50-year collection of 1940 Ford Parts - Lots of NOS
 

Hi everyone, I will be selling off a very large collection of (mostly) 1940 Ford parts that has been amassed over the past 50 years. My father is not doing well, and the proceeds will go to fund his long term care. While I am 43, I spent my childhood going to swap meets with him all over the country and buying many many parts. I would classify him as an organized hoarder, to put it mildly. While he has a Benny Bootle 1940 Ford Convertible (actually the very first car Benny ever sold to the public, as I understand it), a 1940 Ford Truck, and a 1940 Ford Coupe with less than 3500 original miles, these vehicles will be the last to sell as my focus will be on selling parts.


I will likely be listing these on Ebay as I believe that will yield the most value for my Mom. I may pop in with questions from time to time to clarify what certain pieces are. There is so much it's almost overwhelming. Here are a few pictures:

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Re: 50-year collection of 1940 Ford Parts - Lots of NOS
 

"While he has a Benny Bootle 1940 Ford Convertible (actually the very first car Benny ever sold to the public, as I understand it)"


Benny Bootle, the man that, literally wrote the book on restoring early Fords...

The late Benny Bootle was a longtime member of the AACA and Early Ford V-8 Club of America, and a passionate Ford enthusiast dedicated to correctness and authenticity. While numerous V-8 Fords passed through his hands over the years, it was the 1940 Ford that was his particular favorite; he owned most all of the available body styles, all of them finished to his very high standards and national award winners. “Mr. Ford,” as he was known to his AACA friends, was even one of the writers of the restoration authenticity manual, used by the Early Ford V-8 Club for judging 1940 models.

Re: 50-year collection of 1940 Ford Parts - Lots of NOS
 

Sorry to hear about your Dad and your tasks ahead. You're a good son and I am praying that you all get through this.

Scott in AZ.

Re: 50-year collection of 1940 Ford Parts - Lots of NOS
 

Thanks, hoping I can recover enough funds to cover his care!

Re: 50-year collection of 1940 Ford Parts - Lots of NOS
 

yes, I'd say that's quite an organized horde...good luck selling it off, I'm afraid this is a situation many of our kids are going to have to go through....

Re: 50-year collection of 1940 Ford Parts - Lots of NOS
 

fgaller > You might want to consider contacting owners of parts houses who specialize in selling vintage Ford parts - selling all the parts as a bundle to them rather than selling the parts piecemeal...

Also, the EFV8 Club website is a good place to advertise your parts...

See> https://www.earlyfordv8.org/classifi...20Sale&c=Parts

Re: 50-year collection of 1940 Ford Parts - Lots of NOS
 

Selling that much one at a time on eBay is a full time job. Between having to have boxes and packing materials for each item, time to research, price, and list, trips to shipping points, the 25% eBay sales commission, the threat of a W9 from eBay for high value sellers that you have to pay income tax on, and other things I probably have forgotten, I gave up on selling regularly there a long time ago. Classified ads here and on the HAMB can be effective and do not have commissions but require you have an actual price in mind and to be vigilant on each one to bring it back up as they slip down the view order when new items are added above. Significant numbers of parts are selling via social media these days, no commissions so you get to keep it all. Check out irontrapfinds on Instagram to see how its done. https://www.instagram.com/irontrapfinds/ It takes years of hard work and self promotion to get to their level. I do not envy your task.

Re: 50-year collection of 1940 Ford Parts - Lots of NOS
 

Sorry to hear about your dad’s health. That is quite the collection of parts. Good luck with the sale(s).

Re: 50-year collection of 1940 Ford Parts - Lots of NOS
 

I agree with The Art Doctor.This might help you get started or give you an idea.A load of 40 parts for sale here in the classifieds.

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=354467

Re: 50-year collection of 1940 Ford Parts - Lots of NOS
 

I would be interested in a NOS front leaf spring assembly and a nice used trunk lid for a 1940 standard V8 Tudor sedan. Thank you, Gil

Re: 50-year collection of 1940 Ford Parts - Lots of NOS
 

The Art Doctor gives good advice on the issues with e-Bay. A good friend who was selling old toys on e-Bay got a W9 from e-bay and had to pay about $5000 in tax to IRS. I would avoid e-Bay if you can.

Re: 50-year collection of 1940 Ford Parts - Lots of NOS
 

You have gotten that right.I am not a high volumn seller on Ebay but just this morning got the "payout" notice from Ebay on a part I sold for $230 and only realized $175 payout from the sale,never used the "promotion" option before and never will again,it added another $25.00 to total fees. The promotion option is supposed to show your item more to get better coverage which normal Ebay listings are almost hidden anymore ,very tough to find parts. I have even typed in word for word an item I liseted and it did not come up in search,went through Chevy parts ,you name it instead of correct Ford part. It use to be you would search say Ford Flathead and get only those items but not anymore,get everything but. It is very hard to find a part you are looking for anymore,I sometimes use google or MSN search for the part and it gives me a quicker path on Ebay then Ebay itself. Almost glad I am about over with this stuff.

Re: 50-year collection of 1940 Ford Parts - Lots of NOS
 

My 50 yr collection is to be donated to the Ford Foundation. They can sell it, about 3- 50ft semi trailers and the cars. All set up with my estate. Newc

Re: 50-year collection of 1940 Ford Parts - Lots of NOS
 

Good advice here so far. It will be tremendous work to sell things individually, and in the end, you'll be left with the stuff that people don't want that you still have to deal with. Selling as a lot will be much easier and get your money quicker.

I don't know why people fear eBay so much. Yeah, they take a portion of your sales, but they're also giving you a national platform that you can't get on your own. Yeah, if you sell enough you'll pay taxes on the sales, but if you're being taxed, it means you're making money too. The retail parts people that contribute to this forum have overhead costs and pay taxes too. They have to sell enough parts each month just to breakeven! It doesn't sound like you have overhead costs to cover.

The Irontrap Garage guys someone posted about even have an eBay store, and I think do most of their sales through that.

I sell my extra parts on eBay, it helps recover my costs a little and fund my hobby. I don't do the auction, I just use the buy it now function, and it operates like a store. The listings stay up until I cancel them, and things sell. Best part is, I don't have to manage it weekly like an auction. Sure they take a percentage, but I'm selling all over the country, and I don't have to meet people in parking lots, or get a dozen flakey emails like you get with craigslist or marketplace.

Re: 50-year collection of 1940 Ford Parts - Lots of NOS
 

Any rear wheel bearings &transmission bearings (wound journal roller type) &oil seals?....... would you post/ship to Australia?........, merry christmas to you&your family.

Re: 50-year collection of 1940 Ford Parts - Lots of NOS
 

My prayers are with you and your dad. Selling all those parts "one at a time" is a huge time consuming and slow process. As has been said, best to sell them "en masse" to a vendor.

Re: 50-year collection of 1940 Ford Parts - Lots of NOS
 

It might be difficult to find a single buyer for the entire collection…..there are fewer and fewer parts vendors who have the resources and space to buy large quantities of items. To justify the cost, including the initial purchase price + gathering up the inventory along with packing items up for shipping or other transportation + the cost/time to inventory and shelve the stock, you’d have to factor that in to the price offered for the lot. This concept has to allow for a percentage of the inventory that turned out to be defective, used rather than the NOS part that you thought it was, or simply a low demand/stagnant part that never leaves your shelves.

If you’re not prepared for the long term process of listing and selling each piece one by one, chances are that you would find yourself weary of the drag of your time long before the place was emptied of everything. Even if the idea of individual selling appeals to you, there may exist a time frame to finish the job sooner rather than later….a pressing need for the funds, or the need to empty out the property, or any of other possible demands that the entire process is finished quickly.

The idea of contacting specialty vendors is one solution, but you should try to have a realistic value in mind….as should the potential buyer. This may require some sort of inventory listing to create a baseline for the buyer and seller in the negotiations. For example, since we specialize in transmission parts, that would be the category for a specialized vendor like us, and I would want to have a pretty good idea of what is there before making an offer.

Another option would be to contact one of the auction houses who have handled automotive parts collections. Some advance work would have to be done to prepare for an auction event, but the good part is that the whole shebang would be dealt with in one weekend. As always with auctions, some items may not bring much, but others often make up for that with very competitive bidding.

No matter what path you take in dealing with the selling of the collection, there is a cost involved….and it’s not always a direct $ cost either. There are other logical choices to consider so look carefully at the options.

Re: 50-year collection of 1940 Ford Parts - Lots of NOS
 

To Mr. fgaller: It would help to get this process underway if you would show your location.

Re: 50-year collection of 1940 Ford Parts - Lots of NOS
 

You have a lot of value there. I would grab a few things and try the eBay route. If you have the time and ability you will do quite well. Be prepared for the 1099 that you will received from the sales. But if you sell the collection to a dealer we will only pay half or less due to costs travel and the same selling fees. I see several items that will command pretty good money so take your time and research and ask questions lots of us would be willing to help. Be weary of those messaging you want to come look and make offers on singular items

Re: 50-year collection of 1940 Ford Parts - Lots of NOS
 

Sorry I can't reply to everyone, but here are my thoughts:

1. My plan is to start with the high value items (NOS grilles, Columbia 2-speed parts, Spotlights/Foglights, etc) and put those on Ebay. As others have said, no doubt there is a lot of dead stock here (I doubt anyone is super interested in tail lights, window glass, etc)
2. I may entertain selling Lots off when I get through some of the high dollar stuff and take what I can get. The market for these parts is shrinking so I understand that we are talking pennies on the dollar.
3. I restore 1966-1977 Broncos and do a lot on Ebay so I'm not worried about the effort or tax implications.
4. I am located in Northern Minnesota.