eBay and Patience

[hookedtrout]

Sure is a nice time to live and have classic car interests. Plug in a favorites search and it sends you an email directing you to what ever you are interested in buying for your car.

YESTERDAY; go to all the junk yards in hopes that you would find what you need in good enough condition to actually be applicable.

TODAY; post in an eBay search, exersize a little patience and wait for one in exactly the condition you want and it will show up eventually, place a bid and wait for it to arrive.

I've recently picked up an excellent radio bezel, an NOS AM radio, an NOS antenna, and a complete set of blue 68 seatbelts. Thats just the items in the past few months in the past few years I've picked up a bunch of other items.

Everyone else find eBay such a treasure trove of parts?

Hook

 

[mmarsalone]

I search every night the "Newly Listed" items for all of my cars. I watch a lot of items that I don't intend to buy. It's fun to watch the prices of some of these parts.

 

[coloradoHCS]

Hook, I have bought alot of parts off of e-bay for my cars and have been very happy with the results. To date I have not had a bad experience. Same with Hemmings, must be the people in this hobby.

I am now thinking of selling a car on e-bay and was wondering if anyone has sold a car this way. Should I put a reserve on it? It seems risky not to but I believe the cost in fees is higher if I place a reserve.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, Mark.

 

[68gt390]

Hook;
I've bought everything from seals, grille's, fog lights to diecast models off of ebay and have yet to have a real problem. It's one of the easiest ways I've found to find or get what you need.

Don ;D

 

[hookedtrout]

Me too, I watch all kinds of stuff I probably will never buy. Watching all the classic cars/trucks and dreaming is a blast. I used to have a 1955 F100 with a tilt front end and I chopped the top 5 inches. It was a sweet ride and I sold it to buy my house so I check the old 53-55 effies and some day I suppose I will see my old one show up. I saw a black one one time that was really nice and got to reading about it and it had less than 20,000 original miles and was owned by Alan Jackson or used in his videos or something. It sold for a very reasonable price and would have been one of those spur of the moment purchases had it not been so far back East and me not owning a car hauler at the time. I now own a car hauler so I'm sure one day I'll get the urge, slip, and place a bid and be committed to get me some car or truck somewhere to add to my collection.

Hook

 

[hookedtrout]

[quote author=ColoradoHCS link=board=1;threadid=1716;start=0#msg10791 date=1116948382]
I am now thinking of selling a car on e-bay and was wondering if anyone has sold a car this way. Should I put a reserve on it? It seems risky not to but I believe the cost in fees is higher if I place a reserve.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, Mark.
[/quote]

What kind of car and what value would be the big question. If it's a really popular classic car I would say as long as your title is descriptive enough for all to find it will carry it's own without a reserve. If it's an off the wall type car that not a lot of people will be looking for it may not get seen by a lot and the price my not get where you want.

I've never sold a car but I think if you need a set amount I'd weigh the options of selling locally at a set price and see how that goes. Another thing to make sure and do is check the prices of all comparable cars on eBay to see how much they are selling for and you can assume yours will sell for a similar price if it's in similar condition.

Hook

 

[hcsstang]

I've had one problem with ebay I ordered a pair of horns and they didn't work. He claimed that they were in good working order. ???

 

[hookedtrout]

[quote author=hcsstang link=board=1;threadid=1716;start=0#msg10836 date=1117023523]
I've had one problem with ebay I ordered a pair of horns and they didn't work. He claimed that they were in good working order. ???
[/quote]

I've had a problem or two myself, never with any auto parts. But I figure the savings I've had and the finds I've made make it well worth the risk of an occassional getting the shaft on a deal. The issues I've had could have easily been avoided by heeding the feedback or the history of the person but I took the risk therefore it was my mistake.

Hook

 

[PFSlim]

We ordered several parts from ebay during our restoration. Everything was excellent except one transaction. I bought a front wiring harness from a kid that accepted my money but never sent the part. Oh well, only $12.00. Other than that, we bought our console and misc other parts that I was very satisfied with.

I have stayed away from ebay for awhile though. You know you can get hooked on buying parts, even if you don't need them. ;D

Paul

 

[bbeatty]

[quote author=PFSlim link=board=1;threadid=1716;start=0#msg10839 date=1117034126]

I have stayed away from ebay for awhile though. You know you can get hooked on buying parts, even if you don't need them. ;D

Paul
[/quote]

Gee I hope that never happens to me! :

I inventoried the parts in the garage and basement last weekend I think I do have an EBAY problem!

Right now I have bids out on a heater box (like I need one of those but it is still cheap and it has the blower motor and core), 2 carbs (they don't happen to be correct for either of my cars but they have the tags and the current bid is real low) and a vintage correct Rotunda compass (in case I get lost driving around the block)

I NEED HELP!!! ;D

On the other hand, I did get a rechromed vent window and a rear spring bolt/shackle kit today which I actaully did need. ;D

 

[390cs68rcode]

and a vintage correct Rotunda compass

I saw that too. I bet it goes for big bucks (for a compass).

 

[68sunlitgold]

LIke bbeatty I too have a "problem" since I am away from my cars I send everything to my folks place. I think there space above the garage is FULL of all the stuff I have purchased. I plan to pick alot of it up when I get my coupe this summer and drive it to GA, I want to use it as my daily driver to work and do some final fixing on it.

I too "watch" many items just to see what they will go for. I have noticed something about ebay over the last 3-4 years, the prices are going up and the "deal of a life-time" is very hard to find. For example, I see 67-68 door grilles (the ones on the bottom of the door with the light and speaker openings) going for around $100/pair on ebay, but I went to a swap meet and they where selling for $75/pair and I could pick the pair I wanted. Bottom line, ebay is great for someone like me over in Korea, but if you have the chance to go to a swap meet or junk yard, check out the prices there first before hitting ebay.

Doug