There seem to be many color slides and prints of railroad subjects showing up as eBay auctions lately, including some very unusual and hard to find items. Would anyone like to share their views or experiences relating to eBay as a market for railroad photography?
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eBay as a market for color slides and prints
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I purchase slides on eBay regularly and find it to be a great marketplace for a huge variety of subjects, including some pretty rare stuff. However, the prices seem to be higher than in other markets, such as railroadiana shows -- an average selling price for one Kodachrome slide tends to be in the $3 to $5 range.
The eBay fee structure can be pretty brutal for selling things that might only go for around $5, particularly after their recent fee increase. The listing costs about 35 cents per item, one picture costs another 10 cents, then there is the final value fee so now we are over 50 cents to offer one slide or photo. Then if the buyer pays with Paypal it is another transaction fee plus a percentage of the sale price, usually close to 50 cents total for one slide or photo, so now the costs are up around a dollar. Some sellers use quite good packaging and may lose some money doing so as a service to keep their customers happy. Then if you figure that only half the listings they post in a week might sell, that could be as much as $2 in expenses per slide or photo that actually gets sold.
On the other hand if they get lucky and one slide goes for $175 (like one railroad subject I saw auctioned recently), it can really make their effort doing the listings worthwhile, but that doesn't happen very often. It is actually a lot less time and effort to take a rack of slides to a train show than to sell them on eBay, and the selling expense per slide may be lower in many cases.
For the buyer, eBay is a pretty good deal because it lets you find obscure items quickly and easily from the comfort of your computer desk without having to pay for gasoline, lodging and meals to attend distant train shows. I use eBay frequently and it is a great convenience when you are looking to locate and buy items which would otherwise be difficult to find.
On the other hand if they get lucky and one slide goes for $175 (like one railroad subject I saw auctioned recently), it can really make their effort doing the listings worthwhile, but that doesn't happen very often. It is actually a lot less time and effort to take a rack of slides to a train show than to sell them on eBay, and the selling expense per slide may be lower in many cases.
For the buyer, eBay is a pretty good deal because it lets you find obscure items quickly and easily from the comfort of your computer desk without having to pay for gasoline, lodging and meals to attend distant train shows. I use eBay frequently and it is a great convenience when you are looking to locate and buy items which would otherwise be difficult to find.
If you are in the Albany area next Sunday , there is a train show at the Empire State Plaza.
I sell slides there going at the following prices:
Current subjects @ $ 1.25 each
Old rare subjects @ $ 3.00 each.
I have seen slides on e-bay go for as little as # 2.99 and high as $ 4.00 as a starting price.
The above post is correct regarding rare slides. Ihave paid as much as
$ 10.00 for 1 slide if I want bad enough.
I sell slides there going at the following prices:
Current subjects @ $ 1.25 each
Old rare subjects @ $ 3.00 each.
I have seen slides on e-bay go for as little as # 2.99 and high as $ 4.00 as a starting price.
The above post is correct regarding rare slides. Ihave paid as much as
$ 10.00 for 1 slide if I want bad enough.
I have both bought and sold slides on ebay and have never had a problem. If you do it right and have good stuff you can make a few bucks, paying for film and developing for your next trip. Good slides will go for more than shows. Average slides are about the same as shows. Poor stuff will sell in large lots for cheap prices.
Nick
Moderator for the CNJ, Reading and GVT forums
Moderator for the CNJ, Reading and GVT forums