So your Great Aunt Louise left you a little nest egg last month and you feel a little more comfortable raising the bar, so to speak, when it comes to a potential toy train purchase.  You're comfortable with the O Gauge, pre-war, tinplate niche you adopted and really love the little Lionel #248 you won last month and the matching cars that found a new home on your layout last week.  So you break out your Greenburg's Guide for Lionel Trains and decide to make a leap in collectability (and cost) to a neat old orange Lionel #256.

You have been watching auctions on eBay offering several Lionel #256 locomotives that have closed within the range of your guide and market research so you're ready to go.  You fire up your browser, log on to eBay and search Lionel O Gauge 1901-1942 and find a rubber stamped version of the Lionel #256 with a buy it now price above the range you have established for the Lionel #256 based on condition and your market research.  Ordinarily the discussion would probably stop there for you, however you notice an additional bidding choice for this auction, submit best offer. So what do you do?  The difference between this option and the auction format discussed in Part 1 is that your offer will be immediately presented to the seller and he or she may accept it immediately.  You do not have a guaranteed purchase that would occur if you chose the buy it now option, however you know that the seller will probably take an offer less than the buy it now price, you just don't know how much.  Interestingly this is the reverse scenario of the no reserve auction format discussed in Bidding for Beginners - Part 1.  In the no reserve auction you usually disclose to the seller (and other potential bidders) a lower price than you are willing to pay and the seller must wait until the auction ends to discover the final price for which the item sold.  In a submit best offer scenario the seller is masking his bottom line price, and he or she can complete the sale without waiting for a predetermined end of auction. There are timelines for submiting and accepting submit best offer offers and I will leave it to you to obtain them from eBay's help guides.

Now that we discussed the mechanics of submit best offer bidding let's discuss pricing strategies.  The buy it now price is probably on the high end of your research.  Even if it isn't you know that the seller probably will accept an offer below the buy it now price or he or she would't have added the submit best offer option.  You are in the driver's seat, so drive!  Presume that the seller is as aware as you are of the range of prices for similar Lionel #256 locomotives and will not be insulted by any offer within the range.  On the same token if you make a below range offer it probably will be rejected.  Sooooo, make an offer you will be comfortable with that has a good chance of being accepted.  If it isn't accepted move on, another Lionel #256 will probably come along.

So what's a second chance offer?  You made a bid or two on a locomotive, but did not meet the reserve and the auction ends without a winner.  If you are the highest bidder the seller can email you through eBay and offer to sell the item to you for your highest bid.  It may be below your maximum since eBay will not reveal that maximum if you don't meet the reserve.  The offer will remain open for a limited time during which period you will only be obligated to purchase if you accept the offer. You may get a real bargain. In any event it gives you one more chance to buy that new gem that will light up your layout or display.

There are unlimited bidding strategies that will present themselves as you grow in experience.  It is definitely wise to pace yourself and to review your  interests periodically so that you continue to enjoy both the process and the collection.  We'll discuss selling at a later date.  You definitely should spend some serious time as a buyer of antique trains first, unless you have prior selling experience in the train hobby.  In the meantime happy hunting!

timbuk2002

P.S. There are many great pricing guides: Standard Catalogue of Lionel Trains 1900-1942 amd 1945-1969 by David Doyle, Greenberg's Lionel Trains Pocket Price Guide, updated annually, and TM's Lionel Price & Rarity Guide Volumes One and Two.