Crook!

[Xanadu]

Out right crook!

http://cgi.ebay.ca/GUILLOWS-B-29-SUPERF ... dZViewItem

I cannot believe the fellow has the balls to ask $300+.

[thymekiller]

I did not know there was a seperate ebay for Canada. I'm curious to see if he gets his money, or if the product is real. I never will understand collectors. Nothing against it, just not for me. I know a man with thousands of hot wheels cars all over his house. I dont get it.

thymekiller

[BillParker]

almoist 500:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/GUILLOWS-B-29-SUPERFORTRESS-BALSA-KIT-2005-ENOLA-GAY_W0QQitemZ220323880169QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item220323880169&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1215%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

almoist 500 as well:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Guillows-B-29-Superfortress-Balsa-Model-kit-2005_W0QQitemZ270285579538QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116


ebay US:

almoist 400:

http://cgi.ebay.com/GUILLOWS-B-29-SUPERFORTRESS-BALSA-KIT-2005-ENOLA-GAY_W0QQitemZ220323880169QQihZ012QQcategoryZ50297QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

a more reasonable faxsimile:

http://cgi.ebay.com/GUILLOWS-BALSA-MODEL-KIT-B-29-ENOLA-GAY-UNOPENED-HUGE_W0QQitemZ270318316196QQihZ017QQcategoryZ34054QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I've seen em as high as 500 on E-Bay US... Whatever the marlet wil bear...

bp

[Greyhound]

Aren't the Guillow B-29 Superfortresses only about $100.00?

[Greyhound]

One of the Ebay pages says "If you win this item you must accept it as it is. No returns. This is a ripoff!

[SteveM]

Aren't the Guillow B-29 Superfortresses only about $100.00?

About this time last year they were, but for some reason they have been fairly high ever since. I purchased one sealed in plastic for about $120 and later sold it for much more. I would rather have a kit that was already opened as then I would feel like I was not ruining something a collector would pay me a lot for.

[Xanadu]

Here is his response to my inquiry about why so much.

>>>>>I'M NEW TO THE MODEL SCENE. I BASE THE PRICE ON THE AMOUNTS ASKED BY OTHER SELLERS. THERE IS ANOTHER B29 THAT IS 20 BUCKS MORE THAN MINE.AND THE DIVE BOMBER SELLS FOR ABOUT 60 BUCKS NEW. AND THE LAST KIT THAT SIZE I SOLD C0ST 42 BUCKS TO SEND USPS. I THINK SOMEONE MIGHT WANT IT. SO DOES THAT STILL MAKE ME A CROOK? I THINK IT'S UN-AMERICAN TO TELL SOMEONE THEY CANT ASK WHATEVER THEY WANT FOR ANYTHING THEY HAVE FOR SALE EXCEPT WHEN PRICE GOUGING FOOD AND FUEL AND SUCH IN EMERGENCYS. I HOPE THIS ANSWERS YOU'R Q. I GOT ABOUT 50 MORE GUILLOWS KITS AND A BUNCH OF FANCY SHIPS TOO LIKE THE VICTORY AND BOUNTY.AND I'M GONNA TRY TO EXTRACT THEIR TRUE VALUE IF IT TAKES 20 YEARS.TAKE EM OR LEAVE EM..........<<<<<

Guess he is a crook then..........pathetic.

123xoox is his EBay handle, so be forewarned.

[BillParker]

I've found that when the B-29 is reasonably priced, it usually someone who is a private seller. the outrageous pricing come from ersatz hobby dealers who presume to know what the kit is worth.

The 400 dollar listing currently on E-Bay is these guys:

http://www.fantasticflyers.com/

Fantastic Flyers <<== They sell diecast stuff.

All I want is the plans for the thing, so I'm not interested in paying anywhere near what they want for the thing. I inquired with Guillow's about making the plans available to us, but only got the party line about the kit no longer being in production. Let's see, get the original art, go down to Kinko's have em do up about 100 sets, and sell em to us for say... 30 bucks a copy? I'd pay it. I mean, I'd want all the paper that comes with the kit, so it'll be less work to blow it all up, (300%) but 100 copies at 30 bucks a shot would be more money than the original art is generating right now, eh?

If I had the plans here right now, I could build 3 planes simultaneously in my garage, and have homes for each of them. No kidiing, I've got em standing in line. Whats funniest though, is that with the price of the kits, and/or the price of balsa right now, I can build these triple sized airplanes in quarter inch plywood, cheaper (half) than buying and building the kits.

Who'd a thunk it?


bp

[SteveM]

The B-29 is discontinued so I'll allow that someone could try to sell it for so much if they so choose. But I get a laugh out of the $100 Dauntless that is worth only about $40. There is some consolation in the realization that listing fees will eventually cost him more than a reasonable price that results in sell on the first listing.

[dbcisco]

He is not a crook. He can ask a million dollars for it if he wants, it is his. If you want to dictate the asking price then find or buy one then sell it for a dollar of you want.

[thymekiller]

Theres nothing wrong with asking for a high price. Heres why:

In a free market, an item is worth whatever you can get for it, high or low. The market dictates the price. How bad do you want it? Can you get it somewhere else? Alot of people spend that much on lunch, and those are the same people who wont even open the box. Thats not why they buy that stuff. All collector markets have skyrocketed lately, and I think they will continue to do so for the next few years. Then it will bottom out.
Wait and see the price on that kit next year.

Cars on a car lot are always priced higher than they are really worth. Yet everyday people sign on the dotted line without shopping around for alternatives. Who is to blame for this? Not the car dealer.

I used to get angry at a seller on ebay named taildragger. Now I envy him. His prices are high and I saw that as simply driving up the market. Apparently, He is SELLING at that price, so I see that many people are compulsive shoppers and some people cant or dont have access the the market like I do. That is not his fault. Nobody is forceing you to buy.

I wish I could understand why Guillows does not see the potential that I see in releaseing at least the plans that they are sitting on. Does Guillows advertise in the mags that they now sell just the plans alone? If that plane is bringing 400 on ebay, it would bring at least 150 on the market as a limited edition. The fact is, Guillows has the upper hand in controlling market prices. I love Guillows for many different reasons. I do not understand their marketing strategy. Unless, of course, they are also playing the collector market. Again, short run, special editions generally get snapped up at higher prices by collectors. I dont see Guillows doing that. There seems to be a good markup on printed tissiue. I would pay extra for that.

thymekiller

[thymekiller]

P.S. Greyhound. They all say that. Buying from e-bay is risky. To minimize risk, only buy from power sellers. And only buy if still in plastic wrap. I have a friend who paid 2500 for an amplifier from an new seller. Never recieved it and has no realistic recourse. 2500 bucks, gone. To top it off, he paid with a wire transfer. Gone.
There are better places to buy from. Nothing against e-bay. I use it too. Just a warning. Be wary of new sellers with high priced stuff. Some people dont care about feedback.

http://www.acsupplyco.com/aerospace/gui ... wsmain.htm

Try this link.

thymekiller

[SteveM]

But you can get the B-29 plans!

1)Go to the AMA Plans Service page
2)Click on "B"
3)Search for "Guillow 2005"
4)Gasp when you see the AMA wants $47 for the plans
5)Put your money where your mouth is and get a set (of plans )

I was curious about the AMA plans so I made an order and dropped it into the mail, one week later a tube arrived in the mail for me. So keep in mind the turn around time may be far less than the 3-6 weeks they cite. Also, AMA members get a 10% discount.

Here are some pictures of the plans that I got from the AMA plans service. Each of the three sets of plans were $8 for non-AMA members and $7.20 for members.
Mosquito plans compared to the originals here and here
Pfalz D.3 Scout
Bristol Bullet

[Bill Gaylord]

Theres nothing wrong with asking for a high price. Heres why:
......
thymekiller

Yep, we just have to know better, that's all. I've seen the same thing with rc planes on Ebay, where the seller is hoping to find the combination of a wealthy and uninformed buyer to rip off. It's just commonplace.
The only ones I would say are bad, are the ones that try to completely disguise what it really is. Otherwise, a prospective buyer can simply Google the title and see what others want for them.

While it does disgust me, its only becuase these listings waste our time and clutter Ebay. Maybe ask the seller some bogus questions to waste their time.

[SteveM]

FWIW on ebay purchases, if you are smart about it all the risk is really on the seller and not the buyer. I also find power sellers are the worst as they say things like "new in the box" and I get a pile of wood scraps left over after the plane was built. Some seem to sell so many items that their quality and shipping times can suffer. And now that buyers cannot be left negative feedback you don't need to worry about tarnishing that 100% feedback rating.

Wiring money to a stranger has never been safe, unfortunately too many trusting folks get taught an expensive lesson. Money Orders are little better than checks as they can be forged too, but at least you can cash one and be safe once cash is in hand. Sadly, Paypal is about all else there is and if you fund your account via a credit card you are doubly protected as a buyer. Whenever there is a paypal dispute the seller usually ends up hold the bag, not the buyer.

I have been an ebay member for over 9 years and have never had a seller scam me, and if an item was not as described they have either accepted a return or a gave a full or partial refund. Of the approximately 75 sales I have made on ebay almost all have been smooth, in part because I sell only to the USA and Canada and take only Paypal and money orders (that I cash before shipping). The only trouble I have had was when a fellow returned an item to me then panicked when tracking showed it was delivered (while I was at work) and I had not refunded him the moment it arrived. I get home from work to see that he has filed a paypal dispute and I only had two choices; refund him now or wait for 30 days till paypal did it automatically. You can imagine that had he damaged the item he returned to me I would have been saddled with the damaged item and a mandatory refund. After a little communication he calmed down and reversed his claim and I gave him his refund. The only other problem was when I sold an item and the payment ended up being funded from a stolen credit card. In this case I made a mistake in that I emailed him the password to give him access to the goods then helped him with the process of changing the password and email address to make the virtual goods his. A few days later I was left with no money and no goods as the credit card company did not pay paypal and paypal took the $300 out of me. The lesson I learned here is to always mail everything with a tracking number (one of the requirements for paypal seller protection), even if that means writing the password on a piece of paper and mailing it.