Sticker Shock

[John]

That reminds me.  I need to liquidate a stamp collection

[martin station]

 To Peteski's point, from personal experience I have had well meaning family members make purchases for me from ebay without a clue to what they were really buying. Case in point; opening a box on Christmas morning containing a couple of 1980's pre-built buildings that were even crude for when they were made back then with people and crude details attached in pools of glue. "I knew you were building a new train layout and thought you would like these!". What was really bad was finding out later what they paid for them!
  I also wonder how many people new to the hobby purchase the older Kato or Atlas/Kato locomotives (or have them purchased for them), not knowing just how old they really are and that they are not dcc friendly or may not even be able to get parts for it when it needs them. I see these things listed sometimes close to what you could purchase a new one for. I know it can be a difficult learning curve when one comes into a new hobby and many without a good LHS to guide them or where on the internet to look, it makes it even harder.
Ralph

[NorsemanJack]

I used to buy a lot of new N scale trains.  Now, I rarely buy any.  Multiply that by many like me (i.e. old and downsizing) and that equals a rapidly disappearing market.  What is a manufacturer to do to stay in business?  We already have our answer.  Yes, it is an unsustainable model.  Are they still making beanie babies?  Or, closer to home, is Lionel still spitting out tons of trains?  I honestly can't figure out who is buying this stuff.  Is it the seventy year old modeler who already has thousands of trains?  Is it the fifty year old (relative) newbie who should be saving for retirement?  Is it the person burning through that inheritance/trust fund who can't figure out how to spend more money?

A hundred trains makes me happy.
A thousand trains makes me nervous and uncomfortable.
Beyond that?  I just feel stupid and guilty about the mess I'm about to leave my heirs.

Contrary to popular opinion, he who dies with the most toys does not "win."  They just die.

[pjm20]

If age defines experience, and 50 is a newbie (relative), I wonder what 29 is then? 

[robertjohndavis]

If age defines experience, and 50 is a newbie (relative), I wonder what 29 is then? 

29 is the modeler that most older modelers refuse to admit exists. Acknowledging young modelers gets in the way of the doom and gloom about the hobby dying.

[MK]

If age defines experience, and 50 is a newbie (relative), I wonder what 29 is then? 

An ultrasound picture?   

[Bill H]

Anybody ever heard of caveat emptor? Do we really need a nanny state mechanism to keep people from making dumb decisions on eBay? People inherently make dumb decisions every day. Do we need some protection for those who pay $8 for a cup of coffee? Generally, aside from attempted market making pricing, or frankly just as ignorant sellers, items sell for whatever somebody is willing to pay on a given day for a given item.

[Chris333]

At work I just looked a part up on ebay and got between $199 and $1850 for the same part new sealed in box.