Filed under: Collectable Toys, EBay | Tags: auctions, EBay, mego, shipping, star trek
Alright, I gotta take one more crack at stupid EBay sellers. Shipping charges are really pissing me off. There are three types of sellers on EBay when it comes to shipping policies:
Type #1: Lists their shipping charges and the charges are fair. They cover the cost of shipping and a moderate handling fee of a buck or two.
Type #2: Lists their shipping charges and the charges are incredibly expensive. What they are often doing is getting the buyers attention by keeping the starting price of their auction low, say $0.99. So the auction starting price is $0.99 but the shipping charge is $20-$35! This also helps the seller avoid paying as much to EBay for listing fees and closing fees. I was looking at an item the other day. It was a phaser and tricorder for the old 1970’s Mego Star Trek figures. They were priced fairly, but the shipping fee was $8! What they hell? Throw it in an envelope and you can mail it for less than a buck! Here are two tips for you if you are a seller on EBay. If the shipping charge is not reasonable I will not buy your item. If the shipping charge is higher than the price I am willing to pay for the item, I will not buy from you.
Type #3: Does not even bother to list shipping charges. Some may have a note asking you to contact them for a shipping quote. Is it just me, or is this plain laziness? I will not even bother to bid on auctions like this.
Unfortunately, Type 2 sellers are by far the majority these days. It is getting to the point where I don’t understand why anyone in their right mind would want to shop online. You can get the things you want cheaper by going to a store, and you get some exercise as well. Maybe it’s just me though.
Filed under: Collectable Toys | Tags: action figures, diamond, emce, mego, star trek, vintage toys, xuthl
Ok I gotta add another post for this week. I just came across something that blew my mind!
When I was a kid in the early 70’s, Mego action figures were all the rage. We had a pretty decent collection which included the Star Trek figures, as well as quite a few of the superhero collection. Recently I noticed some of these figures at our local comic show and it made me curious.
I did some checking and found out that these are readily available on E-Bay. I immediately decided that I needed to buy some! But before I put out my hard earned money to buy these memories from my childhood, I wanted to see what they are actually worth. I started doing some research and got a good ball park idea of what I would be willing to pay.
But that is the boring part of the story. There is a company called EMCE that is making reproductions of the old Mego figures. They are not pretending to be anything other than what they are. Reproductions. The packaging is a pretty close replica of the original. If you did not do your research you could be fooled. Some vendors on E-Bay have taken to selling the EMCE version of the figures. This is not a bad thing if they just list them as EMCE figures, but some of the sellers are calling them “Mego Like” figures. The seller is not technically doing anything wrong. They are just preying on the buyers ignorance, and doing a fine job of it. The listing, in my opinion is deliberately misleading, but buyer beware.
Now here is the real point I am trying to make. I have been watching several auctions this last week. One was for a genuine Mego Klingon figure. One was for a genuine Captain Kirk Mego figure, and one was for a lot of two EMCE figures featuring Captain Kirk and the Klingon. Captain Kirk is currently at $20 with 4 days left in the auction. The Klingon is currently at $11 with 4 days left. If you bought these two figures you would pay $31. The total will likely climb higher before the auction ends, but that is where they are at now.
The EMCE lot of the Captain and the Klingon closed this afternoon. The poor moron who bought them paid… drum roll puhlease!… $45!!! For fakes! This poor schlub, doubtless believes he is getting 1970’s action figures, mint in the original packaging, and instead he will be receiving EMCE figures from 2008!
So I guess my point is this. If you are thinking of buying vintage toys, or vintage anything for that matter, online, do your research first. Protect yourself from crap deals like this one!
Have a great day!
