Just Listed my Bus on e-bay

[bobofthenorth]

Richard just understands how the system works.  Since when is knowledge an unfair advantage? 

I was at a real live auction last week (actually I was virtually there but it works the same as being there in person)  I didn't bid on a lot of 3 generators because I guessed (rightly as it turned out) that there weren't more than 3 buyers for 3 identical gensets.  If I had bid all that I would have accomplished would have been to run the price up.  As it was the top bidder took one of the gensets and me & another bidder took the other 2 at the same price.  Was that unfair?  I don't think so.

I always sit in the top of the bleachers at the back when I'm at a livestock auction. Why? So I can watch to see who I am bidding against.  That way I can be sure the auctioneer isn't bidding me against a friendly crow.  Is that unfair - or just smart?

Knowledge is definitely an advantage but I don't believe that it is ever an unfair advantage.

[JackConrad]

     I started using a sniping service several years ago after losing many auctions by .50-$1.00. When I emailed a seller to ask if he had anymore of the item and remarked that I always seemed to lose by the minimum bid amount, he suggested I use a sniping service.  Since using the sniping service, I still occasionally lose an auction. Sometimes because the item goes for much more than I was willing to pay and sometimes because someone else is probably using a sniping service also.  Jack

[Kwajdiver]

This is all very nice,,,,, but your not helping me sell my bus.......

By the way, did I tell you I purchase a house three weeks ago at a live auction.  Bought it about 60-80k under value. Needs a little fixing up,  but nothing I can't handle.

Now, could we please get back to selling my bus.....

Thanks you,

Bill
Tampa Bay

[Lin]

I have always thought that being fast was an unfair advantage in a race.  When I was a teacher, an assistant principle once suggested that being able to read was an unfair advantage in testing.  Good looks seems to be an unfair advantage socially.  All this has led me to believe that whoever designed the world did not do it fairly.

[Stan]

Jack: You always lose an ebay auction by the minimum bid at that level. You don't know that the winning bidder may have put in a maximum bid much higher than your bid. Only the winner knows what all the other bidders had for a maximum.

I find it funny when I put in the first bid and then ten snipe bids show up in the last ten seconds not knowing that my one bid may be several hundred percent higher than the first bid showing. Anytime you win, it shows that no one else was willing to pay as much as you.

[FloridaCliff]

All this has led me to believe that whoever designed the world did not do it fairly.

Or that They knew, You didn't need that advantage to succeed.......

Cliff

[busnut104]

Bill; Sorry that you bus did not bring the price that you had to have, I have had my bus for sale now for about 6 months, I'm asking a fraction on what I have in it or what you could even being to build one for, but still I see people starting in on one from scratch, Maybe that is just what they want to do but if you look on the dollar side it does not make sense. I know it is a very bad time to sell and I wounder if there ever will be a good time again. I do not have to sell but it seams a wast to just set there. Good luck Bill. 

[tekebird]

yeah it boggles my mind too......I have seen people put hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars into something that they could not ever get out of what they have in the shell alone.  Some guys have 5 or more years in their conversion process and still are not on the road

I have two for sale , both professionally converted by reputable places still in business and one was converted from new.

I think it has more to do with the ability to thow money at it as you have the money rather than get a loan and start using the bus immediatley.

[Dreamscape]

I for one like the adventure of building one myself. I learn a great deal in the experience. Learning how to do things that I might never have had the chance.

It's all about what you want to do. Some people throw money into building a coach and others throw money into a completed one. Maybe they don't have the skills or don't want them in the first place.

Without this great hobby I'm sure that my money would go to something else. I've thrown money away in the past when I was younger, at least now I have something to show for it.

Yeah, it's not finished yet, but have always had this dream. Now I'm living it! 

My 2 cents,

Paul

[kyle4501]

yeah it boggles my mind too......I have seen people put hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars into something that they could not ever get out of what they have in the shell alone.  Some guys have 5 or more years in their conversion process and still are not on the road

I have two for sale , both professionally converted by reputable places still in business and one was converted from new.

I think it has more to do with the ability to thow money at it as you have the money rather than get a loan and start using the bus immediatley.

Just like other hobbies, you ain't gonna be able to sell -
- your years & years of golf club dues after you retire from golfing.
- that bass boat for what you paid for it.
- that model train layout.
- etc . . . . .


I'm gonna convert my own because:
- I don't want what the professionals build for someone else.
- I don't want to give up that much cash to have a professional convert it for me.
- I can do it myself.
- I want to do it myself.


That is why it is called a hobby. Look it up sometime 

[tekebird]

Just like other hobbies, you ain't gonna be able to sell -
- your years & years of golf club dues after you retire from golfing.
- that bass boat for what you paid for it.
- that model train layout.
- etc . . . . .


I'm gonna convert my own because:
- I don't want what the professionals build for someone else.
- I don't want to give up that much cash to have a professional convert it for me.
- I can do it myself.
- I want to do it myself.


That is why it is called a hobby. Look it up sometime 

1. we are not talking dues.
2.nobody said anyone is trying to get what they paid for something
3. lots of people sell thier toy trains for quite a profit

4.seems most people conversion that I have seen are not cutting edge or very different than anything else, sure perhaps a bit more space here or less there but all in all very similar.
5.$$ that is a resonable answer....
6. Some can...and some can to dfferent levels.  There are very few who are handy enough in all trades to get everything top nothch...generally there is some area which "suffers"
7.Wanting to is also a good answer.

Hobby.........I know what they are and I have way to many....all of which cost.

question is is the hobby the conversion or the use of it.

I have the skills in most areas to do my own....and if I wasn't busy with lots of other things I might do one myself........except for the fact that it is much smarter fiscally to buy one that is ready to roll.

my folks 4108 for instance.  I could not buy all the parts to make one of that quality with whatever layout/design you want for anywhere near what the asking price is.

5 years ago when I was considering doing one I figured I needed 60k in stuff not counting my labor or anything that I thought about hiring out on.  Now this was all new stuff.

[kyle4501]

bird,
It its the exception, not the rule, when someone makes money in their hobby, especially if it involves old buses. 

The point is that if you are trying to make money, old buses ain't a good place to start for most people.

Calling it dues is semantics - you can't play if you don't pay.
Sure you can ride someones coat tails for a while, but that isn't the norm either. 

I have yet to see a conversion or motorhome that I like as is. You just can't please some people.

RE: question is is the hobby the conversion or the use of it.
well DUHHHH! the answer is in what they are doing with it. Like you said, there are many hobbies. Some make a hobby of whining about the high cost of fuel. Some others will find something else to hang their hat on.

Sad to say, but ebay is a pretty good barometer of what something is worth to the buyers. Sometimes it aint a good time to sell. Sometimes we want more for our stuff than anyone will pay.
I have a nice Jag for sale, but no one wants to pay low book for it, so it looks like it will be mine for a while longer until the market improves. 

[prevost82]

I think you hit it on the head Kyle ... this is not the time to sell ... it's a buyers market.

A friend down the street has a small bus charter company and he just picked up two 94 H3 Prevost's with 750K on them with 12L ser 60 motor that have just had a inframe and rebuilt B500 trannies for $40K each and he bought them from Prevost Car in Calif. There's a 1998 Prevost enterianer on eBay with a BIN for 130K ... I wish I was buy now instead of 5 yrs ago.
Ron

[jjrbus]

Bill I see your bus did not sell, sorry. You had 2 bidders on it, did you know the bidders, did they come to look at it?  Was the high bid close to your reserve?

[Chaz]

You are right on the mark, Kyle and Paul. There is such a thing in some people that we just have to do it ourselves........for whatever reasons. For me, it's just a need to create. To have the fullfillment of being proud of the project. Money can't buy that. And just buying something is a hollow and short lived fullfillment.
  It is a shame that we can't get more for our blood, sweat, pain and money -money wise- but it sure feels good when it's a job well done. People who are wrapped up with only the money aspect in mind will never know that feeling. (sad) Therefore they can't justify it to themselves.
It really is all about what you like. And we are all very different.

   I resemble that last remark,   
       Chaz