The eBay Car Thing...

General race coordinator discussions.
User avatar
sporty
Pine Head Legend
Pine Head Legend
Posts: 3344
Joined: Sun Feb 13, 2005 1:00 am
Location: rockfalls, Illinois

Re: The eBay Car Thing...

Post by sporty »

We have ran into e-bay cars. We have beat them also. But we also put in alot of time and hard work.

We do enjoy cloning some car shapes and designs from time to time. After all I think most people tend to find a design or look and try and model after it.

They e-bay cars are fast, but can be beaten. The biggest factor is track time and testing. Especially if you have a test track closer to that of the pack, district or council tracks.

But some parents do get upset just knowing if you have a test track or build more than one car.

Every person seems to look at pinewood derby differently. Some find it exciting and rewarding just building and working on the cars.

While some just view it as a small part of scouting and do not really see it as a big event.

I would imagine there our a bunch of factors why people buy pre built ready to run cars.

From wanting to please there child, to wanting to look good or simply not having the ability to build or the time or willingness to try building one.

This is a issue we will see in time how it plays out. More and more families have internet and vendors of pinewood derby supplies have grown.

In the past few years, I personally have seen the level of compitition at some of the local packs really develop.

Packs offering workshops and people willing to share and show how all the little things that can be done to improve performance is a big factor in also preventing the temptation of buying pre built ready to run cars.

Sporty
User avatar
gpraceman
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 4926
Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2003 12:46 am
Location: Highlands Ranch, CO
Contact:

Re: The eBay Car Thing...

Post by gpraceman »

Here's some of the posted buyer's feedback on eBay:
My little Tiger took every race!!! Thanks from a cheating dad!

My son won the Derby! 1st Place ... Will do business with again!

Pack Derby today & won every race.It won so easily we began to feel guilty!

WON 1'ST PLACE ... OFF TO DEFEND COUNCIL TITLE

WE WON DISTRICT WITH HIS CAR

FIRST PLACE PACK! ... FIRST PLACE DISTRICT!

Won 1st in pack and overall and 1st in district and overall.
I'm not trying to boost these guys up, but an honest person looking at this feedback should be appalled. It should also tell you that these cars are showing up in someone's races. Maybe it hasn't happened at your race yet, but it may be a matter of time if proactive steps are not taken.

"Thanks from a cheating dad!" tells it all.
Randy Lisano
Romans 5:8

Awana Grand Prix and Pinewood Derby racing - Where a child, an adult and a small block of wood combine for a lot of fun and memories.
TexasScoutMom
Apprentice
Apprentice
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Jan 19, 2009 6:38 pm
Location: North East, Texas!

Re: The eBay Car Thing...

Post by TexasScoutMom »

I don't know what steps can be taken, though-- not really. There are Scouts out there who can build cars that are just as good as the eBay cars, and they can make them look good, too. My family owns and airbrush machine. With "Derby Docs" stencils it is easy to make the decorative flames. On "You Tube" there is a tutorial about making realistic looking flames so I gave it a try and got good results. It is not hard to do a fantastic paint job, so I don't think that we can use the paint job as a way to judge Scout made cars vs. eBay cars. (Although, MY airbrush skills are much better then my son's, and with close inspection you could pretty easily tell that HE had painted his car-- even though he did a great job no one would mistake it for a professional paint job).

Then, I have seen eBay sellers make comments on their cars that the paint job is "good" but less then professional looking. So, we have eBay sellers out there painting cars to look "home made". I just do not see how there could ever be a reliable way of sorting out which are Scout made cars and which are eBay cars. You would end up possibly penalizing Scouts for making great cars!

I think that the best way to reduce these eBay cars is to INCREASE the number of cars made by the boys and their parents-- eliminate the need for purchasing a pre-made car. I feel like most people buy these because they don't know how to make them, are too intimidated or busy to learn, and they don't want their child to be disappointed. Maybe if more packs would do the workshops and offer "Derby" mentors to the newbies we would see a reduction in the purchase of these eBay cars. Just a thought.
Teeeman
Pine Head Legend
Pine Head Legend
Posts: 1577
Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2005 1:40 pm
Location: Huntsville, AL

Re: The eBay Car Thing...

Post by Teeeman »

Our approach was document "this year's cars" and if we had a suspect car, show the owner the picture of why we were concerned and ask questions...

... i.e. ask the Scout how they built it, did they have fun, etc.


We unearthed a kit car but the dad would not own up to it... he did get caught in a lie outright that he said they cut the body... we said go get the kid... the kid said 'it came that way'... even that though, they would not back off on the lie... it was kinda interesting to watch the kid look up at dad while telling his rehearsed lie and then watching dad scramble when confronted with why he told us they "cut the body out on Grandpa's scroll saw"...

I think the pain we put them through was enough they won't cheat again.


But ultimately it all boils down to honesty and if he was willing to work that hard to stick the lie, he will pay the price down the road when that kid is older.


Well, kinda side-tracked on kits ...

but with eBay cars, no different...

we show the pic as to why we suspect it and "interrogate"... to keep up our reputation as "rules [censored] who outlaw anything they can't beat".

-T
"I dunno..." - Uncle Eddie, Christmas Vacation
TexasScoutMom
Apprentice
Apprentice
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Jan 19, 2009 6:38 pm
Location: North East, Texas!

Re: The eBay Car Thing...

Post by TexasScoutMom »

Pardon my ignorance, but what is a "kit car"? I bought a packaged kit on eBay, but it came with the official BSA wood block in the box with the wheels and axles, just like you get at the scout store. But, the "kit" also came with paints, decals, wheel alignment tool and weights. This is not what you mean by "kit car" is it? Because the actual "car" part of the kit (the wooden block) was official BSA-- not PineCar.
User avatar
Darin McGrew
Pine Head Legend
Pine Head Legend
Posts: 1825
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2003 1:23 pm
Location: Knoxville, TN
Contact:

Re: The eBay Car Thing...

Post by Darin McGrew »

TexasScoutMom wrote:Pardon my ignorance, but what is a "kit car"?
There are different types of "kit cars", ranging from the kind you describe (standard wheels, axles, and uncut block, bundled with paint, decals, weights, tools, etc.) to cars that are essentially complete and ready to race. There is some disagreement about where to draw the line between acceptable and unacceptable "kit cars". "Kit cars" that bundle supplies and tools with a standard kit are generally acceptable, essentially complete cars are generally unacceptable, and kits with precut blocks may or may not be acceptable, depending on who you're asking.
User avatar
gpraceman
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 4926
Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2003 12:46 am
Location: Highlands Ranch, CO
Contact:

Re: The eBay Car Thing...

Post by gpraceman »

To me a "kit car" is one that the sanctioning organization (BSA in this case) provides in their official packaging.

Where I think the term is getting misconstrued/confused is that some sellers of mostly built cars call what they sell "kits".
Randy Lisano
Romans 5:8

Awana Grand Prix and Pinewood Derby racing - Where a child, an adult and a small block of wood combine for a lot of fun and memories.
TexasScoutMom
Apprentice
Apprentice
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Jan 19, 2009 6:38 pm
Location: North East, Texas!

Re: The eBay Car Thing...

Post by TexasScoutMom »

The car kit that I bought said "Official BSA Deluxe Car Kit", and the wood block had to be cut out and everything done to it. It was an official car in a box, with the other stuff packaged around it. We did not even use the paints, as we bought automotive paints. And, the "bar weights" that came with the kit were used on my daugther's car. So, in retrospect it would have been better just to get a regular plain old car from the scout store. I bought that kit when we were still pretty new thinking it would save time-- but it didn't. We did use the plastic alignment thingy, though.
Post Reply