on ebay when i hit the "us only" option only about 28,000 model auctions come up when a couple of months ago there were at least 100,000.
has anyone else noticed this or am i not understanding what numbers mean anymore?

Interestingly I got 28,863 for US Only, and 53,589 for World Wide.
Maybe it is the decline of Evilbay.

Probably the decline of the professional sellers due to high mark ups of kits coming through a US distributor. These are the guys who basically have an entire hobby shop worth of kits that they list for sale with an opening bid of $24.95 with a buy-it-now price of $29.95 (for example), an amount equal to the MSRP.

Most modelers who are active in the online modeling community now know that the cheapest way to get the new Uberpanzer Intelligent Kit is to go straight to the source from Chinese or Japanese vendors. The kit ends up costing half as much and the shipping costs comparable (because many US model vendors on eBay try to add extra profit by overcharging on shipping).

With apologied to Yogi Berra, nobody uses E-bay anymore; it's too busy.

I noticed this as well. I was browsing for private sellers unloading their stashes, and the only ones I came across were charging near-msrp prices. I'll just go to my local wholesaler and pay 5$ extra, thank you.

Jason,

I have found the same thing on e-bay. That is why I buy from my LHS, Lucky Model and from a number of people here on Armorama.

Darryl

The only time I go on E-bay if no one has the kit I'm looking for , even then it depends as well on what the seller is asking and current bid . It's just as easy and a lot cheaper for me to deal with online friends and my LHS .

I live a few miles away from the largest hobby wholesaler in North America - Udisco ltd. If they don't have it, I don't need it. They have so much stock that there is a lot of discontinued stuff that is floating around, too. And they charge wholesale prices - I pay less there, in Canadian funds, than LHS charges before shipping.

hi,
as a FORMER ebay seller,i can state that ebay is hosing the sellers so bad that it's not funny. i used to enjoy selling not to mention i made a little money, but with new fees and paypal only payments coming up, i'm doing the o'seas thing and of course Armorama to get my stuff.
btw, be advised this tankratsafvdepot guy is not to be trusted.owes me $38 for paint & supplies i never received. and if you happen to read this remember 'the maximum effective range of an excuse is STILL zero meters"
Jake

I usually use Ebay for searching and buying OOP kits and the harder to find resin kits which are often also OOP. But I stopped looking at .com since the majority of US sellers do not send internationally. You usually get the subtle message "US ONLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!" or the all time favorite "NO INTERNATIONAL BUYERS!!!!!!!". I have no clue what the reason is for this. Probably shipping costs (which IF it is really the reason I think is totally rubbish since the buyer pays everything.) but it takes bit of the fun out of it. Luckily the Ebay sites in Europe are not this limited.

Rob,

Some people hate dealing with the customs forms.... and even trying to estimate international postage. The only really accurate way to figure it is take the package to the post office ahead of time to have it figured out.... it's something alot of sellers don;t want to bother with.

I still use ebay but only if it's something that's cheaper than the LHS or a Major retailer and shipping.....

i still get quite a few models from eBay. i have well over 1200 transactions and i got stiffed on a $10.00 book once and recently a guy didn't deliver on $40 worth of model kits, but i got reimbursed for. so in 8 years 1,291 transactions, buying stuff from all over the world, i'd say that's a pretty good record.

as to high priced items, patience is a virtue.everything comes around again eventually. for example, i have four of the Tiger Initial Production kits, 6252, by Dragon I bought from eBay. i have read in this forum that asking price for these on eBay often goes to $100.00 or better. the kits I bought average out to just under $40.00 each, including shipping. one was a buy it now for like $35 I bought within 5 minutes of it listing. another came in a set of 3 kits that i paid $60.00 for all 3. i have probably around 125 or more 1/35 scale Tamiya kits, almost all AFVs that I have $20 or less in. some are older kits, but that's OK by me. there are still some good buys there.

Mr Stanwood.
I read your post and went back to my files and show your package was sent to you sir almost 3 months ago. However I do not see that you requested delivery confirmation or insurance on the item. So I paid the delivery confirmation myself. I'm sure you have knowledge in using a computer and searching to (contact) inform me of your situation either on ebay or paypal or my website contact us page (before it went down for overhaul of a whole new site ) Yet this is the first I have heard of your concern of the product missing. This is not to say you or I to be in the wrong. I am just saying I do not recall your name on a ebay complaint or a paypal refund. (please help in refreshing my memory )If not sir here is the info to save you time to contact me.
My phone number is (623)362-0082
my website to contact me is http://www.tankratsafvdepot.com or
http://www.ww2-resources.com or just contact me through ebay email or even at jcmichie@hotmail(dot)com
I will be more than happy to go into this matter with you further at your convenience.
As far as what other say about ebay. I am a seller on there as well as a few other auctions sites plus (soon to be our new store back online where the old store was) and ebay is killing the fun for both the buyer and the dealer. I have reduced my items on ebay due to ebay's new rulings and increase in prices.