There's been a lot of discussion on folks paying stupid prices for vehicles and parts on ebay. It got me thinking about why, and more specifically, why these parts weren't so expensive in the past.

I think it all has to do with the size and speed of the market.

In the pre-ebay days, you had to spend time crawling the wrecking yards, networking with friends, cruising the back roads, thumbing through Hemmings, or travelling to swap meets to find old truck parts. Take your average small town and I'd bet it doesn't have that many 53-56 F-100 guys competing to buy from the same local sources of old F-100 parts.

Now imagine a worldwide marketplace that's easy to use from the privacy of your own house, paid with a credit card, and delivered to your door in a week or two. It's way less effort than any of the older methods to get parts and reaches millions of people.

So now, instead of being the first guy in 8 years to pick up an old exhaust manifold at a wrecking yard and negotiating a price, you have hundreds of guys from all over the world looking at the part, and a few end up competing with one another to buy it. If you watch similar parts sell over a few months time and note the selling prices and bidding activity, you have an education as a buyer that would have been impossible to get without working at a wrecking yard in years past.

Bottom line: I hate to say it, but I think higher prices for used truck parts are here to stay. And I don't think it's always because people are stupid. I think it's because the prices reflect what an ebay style marketplace will bear.

So the folks that are "stupid" are the ones who are still selling ram horn manifolds for $50 at wrecking yards.

What do you all think?

 

I feel eBay, or uPay as I like to call it, has had profound effect on parts prices. At first I thought this was a very bad thing to happen to the classic auto hobby but then, after I thought about for a while, my thoughts changed. I still think there are way too many people willing to plop down huge bucks for parts that should only be worth a few bucks. But eBay has opened up the whole country to people looking for items to build and enhance their vehicles.

Rob, like you stated, eBay, and the internet as a whole, has saved all of us all a lot of time and gas and agrevation. I know from personal expereince that I when I started on my F-2 twenty some years ago the only way to find parts was either be lucky enough to be associated with like minded individuals who knew someone who knew someone who had the parts you wanted, travel miles through the back roads searching back woods junkyards for hours and not finding anything or stumbling on an ad in the newspaper from some one parting out a vehicle or going to swapmeets.

I still find some parts through individuals who know some one who knows someone, that one hasn't change much. But with the price of fuel it gets quite expensive driving around the back roads searching through junkyard which are becoming fewer and fewer thanks to either urban sprawl, DNR regulations or the sky rocketing price of scrap steel, not to mention the one still in existance are picked over and what is left is pretty much rusted into the ground. If I am able to find a manifold for $15 I probably spent the entire day and $50 worth of gas looking for it. I will admit though, there is nothing more fun than spending a Saturday climbing around old cars in an old country junkyard. Newspaper ads for our vintage of vehicles aren't what they used to be, there are a lot fewer old trucks than 20 -30 years ago, back then a lot of the old trucks were still being used as intended and were just starting to be put out to pasture. In my area there used to be quite a few little swapmeets, now they're mostly gone and the big ones mainly have parts for post '70s Chevys, I rarely find anything for my truck at them but I still go just in case there might be that one part I have been looking for. I alway figure "a bad day at a swapmeet is better than a good day at work".

I still think eBay and the internet has driven up the prices for automotive related items but it has also saved us a lot in money and time. Also, look how the internet has provided with the vast amount of information about our old trucks. This site is a prime example, 20 years ago I talked to two or three guys about old trucks, now I talk to hundreds all across the country. I have also met a few on my vaction travels.

On whole, I think it has helped. I still find great bargains on eBay, not that often, but once in a while.

 

Dittos, F250; it's hard to get a deal when you're bidding against the whole world.

 

While I have bought very few parts from E-bay, I still cruise through the 53-55 sections at least once a week to see what's available. If I saw a part that I didn't think I could find elsewhere, I might bid. There's only one really big swapmeet around here now (well it happens twice a year) and I have tried going the opening day, the middle days and toward the end, but have never found much for a 53-55 F100 there. Old country salvage yards are a thing of the past and finding any old iron sitting in the woods is getting to be scarce around here also.

You wouldn't believe some of what hits the scrap yards around here, a while back I called a buddy when I saw a 57 Chevy Cameo being hauled into the local yard. He was about 2 minutes late to save it from the crane! This truck had very little rust and was very straight before a 2 ton magnet was dropped on it.

 

In many areas: antiques, collectables, used items, etc., Ebay prices have become the defacto value. That is the definition of value, what a willing buyer under no pressure to buy will pay a willing seller who is under no pressure to sell.
Computers have made the world the marketplace for goods and services. Retail sales were about flat in brick and mortar stores whereas online sales were up as much as 60% this past year. How many did a large amount of their Xmas shopping online this year? I know I only shopped locally for items I couldn't find online or needed immediately. I research everything I buy online. Buying online gives me the largest selection possible and creates competition that lowers prices more than Walmart moving in.
The downside is unless they also sell online, the brick and mortar stores will not be able to stay viable for long if the only business they get is people asking for their expertise before buying from their online competition to save a few bucks. When that happens, where will you go for expertise, after sale service, and immediate needs? It's a double edged sword!

 

Now from the "sellers" perspective, Ebay is great! I have a ton of duplicate parts that I sell on eBay to help fund my project.

I do a lot of buying too. Some folks selling parts just aren't that bright. I've been watching a hood ornament that's been relisted at least 10 times. The seller just keeps on listing it with a high reserve, the auction ends with no winner, he relists again and pays eBay another fee.

I view eBay as a giant parts swap. I move my extras and get my needed parts in return. eBay takes 3% plus an insertion fee -- hhmmm....there's a good joke in that line!

 

Anyone who spent hours poring over a monthly issue of Hemmings' knows what a great thing the internet is, and eBay. The sheer cost of listing on Hemmings was the reason a lot of parts were available cheaply at swap meets; unless you had some valuable stuff, it just wasn't worth listing.

 

It is auctions like this 180074033396 that I always have to laugh at. It even has two bids.

I mean come on, pick up a scrap piece of metal and grind it into the shape you need.

 

Wow. That's funny. Ok, maybe the stupid factor is larger than I thought...

 

Ok, that piece of sheet metal with 2 holes drilled is pretty comical, especially when you consider someone is willing to pay for the shipping however cheap it may be. I still think that ebay is a valuable resource for parts and collectables when you can find something that YOU personally want and deem valuable enough to bid your heart out to win it. Lets face it, many parts you find on ebay are a dime a dozen at the junk yard or around your local area cruising around. But every once in a great while, when you've just about given up hope of finding that one part that you "must have", along comes a post from an ebay seller who has this parts truck sitting on his property and figures he can make a few bucks from parting it out. I spent months and hundreds of miles on gas trying to come up with a 3spd Overdrive trans to bolt up to my 56 F-100. Just when I thought they had all but dissapeared from this planet I found one on ebay that would actually work on my year of truck. This is when timing and luck come into play, because I scored not only that trans, but another standard 3spd that with shipping costs, amounted to about half of what I would have paid anywhere at a junkyard. I search ebay every few days looking for that one part that I want, that nobody else seems to need at the time. Sometimes you can get extremely lucky, othertimes if you arent realistic and careful about your bidding, you can get hosed on prices. In conclusion, when I have worn out any other source of obtaining a part I will turn to ebay. With the multitude of classic parts stores out there, it is very rare that I will find a part for sale on ebay with a lower bid than an F-series retailer, but when the time comes that you come across a truly rare commodity that you value as priceless for your project, it comes down to who has the bigger checkbook.

Mike

 

I've been interested in a gauge for my truck. I've been watching it for 5 days now. The gauge was about $9 for a few days. Then I noticed this guy bid $15 for it. I checked with Summit and found the same gauge selling for 40.95 plus the shipping, whatever that is. The shipping on the auction item is $13.85. So I bid $21. I was outbid. I also noticed the guy bid again (more than likely raising his first bid because I was close to outbidding him) I figured, well let me make one ridiculous bid to see if I'm highest bidder or not, so i went to $30. I was outbid. Looks like this guy will be the owner of a gauge costing more than the cost of a new one. LOL.... and I'm sure he hates me right now.
I guess certain parts or items go for ridiculously low prices like the ones I sell, but if the item is rare or or in demand it goes for more than it's worth. It's a great market for guys cleaning out their garage.

 

Not that I would defend stupidity where it exists, but...

The people who are into concours-quality restorations would likely think that TBird piece is a real find. If you are doing a 100-point TBird, you can't use anything repro, or homemade. If you needed a blocking plate for your '55 Bird, it has to be OEM and even the correct year. A brand new OEM piece is golden! As far as I know, no one here does this kind of resto. I saw a Corvette concours one year, the second place car lost because the points in his distributor weren't made in the same year as the car...

I'd also argue that a good OEM gauge is worth far more than any (undoubtedly Chinese) repro I've seen.

 

It's not just auto parts. I was looking for a couple of 3.6V rechargeable batteries for some old Black & Decker Cordless tools I have. I bought a 2-pack in a Buy-it-now Auction with multiple units available for $17.76 + $4.95 Shipping = $22.71 Total. Folks bid up the price on an identical set of batteries from another seller $3 - $4 above the B.I.N. price I paid which was still available to them. The thrill of the hunt I guess. Go figure. All of this stuff was brand new.

 

Obviously my post above was meant to be tongue-in-cheek but real none-the-less.

However, I will admit, eBay gives me access to a huge array of parts I would not otherwise be able to find. Many times I will see a seller parting out a similar truck or engine but the part I need is not listed. I will send them an email asking about my part and have lucked out a few times - part was available and relatively cheap.

eBay has redefined the world of trade; like it or not.

 

Sometimes I wonder if eBay is a good thing or not, but it's kind of like asking yourself whether computers are a blessing or a curse. It's a moot point, in that they're here to stay and they'll inevitably become more and more imbedded in our way of life.

I'm not as concerned about the price wars as I am about the monkey business with shipping. I've had several ebay sellers try to stick me with outrageous fees to get a part to my door. In one case I bought a used steering wheel for a Cub Original for $10. The seller wanted me to pay $59 to ship it. I suggested he stick it where the sun doesn't shine. Long story short.. he got it to me for $12.


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