www.slotcarsite.net . There are many cars available here, all brands, and interestingly, some VERY dfficult to find cars and accessories. The cars are priced accordingly, but it's nothing to be surprised about. Happily, I discovered some real bargains as seen in the photo. Both Porsches, while not end of the world hard, are just not readily available. Ditto for the the black track McLaren with no wing holes.
My experience with this site was very positive, and I hope yours will be as well.
- The WOW factor: Super Rare cars available
- The Good: Shipping, price, shipping time, overall response time, fixed price
- The Could be Improved: Online ordering is via email, no search mechanism
- The Bad: Paypal fees charged back
I've mentioned all of the above, so perhaps these things will be considered and improved upon as time allows. Despite these, the site is a refreshing change and they are doing a very nice job of it as well as constantly listing new products.
Check them out here and let them know we sent ya. They are one of the FEW sites out there linking to us, and that alone is a very, very good thing!!
SlotCarSite.net
Submitted by Aussie Ho on Mon, 11/24/2008 - 03:30.My prayers have finally been answered. What an unbelievable site. Now all I need to do is find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow..
He IS a Good Joe, er Bob
Submitted by mgbbrown on Mon, 11/24/2008 - 19:52.Angel; I had the opportunity to speak with Robert, or Bob Lucasiewicz today for the first time and found him to be polite, friendly, courteous, and honest. I hope that from our initial conversation he will call me when he has something I need. His call was to expedite an order I wanted to place for an Aurora electronic lap counter from 1964 with an NOS console and excellent used terminal counter track, a Mura Bat Pan which was a vintage brass underchassis weight pan for Thunderjets which lowers the center of gravity, and a package of AJ's Hot Shots, used to make an hollow axle independent front suspension in the late 1960's. He was fixing to have some elective same-day minor surgery (as a past surgical nurse this is a puzzling concept as how one can elect to undergo such pain and if so what is minor so please pray for the man). I purchased a matched set of Towerstat R-30 controllers which were rated as the top controller around 1970 as pistol grip controllers took over the slot car world by storm. These are pretty much difficult to come by and work flawlessly. Absolutely as described and in their original boxes unused from Day One. To add to this discussion, Bob emailed me just now to let me know he got the package out today and managed to also test the lap counter to confirm that it is working! Now THAT is going the extra mile. I plan to write a review of his services as soon as the lap counter is in place at Riverside. He is a WELCOME relief. Ebay now has sellers listing Paypal as an electronic payment option. I have NEVER used it as a seller until last week and I was skeptical at best. I do and will request that my future US ebay auction winners pay me with a US money order or cashier's check, regardless of what ebay wants. Since I have elected to sell to US bidders only-no offense but I sell rare rally bits worth MUCH MONEY, they CAN and WILL get a cashier's check or money order if they want it from me. My first Paypal fed auction was sniped by a guy of suspectable background who said he paid me by credit card. I fired back with a forward of the Paypal confirmation of NO payment. He replied sorry, but I had to activate the card. Needless to say I suspected fraud, but in the end he paid and paid very promptly. I shipped with a tracking confirmation, insurance, and delivery confirmation and will take no chances. I know from experience that once a package crosses the Canadian border, it cannot be traced by these methods. I also make it a point to purchase from individuals with a 100% ebay feedback record. This again is no guarantee but does give some measure of credability. As a buyer of nonexistant MG parts for my restoration, ebay has been a blessing as the world is now your parts store. But at the same time, you are competing against the whole world too. ebay has served to also drive up the collector car market along with the other auction houses off-line. In my opinion it is an oft expensive alternative. So what will I remember about ebay? That $2.98 solid rivet Aurora AC Cobra, That historic rally plaque from Washington state dating to 1964 for fifty cents, a VERY difficult to find Les Leston key fob for five bucks worth a C-note and a half, and a cursing seller who sold a rusted out vintage Thermos as mint, which was to be shown in my indeed mint rally car once finished. Yes, I mailed it back to her and yes, she was expelled from the ebay community. God Bless! Tony
mgbbrown
Unfortunately
Submitted by Admin on Mon, 11/24/2008 - 21:20.I'm not sure if this is just Powersellers or across the board, but as of Jan 15th 2009 I have to remove checks and money orders as accepted forms of payment from my listings or ebay will remove the listing.
The Autoworld McLaren
Submitted by mgbbrown on Tue, 11/25/2008 - 23:24.Ray; If I EVER had an AFX car this would be it! A no wing Oscar track car would be my choice of a one and only car. God Bless! Tony
mgbbrown
We Need Phred
Submitted by Admin on Tue, 11/25/2008 - 23:32.A decal set that covers the boring AFX graphic and looks more like the real car is definitely in order (+ helmet, sponsors, etc). Add some mirrors and a rollbar, paint the stack black and it would come a lot closer to looking like the real thing. Nice part is, the gray graphic car is fairly common.
Thank God
Submitted by Hawkmoon on Mon, 11/24/2008 - 05:38.At first I thought E bay was great! Then came along paypal, an EBay Subsidiary. I thought this was a good Idea at first, I was sucked in by their marketing, promising secure banking. Paypal is good until things go wrong, what you have to understand is they are not a traditional banking institution but a web based and generated banking institution. Traditional banking has certain ethics and codes based on hundreds of years of operation. We trust in this tradition to a very large percent, I think wisely so. Paypal on the other hand in that it is web based has found that it is in a legal loophole and immune to most banking laws and standards. I am sure as they have grown they have employed the right people to advise them as to how to operate but have also see their unique position in the banking world and are now exploiting it.
Their teams of people who answer problems are not of typical banking standards, this I have experienced first hand. I am at a point where I refuse to use Paypal, only to hear that in OZ EBay had made the ruling that you could only pay with Paypal or home pickup.
I was one of many who wrote to the Australian Consumers Commission disputing this, thankfully it has been put on hold by the ACC.
EBay like Microsoft deserve their current relative market shares in their fields, they were the innovators and marketers who brought us their products when we the consumer needed them. This does not mean that they should be allowed to exploit us.
Thanks Ray fro giving us a good alternative, and me an excuses to have a winge (Aussie HO will understand this LOL).
Tanks Gary
Thank God.
Submitted by Aussie Ho on Mon, 11/24/2008 - 05:59.Gary. I here ya' but Paypal DOES have one very enormous and powerful advantage. It allows foreign transfer of money for no buyer fee. The most recent charge from my bank was just over $30AUD for the same service. I had no choice but to use this service for a purchase from a New Zealand site trademe.co.nz which incidentally does not use Paypal. In the end I didn't do enough research and payed near $45AUD for a $10 item. Costly error. Yes, I see the problems with Paypal and I have had a few minor issues, but overall I have had a pretty good run both as a seller and a buyer.
PayPal
Submitted by Admin on Mon, 11/24/2008 - 09:06.I too have my issues with PayPal, both as a buyer and a seller. I learned the hard way recently as a seller that they can reach in and take my money the moment someone opens a dispute. A buyer in Italy opened a claim saying non-receipt, and they immediately took the money. I thought "what the heck? I'm a Powerseller for crying out loud!", but apparently that gives me no benefit of the doubt. I sent the buyer a copy of the postage receipt, and then escalated to a claim. Within 15 minutes he buyer withdrew the claim so I got my money back. The funny part about all this is then he leaves feedback on ebay in Italian "Item exactly as described, thank you" something to that effect.
I think there must be a late night infomercial in Italy that's all about "How to get crap from the US for free on Ebay". I hate to throw a whole country in the toilet but all of my non-receipt claims are from there..not one has worked, but if I ever actually lose the fight I may have to reconsider shipping there.
They Will Have to Up tha' Ante
Submitted by mgbbrown on Mon, 11/24/2008 - 21:44.As a general seller I have not received this notification. Ebay is not a democratic organization by any stretch but I am sure that many will feel as I do-payment received must be in COLD HARD CASH or something more akin to the traditional payment types. Beat me with a wet noodle, but I guess I will have to delve into this matter immediately. Unfortunately my lifelong dream of restoring my first sportscar is ebay dependent which has and as far as I know depended on the availability of COLD HARD CASH. I'll ask my painter to see if he will take Paypal as he bolts the monocoque to the rotisserie. I'll see if my chromer or machinist will take a Paypal fund transfer. The answer probably begins with an H which means HARDLY. God Bless! Tony
mgbbrown
Well...
Submitted by Admin on Mon, 11/24/2008 - 21:56.It is cash. I have a Paypal debit card and can spend my slot car bucks anywhere I want or withdraw cash from an ATM. Or I can transfer from paypal to my checking account in one fell swoop. So - it is cash. I think as far as ebay goes, buyers and sellers alike will need to start embracing it soon, like it or don't.
OK
Submitted by mgbbrown on Mon, 11/24/2008 - 22:02.Ray; I just have not embraced it yet but this looks a bit better. Maybe a little less undecided but I will look at Paypal in a conservative fashion until I have "Just the facts , Man" as Officer Bill Friday said on DRAGNET. I will look into a card. THANK YOU MAN! Tony
mgbbrown
The pitfalls
Submitted by Admin on Mon, 11/24/2008 - 22:15.The pitfalls that I am aware of are:
Beyond that, I don't really see any downsides. It looks, acts, and works like a checking account only you don't get a checkbook, you get a debit card if you ask for one. It is instant payment for our instant gratification.
One bit of advice. Get VERIFIED. It is the one step a lot of people don't bother with and it makes all the difference in the world, otherwise there are withdrawal limits.
Is it a fair and level playing field?
Submitted by Aussie Ho on Tue, 11/25/2008 - 06:30.Guys. Having re-read all the posts, I can see there are some real issues with the whole paypal/ebay experience here, perhaps issues far too big to solve in a new forum such as ours. On ebay, there is always the element of trust Tony, and there is always the element of greed. But my two biggest issues here are unscrupulous sellers who are downright dishonest and deal unethically and fraudulently to bump up prices and overcharge on postage by exorbitant percentages. The other is fraudulent bidders who waste your time for 10 days only to try and scam you with promises of paying for items. I absolutely refuse to deal dishonestly as a seller and just tonight I had to watch ALL my 0.99C starting price auctions go for well under what I expected. But hey, thems the breaks.. win some, lose some. So, is it a fair and level playing field? Hell no, because the worlds largest garage sale suddenly became BIG business and ebay reaps the benefits from all these crook sellers with over inflated prices and questionable sales ethics. I have only succeeded once in getting a seller deregistered for rigging an auction against me, but that was only after an extremely overt act of greed on his part which undid him. Unfortunately for me, I had forked out maybe $100-$150 in prior purchases to this seller and laid some trust in his hands, and his greed got the better of him in the end. How many others have done the same to unsuspecting and honest buyers? THIS, I feel, will be the biggest problem facing ebay in years to come. It is fraud, plain and simple, and these people should be charged criminally for it.