Price gougers study

[eldubb440]

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.

I hope they hold on too long...... and the repop comes out....... greedy bastards

 

[chargervert]

I hope they hold on too long...... and the repop comes out....... greedy bastards

No doubt Mr.Dubb! When this whole thing turned from a hobby, into the cars and parts being worth money all of a sudden, there were two east coast vendors who were literally setting the prices for the whole market. One of them stuck with the OEM stuff,the other got into the reproduction stuff as well as the OEM stuff. They were the start of the crazy parts prices in our area. They would rent vendor spots at all the swap meets,and buy up everything before the swap meet ever opened to the public and double the prices they paid for the parts. I made my personal goal to never purchase parts from them no matter how many pretty and rare parts they had. My patience has paid off and I usually ended up finding the parts elsewhere for a much more reasonable price than what the gougers wanted for them.

 

[threewood]

I don't treat this hobby as a business. I treat it like a club of friends helping each other out. I've given away plenty of parts or offered them cheaply to get them out of the garage. That's just me though.

 

[4406bbl]

No doubt Mr.Dubb! When this whole thing turned from a hobby, into the cars and parts being worth money all of a sudden, there were two east coast vendors who were literally setting the prices for the whole market. One of them stuck with the OEM stuff,the other got into the reproduction stuff as well as the OEM stuff. They were the start of the crazy parts prices in our area. They would rent vendor spots at swap meets,and buy up everything before the swap meet ever opened to the public and double the prices they paid for the parts.

This happened here in the Midwest, by 1990 everyone quit selling at swap meets, bought parts there early, then hauled it back east where there are no junkyards and people literally helped us unload the truck while they paid for the parts. It was not free to store and transport those parts back east, and I bought stuff at Mopar Nats that I would have never found here in the 80s and 90s. The way I saw it, and thousands of others saw it, was why go to 20 little swap meets and find nothing when you could go to Mopar Nats and get everything you needed. We did not get rich, and those 2 big vendors always bought parts and never complained. That does drive the price up. There would be no AMD or much aftermarket had this not happened, and Mopar for the most part is out of the game.

 

[mmissile]

How deeply involved [mentally and financially] tends to shape how you see things. I've LIVED this stuff, over 5 decades. I've spent a lot of money, searched the nation for good stuff, had 300 cars, and collected and sold tons of rare and good parts. This was all done to feed my addiction to the hobby.

 

[68BabyBlue]

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.

Your thoughts are accurate and well articulated. My dad was a tenured professor at Penn State, and the process is just what you said - some have to win, some have to lose. The path to academic success is littered with "losers," Grades are determined on a curve, the spoils go to those at the top. When I took advanced placement chemistry in high school, I was the "dumbest" in the class. I achieved "honorable mention" in the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. This award goes to the top 2% of high school students taking the exam. They get a certificate. The top 1% gets scholarship money.

Same experience on steroids when I attended law school. Never cheated, tough to compete with those who did. Missed the dean's list by one letter grade my second semester, then graduated in bottom quarter of class, after trading extra studying for paying part time work. Legal career pretty much ended before it started, no honors, no job that would pay anything. I ended up spending 42 years in the trucking business. I worked my tail off, took care of my customers as best as I could, helped my competitors alongside the road, and in my shop. I finished my career with lifetime earnings in the top 10% of my law school class. It drives academics crazy that successful business people do better financially. Different skill set.

 

[chargervert]

How deeply involved [mentally and financially] tends to shape how you see things. I've LIVED this stuff, over 5 decades. I've spent a lot of money, searched the nation for good stuff, had 300 cars, and collected and sold tons of rare and good parts. This was all done to feed my addiction to the hobby.

I'm in the same boat, been doing this for 45 years and several hundred cars and untold amounts of money spent on cars and parts. There is no stopping the addiction. I prefer getting my fix from the small time dealers rather than the big pushers! Lol

 

[kiwigtx]

I'm thinking of a Rolling Stones song.

I must be different.....I just buy what I want and usually only when I need it. Sometimes I will buy well in advance if I think it will be useful. I have also done plenty of buying for other people in the past....but no more. Tired of people whining over cost of importation and fees etc. Most of my leftover stuff will likely be junked....even brand new stuff. No point trying to sell good quality parts to people who squeak when they walk.

The same crowd....always want something for nothing.

 

[chargervert]

Maybe if the sellers were selling the hoods for $2500 which is more than enough money for any Mopar hood and not $4500÷$6000 as I have seen them posted on here recently we wouldn't squeak so much!

 

[mmissile]

I agree. The people who think that their money entitles them to things people have collected and saved for 40-50 years, usually don't have enough room or permission to be deeply involved in the hobby. I'd guess about 5-10% of the mopar people, are the guys who've kept the genre alive for NOS and nice used parts. I've thrown out a lot of stuff that I wouldn't give away to tight-wads. Doesn't matter, at this point. People skills are very helpful, when buying.
I like the young and "not-a-business" guys in this hobby. It's pretty easy to read the "players". I gave up the mercenary mindset 20-30 years ago. I got where I wanted to be in this hobby... Now, it's more fun.

 

[kiwigtx]

I like watching some of the regular sellers here with their high starting prices......and then the posts roll in with "Price drop"..... and again and again....

Maybe asking a more reasonable price initially would get a sale sooner. Just a thought.

 

[toolmanmike]

I like watching some of the regular sellers here with their high starting prices......and then the posts roll in with "Price drop"..... and again and again....

Maybe asking a more reasonable price initially would get a sale sooner. Just a thought.

I like watching threads like this one. We are 5 pages in and still no answer. Because there is no definitive answer.
What a waste of bandwidth. (and our time)

 

[chargervert]

I already know what the range of how much I want to pay for a part is. If I see the part I am looking for and the price is above what I want to pay,I shoot my high end of the range price at them, if the don't accept it, or something really close to it, I move on. I may negotiate a bit more if it is something I really want or am ready to install on a car at the time. If the part is anywhere in the range I predetermined the value of the part to be worth I am leaving with it. Of course I make an offer and deal from there. I'm just a working man,not Rockefeller I can't afford foolishly to throw money away on overpriced parts. I have patience and will shop around and wait for the right deal.

 

[Budnicks]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions...
I know a few won't agree ever either...
So be it, that's their prerogative, just like mine is against it...

I'm not one that ******* & moans about prices
if I need something & I'm willing to pay that price...

It's not 1975 anymore

I think everyone has hammered that home already

I know it's not 1974-75 anymore now too,
when my real car journey started
It doesn't mean you can help people out, if you have an abundance
or cars, or parts you don't want or need, just taking up space...
(think about all the damn hoarders that just die with all that ****, most
isn't valuable or has to be moved out & hauled away either, their kids or the govt.
just dumps it for pennies on the dollar)

Think how (as long as they are flippers/gougers) it will benefit them
keep the hobby alive...

I see all the BS here all the damn time,
about everyone needs to save these cars,
don't let them go to the crusher,
but the same guy/person want to gouge the next guy...

Most the flippers (guys who will associate with that term)
on here are small time anyway
not really gougers, maybe profiteers yes, but most aren't gougers
most here do it to fund their builds, make a few bucks
it sis helping a few people out while they are at it get parts
at a reasonable price

I know it's not the liberal utopia nonsense or the other spectrum
or some do-gooder BS, you don't have to give the farm away,
or to those people who are prone to make mega $$ off a hobby...
(I did well in the golf business, & I was fair too)
I have no problem with making money...
You don't have to give it away either...
You don't need to cut the nuts off the next guy either,
like the so-called gougers/flippers...

The gouging & flipping (without improving it) is another deal altogether...
It's one thing if you run a business, a real business, real shipping costs,
real inventory & have real expenses (if it's not just a hobby)
especially a brick & mortar business & it's selling parts, like a recycler
or restoration shop or retail...
You should make a substantial profit, make your margins
make payroll, to pay property taxes, and to pay income taxes, insurance
it all adds up or you won't be in business very long...

99% of what we are talking about here isn't a business,
it's a hobby deal
you aren't paying any taxes or payroll or insurance etc.
this is funding something you want,
you don't want to pay dearly for either...

I buy mostly retail anyway, I'm more of a day 2 guy now
the NOS OE stuff went crazy, I'm not that **** retentive...
I'm not buying 'many used parts anymore', mostly because of the people selling
& now I'm not making the $$$, I was when I wasn't retired
I'm not going to piss it all away on a freaken' car project...
You're an idiot if you do...

I just do something else, buy something else...

I've seen all the hobby market trends since 1975-ish
my $350 or $1500 for a car in 1974-75 was just as hard to earn
as a $10,000 to $35,000+ car today, I started at $1.65 an hr
I still was able to be in the hobby, hell I thought when I got a job for $6.15 an hr
I was in hog heaven, I was still a pissant, but I was going up...
I lived the life & spent every dime for every paycheck
just to make it to the next race, I know the struggles,
I know what it was like for someone to pay it forward to me too...
(if not for them I'd have never been able to 1/2 or more of what I did do)
It's why I have the mentality, that I have today...

I've overpaid a few times, sold for a profit at the right time too
I don't think I ever gouged anyone, that was 100% willing
or eager to pay what I was asking & not even batter...

Right now is the highest per dollar, or goods/per pay level today
(recession levels, near 40% in reality, if you take everything into account)
no matter the era, mostly in the used parts realm (inflation levels too)
I see great deals all the time in the aftermarket & retail realm...
25%-30% discounts or more at times even...
You don't really or rarely ever see in classified for old parts...

I think a part is too much, I go to the next add,
turn the page or whatever...

If you want to be flippers, be a flipper
you want to be gougers, be a gouger
it's a free market economy
that's your choice
Just like it is ours 'to complain/bitch, moan & whine'
about what seems to be a trend or it's all OK
to some, to be involved in flipping & gouging, screwing the next guy...

That's not ever how I've seen the car hobby
some are 'yes in it for the profit'
I do the hobby for the cars & if I so happen to make a few bucks along the way
so be it, as long as I didn't knowingly attempt to take/screw over someone
& have a bad conscience about it along the way or be happy about it...
In some cases that's even worse, on my conscience...

This hobby for the most part isn't about free-market capitalism
I'm all for it, if it's reasonable & not gouging, screwing over someone
for the sake of a few $$s/$100's even
it's about a passion & wants or needs, many can't or won't be in the
car hobby with that mentality, we are supposed to be a band of brother
with common interests, likes & helping a fellow car person out
(like all the old dudes did for me growing up)
Some think it's OK to pray on that people being generous...
Tell some sob story & get **** cheap & turn around & make big $$$ off it...
I hope it never happens to them,
when they are in need (not just cars/parts)

Nothing wrong with flipping parts,
go for it if that's your gig
if you're not screwing over one/a dozen guy/s just to make 'a buck'
or an extra $1,000 bucks, & you think that's all OK (?)

KARMA's a bitch, come-up-ins will play out someday,
maybe not today or right now or not for a part, you really need & can't afford
but it will rear it's ugly head
when you needed it & will bitch & moan about that cost too...
(Be it cars, parts, your health, medicine or the family or life, any & all of it,
I hope you don't experience that KARMA, it's a real thing, trust me I know)

I'm all for free market trade, that's not what this stuff is...

Knowingly gouging, on the other hand, is just not right...
No matter how you want to spin it, or justify it...

to each their own

 

[cosgig]

Even in this day and age, deals are still out there if you look. At the swap meets I’m known as the “cheap parts guy”, I sell parts to people who need them, and don’t like to sell to early bird vendors. I will, but at my price not theirs. I know what the prices are, and will always give a guy who is working on his car a break, and will stick to the high end if it’s another vendor. I don’t mind seeing my former parts marked up in another vendors spot, because I didn’t get talked down on the part, I sold it for what I really wanted.

When I’m dealing with the family who owns the honey hole, I show them comparable vehicles, explain why I think their asking price is not in line with the comparable, which is always because their stuff has been sitting for X number of years, and try to find a buyer who is somewhere between the seller and buyer. Buyers start low, sellers start high, and there is always a middle that can be reached. And I tell the family that I can find a buyer for every single thing they have, but I can’t find 5 buyers for the same item. When I buy stuff from them, I pay the same as any other buyer would, but I am the only one they let come on the property, because I’m honest about everything there.

They wanted $1500 for this 1968 340 motor, complete and original. But, it had been sitting for at least 2 decades, so we negotiated down to $1100, and they threw in a couple of transmissions, and a couple other parts. What’s the motor worth? $1100, because I opened it up and showed them the inside. It needs to be gone through. Is $1100 a deal? Maybe, if I needed it, but I don’t. Am I going to fry someone on the price when I sell it? Nope, I just want my $1100 back to spend it on more parts and cars there.

 

[DeltaV]

I must be different.....I just buy what I want and usually only when I need it. Sometimes I will buy well in advance if I think it will be useful. I have also done plenty of buying for other people in the past....but no more. Tired of people whining over cost of importation and fees etc. Most of my leftover stuff will likely be junked....even brand new stuff. No point trying to sell good quality parts to people who squeak when they walk.

The same crowd....always want something for nothing.

 

[blue69runner]

So, we all agree that things cost too much. Starting my project car and staying up all night looking for parts felt lucky to find that missing part. Like I got an A833 tans. for my car and paid 400 for it. Took advice and reversed shipped the item to myself and got a better deal. Now what they are asking for rare items is out there. Got a bell housing from a guy quite aways from me but it had a slight crack and welded it up myself. He said either take it or I will weld it up and get more money for it. AMD metal was not cheap 5 years ago, but the price has just about doubled. Found out that buying from Classic and finding out the supplier box was inside of theirs don't figure why I started to search buying direct from the other guys. Now it boils down to where the part is and how much. Old versus new but then it is not made any more. Like a trunk lid for some cars or trying to get a back seat. Well, I guess we are at the mercy of the trend. With fuel going out of sight just how much driving can I do with the dollar shrinking. Have been looking for another project car but right now just looking. The price for junk is outrageous. If 99 precent of the car needs everything, then it might be better to find a fully restored one and turn the key and off you go. Just hope things will turn around.

 

[padam]

So, we all agree that things cost too much. Starting my project car and staying up all night looking for parts felt lucky to find that missing part. Like I got an A833 tans. for my car and paid 400 for it. Took advice and reversed shipped the item to myself and got a better deal. Now what they are asking for rare items is out there. Got a bell housing from a guy quite aways from me but it had a slight crack and welded it up myself. He said either take it or I will weld it up and get more money for it. AMD metal was not cheap 5 years ago, but the price has just about doubled. Found out that buying from Classic and finding out the supplier box was inside of theirs don't figure why I started to search buying direct from the other guys. Now it boils down to where the part is and how much. Old versus new but then it is not made any more. Like a trunk lid for some cars or trying to get a back seat. Well, I guess we are at the mercy of the trend. With fuel going out of sight just how much driving can I do with the dollar shrinking. Have been looking for another project car but right now just looking. The price for junk is outrageous. If 99 precent of the car needs everything, then it might be better to find a fully restored one and turn the key and off you go. Just hope things will turn around.

Patch panels can be made from sheet metal with a hammer and dolly.
Pretty cheap.

 

[chargervert]

There's one way to fix price gougers! Just say no..... practice abstinence....you know,"don't touch me there".....! Lol

 

[chargervert]

How did this happen.....where did you learn this.....I learned it from watching you dad! Parents who are Mopar parts junkies.....have kids who are Mopar parts junkies! Lol