Can't get rid of my old parts

[YY1]

Rules of thumb for non-corporate selling:

1- do you have parts people want?
2- do you have them priced realistically?
3- can you communicate effectively?
4- can you tolerate "people" reasonably well, including "difficult" people?
5- do you know what venues work best for different items?
6- can you tolerate "Murphy's Law"?

I've done reasonably well selling, both car parts and various stuff on ebay and craigslist.

I even agreed to deliver a pair of wheels I had been trying to get rid of for years because it was on my way to my moms house, and they would be gone plus I would get a bit of cash.

 

[Ottmundr]

Rules of thumb for non-corporate selling:

1- do you have parts people want?
2- do you have them priced realistically?
3- can you communicate effectively?
4- can you tolerate "people" reasonably well, including "difficult" people?
5- do you know what venues work best for different items?
6- can you tolerate "Murphy's Law"?

I've done reasonably well selling, both car parts and various stuff on ebay and craigslist.

I even agreed to deliver a pair of wheels I had been trying to get rid of for years because it was on my way to my moms house, and they would be gone plus I would get a bit of cash.

I've found the best way to handle #4 is to be willing to just walk away. It works with ex's, it works with tire kickers, it works with coworkers.

I learned a very long time ago that something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. Economics is like physics.

 

[Illahe]

Rules of thumb for non-corporate selling:

1- do you have parts people want?
2- do you have them priced realistically?
3- can you communicate effectively?
4- can you tolerate "people" reasonably well, including "difficult" people?
5- do you know what venues work best for different items?
6- can you tolerate "Murphy's Law"?

I've done reasonably well selling, both car parts and various stuff on ebay and craigslist.

I even agreed to deliver a pair of wheels I had been trying to get rid of for years because it was on my way to my moms house, and they would be gone plus I would get a bit of cash.

#4

 

[YY1]

The model and toy train market is very similar to the car part market.

All the above rules apply.

Most clubs do not want old "toy quality" items.
(Unless it's a toy train club and the items are ether rare or near mint)
Some are era or road specific and don't want anything else.

$10 old school screw together kits are not very valuable either, and cost as much to ship as they are worth.
Bundling can be effective with these but you have to be careful.

I'm currently interested in a bundle of good quality offset side hoppers with different numbers, that I can rename but keep the numbers.

Here are the issues-

1- most are only worth 10 bucks. I'll go to 12 if it's exactly what I want.
2- I'm not paying $65 to ship 4 or 5 cars.
3- I need the cars to be identical except for the numbers.

I put a group of cars for $55 with $15 shipping in my watch list.
The next day, there was an offer from the seller for $40 plus that $15.
That makes them $11 each.
Fair deal for me.
Not a great deal for the seller, though but he doesn't throw them away and does get something.

 

[YY1]

The problem with "only worth what someone will pay" is-

It's true...

but

...it isn't.

Most things have fairly easily researchable value ranges.

It pays both parties to be familiar with what those are.

Otherwise you are playing with emotions only and are both shooting in the dark.

 

[jrc4y4]

That's a keeper

I’m not making this up, she asked if you could put stuff on the shelf and I just stopped replying. I even said in the ad “I’m cleaning my house while moving and cannot answer questions constantly. The stuff is free come get what you want.” This was one of the moments that finally led me to deleting social media lol

 

[WV64Signet]

I’m not making this up, she asked if you could put stuff on the shelf and I just stopped replying. I even said in the ad “I’m cleaning my house while moving and cannot answer questions constantly. The stuff is free come get what you want.” This was one of the moments that finally led me to deleting social media lol

View attachment 1716497663

Lol

Unbelievable

 

[My own man]

These things are cultural. Culture is taught in the home by mom, and grandparents.
What happens when mom no longer raises the kids?
What happens when the family is scattered across the country?

Even Victor Davis Hansen was talking about this issue.

Maintaining a culture that will take care of you in your old age is not only work, it takes time.

Television, newspapers, radio, internet, are all non-productive, or socially destructive time sinks.

There are only so many hours in a day, so many hours in a child's life to teach culture.

So, this is one of the consequences of the destruction of a cultural glue

Now, to the subject at hand, the first people to start selling off all the hobby stuff will be successful, the Johnny-come-latelys won't, and it will all end up in the attic, ignored. Or in the dump. The physical world items and activities we enjoyhave little appeal to younger generations who favor virtual worlds and have the attention span of a Zebra Finch.

Doing an engine swap cannot compete with the gamblers high dopamine hit of candy crush or onlyfans girls.

Under

My family's coat of arms read

"If it's free it's for me"

 

[Jim Kueneman]

Typically I ask 2 things for part I want gone.

1) You pay shipping
2) Pass the favor on to someone else in need.

Just sent a pair of upper control arms to a lady in LA for her daughters '66 Valiant.

Jim

 

[volaredon]

I find when I need something it costs more than it's weight in gold.
When I want to sell something I can't get scrap price.

 

[ProjectBazza]

I have lots of HO stuff.

Rusty,

My eight year old niece asked for “model train stuff” for Christmas. Her mother (my half sister) didn’t think she was serious about it, so she didn’t follow through…..

Anyway, long story short:

I need a vacation from work (badly), and my niece seems to be genuinely interested in model trains, so if what you have would be appropriate for an 8 year old kid just starting out, I could be down there in a few days. And I would bring cash….

Think about it, send me a pic or three, and/or let me know.

Jim

(Edit: Probably should have sent this
via PM.)

 

[Desoto291hemi]

Almost always these threads turn into a ***** session .
Yes,,,,people trying to deal with people is always going to be a difficult proposition .
I buy a lot of stuff on here ,,,,and I have found some great bargains .
And some people are impossible to deal with as well ,,buyers and sellers .
What I have never understood is when someone wants to sell a part and prices it too high to begin with .
And then states that if it doesn’t sell they will just scrap it .
If you are asking twice the fair price already,,,,do you really think the scrapper guy is going to pay you more than a fraction of the real value ?

I have bought way more than I have meant to .
Sometimes I have to tug at my collar like Rodney Dangerfield and catch my breath,,lol .

But on a positive note ,,,there are absolutely fabulous guys here to deal with .

I purchased a bumper and taillights from 1Mean A,,it was a pleasure to buy from him .
He sent it in the box he had purchased a new bumper from .
I didn’t need it,,,but I got it because you never know when I could be rear ended and then desperately need it .
Great price,,great part,,great shipping,,,all from Canada during the supposed tariff war .
I was very happy with it,,,,Canada Post took a little extra time with it,,but it worked out awesome .

I have bought from Al and so many other guys here as well .
I have had guys contact me with a DM telling me they saw my ad for parts and gotten great deals .
I got a great SB Mopar six pack intake and carbs,,,for very good money .
He offered me his price and I couldn’t pass it up .
The carbs were completely fresh rebuilds and the intake was NOS,,,can you believe it ?
If I told you the price you would not believe me ,,it was a lot,,,but below , or in line with the market

And then I have offered excellent money for mediocre parts and then been almost cussed because I didn’t want to overpay for semi crap .

Go figure,,,it’s all in the person .
Make good deals,,and try to treat people good.
The rest will work out somehow .

Tommy

 

[missing linc]

I still believe there are more good people out there. I recently had an MSD ignition system for sale, billet distributor, cap, new set of wires, coil, and ignition box. The ad had been up for a while when I got an offer from someone for all of the components as one lot, and he was willing to pay very close to my asking price. I agreed, he sent payment and I packed it into a flat rate box and shipped it. A few days later I heard back from him, shipment arrived, he was very happy and we had an extended conversation about why he had bought it. He planned to install it and some other parts he's been buying in his dad's 68 D100 so that the truck would finally be reliable for his dad to drive and enjoy. Seems like a great young man and I look forward to hearing from him again with an update. Also told him that I would be happy to help with any questions about the truck or install and suggested he join us here at FABO.

 

[harrisonm]

I have had pretty good luck selling parts here and on a Classic Mustang forum after Mark (56 Studebaker Power Hawk guy) and I were done with his 67 Mustang and there were a lot of parts left over. Some things didn't sell, but I kind of didn't expect them to. There were a few things that didn't sell that really surprised me. Like some assorted tinted 69 Barracuda glass, and a Craig under dash 8 Track tape player that works great (with a bunch of tapes). I kind of expected people to jump on the tape player, but either there are more out there than I thought, or the desire isn't there. I guess it just boils down to whether someone really needs what you've got when you want to sell it.

 

[MMissile]

I tend to throw a lot of good parts in the trash, or I used to give them to my scrapper buddy. I also leave some stuff at the swap meets, when I leave. It's so much of a hassle
to complete transactions, more and more, every day.