Clueless E-Bay Seller

[US71]

Missouri map for sale on e-bay. Doesn't look like Missouri to me.

[roadman]

Over the years, I've found that many eBay sellers that post multiple items can be very sloppy in writing their listings.  It's the downside of cut and paste technology.

[Max Rockatansky]

You think that's bad?  There is a guy who has wanted a modern US 34 sign for $900 dollars for the last 3 years.  Kind of amazing it's that long and he hasn't figured out the thing is worth $40 dollars tops.

[Max Rockatansky]

Speaking of clueless Ebay sellers:

Modern US Route 33 sign for $500:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-33-Vintage-Extinct-Highway-Sign-Sheild-Shaped-on-Square-2-Foot-US-33-Michigan-/131561697826?hash=item1ea1b03222:g:HRkAAOSwmUdUXY1h

This might be a $30-$60 dollar sign on a good day, nothing you couldn't order brand new from a DOT sign maker.

The US 34 from earlier...now only $849.95 or $41 dollar a month for 24 months...again a totally modern sign:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HUGE-Vintage-Highway-34-Sign-Thick-Heavy-Old-Antique-Signs-Reflective-7231/200928562156?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D37182%26meid%3Df18e3996320449e1b34739fa446b5262%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D201614071665

Clark County Route 215 for a cool $1,250:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Nevada-Clark-215-Road-Reflective-Highway-Sign-/121739640699?hash=item1c583f7f7b:g:v9wAAOSwPcVV2g9Z

This guy is total crack, his prices on his other signs are similar.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-CALIFORNIA-ROUTE-US-101-Road-Reflective-Highway-Sign-/121738914482?hash=item1c58346ab2:g:YNoAAOSwLVZV2RQw

http://www.ebay.com/itm/California-Route-1-Pacific-Coast-Higway-Road-Reflective-Highway-Sign-/121739666312?hash=item1c583fe388:g:IyYAAOSwMmBV2hPf

British Columbia 1 for almost $600:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Highway-1-British-Columbia-Highway-Sign-22-x-19-RARE-/131687866333?hash=item1ea9355fdd:g:up0AAOSw1S9Wgv~2


Basically pretty much all these signs have been for sale at least for a couple months, so I'm fairly certain these are naive people who have an over inflated values in mind for modern signage.  I usually see a lot of people thinking they can get $100-$200 for an Interstate or US Route sign but those guys usually come down to the reasonable $50 dollar territory over time.  California Highway signs usually have the worst markup on initial posting more than the other states. 

[renegade]

Yeah, they're gonna have those around for a little while longer ...

[Max Rockatansky]

Yeah, they're gonna have those around for a little while longer ...

I think with the California 1 that guy will find some poor naive sap with money who isn't patient to wait for one to become available for under $100.  I just got a 45x36 overhead guide sign US 127 for $21 dollars yesterday.  I've been looking for one of those forever and given it's a overhead guide sign the shipping wasn't actually all that bad.  There is another guy with a US 550 for $149.95 up right now...if he drops below $100 I'm thinking I'll shoot him an offer. 

[8.Lug]

There's nothing clueless about asking way too much money for things. There are plenty of $5 things listed for $999 on there because there are plenty of suckers with way too much money that don't know any better.

[jeffandnicole]

There's nothing clueless about asking way too much money for things. There are plenty of $5 things listed for $999 on there because there are plenty of suckers with way too much money that don't know any better.

Yep...although after a few months and not getting any bites, you would thing they would start to lower the price a bit if they were truly interested in selling it.

[Max Rockatansky]

There's nothing clueless about asking way too much money for things. There are plenty of $5 things listed for $999 on there because there are plenty of suckers with way too much money that don't know any better.

Yep...although after a few months and not getting any bites, you would thing they would start to lower the price a bit if they were truly interested in selling it.

Exactly, most of these guys who are interested in selling but don't have a clue where to start their price start sliding the asking price relatively quickly.  The one guy who had a bunch of modern signs up for $1,200 plus either is a complete moron or is hoping someone, anyone will be stupid enough to offer him what he wants. 

[roadman]

Exactly, most of these guys who are interested in selling but don't have a clue where to start their price start sliding the asking price relatively quickly.  The one guy who had a bunch of modern signs up for $1,200 plus either is a complete moron or is hoping someone, anyone will be stupid enough to offer him what he wants. 

Why is the 'B' in eBay capitalized?  Because Barnum is a proper noun.

[Max Rockatansky]

Exactly, most of these guys who are interested in selling but don't have a clue where to start their price start sliding the asking price relatively quickly.  The one guy who had a bunch of modern signs up for $1,200 plus either is a complete moron or is hoping someone, anyone will be stupid enough to offer him what he wants. 

Why is the 'B' in eBay capitalized?  Because Barnum is a proper noun.

It's funny, almost all the old swap meet problems I used to run into are ever present with shady sellers.  Always pays to do your research before buying anything.  At least I haven't seen any counterfeit embossed signs rusted out from replicas in awhile.

[roadman]

My favorite "how clueless can you be" eBay story involves a buyer who was a friend of mine.  He bid on a used HO scale model locomotive that was worth about $40.  However, my friend decided he wanted this locomotive so badly (unique road number) that he placed a max bid of over $200 when first bidding, with the idea that nobody else would even come close to that price.  Unfortunately, he ran up against another bidder who employed the same strategy, and wound up paying $240 for the locomotive.

To add insult to injury, about a month after he got the locomotive, he was running it on our Club layout and failed to notice it had crossed from a DC controlled block to a DCC controlled one (our club's block system allows for either type of control in any given section).  By the time he realized what happened, the voltage differential between the two blocks (about 35 volts) melted the front truck and part of the body shell.

[Max Rockatansky]

My favorite "how clueless can you be" eBay story involves a buyer who was a friend of mine.  He bid on a used HO scale model locomotive that was worth about $40.  However, my friend decided he wanted this locomotive so badly (unique road number) that he placed a max bid of over $200 when first bidding, with the idea that nobody else would even come close to that price.  Unfortunately, he ran up against another bidder who employed the same strategy, and wound up paying $240 for the locomotive.

To add insult to injury, about a month after he got the locomotive, he was running it on our Club layout and failed to notice it had crossed from a DC controlled block to a DCC controlled one (our club's block system allows for either type of control in any given section).  By the time he realized what happened, the voltage differential between the two blocks (about 35 volts) melted the front truck and part of the body shell.

Geeze...yeah that one probably got him pretty pissed off.    With the highway signs usually I have a good idea in the back of my head what the sign is actually worth fair market wise.  I usually wait until within 24 hours to post a bid basically right up to the fair market price if it's something that I want.  It's really rare that I'll exceed market value on a bid but I have if there is some sort of nostalgia factor involved.  I want to say the most I ever paid for a sign on ebay was $178 but there was only one other that exceeded $100 which was an AZ 66.  Most of them that I pick up usually run $10 to $45 dollars, usually I'll hold up against someone when I use the market price.  Usually you can tell who the scrap guys are versus serious collectors given the vintage of the signs and the sheer volume.  A lot of the scrap guys start with a low bid price or BIN, there are a couple of them I've actually sent wish lists too that have yielded some decent bundles from AZ and NV.  I actually have a catalog of what I have, if the topic ever comes up I'll have to share.

[Max Rockatansky]

$1,000 dollar asking price for CA 254/Avenue of the Giants:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Authentic-California-254-Highway-Metal-Sign-Vintage-Road-/282095736479?hash=item41ae37569f:g:k5MAAOSwAPlXgUoU

[noelbotevera]

Don't think that's vintage. There's even more dumb people that sell those types of signs for inflated prices.

[Max Rockatansky]

Don't think that's vintage. There's even more dumb people that sell those types of signs for inflated prices.

Everything that guy sells is hyper inflated beyond any scope of realism.  Some of his gas and oil signs approach $5,000 dollars.  You can get those historic route signs usually pretty much new or lightly used for about $50 dollars. 

[freebrickproductions]

What's fun is looking at the traffic lights (especially modern ones and ones that have hack-jobs for the wiring) for a minimum of $500 each. This is probably one of my favorites when it comes to overpriced signals:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BIG-Econolite-Traffic-Signal-Red-Yellow-Green-Light-Retired-VTG-Adapted-w-Plug/282050424657?_trksid=p2047675.c100010.m2109&_trkparms=aid%3D555012&algo=PW.MBE&ao=2&asc=36892&meid=c8f0a2abf1c64955ac932bf5442cbaec&pid=100010&rk=13&rkt=24&sd=131827720391