German wages rose after the war, as did shipping costs and inflation. This created an unfavorable climate for German exports. Meanwhile, the Lionel Corporation produced advertising that criticized the manufacturing methods of its competitors' trains. Although targeted mainly at Ives, this ad campaign also hurt Bing's image because Bing's methods were so similar. Bing struggled to sell through its old inventory and misjudged demand. When the market evaporated for its 1 gauge trains, it re-gauged some models to O gauge, where they looked oversized, and re-gauged other models to Lionel's Standard gauge, where they looked undersized.