Whoops. Gotta pay better attention

[JJ Deuce]

I made a bid on the auction site yesterday for a fairly scarce kit, at a price that's probably too high, but I could still stomach it for a builder.  Today I checked to see if I was still high bidder, and noticed there's no engine parts pictured.  Seller's response to my inquiry was pretty vague but confirmed my thoughts that it's missing the engine.  Not that big a deal, but i'm kicking myself for not paying better attention.  Lesson learned.

[Matt Bacon]

A good, if painful, lesson. But I think it also depends on the seller's description. If it says "not complete; what you see is what you get," then fair enough. If it says "Appears complete", or "complete and unstarted" then whatever the pictures, you can reasonably withdraw your bid, or dispute the transaction via the auction site. I bought a kit which was described as "appears complete; unstarted" with some photos of the box with parts inside, and when it arrived the engine had been glued together badly, the windscreen frame of the main body part was broken, and it only had one wheel rim and two tires. Now whether or not you're a modeller, I think most people would know that cars have four wheels, and only having one and a half would mean that a kit is not "complete"... I sent it back and was refunded pretty quickly...

It ticks me off when people list kits that they know are not complete but don't mention it on the  basis of "caveat emptor", and other hand I admire professional sellers who sell as "spares or repairs", or "body shell only". And don't get me started on people who are selling an empty kit box, but don't make that REALLY OBVIOUS in the listing...

best,

M.

[Spex84]

My first ever auction site purchase was an empty box. The listing was very long, and had "box only" at the absolute end of the description. The auction was ending soon, so I jumped on it. Lol. Live and learn.

More recently, I bought a vintage kit and completely neglected to notice that the engine was missing. No worries, I'll be building it as a custom anyway, have lots of other engines to swap in. Still felt like an idiot though!

It definitely pays to pay attention! Just yesterday I scored (ok, paid a solid price for) some junker AMT customizing kits from the early 60s. The photos were tiny and couldn't be enlarged, but by poring over them pixel by pixel, squinting at the patterns made by the layers of parts runners in the box, I was able to determine that the custom parts I wanted were in fact present.  No doubt there will be surprises when they arrive (ie, tire melt marks).

[Tom Geiger]

3 hours ago, Spex84 said:

My first ever auction site purchase was an empty box. The listing was very long, and had "box only" at the absolute end of the description. The auction was ending soon, so I jumped on it. Lol. Live and learn.

In the early days of eBay most of the auctions didn’t have pictures. That would be unheard of today but was normal to us since we were used to classified ads.

One of my first purchases was for a model kit, and what I received in the mail was an envelope with that kit’s instruction sheet!

The auction was designed to deceive since it appeared to be the kit in the title, but mixed into the description was “ins”. I contacted the seller and he refused to help me, he said it was clear to him it was just the instructions.

I bid against several other buyers. Back then the full emails of everyone appeared, so I contacted them and they all thought it was a kit!  

Negative feedback! No PayPal protection in those days.

[ChrisBcritter]

Engine swap time!  Or tell us what it is and maybe one of us will have it?

[Bucky]

I got a Jo-Han '69 AMC Ambassador kit that was in pristine condition...except the engine parts are not there! The description didn't mention that, and the limited number of pics didn't show a lot. Everything else is in great shape, so I didn't bother contacting the seller. I paid a decent price for what I got.

I did get a Mustang II kit that was advertised as unstarted, but when it arrived, it was clearly a disassembled glue bomb!! I contacted that seller, and he gave me a refund and told me to keep the kit! He said he got it mixed up with another kit that was unstarted! Maybe...or maybe not! LOL

[JJ Deuce]

12 hours ago, ChrisBcritter said:

Engine swap time!  Or tell us what it is and maybe one of us will have it?

It's the JoHan Pro Stock Maverick.  I'm sure I can fit some other 427 SOHC in it.  we'll see if I win it.  It may not be an issue after all lol

Edited March 29, 2019 by JJ Deuce

[The Junkman]

Early in my Ebay experience, I won two ESCI 250 SWB kits.  I just saw 250 SWB.  When I got them I found they were pretty much glue bombs and had no tires.  I went screaming back to the original listing and.....glue bombs with no tires.  Slapping of head ensued.  And a lesson learned-read carefully.

[JJ Deuce]

Fortunately I was outbid.  Going to keep looking for a decent builder of this kit though

[peteski]

There should also be an option to retract a bid (if you have a good reason, it is not a big deal).

[randyc]

There is an option to retract or request a retraction of a bid.   I have dealt with this as a seller.  can't remember if I have as a buyer.   The buyer requested and I let it go.  no big deal.  

I try to be as honest as I can, but I know there are some sellers that will stick it to you in a heartbeat.   Always be sure to read the description as well as the heading.  And study the photos carefully to see if it has everything you are looking for.   If it doesn't seem complete, it usually isn't.   

 

[Draggon]

I bought a perfect untouched AMT Falcon Ranchero in a fairly nice box. I failed to realize the model was 1/32 scale in a 1/25 box. 

[Tom Geiger]

25 minutes ago, Draggon said:

I bought a perfect untouched AMT Falcon Ranchero in a fairly nice box. I failed to realize the model was 1/32 scale in a 1/25 box. 

I brought my recent build to the Philadelphia NNL.  People there thought this was a 1/32 scale Falcon Ranchero box.... no it's a sliced and diced 1/25 scale part!

[Bucky]

A few years back, I bid on and won this:

What I got in the box was this:

A nearly complete, unpainted,  unbuilt '65 Barracuda.

I saw this in the pics on eBay, and was hoping nobody else would notice. I got it at a very fair price, and built this out of it:

Sometimes, you can find a bit of a gem.

Edited April 2, 2019 by Bucky

[JJ Deuce]

2 minutes ago, Bucky said:

A few years back, I bid on and won this:

What I got in the box was this:

A nearly complete, unpainted,  unbuilt '65 Barracuda.

I saw this in the pics on eBay, and was hoping nobody else would notice. I got it at a very fair price, and built this out of it:

Sometimes, you can find a bit of a gem.

this is true.  I scored a Fujimi garage tools kit along with the mechanics figures kit for $15 because the main photo was just the mechanics kit.  Had to look closely and double check as it seemed to good to be true.

[FredRPG]

Slightly off topic, I had a Shriners fez from some where and thought I'd pick up another one to bookend a shelf.  Bid on several over a couple of weeks and lost every bid.  One night I sat down and put low bids on about 20 different fez auctions ending soon.  Long story short, I have a collection of 16 Shriners fez and don't go on eBay after the first cocktail.

[Mike999]

Also slightly off-topic.  I won the old Williams Bros. 1/72 scale Martin B-10 bomber on eBay for $9.99 plus shipping. Nobody else bid on it. It was in a very ratty, water-stained box and looked really ugly in the listing pic.  When it arrived, TWO kits were stuffed in the box.  It had 2 of everything except the instruction sheet, only one of those. I didn't mind...

[JJ Deuce]

On 4/10/2019 at 9:15 PM, FredRPG said:

Slightly off topic, I had a Shriners fez from some where and thought I'd pick up another one to bookend a shelf.  Bid on several over a couple of weeks and lost every bid.  One night I sat down and put low bids on about 20 different fez auctions ending soon.  Long story short, I have a collection of 16 Shriners fez and don't go on eBay after the first cocktail.

[ChrisBcritter]

On 4/10/2019 at 9:15 PM, FredRPG said:

Slightly off topic, I had a Shriners fez from some where and thought I'd pick up another one to bookend a shelf.  Bid on several over a couple of weeks and lost every bid.  One night I sat down and put low bids on about 20 different fez auctions ending soon.  Long story short, I have a collection of 16 Shriners fez and don't go on eBay after the first cocktail.

Oh, Fred, that's hilarious! That's how I got two AMT '58 Ford convertibles at the same time, minus the cocktail.

Are any of your fezzes from the Medinah Temple Al-Malaikah in Chicago? I have a near-mint parade costume from there, but no fez... 

[ChrisBcritter]

On 4/10/2019 at 9:47 PM, Mike999 said:

Also slightly off-topic.  I won the old Williams Bros. 1/72 scale Martin B-10 bomber on eBay for $9.99 plus shipping. Nobody else bid on it. It was in a very ratty, water-stained box and looked really ugly in the listing pic.  When it arrived, TWO kits were stuffed in the box.  It had 2 of everything except the instruction sheet, only one of those. I didn't mind...

A fine if somewhat fiddly kit - what markings were you thinking about? If you want something different, I have shots of some of the last survivors being used as target tugs at Las Vegas AAF during the war.

[Mike999]

1 hour ago, ChrisBcritter said:

A fine if somewhat fiddly kit - what markings were you thinking about? If you want something different, I have shots of some of the last survivors being used as target tugs at Las Vegas AAF during the war.

Thanks!  I think we talked about this before, and you linked to (or posted) photos of the B-10 Target Tugs.  Anyway, I have some pix of them on my hard drive, and I'm pretty sure I stole them from you.  So thanks again. 

[FredRPG]

11 hours ago, ChrisBcritter said:

Are any of your fezzes from the Medinah Temple Al-Malaikah in Chicago? I have a near-mint parade costume from there, but no fez... 

I don't think so, but I'll double check the ones that didn't make the shelf.