JBrannon

My Feedback: (3)

The above comment is the problem with most forums. People have an issue they want to discuss but theres always some Ahole that has to be degrading. I know many people that wont use forums because of the insults that some always have to respond with.

I personally added to this valid thread because many people dont know that many "NIB" engines warranties are voided when the engine is resold.

Joe

rsallen13

My Feedback: (1)

It comes down to if it sells it was the right price for the buyer. If it doesn't sell then the seller listed the price to high. This is a supply and demand capitalistic marketplace. If you think the price is to high or unreasonable then don't buy it, but if someone does buy it then your complaints are without merit as a buyer and a seller felt it was a good price or it would not have sold. That is the reality of any business transaction. If you don't think so then why can a company charge over $1.00 for a 16oz bottle of water that costs them less than $0.20 to pump, package, ship and sell? Because people will pay for it.

jbflier

If someone wants to sell a used product at retail prices, and someone is willing to pay the asking price knowing the product is used, what's the big deal so long as the buyer is content with the transaction? I wouldn't do it, but........... [8D]

BBW Walt

My Feedback: (11)

There's deals here but you had better act fast. I have seen great values and have obtained a few. Its the right place at the right time. If your looking for something You will end up looking at all the stuff thats been picked over. I have quit shopping here because of the view of this post, I agree with it. I would rather bicker a bit with new retailers than here with used stuff..Just another opinion..walt

Dean Wise

It's always the uneducated hobbiest that gets ripped off. I just went with my wife to the NW expo in Wa St and they have a swap area. well the Items were just doing a lot of sitting because they wanted new prices for used items. how about putting up the new going price next to the selling Item here. I'm just kidding

H. Wayne S

My Feedback: (18)

My daddy always said, "buying a used car is paying for someone else's problems and headaches." If the thing was any good they would not be selling it. Well there is a lot of truth in that. I know there are people that want to get out of the hobby and have a good reason to sell, But, it appears theres an E-Buy mentality trying to take roots here.

GeraldRosebery

My Feedback: (14)

I think at the end of the day what is frosting people about the ads and the high pricing we are seeing is that it ruins the marketplace as a viable way to buy and sell used engines. If potential buyers get turned off by people being downright silly with asking prices, they will just stop looking. There are far fewer engines being offered for sale than there used to be. That is certainly not because there are fewer for sale, but because people are clearly finding alternate outlets. That is a disapointment as this used to be (at least for a while) a vibrant active marketplace where one could sell an engine or buy one with confidence and at reasonable prices. Perhaps it's just the greed thing manifesting itself here too. It is a shame.

Waco

My Feedback: (265)

What is a reasonable price? I think that is subject to the individual who is selling. I think that the reason you don't see more engines listed on this site is the mentally that you should be willing to give everything away. I listed here a few times at 30% off the new price for a NIB engine and got nothing but insults and low ball offers. I am talking about a 300.00 engine and getting offers at 100.00 and below. I sell everything I have to sell at times on e-bay anymore. You get more for the engine and don't have to put up with the abusive behavior of some members here. I hope you guys that are complaining about the prices here are not like a couple of guys I know that never want to pay anything for the stuff they buy and than when they got something to sell they think it is made of gold and price it out this world. The bottom line is buyer needs to educate themselves about what the item sells for so they don't pay more than the item is worth, stop to think about it if you buy new from shops and dealers you still need to shop around because there can be a lot difference in new prices from shop to shop. I saved myself 75.00 on a new engine by shopping around for lowest price.

Daryl Martel

My Feedback: (3)

I've bought a few engines from RConline and here on RCU... back when you could still get a reasonable deal. Key word reasonable. A reasonable price in my opinion for something bought sight unseen on somebodys word without a warranty is 50 to 70% of retail - and that's if it's in very good condition. The trouble is there has gotten to be a lot of guys not just trying to sell off or trade items to meet their needs - there are quite a few guys moving a lot of stuff! I recently got very rude treatment from someone here - I sent him a money order over Xmas and he was upset he didn't get it right quick. Despite agreeing to hang on to the item until the money order arrived, he sold it to someone else! Checking, I see he's made quite a few sales, obviously motivated by buying low, selling high to turn a buck. I think the number of "gentleman" selling stuff on RCU is on the decline and the "it's all about me" kind of people are showing up in greater numbers which explains the absurdly high asking prices! What used to be modelers helping modelers here in the Marketplace is turning into dog eat dog.

GeraldRosebery

My Feedback: (14)

As I said above, the marketplace is being ruined by greed. As you say, it used to be modelers selling to modelers, now it's largely quick buck artists. I also agree that ANY product used and sight unseen with no warrantee of any kind is never worth max 70% of retail. I love when people say "I sold $800 worth of engine for $500 (or whatever)" No, the engine was worth $500. Something is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, no more, no less, whether it be diamonds, cars or model engines.

mvigod

Gentleman,

Has anyone here had an economics course? To those who have I am positive you all learned about supply and demand. Prices paid are dictated by this simple formula. If there is demand sufficient to drive a price higher then it will IF the market will bear it. If it doesn't the item's price will fall or the seller may not sell it. Simple economics.

What everyone here is complaining about is that the economics which used to favor buyers in a grand way has given way to a more balanced market where both buyers and sellers have efficiency. Today RCU is so large that a single item will be exposed to significantly more buyers. The chances of this raising demand is higher with each additional member. One member may surface who will pay more than the next member. Supply and demand.

This means that the marketplace like all other markets follows the same laws of economics day in and day out. If the prices get too high and buyers don't come forth then prices will fall. If somebody is willing to pay a price the prices will stabilize or perhaps rise.

Every time I hear this argument I simply need to remind everybody that supply and demand governs pricing in a free market. Our market is large and efficient. Other things that can affect pricing are information. If you see something high priced and know you can buy it for less that information is power. Use it and buy it for less. If somebody else doesn't have that same information then they may pay more. Do you think everything you have purchased in the last year or five years was the LOWEST possible price available anywhere at that time? Did somebody buy a car for less than you did perhaps? Did you buy a tv only to find it priced lower at another store later? Information is power.

The market dynamics and economics will continue to prevail like it or not. Prices will ebb and flow.

End of todays economics lesson

Daryl Martel

My Feedback: (3)

Sorry, I don't buy it. That's why a lot of "gentleman" have moved on to different forums. When a business stops catering to it's customers, modellers in this case, and focuses more on profits, people tend to get disenchanted. That's what I'm hearing here. Admin - your reply doesn't address the sharks profiteering here - they're ruining the marketplace. Trouble is, how can you fix it? Limiting ads is not do-able because this kind of person probably already operates under several registered aliases.

mvigod

Daryl,

email me and tell me all the forums everybody has scattered to. I just went to 6 other forums. the largest competitors to RCU and they are all but dead for the categories we have always been popular in. Show me another market that has 10% of the listings we have for gas engines?

And who isn't "catering" to their customer in the name of profits? Certainly not RCU. Our marketplace doesn't even cover our hosting bill I'm afraid. I have to take offense to that.

Again I'm afraid it is economics at play rather than your greed principle. Greed is bound by the same laws of economics. There are no ways around it. If you go to a thinly traded market then prices will fluctuate more. The stock market is a great example. Buy 10,000 shares of Cisco and the stock won't budge. Buy 10,000 shares of a pink sheet penny stock and watch the price change drastically on your trade. Illiquid markets move prices but are not efficient.

Ebay exists and makes billions on this principle. I'd be happy if RCU covered its hosting from its "greed".

the troll

Just to add my 2 cents. I have bought a few engines that were listed as "low time" or "bench ran" for a price most might consider a little high but I generally trust most modelers and welcome engines that are near broken in or completely broken in. So far I guess I have been lucky but due diligence is an order. A good broken in engine is worth a little more to me.

mvigod

Daryl,

So when your ready to sell YOUR gas engine someday are you going to go to those "different forums" where motors sell for less or are you going to list it here on RCU?

Problem is if what your saying is true then ALL sellers who want the most for their engines will come here since they fetch higher prices and the buyers who want to pick stuff up for a song and a dance will patron those "different forums" where nothing is up for sale.

Just something for you to ponder the next time you are selling YOUR gas engine.

marc

Daryl Martel

My Feedback: (3)

Admin/Marc - I've been cruising RCO and RCU for years. Yup, sold a big gasser surplus to my requirements, 2 actually (sorry I let the one go). I didn't ask an arm and a leg either. Reasonable expectations is the key IMO. My point is that when the rude, greedy people move in, good people who contribute a lot to the site leave. This gradual degradation was the death of RCO. That's a fact. I see here moderators are very quick to edit personal attacks and monitor/edit for improper content - I'm all for that, it helps keep things fair and clean. Unfortunately the world in general, and human nature specifically isn't always a pretty picture - how you deal with that is what counts. The issue at hand here - greed in the marketplace, and a growing lack of "etiquette" should not to be "poo poo-ed" away or taken lightly. The speed with which people abandoned RCO was simply amazing! Where they went? Scattered to a multitude of other sites, none of them as big or popular as this. This site is a "knock off" of RCO - don't ever think it can't happen here. BTW, I notice you're avoiding addressing the issue of the people that are selling a lot of stuff - these are the ones I'm leery of!

AJF--2

My Feedback: (119)

I think it is all about attitude and ignorance. Funny thing is that I have sold engines/parts to at least 4 of the "vocals" on this post. I wonder where I fall in?
1-Attitude! We all know people where something is far more valuable if they are selling than if they are buying. That is human nature and denotes an air of superiority. I wonder if people know what others are thinking of them-- or if they even care.
2-Ignorance! Like the person who advertises the Brison engine for $15 less than Brison sells one for new. Maybe he does not know Brison lowered the price on their engines. I wonder how many responses he has received. Or else the 3 posts of giant ARFs where the people are asking $100-$400 MORE than the manufacturer. If a person is going to buy that plane, do you think they KNOW the price of a new one?

My concern is the number of commercial ads and then I see folks with a trading rating of 100+ deals that are not commercial ads. And many of these are the ones with the higher prices. How do they do it? Beats me! They got a lot more stuff and time than I do. Still love the site!

mvigod

Daryl,

Boy..the RCO death issue again. RCO did NOT die because of greedy sellers by any means. Let's all realize that.

RCO died because (in order of biggest reason to smallest:

A) It was slower then death. 5-10 minutes to load a single page. People would not wait including me so I built RCU.

B) No features whatsoever. RCO was based on a shared bulletin board system which was so basic and simple it was absolutely pathetic in its final year. It was one of the most stripped down ridiculous excuses for a bulletin board I've ever seen and I was so annoyed with it I built RCU because nobody else stepped up to the plate to give the RC world anything half decent. I would have settled for a site where pages loaded in under a minute.

C) The owner of RCO abandoned the site completely and left it to die.


So greedy sellers are hardly the cause of death for RCO. When RCU switched formats here we had ZERO ads and now we have had over 20,000 ads placed on our new system here. Members claimed that RCU was going to die from the change. Well we hit all new records a few weeks ago in the forums and in the marketplace. Things are moving forward here quite well. We have both Chip Hyde and Quique Somenzini on board Team RCU. We will hit 100,000 registered members sometime around the toledo show. RCO peaked about 15,000 members.

Why do I bring this up? Because to compare RCU to RCO is and always has been a joke. RCO could have been great and had it been there would have been no need for RCU but history wasn't written that way. There is no other RC site that has the features and service of RC Universe at this time. We worked hard to bring those features to members because they asked us for them. That is why we are approaching 100,000 members when the next closest RC site is about 1/3 of that.

As far as your concerns for commercial sellers who sell 100's of items. Well our system has an easy solution to that and that is the marketplace filters. No forum based site can or will have them. Discussion forums are designed for discussions and are not good vehicles for trading. If you don't want to see commercial items USE OUR FILTERS. Just select Private Ads only and problem is solved.

SHOW ME: All Ads | Today's Posts | Within Past Week | Since Last Visit

ITEM TYPE: All Types | Kits Only | RTR & ARR Only

AD TYPE: All Ads | Private Ads Only | Commercial Ads Only

SOLD STATUS: All Ads | Unsold Items Only | Sold Items Only (past 30 days)

mvigod

AJ - if you see somebody with many ads and they are not marked commercial but you find out they are please notify us and we will reclassify their ads. Commercial sellers are those who can:

A) get an unlimited supply of product from sources that a regular modeler cannot (i.e. wholesaler, mfg, distributor). Any unfair advantage of a seller that a normal modeler would not have access to would make a seller commercial.

B) owns or runs a hobby business, hobby retail store, mfg, distributor. These people are usually marked commercial although if they are also hobbyists we let them sell their personal use items under a private listing. If you find a hobby store selling 100's of things under "private" they are likely marked incorrect and should be commercial.

We use the help of our members to find commecial sellers to mark them accordingly so if you get information on any ad incorrectly marked report the ad to the moderator. It is kept anonymous.

splais

My Feedback: (25)

People must use some common since. Nobody is forced to buy anything here or anywhere else for that matter. Go on Ebay and look at some of the bids! I have found myself yelling at the screen - You idiot. I see things all the time that are selling for MORE than what you can get it from tower or any number of places. Go figure. There are cases were lack of availability drives someone to an auction/sale site; but you are correct that way to many people pay rediculous prices. Sometimes I think they just get sucked into the "game" and have lost all reason. I have purchased gobs of stuff off Ebay at great prices; much more so than here. But it is the buyers responsibility to do his homework. Hey, if I can sell a two year old engine to someone at near new price that is their fault.

AJF--2

My Feedback: (119)

AJ - if you see somebody with many ads and they are not marked commercial but you find out they are please notify us and we will reclassify their ads. Commercial sellers are those who can:



I am not really complaining--- I just don't understand how some people do it. I see certain members with dozens of ads at any given time. And then I see the ratings and these guys are selling at least 3-4 items a week since the founding of RCU to get that many ratings. And it seems that they are the ones that get top dollar-- and the buyers are happy because of the many good ratings. He is a much better man tha I. Then at the other end of the spectrum, I have read of a dis-enchanted seller complaining because he was "forced" to be a commercial seller--(he was!). I have purchased from both and had good deals with both. I have no complaint--just thinking out lould

I have sold tons of stuff here on RCU and I AM HAPPY TO PAY THE $.50-$4.00 per month to move my surplus. I work super hard to keep a good rating and I think I have around 30 good ratings. Only about 1 in 4 will leave a rating in my case.

locoworks

i could be WRONG here? but if you have to pay a % of the sale price to the admin of the site?? ( not sure if you do or not ). then you ask more because your expect so much $ for your product. how many times have you seen " if using paypal add X %". if there is no commition to pay on sales i appologise for my assumption.

WilsonFlyer

My Feedback: (13)

Well, well, well... Somebody finally noticed my post again. LOL

rjbarthel

My Feedback: (2)

I agree about some of the prices of items weather here or on anyother site ! I sell and buy online , mostly on ebay but you do need to know what your willing to pay and what the items worth. Or you going to be bid up by some no brain hahaha .. But thats ok by me I know what Im willing to pay ! and yep I have gotten burned on a few items Ive bought .. buyer beware thing !! your opinion maybe differant that the sellers so with that I look at used stuff not worth anymore than $.50 on the dollar .. but thats just my willing to pay #.
If some Joe and there are lots of them is willing to pay %110 of retail well thats great for the seller . there are guys like you that are cussing him and guys like me laughing at him!
Ive sold items I bought new from tower and used them and resold and some guy bid the item to much more than what tower is selling the item for !! wow Im happy but man why do these people do this I dont know !! but i see it all the time ! If i see or want something I start looking around, if i dont know its worth I will befor I start buying but that just how I do things !!
I just sold an item on ebay and a guy emailed me and was mad and went off on the amount of my shipping ! it was a boxed up sky scooter with motor and large battery and so on ! I set the shipping price acording to the pricing sheet that the USPO gave me and its wieght and the farthest away zip code zone .. Like I always do I start the reserve price to my lowest asking price ! all I said to this guy was that if he didnt like the tems dont bid ! simple as that it sold and for 3 times the price I had for a reserve !! I was surprized and happy with it and by the number of bidders and lookers it sold for what it was worth ! I partly agree with your feelings here ! But I also like selling and getting the best price I can !!

aaron2874

All these posts remind me of a time when a friend of mine asked me if I was interested in buying his 4 wheeler. Problem is, he wanted just under what I could have bought a new one for. I pointed this out (as I was into 4 wheeling and knowledgable) and he told me he needed to pay it off AND HE HAD EQUITY IN IT. It was all I could do to keep a straight face. Anyway, I wisely declined, but some sucker bought it a month later for what he asked. The moral to this story is, educate your self before you buy cuz there are some real sharks out there. Also, a fool and his money are soon parted. And last but not least, there is a sucker born every minute and those suckers seem to enjoy ebay.