Hot Rods Chewing the fat about buying parts or projects

Everyone has their own persona feelings when buying a part(s) or a project . When something catches your eye is it the price that kicks in your gut instincts or the way the seller presents the price ? Examples; b/o , what's it worth to you, priced high etc. For me , personally I get turned off real quick if the first words are "what is it worth to you"or they have it priced high. I have been fortunate that i have really never "needed" a part or a project , so it is usually a want . I am really interested to get every fellow hambers personal opinions . This is not about agreeing or disagreeing with another member, just each of us chewing the fat. Thanks David

 

No one wants to be the seller and the buyer with a what's if worth to you comment when you inquire about something. That turns most people off. Seen one on eBay sell for XXX amount is idiotic to deal with as well.

 

I probably have a slight passion/addiction to buying parts. I like collecting them and looking at them . It takes me years to decide I am not going to use them or I start running out of room. So my enthusiasm gets lowered when the games begin.

 

If someone prices a part high to me then I "ass U me" he will never be willing to come down to a reasonable price so I usually just walk away and don't make an offer. I never pay much attention to what they say about the part, sellers usually lie..☺ you have to know what you are buying before you look at it.

 

If the seller is serious about selling the part or project then give me a fair starting price and let's go from there.

 

I remember the late Deuce Roadster (Randy Nash) say about buying parts.

1932 Fords parts are like money $$$ in the bank ...

You can never pay too much for 32 Ford stuff ...
you just buy too early ...

I remember calling Randy when I was at a swap meet and telling him a guy was offering me a nice original 25 louver hood but I thought it was a bit too much, cell phones didn'texist at the time so I called him when I got back to the motel room.

He ask me what I thought it was worth and I told him I wanted one but 1,200 bucks seems like a extortionate price, Randy said buy it and if you want to sell it I'll give you 2 grand, how could I loose?

20 years later they were selling for 5 to 6 grand, I honestly believe the rarity of a part can make them worth more that we think they are worth, would I spend the 5 to 6 grand today, No, but for some guys the price doesn't matter, if they want it they get it.

Who knows, in another 20 years the 25 louver hood might be worth 10 to 12 thousand or they may be worthless, if you want it and can afford it, step up to the plate. HRP

 

Just about everyone’s definition of what’s too high is different. What’s high to you might be reasonable to others.
As for myself I look at project cars and mentally figure out what the parts value is and if I can make a profit.
If the numbers don’t add up I walk away. It’s easy to smile and decline to buy. Never know when’s seller might change his mind and get realistic.
I almost never make offers. Not my job to price it for the seller .

 

I see this as rather simple. This is my price. This is what I can give. Sometimes there is deal. Sometimes not.

My last purchase the guy hinted that he was willing to deal. I could have pressed the issue. I could have got him down to half his asking price. Instead I gave him a couple of hundred more than he was asking. To me it was worth that.

Some people can't stand that. Like they're "leaving money on the table"....That's not me. If I feel the t's worth it I'll pay it.

A good one I hear is the" Thousands invested." It does not matter what's invested it"s what you can get for it. ....

The last car I looked at (I did not buy it) the guy talked about how much he had in it.

I'm like , Yeah, that guy is counting every tire. Every drop of oil, every penny he ever put into it. So sure.....Thousands are invested but so what?

Another one that bothers me is when I know too much info.
A friend of mine had a vehicle. This Man gave to him. It was abandoned on his property.

He priced to to me for 5k. WTF.

 

I think there is a fine line between smart and greedy.
Too many are on the greedy train with the "barn finds" these days in my opinion but that is their business.
I had a guy offer me a '33 sedan delivery that needed everything and was in pieces for $38,000.
When I asked him what his buddy just sold his mint '33 coupe for he said $36,000. So I asked him hy the pile of parts was worth more than the coupe, one of the best I have ever seen.
He knew that I knew he was fishing. I never accepted another phone call from him again.
Education isn't free but ignorance can cost a whole lot more.

 

That's a great way too put it.

 

Makes your head spin with just how much of friend is he really.

 

Shopping to flip and shopping to use are two different games all together. The seller is probably a flipper also so his price might be realistic to the guy that needs the part. As long as every body is honest about it, great. Nothing worse than giving some guy a big break on a part that he absolutely has to have for his low budget project, then seeing it later on the guy's table for twice the amount.

 

What really gets me is when someone has something for sale and won't price it. They ask, what's it worth or make me an offer. I'll make them a really stupid low offer and then ask now how much do you want?!

 

Same as mentioned above^ all...... If I'm going to flip, I come in on the slightly higher side because everyone, and I mean EVERYONE is going to try to haggle down. nature of the beast...... I put up my #, and when I have to play the game, and if I have to, it usually ends up where I wanted it to be in the first place......
What I don't get is "best offer"........ Like- take it or leave it....... Why ask a #, and say B.O? Too many fishermen out there, and if you going to sell, SELL. I don't and have never waited for best offer results..
Shit, or get off the pot!
Soooo many flaky people searching...... Pick A #, and go with it...........
Unfortunatly, they are out there..........

 

I agree with most of the posts so far. I don’t buy parts to flip. I need or want said item. The thing that I can’t stand tho is “what will you give me”? I absolutely will not price your stuff. I walk away. Snowman

 

I am at present buying and selling on the facebook marketplace. I try to put a price that gives me a reasonable profit. and I still get those folks who offer much less and haven't ever came and looked at the item. I actually have enough stuff don't really need anything. When I go to buy and think the prices is too high I never make a offer. I usually state I will pass. sometimes I might ask the seller what his bottom dollar would be. When something is absurdily over priced I tell them that a good price if you can find someone with more money than brains to pay you that much. I buy at auction quite often. lots of times I see items sell for much more than I want to pay. however if that same item was mine I wouldn't sell it that cheep?

 

Most of us probably see all sides of this, I know I do. As a buyer I either go to a swap meet looking for parts for my project(s) or for parts I can flip. I HATE to see a seller without prices on his items. If I see something I'm interested in 9 times out of 10 the seller is busy blabbing to someone else and I'm only going to stand around for so long waiting before I just lay the item down and walk off. Sellers that don't price their stuff miss out on a LOT of sales. As a seller I have everything marked (reasonably I might add) before it hits the table and everything is negotiable. I'm there to sell, not just display stuff hoping some idiot comes along that'll pay me way too much for an item.

 

One thing of want to add. Ive had folks come and look and ask prices. and I will give them a number. then they return months later. They fail to realize any price quote I give is only good for a few hours at most. once I sleep on it the price can change.

 

I think we have covered the typical bad approaches that Sellers use. I agree that "what is it worth to you" has a negative, smug, I want all the money for my items that turns me away. One approach that works for me as both a buyer and as a seller is "I would like to get XXX for that item". This establishes a price but leaves an opening for further conversation. Reply with "would you take XX for that item" and regardless of the reply from the seller you both can feel good about the outcome. It certainly helps as a buyer to know the current values of the items you are interested in currently. That way, you can make a reasonable offer and probably buy the item. Personally, I have a mental list of various things I want and what the current price seems to be. When I see one of those items that I want that is below what I want to pay, I buy it. I have been known to pay too much when I find a part that is particularly hard to find and in exceptional condition. I figure I have been looking for a long time to even find that item and here is one and it is in exceptional condition, I buy it even though the price may be higher than I wanted to pay. The last thing I want to do in this case is piss the guy off and have him decide not to sell the item (to me). Funny thing is, in 6 months I don't even remember what I paid, but I have the item I wanted and hadn't been able to find, sitting in my garage.

 

I should have added to my post that there is the flip or the save. I still buy a car here and there thinking I will keep it. Those are in deep storage. The same thought process applies to those for parts.

 

Most of my stuff is 15 cents a pound when I buy it

 

I’m the king of buy high and sell low. But, it’s ok, I make up for it on volume.


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I only buy what I need most times. I have flipped a few items that I got extremely cheap, but that was the exception. No use in me buying something if I can't use it.

 

I buy or sell stuff occasionally. Most of the time that I buy stuff, it's something I think I can use in the future. Rarely does what I need come along when I need it. When I sell stuff, it's because I've decided I won't use it, regardless of prior plans.

As a buyer, I'm looking for that killer deal on something that I could potentially use, or flip. But I won't use the same venue to flip an item. I'll know it when I see it.

As a seller, I try to price my stuff reasonably, so i can put some cash in my pocket and the buyer can negotiate some and not feel gouged. It seems every buyer I deal with wants to start by insulting me, and at that point I'm done.

Devin

 

That pretty well sums me up right now. I've never been into the flipping thing outside of years ago picking up a few odds and ends at yard sales to take to swap meets along with my other stuff but I didn't plan on getting rich on it
I went to a big flea market today that prices were so jacked up on most of the stuff that no one was buying. Folks that had taken stuff priced to sell were selling it left and right though. I didn't buy much because I wasn't looking for much. I did get a sling for one of my rifes for 10 bucks and a Guide light that was probably a tractor light for 5 and an airboard that I may or may not have paid too much for but other than that I was pretty picky and tight with my money.

I'll pay a bit more for a decent part for one of the projects if it means I don't have to pay shipping or drive a serious distance to get it. That may be it with a lot of us. the " I can see and touch this and tell exactly what shape it is in and what I do or don't have to do to get it right so I'll pay a bit more than that one a thousand miles away that I have to figure out how to get home. My flatbed costs so much to drive that it isn't productive to go very far after big pieces. That cost of gas is a big consideration.

T

 

as a swap meet seller I try to put a price on everything - prices usually have some flexibility - but, sometimes you will get an offer close to your bottom line early in the day - which make you think that you will certainly get a better offer later - and it turns out that the early offer was the best of day and should have taken it - some guys have a "will not budge price" and bring the same parts back to swap after swap -

 

Like a few on here I seem to always pay to much and sell to cheap. I hate selling stuff and if I decide to sell I want it gone or I am not even going to mess with it. Lately it seems I only sell stuff to friends, and usually stuff that I bought for a project and either changed my mind and went another way or ended up just not needing. I am not in the parts selling business I do like to build cars though that usually entails spending a lot more money then I ever take in.

Recently a fellow HAMB member that lives close by and cruises Craigslist constantly gave me a call about some Thunderbird bucket seat that he saw that might go good in my 1953 Ford I am building. I had purchased a set of seats from an early Mustang a 1965 I think, to go into that car but the Bird seats I thought were cool. So I did buy those Bird seats and sold my Mustang seats to the finder of the Bird seats for his Model A coupe. Have any of you priced bucket seats lately? The price for them has gone thru the roof. The Mustang seats I got a real buy on $100 for the pair, however I see that now these same seats are going on the low end for $500 and more a pair. Like I said earlier I am not in the parts selling business. My friend paid the $100, money is just not the measure I am willing to use for a friend.

 

My late friend Lyn had a great reply when the seller was going on about how much they paid for something (too much). He’d say “yeah.. I’ve made some bad deals like that too”
Would shut them down pretty quick with that one.


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Dad and I have been going to the Chief Blackhawk Antique Motorcycle Swap Meet for almost 20 years. There are guys who have been hauling around the same parts for all this time. These guys are not interested in selling, apparently these guys have a traveling museum. A fast nickel is better than a slow dime.


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Years ago I made the mistake of buying things to resell. While I made a bit of money here and there, I also ended up with boxes of stuff that wasn't worth the profit I would make hauling it year after year to swap meets before it would sell. When I approach a vendor at a swap meet I like to see things priced so I got some starting point and like it's already been stated they aren't there showing off their travelling museum. As a vendor I like to engage the buyers in conversation which always helps in selling process. But with that said, I'm sure we all have experienced the guys that you speak to who will stand there for half an hour to tell you their life story and about every car they have ever owned.