[spongebob]

I have noticed that the category collectables>trains/railway models has been updated, previously the next set of headings were a list of manufacturers and other related areas, not so now, now there is a list of gauges/scales.
Not a problem i hear you say but if you select 00 scale (their term not mine) you are given a choice of other,locomotives,wagons,coaches etc.
Still no problems so far. Now pick locomotives. The only 3 categories under this heading are other locomotives,hornby dublo and lima.

So Bachmann, Mainline, Dapol et all no longer make 00 gauge then. If you wish to find hornby it is now under 0gauge. Good luck and happy ebaying. And you say the hornby catalogue is full of mistakes.

 

[spongebob]

I don't know wether this applies to ebay.com and othre areas but its totally cocked up ebay.co.uk for me. I had several searches set up with a few different manufacturers grouped together and would just pick the relevant named sub heading, not now though. Its going to make finding the right category to list things in impossible.

 

[spongebob]

I'd suggest asking some of the ebay regulars for help via their community page if i were you bilbo by clicking on community then discussion boards and either new to buying or selling forums. You can either post a topic about it as you would on here or look through the history to see if someone else has asked something similar. There are usually plenty of helpful people who lurk about on there giving advice.

As for ebay.com the categories on there are even more confusing than on .co.uk.

 

[spongebob]

It appears that ebay have also had a purge on what it calls keyword spamming in the model trains/railway categories and not before time too.
For those of you not quite up to speed on ebay talk keyword spamming is the listing of an item as described by Dennis David forther up this thread.
As i understand items can be pulled for having something along the lines of bachmann not hornby, lima , heljan... the most naughty part of that list being the word "not". This is a taboo with ebay, its alright to use the description "like" or "similar to ". Bizarre but then that's ebay.

 

[spongebob]

They've certainly had feedback from me about it. The problem i have is that the trains/railway models category used to be divided into different manufacturers eg hornby,bachmann,mainline,dapol,tri-ang etc etc. The bigger areas were then divided into sub headings such as loco,carriage,wagon etc. I do search by keyword but it was very useful when cutting out all the crap to search by manufacturer as well. Also some of my keyword searches were types of rolling stock eg carriage,wagon,hopper etc which could then be subdivided into manufacturer also if i didn't want to look at over 1000 items as was usually the case.
The one slight change from ebay.com is that trains/railway models is listed in collectables on .co.uk and toys on .com and most of the other overseas sites that i could understand.
I think the problem stems from the fact that someone at ebay suggested the change about 2 months ago and everyone thought it was a good idea to list by scale/gauge(which it is) but didn't realise what a half arsed job they'd make of it.
All well and good to list firstly in scale, followed by relevant manufacturer, then type of item. This is just confusing in my opinion and doubly so for anyone trying to list new items.

 

[spongebob]

I'd be careful what you ask them to do 'cos knowing ebay they'll end up moving everything from 0scale into HO instead

I did email them about it a few days ago and got the reply....

We value your suggestions and recommendations and we try to accommodate
as many suggestions as possible from UK traders. We are committed to
continuous improvement of our site to make it both a fun and safe market
place for users to trade. Your suggestion has been forwarded on to our
Category team for review.

We receive a number of suggestions and I apologise in advance if we are
not able to take up your suggestion

Pretty much a standard reply if my memory is correct but nevertheless a polite bog off if ever i heard one.
Still it gives them something to read if nothing else. Judging by some of the messages being posted on the relevant categories forum this isn't the only unpopular change this time round.
Hopefully they'll put it right before the next cheap listing day so i can sell a few other surplus items i've accumulated in the hopes of funding some newer locos and rolling stock.

 

[spongebob]

I have to say i haven't had a terrible purchase yet, one or two which weren't quite as good as i'd expected and were promptly sold on with a more accurate description, i actually sold a coach for more than i paid for it which was nice!

I went through a phase just at the end of November where everything i bid on i seemed to win and at absolute dirt cheap prices too and the hornby pullman was among them.
I looked at it,posted positive feedback for it (which was never returned) ran it around for a few laps, took a second look at it saw it was in the wrong box,had paint splats all down one side,glue on the bottom of the battery boxes and a dynamo hanging off. Add to that the fact that it didn't want to stay attached to anything else cos the couplings are off line with everything else and that assured its quick send off.

 

[spongebob]

Some of the best bargains aren't always in the most obvious places either. I was looking for some Bradford buses for my layout and typed in Bradford City and found ex set 46236 City of Bradford for £24 inc p&p in someones shop stock. OK it needs a pair of smoke deflectors and a buffer but it ran well after about 5 minutes straightening out the current supply to the tender. Saw the same loco at a swapmeet a couple of weeks ago for £65. If i order a pair of deflectors from modelspares for £2.50 plus p&p i've got a good example of a rare loco for around £30.

On my list of buys for this year is sister coronation city of scum

(oops Leeds) when it comes out, hopefully around my birthday looking at the catalogue.

 

[spongebob]

Typically to add insult to injury I decided to list a few sets of nameplates i've got that are surplus to requirements.
I used the title Jackson evans nameplates class 58 011 suit hornby
I listed 3 different sets 2 with the above type of title and one with
Nameplates for class 60 091 for hornby or lima model.
The first one and the other similar listing got pulled for violating ebays policy on keyword spamming the class 60 listing didn't!
The word "suit" is a no no as are suitable, not,like,similar etc. They didn't ask me to change it just pulled the plug without so much as a warning. I eailed my annoyance and was informed the actual offending keyword was in fact hornby!!
I think the reason the other one got off was because i didn't say who the plates were made by.
Anyway if you do try selling on ebay watch out Big brother is watching you and he's twice as annoying as before.
I think it may've been payback for the stick i gave over the category changes as well.