Farish prices. Sorry but here we go again

martyn · July 06, 2021, 05:16:41 PM

Judging by the prices that people are willing to pay on eBay ('Peak' for £300...), then £50 for new coach doesn't seem unreasonable.....but then again, I also have a feeling that eBay prices are so high because there are few Farish new releases, even of models previously released.

I'm fortunate that I have virtually all the locos and stock I need, and, indeed, may be going to sell some older Poole and Minitrix (need to dig boxes out of loft first).

However, my concern is that due to the batch release system. should anything happen to my stock, it would prove nearly impossible to replace it.

It also means that collections need to be continuously reviewed for insurance purposes, be that at home or for exhibition valuations.

But as was said near the beginning of the thread, these are models, and therefore desires, not essentials for living.

Martyn

Bigmac · July 06, 2021, 05:45:59 PM

The only new locos i have bought over the last 3 years have been UM's--most of them were re-runs. The rest ( over 40 ) were second hand, mostly off ebay--the majority cost less than 50 quid each--some half that.

100% of my rolling stock has been bought second hand--mostly off ebay,--i wont go over £10 for a coach and £3-4 for goods wagons, mostly bought in rakes or job lots.

But because of the daft second hand prices paid this last 12 months i'm thinking of buying new--maybe 4 locos a year That will save me a fair bit.

Southerngooner · July 06, 2021, 05:57:25 PM

Mark, in terms of my most recent 4CEPs I bought two on eBay and one from the NGS Journal. The latter cost £150, one on eBay was £90 but to be fair this was only a three car set with no unpowered driving trailer, (which I got when the winner of the auction failed to pay as they hadn't seen it was incomplete despite a very clear description), and the third was a power car only today at £70 BIN to make the former set a full 4 car. I suppose that's only two sets but three transactions, all at reasonable prices. My others cost £100 at a show in Essex in 2016, one from Hattons when they couldn't give them away at £89 in 2014 and the last at £80 from Plus Daughters at the Bristol show in 2018. Maybe I'm just lucky?

Dave

jpendle · July 06, 2021, 06:26:24 PM

Quote from: Dr Al on July 06, 2021, 05:01:31 PM
Quote from: Southerngooner on July 06, 2021, 01:36:00 PM
why not buy secondhand?

Out of idle curiosity, is there anyone that has never and does never buy secondhand? I'd imagine we all have bough S/h before (it seems totally vital), but it'd be interesting to know if there's a faction that only buy new....

Cheers,
Alan

I rarely buy second hand. My pessimists view of the world tells me that anything I buy secondhand won't work and will cost more to fix than buying new.

I do have a Farish 66 bought at a toy sale on my last visit to the UK, and then tested on a kind person's layout at the NGS Annual meeting that year.
I recently bought a second Farish CL66 from Hattons (GBRF InterHub GB livery), this did run but was missing a gear from one of the bogies, so the bogie was duly replaced from my spares box.

Why didn't I just replace the gear? Because I don't have the tools and I am a mechanical numpty.

I have also bought some Farish VTG hoppers second hand from Hattons but I view wagons as low risk.

And buying from Hattons means it's easier to send stuff back if it's not as described.

If I get to TINGS this year then I would consider buying more S/H wagons to fill out my current fleet.

Regards,

John P

lil chris · July 06, 2021, 07:47:12 PM

I have just bought a new class 40 from my local dealer so I paid top price. I also buy s/h too, and I have bought off e-bay but I got ripped off last time by a so called dealer who said he would compensate me for the non runner loco with a split gear. He did offer to take it back but where would I have got another with stock selling out because of covid. I have learned my lesson I will avoid e-bay now, any s/h I will buy from my local dealer who I know will fix it or exchange it for something else.

njee20 · July 06, 2021, 07:48:01 PM

I know of a couple of peoole who have never knowingly bought second hand, except perhaps the odd bit at exhibitions. Don't use eBay, will just pick bits up new when available. They're definitely out there. It's been observed that in the grand scheme of things the cost of model railways isn't that high. For me the big thing is high resale values too. I buy stuff on a whim, because I know that if I change my mind (or needed the money) I could sell it. I've recently sold a few rakes of wagons, because I'd owned them for 10 years and never removed them from their boxes, clearly they were superfluous!

ntpntpntp · July 06, 2021, 08:09:37 PM

Quote from: lil chris on July 06, 2021, 07:47:12 PM
... I have learned my lesson I will avoid e-bay now...

Yes that sounds like a bad transaction but certainly isn't the norm for eBay, I'd not consider it the basis for a lesson to be learned or something to put you off.
I'd say 90%+ of my purchases are from ebay and have been for many years. In recent times probably on average 1 or 2 locos a month plus other bits and pieces. It's a wonderfully broad single marketplace to find stuff. I pick up mostly brand new or clearly hardly used and with a significant saving over shop prices. I always check elsewhere for comparison, but a lot of the time they're models sold out at the factory and out of stock in shops. Sometimes it'll be a used but rare item item that I'm confident is easy to sort out.

njee20 · July 06, 2021, 08:50:17 PM

Yep, like Nick I buy much of my stuff from eBay. My worst purchase of late was a non-runner DCC-fitted Dapol 66 from Rails. The price was fine, given it was DCC fitted, but actually the decoder had blown, and someone had fiddled with it - one of the bogie screws was wrong, the driveshaft was missing and the pickups were mangled. Bit of a pain, but hey Ho, one of those things. Fixed for a trivial sum, but it moved it from 'good value' to 'about the right price', ignoring the time I spent sorting it!

The worst items are those in packaging that stinks of smoke, or stock being over oiled and full of hair. One or the other is a pain, combined it's horrendous!

ntpntpntp · July 06, 2021, 09:04:06 PM

Quote from: njee20 on July 06, 2021, 08:50:17 PM
The worst items are those in packaging that stinks of smoke, or stock being over oiled and full of hair. One or the other is a pain, combined it's horrendous!

Yep totally agree. It's disgusting to receive an item reeking of tobacco smoke. Baby wipes will remove a lot of it on plain surfaces but getting onto nooks and crannies is very time consuming. Fortunately I've not had one like that for a while now. Over-oiling is a strange thing, I don't know why some folk think drowning a model in 3-in-1 will actually improve things. A full strip-down is required to sort that out along with de-fluffing.

Bealman · July 07, 2021, 12:29:49 AM

I rarely buy second-hand stuff. Apart from a few buildings kits and scenic items over the years, the only second-hand locos I have ever bought are from cloughie of this parish via NewportNobby, last year.

And very nice they are, too, by the way.

Mark · July 07, 2021, 11:36:49 AM

Quote from: Southerngooner on July 06, 2021, 05:57:25 PM
Mark, in terms of my most recent 4CEPs I bought two on eBay and one from the NGS Journal. The latter cost £150, one on eBay was £90 but to be fair this was only a three car set with no unpowered driving trailer, (which I got when the winner of the auction failed to pay as they hadn't seen it was incomplete despite a very clear description), and the third was a power car only today at £70 BIN to make the former set a full 4 car. I suppose that's only two sets but three transactions, all at reasonable prices. My others cost £100 at a show in Essex in 2016, one from Hattons when they couldn't give them away at £89 in 2014 and the last at £80 from Plus Daughters at the Bristol show in 2018. Maybe I'm just lucky?

Dave

I think you've done very well there Dave. I've been looking, with increasing intent, for a second 4CEP for about 3 years now, having grown ever more frustrated at Bachmann's (or anyone else's) reluctance to produce any other Southern 3rd rail emus (5BEL apart). Prices have certainly risen over that time and I can't see them coming down any time soon so in the absence of unearthing a bargain somewhere, I guess I'll just have to take a deep breath and pay current Ebay prices - there are 2 currently listed at an eye-watering £265 and £270. Not expensive, compared to say the forthcoming 319, but a fortune compared to the £89 or £99 I paid a few years ago!

Agree with the comments made about the frustrations of limited runs and more pertinently the gaps between them.

Mark

SteveS1967 · July 08, 2021, 07:20:08 PM

With regards to that Peak, I've seen them go for between £220-£260 ridiculous to be honest but eBay are ripping us off with their new way of paying out taking 13.8% of a final purchase which he will only get around £259 if he hasn't got a promotion... with regards to MK2A & MK2F coaches... last week I saw a MK2A TSO go for £88 and 2 x MK2F TSO's for £190, you can be pretty certain that there will be TSO's and FK's following on from the BSO and again with the MK2F's there will be another run of those too.

Price generally have shot up though I paid £145 for my blue disc 40 up from £123. Seems bugger all to buy at the moment just hoping on a few nice surprises over christmas!!

Steve.

njee20 · July 08, 2021, 08:21:09 PM

Standard eBay fees are 12.8%. They used to be 10%, plus PayPal fees of 2.9%. Want to add those together and explain why managed payments is a rip off...?

Get a discount selling fee offer and managed payments is amazing!

BertFredStan · July 08, 2021, 08:31:20 PM

Big fan of eBay here. I've managed to snag a few bargains and a number of discontinued items.

There are some nasty surprises out there (but not many in my experience) and you can just send it back if it isn't as described. eBay heavily favour the buyer in disputes which makes it pretty easy. As a seller, I always make sure to be clear, partly as it's the right thing to do, but also because eBay won't take any prisoners!

Bigmac · July 08, 2021, 09:21:33 PM

Quote from: Chris Morris on July 03, 2021, 08:11:20 AM
I'm glad I bought some mk2A coaches the first time around. Rrp for the recently announced mk2a brake compo is £49.95!

Ok that is blue and grey which costs more than maroon and it is weathered but even so that's a heavy price. Also I would rather weather them myself because the Farish weathering on coaches never looks like any coaches I have seen in service.

See https://www.modelrailwaysdirect.co.uk/rolling-stock-passenger-n/graham-farish-374-680b-br-mk2a-bso-brake-second-open-br-blue-grey-weathered/

why say sorry ? this has proved to be a lively thread. Long may it continue.