Is it harder to buy used parts these days or is it just me?

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340sFastback said:
I've had parts laying around did not feel like listing for sale. But when I see Wanted ads on this site I decide hey someone can put the parts to use instead of me leaving them sit for decades.

And I put Wanted ads up on this site and had one person want to give parts to me shipping only. Then when I sent an extra $20 as a thank you they were mad about getting extra money.
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I just had a fellow on B bodies send me some molding clips I needed. They are near impossible to find reproduced. Everyone that does stock them is out of stock. He sent them from Canada and wouldn't take a dime for the clips or shipping. I will do my best to pay it forward when I see a member that I can help out.
 
I think also as a car is taken down then reassembled you get to a point where something is missing or unserviceable and at least you can come on here and ask "does anyone have one of these?'
 
I bought a set of repop sill plates from Mega Parts and instead of shipping, they brought them to the car show. It saved me shipping and the possibility of damage. That's a win.
 
toolmanmike said:
I just had a fellow on B bodies send me some molding clips I needed. They are near impossible to find reproduced. Everyone that does stock them is out of stock. He sent them from Canada and wouldn't take a dime for the clips or shipping. I will do my best to pay it forward when I see a member that I can help out.
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Me too. From Canada. Probably the same guy. Wouldn't take any payment. Stand up guy.

When I moved, I almost threw out a couple of large bins of misc. small parts. Glad I didn't. All those pieces can add up now when selling. Once I retire (next year) I'm going to start selling off some stuff. I like how some of the guys do parts lot sales with the small stuff.
 
Dartswinger70 said:
I would add that yes the shipping "kills a deal" especially on heavy parts etc.
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Yep
. I get a charge out of the ads for an engine or transmission with "local pickup only" and someone asks "how much to ship to xxxxx" zip code. :BangHead: :BangHead: :rofl:
 
I’d say yes they are tougher to find if not impossible locally. I live in rural centra Louisiana and there’s a whole lotta nothing out here. My 4pd swap setup, I bought from a shop in AZ.. my 8 3/4 axle housing I drove 8hrs round trip to pick up. Stuff that’s kinda specific are tough. A center section for said axle.. you can buy online from a lot of places.. a pair of OE buckets from an A-body? No chance.. the ones you find online that need a full resto are super expensive. It’s why I put some TMI buckets in mine. The 340 long block I bought for my Dart, it was 6hrs away in Texas..

Overall however, the one of the good sides of the internet, it’s allowed me to find most everything I’ve set out to find.. not to mention the knowledge I’ve gained from reading about other people’s problems, progress, and success stories.

I can remember as a teen, the internet was pretty young as well, and all that was really out there was late 60s B body parts and E body parts… since those were the only ones people were really restoring.. the super bees, chargers, Cudas, challengers, roadrunners, etc…

If there is any stash of Mopar cars and parts in my state, it’s very hush hush
 
Things have changed a lot in even the last 5 years. Shipping cost can kill a deal. I am super busy trying to remodel and sell my old house. I don't have a ton of extra time to waste running down to a shipper to get a quote. I actually posted some control arms for sale and had a guy who acted serious. He wanted date codes so I took pictures showing that they were indeed 74 arms as stated in my ad. He asked for a shipping quote so I box them up, go to Fed Ex and send him the quote. What does he do? He sends me a sorry they are the wrong year ( after clearly stating the year and posting the date code pictures as requested by him ). I of course reprimanded him for making me go through all the work of packaging and getting a quote. What does he do? He acts all pissy and tells me no one told me to package them up. How did the idiot think you get a quote? Drop them on the counter without being in as shipped condition so they can do imaginary measuring and weight calculations? I know this much. When I get done with my remodel I will thin out my parts to the minimum and try to sell the things I will never use, then if I can't sell them they go to the recycler, value or rarity be damned!!!!
 

I think I would take pictures of the part first then box it and go get cost of shipping then advertise it see who bites but I'm not a part seller yet LOL! but I would imagine that's how I'd do it.
 
Then the next thing is the part as advertised. One of our members here, from Texas, has gotten more bad parts than good parts here from other members. I too have had bad luck from three or four members. Makes you wonder about the next purchase, I just want honesty back.
 
Marketpharce is the most phuckhed up "sales" site on the planet and yet people keep using it. I hate it and detest it. I hate the stupid message system.

And ya'all are right about shipping. Shipping prices in this country have become highway robbery
 
It was maybe last year, I advertised a big block radiator on here, FBBO, and local FB Marketplace. OUT of a running 383 64 Sport Sat. for $100. Local pickup or add $ for shipping. /Guaranteed. I got it from a friend but later sold my car. He wanted a NEW alum. rad for his freshly built engine/64 Sport Fury.
I sold many big black rad. correct # like this for many B bodies back in the 90's and early 2000s for that price. A new correct #s repop one is what over $1200? I had ONE local guy inquire and he was a no show!
I sold it the local scrap yard.

People ask about parts, I dig them out, (crickets) ...they want a thousand pics, and they want a 60 year old part perfect, for little to nothing, boxed and shipped and want me to pay the shipping!

I got rid of most all my spare parts years ago. I have a BIG plastic box full of floor shifter linkages,small trim chrome pieces, etc etc etc. mostly B and E cars, from the 80s till today. Box full. NON are marked. I have no desire to spend days trying to research whats what. I am not hauling such to any Mopar swap like Tx. has such. One day they will get the trash can unless a Mopar guy wanders by one day and wants them for a very very very few $. But more likely hje would justy pick thru it all for the one part he needs!!

The hobby and the world has changed.
 
That was always the thing at swap meets, YOU had to know what it was don't ask the guy selling it because you will more often than not get it home and it isn't the right part.:thumbsup:
 
I have The Challenger Convertable body back from the bodywork. Way worse than it went. Had it in storage quite a few years. Had to buy sheet metal to replace the new stuff he messup. And the good stuff that did not need fixing he messed up out of spite. Body guy working on it was fired. So out of spite messed the car up. I have debated on just selling the parts. Shipping and cheap *** buyers killed that. No way I am giving away rare E Body restored parts and NOS. I will probably die of old age andv wife will sell it. She's a shark. None of the fixing it up as a project with my kid sob stories for her. She saw what me being a nice guy got me. And what we pay when we buy.
 
When I do swap meets, I always leave stuff behind. With all the entitlement attitudes, and the public's general inability to communicate reasonably with others...I throw away parts
just about every time I work in the shop. If a friend is over, I ask them if they need something I don't....if ya do, take it with ya. I'm tired of buying something for 100 bucks, and arguing to get 50, then pay 15-20 to ship it. The garbage-truck comes to my driveway once a week, and my shop gets a little cleaner. Once it's gone, it feels better than having all the stuff and bickering for a few bucks.
 
My point was that if your going to advertise parts or offer to help someone out with parts do it. If you don't want to don't tell people you have parts for them. Its just about doing what you said you would do. That trait seems to be in short supply these days. I like to sell stuff because I hate seeing good parts sitting there knowing they will go in the trash one day if I don't move them on. My buddy says he is going to rent a big bin and toss all his stuff one day soon. That's his prerogative. He is no good dealing with people anyway.
 
I know there are other ways to ship that are more convenient and efficient than running down to a shipper for a quote. Had the person bought my control arms I would have nothing to complain about, but to ask for date codes after I clearly stated what year they were and then after I updated the post with more pictures that verified that my post was indeed correct, he ask for a shipping quote. So after jumping through the hoops he tells me sorry they are not the correct date codes. Well idiot why didn't you tell me that before you had me get you the shipping quote? You already saw the pictures, you already knew they weren't what you wanted, yet you asked for a shipping quote anyway! I will this winter start organizing and seeing what I have and then try to sell what I can. The Dart hoods leaning up against the fence that have been there 30 years will probably get crushed along with many other parts that are no longer shippable. I have sent fenders across country before for a reasonable cost through Fastenal but they seem to have quit doing that for customers. I missed a lot of great car shows when I was younger because I sat at swap meets trying to sell parts, yeah you make a few bucks but not enough to make up for the work involved. So needless to say my swap days are over and now it's time to clean out the remnants of things that I am tired of looking at.
 
340six said:
I think Greyhound still shipping hoods and fenders wrapped in cardboard.
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A friend of mine shipped a hood back east years ago for a very reasonable price through Greyhound but someone mentioned not long age that they also no longer ship large parts. I haven't verified that so I don't know if that is indeed true but calling the scrapper is a lot easier for me.
 
1MeanA said:
My point was that if your going to advertise parts or offer to help someone out with parts do it. If you don't want to don't tell people you have parts for them. Its just about doing what you said you would do. That trait seems to be in short supply these days. I like to sell stuff because I hate seeing good parts sitting there knowing they will go in the trash one day if I don't move them on. My buddy says he is going to rent a big bin and toss all his stuff one day soon. That's his prerogative. He is no good dealing with people anyway.
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Two years ago I had 4 complete intake down 225 slant engines for sale, Yea S E Tx. For $150 each. All standard bore. All turned over. After about 6 months I finally had sold two of them for my price. But I gave the young buyers an extra complete engine plus a trans.
The year before it took a year to sell what was a complete and good running 318 for $225.

Reminds me of a friend that has a good business, a great garage and a few really nice and desirable Mopars. He commented one day when I was there looking at a hood for a 64 Savoy. He said " Just WTF is it that when HE needs a used part, he has to pay out the ***, but when he wants to sell a part...it is worth C***!?"
I said, it gets old doesn't it. I paid his fair price, loaded the hood (darn hard top find anyway), thanked him and left damn happy.
 
I don't have that much trouble on a forum like this one. The trouble I have comes when going the Craigslist, Facebook marketplace, etc. I don't use the canned response (Hi, Is this still available?) and I'm lucky to get a 30-40% response rate. I mean asking "I'm really interested in the (whatever) you're selling. When would be a good time for you?" obviously isn't a scammer. It's like people can't be bothered to sell their item.
 
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