I was just thinking about that the other day.........I remember people in the past saying some early model Vettes were steel and some were FG ! Where did THAT little bit of misinformation start?? I hear similar stuff about my FG 27 all the time, someone will say to his buddy "It's one of those KIT cars." Yeah, it came in two big boxes and took a whole weekend to put together." Don
A friend of mine told me aboat a new swappmeet that was going to be held and that the guy hosting the swappmeet had been restoring ford woodies for twenty years and was going to sell all his spare parts, I drove up the night before with truck and trailer and some model "A" bodies and parts, I called the guy hosting the swappmeet and ask him if I could pre park, he ask me what I was bringing up to sell and I answered " model A parts, he said "nope, only early v-8 parts are allowed in the swappmeet" so I parked in the alley and waited for morning. This was in a very bad skid row industrial area so I grabbed a 2x4 and when to sleep. Next thing ya know I was awaken by a police raid, aparently their a bunch of hookers had sat on my trailer and had opened up shop, so the cops ask me questions and the hookers got hauled off. At five they open the shop so I got first pick, all the prices were really resonable so I ended up buying most the stuff the host had for sale from his employee, so I left the stuff there and figured I would load everthing after the show. Guys kept bugging me for the stuff I had just bought, so I decided to start selling. the host showed up at ten and by then I had sold more than half the stuff I had purchased. He asked me why I was selling his parts and I answered " You would'ent let me sell any model A parts , so I bought all your stuff so I would have something to sell." He laughed and we became good friends, and every year he would give me first pick at his parts.
Sometime, help at swap meets come from within... One of my father's old friends decided to accompany us on one of our swap meet trips. While he's "mostly harmless", he's also one of those guys that just doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut. We were looking for a specific part for one of our projects - can't even remember what it was right now - and after a day of walking actually found it. My father was in the middle of trying to negotiate the price when the friend pipes up with "we've been looking all day and that's the first one we've found". Game over.
I missed this post or I would have commented on it in one of my other posts in this thread. It's nice you want to give things away, but for some of us it's A: fun to find things cheap that can be turned for a profit; B: that may be how we make our car money if not pay the bills, and C: there's no point to busting ass to load and unload, set up, and put up with 50 idiots for every paying customer if you're not making a decent profit at it. There's a guy who does shows here who has semi trailer loads of old parts and just wants to get rid of it - so at 3 or 4 shows he just puts it out and everything is a buck. Buy a bunch and it's cheaper. He knows darn well a lot of us are just going to put it in our stuff, and doesn't care. Sometimes I'm amazed by what he hasn't sold for a buck at the end of the day, because there's always a couple things I know I can get more out of sooner or later. And last but not least, profit is not a dirty word. Profit is the purpose all businesses exist, without it there is no point to operate.
Went to a swap at Cosumnes River College in Sac a couple years ago, and drug along my '35 Olds Business Coupe on the trailer. So across the aisle is a '62 Hawk Gt, pretty straight but rough, $1200 on the windshield- nope, not gonna go look at it, got too much schidt.. So I sell the Olds for $8K. Yep...
Where do you get your parts in the first place? People just give you stuff ? I pull mine from cars in junkyards.I have driven hundreds of miles to get to a car and take off parts.Pay for the parts,clean them up,drive to a show(I'll use Jefferson WI. as it just happened)which is 5 hours one way,pay for spaces,pay for lodging,pay for food,pay for fuel just to put the parts out for people to buy.Do I expect to make a profit? Damn right.Do I buy more parts while at the swap to hopefully sell at a profit? Damn right.Other than vendor to vendor most sales at a swap are to folks who are afraid to get their hands dirty or just plain lazy.Do you work for free at your day job? Bet not.If people want lower prices for parts it's up to them to go get them. Take into account all the costs for parts and while there are always the small or large scores for most swappers it's just money going from one pocket to another because the game is the thing.
Not swap meet but I bought a 69 Camaro with a 440 in it and pulled the 440 and put it in paper for a $100. Guy responds quickly and buys it. Next day...in the paper was a 440 for sale. $500 bucks. I laughed at my own ignorance.
The parts I get are by products of the builds. I take the parts off that I dont use or need as I said. I save um up and once or twice a year I lode it all up and let it fly. I understand profit. I do not understand people who buy up all the good deals just to re sell it. That pisses me off.
I was selling at Kalamazoo last week and had a great experience. Some guy was talking to me about a pair of nice truck buckets I had marked at $25. He went on down the aisle saying he'd be back. Well he really did come back. But he wanted them for $10, I told him sure $10 a piece. He started dickering on price wanting to combine things. He wanted 2 other items I had and the 3 totaled $55 and he wanted them all for $20. I'm standing there trying to get him higher when another guy walks up and says "I'll give you $25 for the buckets. SOLD. The buyer wanted to put them by my trailer and pick them up later. The other guy walked off and when he was gone I went over to the buyer and again told him thanks then gave him $5 back and told him I'd been willing to sell them to the other guy for that so couldn't take more from him after what he'd done for me. I smile every time I think about the first guy losing out
David Freiburger tells almost the exact same story in his writing on page 10 of the November 2011 Hot Rod Magazine.
i hear ya man, it's people like that that drive the prices up for the rest of us. if i buy it then i'm useing it or selling it to a friend for the price i bought it for cause they where looking for it and where not around to get it, Hotrodding aint about screwin' the people that you may one day need help from.
So you sat there while some dude loaded a block by himself in your sister's car?? Were you wearing your sister's panties too?
Thank-You, for that. When I see that, I think...............Douche-bag. But, while I agree with making money and capitalizm and free country, and all that shit, I don't care to see it among car dudes. Just my 2-cents.
For all of the high and mighty here who believe a profit shouldn't be made. How would some of you find some of your parts if not for those who search parts out and resell them? Some of you don't have a clue about where to find them, the ability/knowledge to remove them or have the time to invest in finding them. I've bought and resold for a number of years and have sold parts all over the world. It helps pay for my car habit. How do you think someone in Europe would find parts here in the states if not for someone searching them out and reselling?
Stuff only sells for what someone is willing to pay for it. If 10 guys are willing to pay 3-5 times what you are for a part, then it's probably worth 3-5 times more than you think and it's going to be a long time before you get what you need. And that's 3-5 times more cash I have to use either to get to more swaps for you to find what I have, or buy more old parts that people just might need. Or pay the state sales tax so I can stay in business another year. etc. - And if it sells for X on eBay on a regular basis, then there's no reason I should price it lower. Your discount is no sales tax and no shipping costs. It just seems to me to be greedy on the car guy's part to expect me to shortchange myself on selling something just because it's going to a car guy, when if you pay me the market price that gives me that much more cash I can turn around down the road. This year it hasn't much mattered - $30 is about the top dollar anyone will spend, and that's few and far between. Some shows, like I posted before, I've had people who didn't even want to part with a single dollar to buy something. I miss 2007, when it seemed like anything I touched turned to cash and even the smaller shows were good for enough to make it worth going to.
I don't think The_Dude ever said he's against a profit. If you search out these parts and re-sell them, more power to you. In fact, it's great for those of us that don't have the time/resources to do the hunting. To me what's annoying are the guys that are standing there trying to walk around the truck while I'm unloading it or are at my garage sale at 6:00 AM knocking on the door asking to see the stuff that bug me. I love hearing the stories of people that found what they needed and felt great about the price.
Go back and read how many posts are guys crying about someone selling parts for more than they paid and how they could/would never do that. As far as guys being there early. If they pay you what you ask then what are you bitching about? I've sold plenty of stuff to other guys who in turn resold it. Just means I didn't price it right or I was tired of having it around. As long as you don't lie to me to get a deal I don't care what you do with it. I had a guy do that in 95 to get a nice western rust free Model A door at a cheap price. Claimed the guy who chopped his cpe messed up the door and he'd spent so much on the car he didn't have much money left. About an hour later I overheard someone telling what a nice rust free door it is he has for sale. Yes it was him about two spaces down and across the aisle from me. To this day I remember that jerk and recognize him whenever I see him. Would I ever sell him a part again? HELL NO he could offer me more than I was asking and I wouldn't sell to him. But he's the only one I feel that way about. I have guys who resell that want me to call them when I get back from my western parts hunting trips. As long as they pay my price more power to them if they make a profit.
one time a friend of mine was selling parts and he had a old 70's fiberglass nose for a camaro it was complete but a little beat up he wanted like $300 for it. This guy came by in the morning checking it out and seemed real interested in it said he waould come back later. now the nose was in the back of his trailer kind of blocked by more parts.. So later the guy comes back looks it over again and says ok ill take it so my friend moves all the parts we get it out. Took like 20 minutes.. The guy looks at it and says ill give you $150 for it! my friend was pissed! he told the guy you said you wanted it for $300 and made me move everything to get it out and now you want it for $150! he walked over bought a chainsaw from a guy next to him and cut the whole front nose up in front of the guy! the guy was dumb founded! All he could say was your nuts and walked away!
At the rumble Im walking around looking for wheels. I come across a pair of old keystones (torque thrust copies) for 65 bucks. So as Im standing there waiting on the seller to finish up his business with someone else a guy and his woman are looking around. I hear him tell his woman - This guy is crazy 65 dollars for two crusty wheels. Then he looksup at me and says the samething. I tell him that i buying the wheels he then tells me -why dont you know you can buy a brand new pair of torque thrust 2s. I tell him that if I wanted brand new torque thrusts I would go buy some and 65 bucks for the wheels is a steal and if you dont know that then you probaly shouldnt be here. Guy walks off the vendor walks over and says Just for that if you give me 45 they are yours. I paid the guy very quickly. Now only if I can find some one selling a pair of pie crusts like that lol.
Bought a '68 Ranchero at the far end of the Portland Swap meet in 1999. I jumped in it, started it up and was driving it to my spot which was on the opposite end of the swap meet. While driving there, I spotted a set of GT wheels and centers. I shouted out to the guy I'd take em. Handed him the cash, and his boys put all for wheels in the back. A couple of rows later, I saw some tail light housings for the Ranchero, and shouted to the guy in the booth I'd take them. I paid him cash, and he set them in the back. A couple of rows later, I see 4 like new White letter tires I liked and shouted an offer. "Sold" the man said. He set the tires in the back. All the while I haven't even gotten out of the Ranchero. Finally, 2 booths from my spot I see 2 Fairlane/Torino/Ranchero fenders with the stainless wheel well trims on them. I holler at the guy if he'd sell the trims off the fenders. He says "$50 bucks and their yours". So I park the Ranchero and walk over and make the deal. I literally found all the parts I was needing for the Ranchero driving from one spot to the other, and not even having to get out of the rig!
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