Hot Rods eBay is what's wrong

^^^^^^^^^^^^ very true^^^^^^^^^^^

 

from Jeff Dunham skit, she jumped on menstrual cycle and Bitchbitchbiittcchhbbbbiiiitttttccccchhhhh, lot of unhappy campers, must have got some coal for Christmas.

 

I was buying so much stuff on Ebay about five years ago or so I was going to have a bumper sticker made to put on my project car that says,"the car that Ebay built". What I'm finding now is either parts are drying up or people are hanging onto things and that's their choice. All I see now seem to be trinkets and add on pieces. I used to find the best deals on Ebay just before or just after the holidays as guys would be trying to raise cash in those times. I'm not sure what's happening now but the same thing seems to be happening at the swap meets I attend as well.

 

Yes. "I wish I had more of those".

 

Be glad you're not looking for one of these $3500.00 SURVIVOR carburetors.
I have one, found it at the Corvallis swap meet in the 80's for $85.00, had Holley Custom Shop restore it, cost was $200 if I recall.
Says seller ended ad because it was sold........right.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-GM-Hol...ted-621-SURVIVOR/372851002083?redirect=mobile

 

I like to browse the ebay adds , Find what i want & contact the seller , Do a deal outside of ebay .

 

When looking for something, and don't have to have it yesterday:

(1) Set up a search with really good filters
(2) Change the listing time to newly listed
(3) Save the search with email preference

You will get an email daily with up to 12 of the NEWEST auctions that fit your description. You can get emails on up to a 100 different searches. I think I am down to 97 at this time.

Don't sell much on Ebay, but certainly buy a lot.

And yes, it is much easier, and cheaper, than swap meets. The downside is the camaraderie we experienced at the swap meets which is missing on Ebay.

Jon.

 

I couldn't drive an old car if it wasn't for e-Bay keeping me stocked in old parts..

 

I have plenty of old parts and did eBay back when it was fun. eBay has dishonest buyers (scam artists) that play the system and eBay let's them play. Only use I have for liars, cheats and thief's is to wring their necks to alleviate stress.

 

The only thing I do not like about Ebay is now there is sales tax,I will not get anything off there if I can get it local but my Fenton headers I got off there arrived today.

 

Blame your state for the sales tax don't blame E-bay.

Mick

 

eBay (as well as Amazon and others) fought tooth-and-nail to keep the sales tax off of internet based sales for years. States forced the issue.

 

Many years ago I did that on a $81,500 deal! And got paid $750 to help load it!








Bones

 

Not blaming Ebay and know it was my state but since I now have to pay sales tax will not get anything I can get local off it now.

 

Apparently eBay is working just fine for some people. Typing in a broad, HAMB-friendly parameter of all 1965 and older cars and trucks, "sold" listings show 2,931 1965-and-older vehicles sold on eBay in the last 90 days.

 

If eBay ceased to exist tomorrow, the critics would be "upset" about that too.

 

Same here. With my limited hometime, online is about the only way I can buy anything, just don't have time to get out and hunt stuff, and wouldn't know where to start looking anymore anyway. I like the buy it now listings, I can buy stuff if I like the price and not have to worry out getting outbid.

Probably shouldn't let my secrets out, but I use http://fatfingers.com/ . It finds misspellings in listings such as flathead, flat head, or flat-head that a lot of times the regular eBay search ignores. I've found lots of stuff that nobody bidded on because it was misspelled!

 

I think some of you guys forget not everyone has access to swapmeets in a reasonable driving range or at all. Looking for the unicorn part you need can take years to find on the internet let along spending your lifetime looking at swaps. Prior to the internet we used our friends and the swapmeet for contacts seeking such unicorns. We also had the Hemmings motor news and old cars weekly and PRINT newspapers. I hate to say but as time goes on less of our old parts are available. I hate to say many old cars and parts are being scrapped and lost forever. I know this being true because I tossed out dumpsters full of Model A ford as well as early ford goodies as nobody wanted them years ago. It’s great to have sites like ebay even though it has its problems and its ever changing platform. I believe it supplies us with cool rare and stuff we haven’t seen before. Plus it helps our collectors rule or far away places local or overseas.

 

Look at it this way. eBay is just another tool that you can use in building your car. Tools are intrinsically dangerous; you could drill a hole through your hand with your drill press, burn yourself with your welder, or even kill yourself misusing your jackstands. You have to have a modicum of knowledge and take some care in using it. It can be as harmful or as useful as you make it.

That being said, it ain't near as much use and fun as it used to be.

 

What I hate is going to a swap meet and people have piles of stuff laying there with nothing giving a hint what kind of car its for. At least on ebay there usually is a description and I didn't have to pay $10 to park and $10 to get in. Drinks at home usually cost about 50 cents and I don't have to wait in line to get ripped off for a sandwich.Yep, I Luv Ebay

 

People typically complain about the shortcomings of any given entity. Whether it is an economic system, mechanical compromises, a restaurant menu, they find fault by comparing it to their notion of what would be ideal. But, for lots of immutable reasons, the ideal (aka ‘perfection’) is very rarely, if ever, among the choices we have available to us.

In short, IDEAL ain’t on the menu.

The reality of our existence is that we have to choose the thing in a particular category that offers the greatest upside benefits coupled with the least downside consequences. That is as good as it gets. Coming to terms with that might reduce your stress considerably.

Ray

 

Actually it was local retailers that pushed the issue to the states because they were trying to compete on an unfair playing field.

 

Maybe, but it seems to me the criticism people have, is justified. They mostly complain because it started out great and then it slowly/fastly turned into a nickle and dime ya to death affair, largely screwing over "the little guy" which was the basis for their success in the first place, and general wankery in the "terms and conditions".

 

Well I had to go to the dictionary twice in the last few post!






Bones

 

I don't want to jinx it since the auction is still going on, but I've spent probably a yr and half to 2yrs casually, but consistently looking for some elusive clutch stuff for my car, both at swap meets and online, (as in I had never seen the pressure plate for sale and had only run across 1 or 2 of the clutch discs for sale, not even just being out of my price range or something) and then just yesterday they popped up on ebay for a cheap starting bid. Bid on it and put in a considerable buffer max bid incase someone tries to get it. Going to be an anxious next few days!

 

I remember going to swap meets before the internet , get up at 4am to start your treasure hunt and get home at 1pm

, all it was for the most part ,was guys selling off parts from old projects, the excess 90% were hobbiest .. so if you are “buying and selling cars all over the country “ you are in business... you might be part of the problem for hobbiest also... ever think of that?

 

For any business to be successful it has to serve the wants and needs of it’s customers. Since these businesses you are challenging as being “part of the problem” are serving customers who are automotive hobbyists, your suggestion seems conspicuously contradictory. The swap meets still exist.....I know for a fact.....I attend them. The ‘distribution’ of hobbyist parts has expanded, not gone away.

Ray

 

I’m in my 20th year of eBay sales, and while I do not list items as often as I used to I must say I’ve never felt that I’ve gotten screwed. eBay is no different than anything else, a hamburger at McD’s isn’t 29 cents any more either.
One thing that I feel helps is comparing an item I want to list to completed sales, that lets you gauge the market. My eBay pricing strategy is no different than my swap meet sales- Do I want to start a museum or move some merchandise? But if I have an item with some rarity I will not list with a “Buy It Now”, I let the market drive the bids.
They provide a marketplace that reaches a maximum of people and I sell some items, a win for both of us.

 

I just got a set of 456 gears in the mail today. bought them from a HAMB Member at a very good price. and did not pay any sales tax. Ive just about quit Ebay.

 

eBay is no different than any large scale business in that it serves a very wide audience. That ranges from the cherished “little guy” (who, by the way, are not all above reproach just because they are ‘poor’) and ranging up to the “cost is no object” buyers. In that mix are an equally broad range of ethics......there are both honest and crooked people in all strata of society. No group has a lock on the moral high ground.

And that fact gives rise to all the “terms and conditions” that define what’s kosher and what’s not acceptable and the means by which violators will be dealt with. Surely you have read the several posts about how one can appeal to eBay, PayPal, credit card companies, etc. to intervene when a buyer has been ‘hosed’. Those ‘terms and conditions’ are what provide the legal recourse to help the “little guy” (or Daddy Warbucks) when things run off the rails.

People tend to think everyone else thinks like they do, except for their particular imaginary “Bogeymen”....but that is in error and most often a result of limited experiences. The fact is, there is a segment of the human population that makes more effort to beat the system than they would expend doing things the ‘right way’. I am convinced it has less to do with the monetary gain than it does with the Adrenalin rush of ‘scoring’.......

Ray