Noticing a rapid decline in parts interest?

[Seventy]

So, used to be, I would list something like a set of rally center caps on Ebay and have 30 people watching them by the end of day 1 and the auction would have been viewed 200 times. Now I list stuff and it gets viewed 36 times in 7 days and there is normally 1 bidder (if I am lucky) with a couple watchers.

Has anyone else noticed this, I only started selling parts since I don't want to store anything anymore, I used to just list stuff here and there when I spent too much on another project and wanted to justify spending more...

I am wondering if this is because less people are restoring, the new stuff is eating up the market, or there is less money out there?

thoughts?

 

[Rick@Laysons]

It would seem to me that Ebay isn't as popular as it used to be with all the new rules/regulations.....not to mention the number of scammers and the prevelance of shill bidding and shady sellers.

You might try listing your parts on here and some of the other Mopar focused message boards. The classifieds are free of charge.

 

[ODZKing]

My belief is that people are tired of "shopping" on EBay. I even stopped looking at bid items because everyone uses a snipe now.
Back in the day before " will fit", when I first purchased my 67 Charger, I had 66-67 Charger bookmarked and I would look through EBay regularly just to see who was selling what.
Now, it comes up with thousands of screw sets, books on how to install something, curb feelers, universal hoses, etc. I don't bother anymore. I still use EBay as the prices are sometimes very good, but now I search the exact item, check "Buy It Now", "In US", then lowest price with "Free shipping".
No more window shopping so to speak.
But that is what I think. That "Will Fit: option is the worst thing they ever added to EBay and eventually will kill it. Just my 2 cents anyway.

 

[Yatzee]

I would think it's a combination of all three. Matching a purchaser with the right part at the right price is very difficult these days with so many "knock-off" parts available at reasonable prices. In today's economy, money rules and is used as a yardstick to measure weather a project proceeds or not. Looking on E-bay for my cars parts I see people claiming the year and make of the car accompanied with a picture and I know damn well they don't know what they claim. The part doesn't even resemble the real part. E-bay is the only market where shipping outstrips the value of the item by sometimes 2 to 3 times. Where's the value in that especially on a low demand/ high priced part. People are becoming wiser in their purchases and balance value, price and quality much better than in yesteryears. And to make matters worse for people selling online at E-bay and others is the Summit empire who I have never really heard a complaint about. If any one, Summit really knows how to conduct business on line with so many brands, choices, options and promos they leave the other sellers in the dust.

 

[1969CoronetR/T]

I would rather sell my parts to forum members and only use eBay to dump them as I hate to throw things away. I always list free shipping so I normally break even or make a buck or two, but eBay is a dumping ground for me.

 

[Bruzilla]

The drop off is because of the drop off in restorations. The market is flooded with restored cars that people are trying to get rid of, and there's much less demand for restorations, which are what used to drive most of the interest in parts.

Another market shift that impacts things like wheels is more and more folks are doing restomods, and one of the first things they do is add aftermarket wheels, so the demand for OEM wheels is diminishing quickly.

 

[Cranky]

I've noticed certain things here that are not moving too. Oil is down a lot but gas prices are still up and food is going through the roof plus I'm seeing signs of a shaky economy and think people are hanging onto their cash....

 

[Moparsmitty]

I totally agree with ODZKing about the "will fit" BS on EBay Motors. If I select my 64 Belvedere I come up with over 18,000 listings. I'm obviously not going to browse through thousands of listings for shop manuals and fuzzy dice so unless I'm looking for something very specific, I'm not going to bother. Between that and all the scammer BS, I rarely buy anything on EBay anymore. EBay did it to themselves IMHO.

 

[mmissile]

I've noticed certain things here that are not moving too. Oil is down a lot but gas prices are still up and food is going through the roof plus I'm seeing signs of a shaky economy and think people are hanging onto their cash....

Continue prepping. I am.

 

[Lets Roll]

I bought " buy it now" rear backup lights and a front light harness that I thought were pretty reasonable from ebay. But I felt buyers guilt because I have an eternity of bodywork to get done ha ha.

 

[WP29440SE]

If I have to bid I dont even give it the time of day. If I can't buy it now I don't buy at all.

 

[Bruzilla]

It's not just ebay. There's a guy on our craigslist who's been trying to unload a complete E-body Slap Stick assembly for a long time now. He's down to $150 and it's still not moving. That was a part that would have been sold in two minutes at $400 in 2012 and before.

And forget about 14" Rallyes. I see those up for sale everywhere and no one seems to be buying them.

 

[satman72]

Remember, there are a lot more repops out there as well. Look at it this way; Why would I buy someones used part, have it shipped, then have to restore it, or pay someone else to do it, when I can probably buy a repop for less and have it be almost perfect.

 

[lewtot184]

i rarely buy used stuff/swap meet/ebay. the prices for used isn't much different from new and a lot of used stuff is just plain junk.

 

[satman72]

And a lot of that is because of the car shows on TV, BJ, GC, F&L... Everybody thinks that their rusted out POS is worth a small fortune, so, basically if vendors overprice their goods, no one is going to buy. Or because they have NOS.

 

[GetX'd]

Remember, there are a lot more repops out there as well. Look at it this way; Why would I buy someones used part, have it shipped, then have to restore it, or pay someone else to do it, when I can probably buy a repop for less and have it be almost perfect.

I agree with this statement. As for me I've found a variety of parts on eBay But for the reasons noted I've decided to buy a repop. Not always because sometimes the original part - say a switch is rebuilt and is better than a repop. I also think there's much more competition on- line now then there used to be. Everyone has an online presence and is selong goods. It's just a highly competitive world.

 

[monaco66coupe]

I have no trouble selling parts. But I rarely use Ebay after having been jacked around by Buyers complaining they didn't like the part to Ebay, then Ebay takes the money back out of my account without notice or anything. The Buyers seem to be getting the pass, and Sellers are getting stiffed with the high fees and lost parts that were shipped. When I do list on ebay, I have the price so high I know it won't sell. But the Real Buyers contact me later, and the parts get sold.
Generally I have had good luck with Craigs list, with the occasional Jerk here and there. Another lurking problem is Ebay owns a portion of Craigs list. So, Who knows what will happen there.

 

[mmissile]

Man, as a buyer...I always get stiffed by ebay. Sellers never have bad feedback.

 

[tqfastfish]

I sell parts all the time.. I mainly use just the forums and craigslist for the bigger stuff.. I used to use ebay but I also agree that all that universal junk that comes up when you punch in a specific car ruined it.. I want to find the parts that are getting sold with real pictures and real people..

 

[Funship32]

I've noticed certain things here that are not moving too. Oil is down a lot but gas prices are still up and food is going through the roof plus I'm seeing signs of a shaky economy and think people are hanging onto their cash....

Keep talking like that and you are going to disappear my friend....