Price gougers study

[Hey-O]

All this doesn't matter, if they keep going people will just walk away. Very few here can afford now what they bought years ago. If they can't afford it, I'm sure others can't either.

 

[68BabyBlue]

No one is going to look at your story and think "price gouger". You sold them for a few bucks more(each) and had to handle transport and storage. If you were gouging people they would not have been happy.
Gouging would be you bought them for $1800 and then sold each one for $600, just because you could because nobody else had one. You knew what you had into them, you sat on them for a while, then sold them for a bit over what you paid. Did you have to remove them from the vehicles?
No one is upset when people upcharge a smidge for doing the work to find the parts, remove them, or act as a finders fee of sorts. People haul rust free truck parts from down south up to the rust belt all the time. They sell for more then they have into buying them and hauling them. No one cares, that person had to do all the leg work.

People get upset when jobless grifters snipe up a part that was being sold at a fair price and then quadruple the price because of market conditions.

There is this phenomenon in collectible markets, the easiest example is baseball cards or similar. When something gets "hot" all the grifters come out of the woodwork to corner the market and artificially inflate the price. See, it isn't always a collector buying the end result item at a 1000% mark up, it might be another grifter playing "the game" hoping to push the market higher, or keep it there because he has a half dozen he is sitting on he wants to unload and can't afford to let the market drop again. So then you get ebay sellers with crazy prices that set the tone of the market. Ebay has cleverly hidden away the results of actual completed auctions(you can find them) to see what the real selling price averages out to be, because it ruins "the game" when people notice items are being sniped off the market and relisted at gouge prices. Eventually people do catch on, and the grift collapses, sometimes. Many times, the pricepoint is moved and never returns. All because a bunch of jobless grifters were greedy and had the time.
it isn't just supply and demand, and hasn't been for a few years now. "flipping" has turned into a career, and it is glorified on the internet and made legitimate through internet commerce companies that get to collect higher fees when it works in their favor.
Meanwhile, the actual collector or in our case "car guy" gets to watch the cost of their dream soar into the sky, to never return sometimes or at best come back down to earth a couple years later when the grift collapses. That is the crux of the complaint. The behavior has exploded, it is in all aspects of our lives now.
Your story still happens. It is in the decline. It will become the exception very soon. Did you follow up with your buyers? Did they all actually need the part or did one of them go post it on fleabay for $700? I know once it leaves it isn't you concern, just pointing out what happens more and more often when people sell stuff at a fair price.

I sold GTX number five for what I considered a fair price two years ago, a bit less than I'd paid for it. It is currently on the market for over twice as much. Last two buyers were flippers.

 

[Detective D]

You may want to educate yourself a little, maybe look up the definition of communism.

Nothing benefits society more than a healthy self interest.

I know exactly what that means, and I know in a society under that format there is no helping your neighbor because only greed and selfishness allows someone to get a leg up on another. THAT IS THE ENTIRE POINT.
Your view of the behaviors we see, and what drives them are backwards. It used to be a healthy self interest meant you respected your neighbors and strangers too because you wanted that reciprocated, and our society at large functioned that way.
In the last 20 years that has broken down.
You equate ripping off a stranger to self interest because you are living in the "why not me too" group. There is nothing wrong and in fact everything right about taking care of yourself and improving your lot in life.
Used to be people did it with honest hard work and respect.
Now people do it with callous dismisal of the situation their neighbors are in and everything is "fair game" because there "are no laws against it".
We didn't need "laws against it" for a couple centuries. Because people didn't sh^t on their neighbor as a matter of self interest.

 

[Detective D]

I sold GTX number five for what I considered a fair price two years ago. It is currently on the market for over twice as much. Last two buyers were flippers.

The question then is do you feel good about your sale or remorseful you did not participate in "the game"?

 

[68BabyBlue]

The question then is do you feel good about your sale or remorseful you did not participate in "the game"?

I would have liked to have seen the car go to someone who felt the same way about it that I did. But karma worked in my favor. I got a great deal on the Hemi car I replaced it with. Made a new friend with the FBBO member I bought it from. A year later, the one I'd chased since I was 16 became available, at a fair price. I passed the Hemi to another member here, and now own the GTX of my dreams, so no remorse whatever. I used to be a corporate lawyer, and played the "game" at a high level. But I left it to drive a truck for the last 20 years, which is a commentary on how hard I was willing to play it.

 

[Hey-O]

The question then is do you feel good about your sale or remorseful you did not participate in "the game"?

The game is in everything we do, buy or sell and can come in a year or change overnight. Overnight price increases, like in houses can fall as fast as it went up. A house I built 30 years ago is much higher today, should I have held onto it and waited, not me. There will always be people with money, but not always people wanting to spent it on a old car. The young generation for the most part are not interested in our cars. Our generation are the biggest potential buyers of our cars, how long should we wait before they stop and the prices stop with them. Then those that will need the money will cannibalize each other in a race to the bottom. It’s generational and the young guns prefer imported cars. By 2030, millennials will be between 36 and 50, typically when most classic car hobbyists start to get involved and with the rising tide of electric cars, if you want or need the money you should start to think about selling before then or you tell me if I'm right or wrong


.

 

[toolmanmike]

Where is the line drawn? How much mark up is too much? No reason to begrudge someone for making a profit but when does that cross the line? Each of us will have to decide that, but don't call someone a crook, flipper, or price gouger. Don't like the price? Scroll on by!

 

[chargervert]

They are going to outlaw our cars before then.

 

[chargervert]

Where is the line drawn? How much mark up is too much? No reason to begrudge someone for making a profit but when does that cross the line? Each of us will have to decide that, but don't call someone a crook, flipper, or price gouger. Don't like the price? Scroll on by!

This is true,but there are some vendors who set the market prices for the whole hobby,someone hears that this vendor is getting $4500 for an air grabber hood,now everyone who wants to sell one wants the same $4500 for a two grand hood.

 

[eldubb440]

This is true,but there are some vendors who set the market prices for the whole hobby,someone hears that this vendor is getting $4500 for an air grabber hood,now everyone who wants to sell one wants the same $4500 for a two grand hood.

but when no one steps up at 4500 the price comes down......that's how it's supposed to work, anyway

or AMD does a nice repop for a grand, and those clapped out pieces become worthless

 

[Hey-O]

Where is the line drawn? How much mark up is too much? No reason to begrudge someone for making a profit but when does that cross the line? Each of us will have to decide that, but don't call someone a crook, flipper, or price gouger. Don't like the price? Scroll on by!

We already established whatever the market will bear. Just remember you may have to buy parts from whatever the market can bears also. I enjoy the game, not the game of cars, that for fun, not to make money. It's like musical chairs, when the music stops, someone will be standing with his pud in his hand.

 

[eldubb440]

It's like musical chairs, when the music stops, someone will be standing with his pud in his hand.

that is freaking brilliant!

 

[69a100]

I can see that no one here knows how to haggle on price!

 

[mmissile]

I'm taking LOTS of stuff to the Nats. I think it'll be amusing to see people's behavior while we sell. I haven't done this in decades, but I know most of society have no people-skills, and lots feel entitled. I'll have a report on people's ability to bargain, and how many will walk away with some opinion....without trying to haggle. This is my clean-out of my shop, garages, basement, and attics. I'll have another large load of parts for Norwalk. I've reached my "aging-out" point in the hobby.

 

[Nxcoupe]

But you were free to buy them at any time if you wanted, and done what you wished with them.

I don’t see the issue.

With your money? Lol. You have the right to your opinion and so do I. I'm about saving cars and if I can help a guy out with a part, I'll sell it at a give away price. As long as they aren't flipping stuff for profit, I'll help other hobbyists out.

 

[padam]

With your money? Lol. You have the right to your opinion and so do I. I'm about saving cars and if I can help a guy out with a part, I'll sell it at a give away price. As long as they aren't flipping stuff for profit, I'll help other hobbyists out.

Apple stock used to sell for a few dollars a share, and I thought that was too much so I didn't buy any. Then I saw it was selling for more and I thought it was even more overpriced so I didn't buy it. Now I still think sellers are charging too much.

Does that make any sense?

 

[toolmanmike]

Apple stock used to sell for a few dollars a share, and I thought that was too much so I didn't buy any. Then I saw it was selling for more and I thought it was even more overpriced so I didn't buy it. Now I still think sellers are charging too much.

Does that make any sense?

 

[Runcharger]

The thing is you can't have it both ways. How many times have we seen guys complain about the high price of parts and expect to buy them at 1980 prices, then a short time later the car they were buying the parts for comes up for sale, surprisingly at a 2025 price.

 

[4406bbl]

I know exactly what that means, and I know in a society under that format there is no helping your neighbor because only greed and selfishness allows someone to get a leg up on another. THAT IS THE ENTIRE POINT.
Your view of the behaviors we see, and what drives them are backwards. It used to be a healthy self interest meant you respected your neighbors and strangers too because you wanted that reciprocated, and our society at large functioned that way.
In the last 20 years that has broken down.
You equate ripping off a stranger to self interest because you are living in the "why not me too" group. There is nothing wrong and in fact everything right about taking care of yourself and improving your lot in life.
Used to be people did it with honest hard work and respect.
Now people do it with callous dismisal of the situation their neighbors are in and everything is "fair game" because there "are no laws against it".
We didn't need "laws against it" for a couple centuries. Because people didn't sh^t on their neighbor as a matter of self interest.

In my experience I have seen the college educated people seem to have been taught/believe that for one person to excel, another must fail. They are more self centered than high school/ trade school educated people. I know there is room for everyone and have allowed my direct business competitor's to use my production facility after a fire or tornado, no charge, until they get back on their feet. Everyone said I was crazy, but it has paid back massive dividends for us, vs going after this guys customers and destroying him. We are tight now and he sends me business, I believe the for one to excel one must fail attitude is college/liberal thinking....by people who have never run anything successful, and have tenure, so they can't fail. Treat people right, but parts prices are high for a lot of reasons, not just greed. Always look at your pay now vs the 80s and ask can I afford it better now or then? For me I can now, rare stuff, ya I might get ripped a little, but if I need it and it finishes the car is is still a bargain. I made my money when I bought the car, a few high prices now, oh well. Do not get me started on how bad shops stick it to you on a hemi or wing car mid restoration, there is a rare car body shop tax that did not exist back in the day due to social media, but my $1350 superbird will still overcome all of that.

 

[chargervert]

but when no one steps up at 4500 the price comes down......that's how it's supposed to work, anyway

or AMD does a nice repop for a grand, and those clapped out pieces become worthless

That might be true for the ones AMD makes to a point,but the ones they don't make, the sky seems to be the limit. Plus most people doing a higher level restoration want original parts. All it takes is one well known parts vendor to sell one for $4500 and that's the new going market rate for one.