Ebay - Are the prices for real?

[1931 flamingo]

Lots of dreamers in Hemming's also. JMO
Paul in CT

[Minnepiper]

Yes ebay prices are through the roof. Where are the $8k roadsters now??

How can you buy a car out state without looking at it? I buy used horse saddles on the ebay and end up sending about 30% back for unmentioned defects.

[ronn]

Jeff,
selling a car on ebay is still somewhat reasonable- if it sells. would guess sales to be in the 40-50% range. so many cars dont sell and get relisted or buyers are MIA.

The only good venue on ebay seems to be car sales. The selling of parts gets ridiculous, as to commissions.
you can sell a 100k car on ebay and only be charged 125.
I listed a pair of headlights on ebay and they sold for 2k. the fees were well above 200. Hardly worth it...............

[coupe1942]

If you look at the bigger picture than simply focusing on Model A's and parts for such, it is exactly the same thing for any other product sold on Ebay. May as well get used to it, as it won't likely change back to anything done in the past.

Me, I like the BUY IT NOW option, as I don't have to worry over what the price will jump to or if someone else will clip me and beat my bid. I look at it as, "if you have to have something because of actual need, greed or simply a strong desire, then forget about the wonderful prices and bargains of the days of long ago past and do what you gotta' do." Good, bad or ugly, your the one who has to live with the results. :-)

[Jeff/Illinois]

ronn I see your point.

A friend had a buddy sell a '69 Camaro this summer thru one of the Mecum sales. He was shocked at the fees and all. Had to put down $25K of his own money, to insure the car would be at the auction. Mecum told him that too many people were having them list cars and then not showing up on sale day, so I can understand it. If his Camaro wasn't there he lost his 25 grand.

The car sold for a very very large sum. Mecum made it right with him, took their fee out of his deposit. He was happy overall but said he was also very nervous and luckily the car went higher than he thought it would go or what he thought it was worth. He still made out, but there were transportation costs, lodging, meals, seller's fee, listing fees, and all.
That is why even though it is a reserve auction, they negotiate on the side for you to lift your reserve and sell the car. You will be paying fees anyway even if you don't sell. They will cut their fees some if you lift reserve.

David said that Mecum was a decent outfit to work with and he did like them. Unlike B-J that he tried to sell a Chevelle thru two years ago whole different story

[Capt Quahog]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Seems that we're in some sort of parallel universe with regard to eBay prices realized and that of the real world. If my 31' tudor didn't have what looks to be a nicely rebuilt chassis and drive train, it would be on eBay now. With the prices that these people are paying for rotted out, rodent infested rust bucket hulks, a good running, presentable road car would probably fetch a few bucks.

Recently on Craigslist, I have encountered at least a half dozen seemingly in very good condition or much better "turn key" Model A Ford cars in the $7,500 "asking price" range. A number of those ADs eventually disappear but most show up again weeks later with the car apparently "unsold".

Then there are the orphan "project" car Model A Fords such as a 1931 Sport Coupe with much of the restoration work done including rebuilt original engine and a good V8 Ford flathead motor thrown in as a bonus. Asking price is $5,500 and the seller states that he must clear out the car ASAP. That one is about 30 miles away from where I sit over in western New Jersey.

With so many good running, rolling and ready Model A Fords around, at this point, unless the car is some rare valuable model, or the thing can be bought or traded for on the cheap, it's simply not worth the time and effort.

[H. L. Chauvin]

Prices?

No doubt buying and selling horses years ago for transportation was equally as exciting .... especially in that horses could die not long after a sale because of their limited life span ...... Hmmmmmmm ....... no interchangeable horse parts at Bert's, Snyder's, or Brattons' ..... maybe we are much luckier today with our Model As ..... just one way to look at it.

[Steve Wastler]

Originally Posted by phonconn

I sold over 6000 parts on ebay over a 5 year period and then switched to vintage watches and accessories. Ebay gave me fits as a seller so sold the watch business off to my partner who know has fits from the seller staff there on ebay. Sellers are always wrong and buyers are always right is ebay's philosophy. I have little to no problems between Model A parts customers but got buried with watch complaints. I will probably do some ebay with fixed prices and maybe make offer of some of the higher valued items. Ebay charges over 15% between their store fees, selling fees, shipping and paypal so free shipping is not free just has to be put in the price. I will look forward to dealing with some of you again as I will continue to list under phonconn which is the user name I had in the past. Anything you need just get in touch direct or here through Fordbarn. I prefer Fordbarn to all others but just too much stuff to sell for just one venue.

I am looking forward to the the opportunities to purchase more of your fantastic quality original parts Dan!

[ursus]

One facet of the price inflation on Ebay is that swap meet vendors are increasingly quoting Ebay as a pricing benchmark for whatever they are selling. I am hearing more of them refuse my offer with a response that the part "is going for $XXX.00 on Ebay". I have encouraged a few to follow their dreams and put the part on Ebay, forthwith.

[kevinwalshe]

eBay prices are a joke now. A few years ago you could buy stuff for what you would find it at a swap meet, now those jokers think it is made of gold. I try to avoid it and buy parts from fellow 'barners or at local swaps. This is the best place to find what you are looking for, quite honestly.

[pooch]

Originally Posted by Wick

I stopped looking at parts on ebay a year ago. Hands on at swap meet is my favorite. Craigslist is still good, I picked up a load of nice parts yesterday (nothing heavy) for 100 bucks. You still see transmissions for $500.00 and 1 wheel for $125

Wick , you reckon you have seen dreamer prices, look at this ....

Admittedly it is a 32 wheel and the idiot does not even know what it fits, but is this close to garden art or what for 500 bucks ?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/18-A-or-B...cAAOSw9NdXtXty

[ronn]

Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Long Beach, CA
Posts: 60
Default Re: Ebay - Are the prices for real?
eBay prices are a joke now. A few years ago you could buy stuff for what you would find it at a swap meet, now those jokers think it is made of gold. I try to avoid it and buy parts from fellow 'barners or at local swaps. This is the best place to find what you are looking for, quite honestly.

considering how ebay treats sellers- it is totally understandable.
I only use ebay for buying these days.................

[1931 flamingo]

pooch" But it's for a 32. The "Holy Grail".
Paul in CT

[OLDTINDEALER]

Been cleaning out my extra stuff. Listings starting at .99. Stuff sells from .99 to $100 plus. Driving some sellers mad, got some not so nice comments (your ruining my business, must be fake/repo, etc). Way I look at it, some cash in hand, clean garage, happy wife and putting the prices back where they belong. Everything I list is long paid for meaning Like most of us I buy in bulk (at auctions, estates, from friends, etc.). Use or sell the big ticket items to recoup my investment, EVERYTHING else is profit so whatever it sells for is PROFIT.
Also I have offered parts here for people but the comments have been the same (or worst) then ebay. Check out the thread link. Is it just me or do we wonder why so few younger guys want to sell to on ebay instead of enthusiast web sites like this?

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=197383

Followed by

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=197424


A GREAT man once told me .
"If your in this business for money, your in it for the wrong reason" Dick Spadaro

[Rancho Deluxe]

Ok, Why NOT sell on E-BAY when you can sell like this ??.. Bet you wont get that price @ a Flea Market !!.. The seller was very up front about its condition & not saying it was NOS.. #302051601857

[Capt Quahog]

A few years ago (late 2000s) I went through an old Mercedes 5-cylinder cast iron diesel phase. Those cars dove-tail into the "Survivalist" / "Preparedness" / "Zombie Apocalypse" and quasi-collector automobile realm.

Was able then to find good solid, well running , 240D, 300D and 300SD Mercedes Benz cars of the late 70s through mid-80s era for somewhere in the $1,000 range. People were and are still afraid of those cars and are pumped up with all sorts of misinformation and wive's tales as to expensive parts and difficulty to work on. Nonsense! Parts for those W123 and W126 series Mercedes are cheap and plentiful. They are extremely rugged, reliable and durable automobiles. Would pop each car on eBay and triple or quadruple my money in a week's time. Had five of those 5-banger diesels Mercedes in the driveway here at one time. Anyway, many of those deals ended up done "off-eBay" as CASH on the barrel head transactions.

Thing was, by around year 2012, the supply of those particular Mercedes diesel cars in GOOD or better non-rust bucket condition at least here in the northeast United States just dried up. Still find them on Craig's List but cars are broken down junk with high asking prices.

Managed to hang on to the best of them, being a low mileage late 1985 300D turbo diesel sedan that is my local running around car. Always garaged, the vehicle is in very good ++ condition with most of the original paper work including bill of sale and dealer window sticker sheet with a $30K price tag.

Was figuring that on the West Coast, that nice 30-year old Mercedes would fetch good money but here in the northeast, the market for such vehicles is "soft" at best. eBay is any interesting and odd venue but for real collector cars, it's probably more of a seller's market.