Newbie's ebay adventures...

Mike F

Member
Hi – I am new to this hobby and website. Although I have purchased several pieces via ebay over the past month, I am wondering whether the prices that I have been paying are what I should be paying or not. What started me thinking about this was a post that I wrote earlier today where I mentioned that I paid what I thought was a reasonable price for a waffle iron.

After posting I thought a little more about what I had written. Did I know enough to be able to say that what I paid was reasonable?

To this end, and to help others in my situation (new and wondering what a fair price would be for CI pieces), I will provide below the list of pieces that I have purchased. All have been purchased within the past 30 days.

I realize that fair market price = what a buyer and seller agree the price to be at a point in time, and I have no regrets, but I would like to submit this list to the more senior members on this site for feedback. I am doing this so that I can learn of any pieces that I have overpaid for (which will help me make future decisions), and so that others in my position can have access to one more data point to use when they are considering pulling the trigger on a piece.

Comments from all, either negative or positive, are encouraged. The prices that I list below include shipping. I have included them because shipping prices vary greatly (due to sellers including a handling charge), and I have noticed that the ACTUAL shipping costs are between $10 and $20 depending on size, etc.

Here is the list:

1. Wagner no 8 skillet (Sydney –o- logo at top – slight wobble) -- $40.50 shipped
2. Wagner no 6 skillet (Sydney –o- logo at top – sits flat) -- $36.67 shipped
3. Wagner no 10 skillet (Sydney –o- logo at top – slight wobble) -- $45.50 shipped
4. Wagner no 3 skillet (Sydney –o- logo at top – sits flat) -- $17.94 shipped
5. Griswold skillet griddle no 202 (small cross logo -- slight wobble) -- $75.00 shipped
6. Wagner cornbread pan “junior” #1 (Erie logo) -- $21.99 shipped
7. Wagner cornbread pan “junior” #2 (Erie logo) -- $16.99 shipped
8. 2x Wagner cornbread pan “tea size” #2 (Erie logo) -- $40.30 shipped for both
9. Griswold New American waffle iron #8 (976/977/975 base) -- $60.00 shipped
10. Wagner dutch oven #8 lid and base (Sydney –o- logo at top – moderate wobble) – $54.99 shipped
11. Wagner chef skillet 9 inch (Sydney -o- logo at top - 1386B –sits flat) -- $63.45 shipped
12. Wagner griddle #10A (Sydney –o- logo at top – sits flat) -- $83.00 shipped
13. 2x Griswold popover pan #10 (949C) -- $112.97 shipped for both

Some other notes:
• The stability of the pans (flat, wobble, etc) were known to me (or expected) at time of purchase. For example, I suspected the dutch oven might have a wobble but I didn’t care since I will be using it in my oven to bake bread. "Slight wobble" means very little wobbling -- it will sit flat on a thin tablecloth but not on a plate of glass.
• My recommendation for purchasers is that you ALWAYS confirm the stability of the pieces you are considering. Good sellers will list this but many will not and it is very difficult to determine stability from pictures. Do this (a) so that you are aware of what you are buying and (b) so that you can return the piece if it does not match the description (I have done this once already).
• The cosmetic condition of the pieces varied, but all were in need of moderate cleaning. I don’t have pics of everything in their “as bought” state, but here is one of three pieces that gives you an indication. All were roughly similar.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/139658521@N07/shares/8bySJ5

Please let me know if there are any items that I am missing and I will happily update this post if I have that info.

I hope this information is useful to some. Comments and feedback, either negative or positive, are welcome!!
 
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An average of $40 a piece is high around here. You did good on the waffle iron & bad on the DO. May I suggest you do your homework on this site as determining value has been addressed many times, as has been the necessity to provide good pics, front & back to evaluate a piece.

Hilditch
 
Hmmmmm....just a friendly note ....I sell some on eBay ...just remember flate rate boxes are the most economical way to ship cast iron ...so a # 10 and under skillet and a # 8 and under Dutch oven will ship in a medium flat rate box ...$13.95 and never pay a handling charge !!!!! That's b.s...just my two cents worth
 
Hmmmmm....just a friendly note ....I sell some on eBay ...just remember flate rate boxes are the most economical way to ship cast iron ...so a # 10 and under skillet and a # 8 and under Dutch oven will ship in a medium flat rate box ...$13.95 and never pay a handling charge !!!!! That's b.s...just my two cents worth

Thanks -- good to know.
 
An average of $40 a piece is high around here. You did good on the waffle iron & bad on the DO. May I suggest you do your homework on this site as determining value has been addressed many times, as has been the necessity to provide good pics, front & back to evaluate a piece.

Hilditch

Fair comment re: homework. The funny part is that I thought you were going to tell me I did bad on the wagner griddle and popover pans (#s 12 and 13) -- I was not expecting the DO to be high after deducting the shipping cost.

One question -- when you say "around here" are you meaning your local area or this website?
 
Hmmmmm....just a friendly note ....I sell some on eBay ...just remember flate rate boxes are the most economical way to ship cast iron ...so a # 10 and under skillet and a # 8 and under Dutch oven will ship in a medium flat rate box ...$13.95 and never pay a handling charge !!!!! That's b.s...just my two cents worth
I was about to say, joking or not, this is extremely bad advice, and then I see someone has already taken it as being serious. Let's NOT do two things: (1) give bad advice, and (2) not make it extremely clear that one is being facetious.
 
It does bow the sides a bit...but it can be done ...the inside of a medium long flat rate box is 12 inches give or take ...and most no 10 measure 11 1/2 to 12 1/2 spout to spout ...u may get a little bow ...but you got push the limits to save people money ;)

---------- Post added at 12:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:07 AM ----------

Sorry if I gave bad advice ...just saying what works for me ...all apologies
 
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It does bow the sides a bit...but it can be done ...the inside of a medium long flat rate box is 12 inches give or take ...and most no 10 measure 11 1/2 to 12 1/2 spout to spout ...u may get a little bow ...but you got push the limits to save people money ;)

---------- Post added at 12:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:07 AM ----------

Sorry if I gave bad advice ...just saying what works for me ...all apologies

I thought the $13.95 shipping was consistent with what I was seeing from most sellers. As far as the handling charge goes, I just used $15 as a proxy of how much it would cost a seller to ship, add the difference to the selling price and used that total to decide whether to buy or not.
 
6. Wagner cornbread pan “junior” #1 (Erie logo) -- $21.99 shipped
7. Wagner cornbread pan “junior” #2 (Erie logo) -- $16.99 shipped
8. 2x Wagner cornbread pan “tea size” #2 (Erie logo) -- $40.30 shipped for both
What is a Wagner "Erie logo"?
 
Thanks Doug for posting that link apparently I have been doing it wrong and was unaware ...guess I need to work on my packing procedure ...sorry Mike for the poor advice ...and apologies to all
 
I have a nice Crescent chicken fryer missing the handle. I got all my money back including the shipping but I would have rather had the pan. I have also received cast iron in a bubble envelope. :headpop:

---------- Post added at 10:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:32 PM ----------

Mike, there are a lot of reproduction tea size wagners out there. I hope you got real ones. I have a fake. :cry:
 
The fake tea size often have the wrong c/n. 1317 is the correct one, but does not guarantee genuine. Although I have yet to see a fake with 1317 c/n.
 
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