What a parts seller goes through

I am really glad you guys do the things you do to keep our cars alive. I am very thankful.

 

I for one dont mind paying for a good part. The behind the scenes stuff takes up time. Time is money. Even if you enjoy the parts thing your time is still worth something. Its nice to help out, yes. Its also a lot of work though.
Lets face it none of us are going to get rich of cheap ass Maverick and Comet guys. LOL.
So I appreciate what sellers do for us.

 

Keep at it you parts guys, this Comet/Maverick car culture needs to eventually have several vendors specializing in these parts.
My boss started out with a couple of parts cars 22 years ago, now we are the largest Classic Cougar junkyard anywhere.

At our shop, we purchase custom boxes. I think that there are 4 different sizes, bumper, fender, door panel, and a smaller box about 30x30x6. Saves time and they are sturdy boxes to prevent damage. Well worth it when you have to calculate your dumpster diving time.

I will share some of our 'learnings'.

Hemmings ads may sound obvious, but as we found out, mainly reaches a generation that is computer challenged. We stuck with local, regional, and national car club(s) for advertising.

This forum is one of the best places to be. Plus face book (I have heard).

Brick and mortar retail stores will not survive in a niche market, too much overhead. Stay home based, the phone and your computer are all that you need in this day and age.

We have found that swap meets work best for handing out business cards. We only go to one swap meet a year. We attend the Portland Oregon Swap Meet in April, but only to buy parts. Two days away from the phones is two days of sales not generated, we run up there on Saturday, pass out a few business cards and buy parts.

You need an on-line presence. We got a Yahoo Store, it works very well for small and medium sized companies. Our above store is the result of many 100's of hours by several people, it is about 5 years old - and growing! We do not have a printed catalog, they are too expensive to print and distribute.

eBay is also used, (not the eBay store, we like the 30 day good 'til sold category, about a penny per day per listing) but it is used more as a way of getting first time buyers. We primarily sell reproduction parts on eBay, and everyone gets a business card in the box. When the item sells, we just 'relist' that item.

This is just a quicky overview.

Yellow75, you aren't too far from me, I know of several Mavericks being parted in Molalla if you're interested.

 

I used to sell stuff online, but the shipping, boxing and all just takes too much time. i only sell stuff locally on CL now...when I've got stuff to sell. Wheels/tires are usually pretty good movers, other stuff is kinda hit & miss.

 

Go to a hobby shop and get a rock tumbler, that should do the trick.

 

Since we are talking about selling lets touch bases on ebay.

To sell an item on ebay you must first post it, that generates a listing fee, first picture is free, then pictures after that you get charged for all be it not very much, then you have to pay to have picture included or supersized. After the item is sold you have a final value fee that you are charged depending on the value of the item sold this can be pretty expensive. And after that they tack on a fee for shipping charges, yes they get thier fingers in the till for something they have nothing to do with. Now comes the paypal fee that they get for using thier required service.

Some of you probably know all this but when say an item sells for $100.00 the seller is going to get $90.00 of that and ebay the rest.

 

Only one small thing I can add to this thread.
I always take detailed pictures of what is "wrong" with the part, the good stuff is usually obvious. I really hate to here, "You didn't tell me about..............". I figure if I show them the bad stuff and they still buy then they can't complain later. But of coarse some still do.

I'm still looking for a left rear quarter, complete. Apparently there are none available anywhere near Wisconsin. I'd get one out of Texas, AZ, Washington, or SoCal but I'm affraid the shipping would kill the deal.

Ever searching,
Sopp

 

A rock tumbler might be a little rough .... a better choice would be a vibratory polisher (yep .... I'm braced for the punchlines already .... ).

They are used to clean up bullet casings, for reloading.

They work really well bring small polished parts back to a mirror-like shine. My seat release handles are going into mine this weekend. It uses a media (ground corn cob is common) and polishing compound.

 

Ebay pretty much sucks anymore. I've bought better parts from people on here, and I've never had to worry about whats in that box when I open it, it's always been better than expected, and I'm pretty fussy.

 

dont think i could explained this any better myself! great post Mike! :Handshake

 

You guys forgot the part about carrying all that money to the bank after the sale.

I know I've bought parts from Mike and Craig and a few others and I do appreciate their efforts. I know how hard it is to sell parts. That's why I don't do it very often, and usually locally. After I (if ever) Finish my cars the rest of the parts will probably be given away.

Thanks guys.

 

You guys forgot the part about carrying all that money to the bank after the sale.

Well we cant tell you everything that spoils it

 

I'm glad Craig mentioned the part about going to the Post Office or UPS store. Most buyers don't realize everybody doesn't live a block from the Post Office or UPS. I'm 2 miles from the PO, but can't always get there during their office hours, so I mostly ship stuff on Sat mornings. The UPS store is 35 miles away, so it's even harder. I don't use them much, unless it's something the PO won't ship due to size.

I've never bought from Craig, asked about a few things but what he had in stock at that time wouldn't work for me.
Bought a waterpump pulley from Mike one time, turned out it wouldn't work on my pump. Instead of being stuck with it, Mike took it back, I paid shipping one way, him the other, and he refunded what I had payed for the pulley. Now that's customer service! Most sellers, you bought it, it's yours, fit or not.
I got some stuff from MeanMaverick, too. I firmly believe in supporting our members if they have an item I need!:Handshake

As for eBay, I only do it to get rid of stuff anymore. Used to do a little parting out myself when Bubba was alive, we would buy an old car or truck, strip what we wanted, sell the rest. I don't have anybody to find stuff for me anymore, so it's very seldom I sell anything anymore.

A big thanks for you guys that do sell regulary. It keeps the community going with the spare parts we need that aren't made anymore!

 

I will gladly refund money on anything bought from me if not happy with product and have always been that way, just good business practice I treat people the way I would like to be treated, I guess I am old school.

I am not out to get your hard earned money I am trying to supply people with the parts they need, also I see people selling parts here and I have the parts but will not step on thier toes unless somebody has bought the part ahead of them.

Back in the days when ebay listed the buyers ID I would not bid against someone from this forum if I recognized them, no sense in fighting amongst one another.

 

I miss those days of asking others on here if they were bidding, we've always been good that way. :Handshake