Tips and techniques for listing model railroad equipment for sale on eBay, learned from listing hundreds of items.

When listing a piece of model railroading equipment on eBay, keep in mind that in this arena, people tend to buy by railroad name.  Your item title should include the railroad name.  Avoid vanity license plates (abbreviations like Nw Hvn for New Haven) because eBay search does not support them, and buyers will not be able to find your item.  Your listing should include both the full railroad name and its reporting mark (NH for New Haven).

When listing multiple items in the same auction (something I avoid), remember the point above and combine only where it makes sense.  Selling a New Haven and Boston and Maine car in the same auction makes sense, while an auction with a New Haven, Florida East Coast and Great Northern car does not.  I avoid multiple item auctions because I believe most eBay bidders for such auctions will really only want one of the items, and will thus discount their bids for the rest of the items.

If an item has a road number or catalog number include that information in the auction.  When identifying the manufacturer, be cautious about assuming that the box a car is in came from the same manufacturer as the car.

Survey eBay before listing to get an item to get a feel for what sort of price the piece will go for.  For example, I regularly see Suydam imported brass trolleys listed with a starting price over $300, and a reserve.  Folks, Suydam trolleys sell on eBay for around $200, such a listing will usually attract no bids.

Books are available to help you determine what you're selling.  For brass locomotives (steam, diesel, or electric) see "The Brown Book of Brass Locomotives," third edition, by John Glaab, Chilton Book Company, Radnor, PA 1994.  For Athearn equipment, see "Standard Guide to Athearn Model Trains," by Tom Blaisdell & Ed Urmston, Sr., Krause Publications, Iola, IA, 1998.

I've noticed a recent new behavior by some bidders.  They will message me and suggest that (a) if there are no bids, I put in a buy-it-now price of their choosing and they'll buy the item, or (b) they ask whether if they put in a certain size bid I'll end the auction early.  My answer in both cases is no, but I encourage them to put in a bid for that amount.  The most interesting part of an auction is the last 10 minutes, and there's no motivation I can think of to deny myself that action.  I'm suspicious that the folks who suggest ending the auction early want to get my item for about half what the auction will eventually bring.