whats wrong with this site and nice parts?????

I have been a member of the site for a few years. I restore parts, i make used parts look new and i sell them reasonably priced. I spend a lot of time making parts as nice as possible. I restore parts as if they were going in one of my cars. I give honest descriptions. I have watched used parts that need work sell for more money on this site then the very nice highly detailed parts that i restore. I have never been able to understand why this happens, and only happens on this site. The parts i sell have been torn apart and cleaned and if repairs are needed i repair them. Then i detail them so they look as nice as possible. Most of my parts sell for 20.00 to 100.00 more then unrestored parts that need work. Yes the parts from parts cars and salvage yards can be good parts, but a part that has been restored has been checked and is ready to use out of the box. Even if your driving a daily driver, If you look at the labor involved in changing dash clusters, and you have the choice to put a used dash cluster that came from a parts car at 125.00 or a restored cluster that has had all its parts cleaned and detailed, new lens, new bulbs and sockets, program contacts cleaned , for 25.00 to 75.00 more, common sense would be go with the restored cluster. but not on this site.... I have hardly sold anything on this site. people comment on how nice they are but nothing sells. I will remove my parts from this site and place them on eBay and with in 7 days they are sold, sometimes for more then they were listed on this site, sometimes less but they always sell. Craigslist or any other site my parts always sell, but not on this site. So do to the lack of response to my parts, i will only sell on other sites mainly eBay. I like the people on this site and it seems that most the members here are really good people. This obviously just isn't the place for me to sell my parts.

 

People are high on crack and think their cars/parts are worth a fortune.

 

its just the nature of a forum that deals with an under rated car. I have sold some stuff on here cheap and Ive sold stuff on here for a premium but it takes a WHILE
I think the thing here is the people here either already have a parts car or they know they can find the parts cheaper and dont mind putting in the work to restore the parts as you do.

now dont take it personal but our cars are one of the most unpopular cars on the planet to restore. now if it were a mustang or camaro you would be fetching a premium for those parts that are restored with no problem. its just a different type of following.
often times these cars arent worth the money we spend on them investment wise YET.
with the aftermarket parts becoming available its driving the interest and the value of our cars and parts up just SLOWLY

I wouldnt get upset about it just go with what people are willing to pay for
if the market here says they dont want it restored sell it as is keep some to restore and sell elsewhere if youre doing well with that

good luck

 

I would have agreed with you several years ago, but now that these cars are starting to bring good money, the argument of cheap cars cheap prices doesn't apply.... the average price for a CLEAN driver maverick in the Chicago land area starts around 5500.00 and nice rebuilt ones can be 15,000 or more. The fact that there is still not a ton of aftermarket parts being made makes used and restored parts more of a need.

 

I've found that most of the members on this forum are "do it yourself " kind of hobbyists. They prefer to tinker and restore parts themselves with the help of other members. eBay offers a much larger audience that includes those that prefer to buy installation ready parts. If the goal is to make money selling restored items then eBay is the ticket.

 

I agree with you. I will stick with eBay and Craigslist for selling my parts. Plus Pay Pal through eBay now has a new option where for a very small fee, you can get paid for your parts in 30 minutes. No more waiting up to 3 days for transfers. I ship my parts fast so its nice to get paid fast.

 

Sorry but it would never make a difference. when i list parts on this site i include a lot of detailed pictures that show the quality of my parts. Like i said, i have had a lot of members say how nice my parts are, or how they like the detail work. There has been members in the past that have purchased my parts on eBay and posted how nice they are on this site. I agree with the members who have responded to this post. This is a great site to build friendships and buy and sell low dollar items. Its just not the venue for restored higher quality parts.

 

I would agree with this and add that most of the members here are long haul owners and either have a limited budget or they are adding performance gauges. I would also venture a guess that a shop doing a restoration for a customer would look to ebay first for parts and completely over look the forum all together. There is a limited audience here and probably the bulk of Maverick owners have never even venture to this site. I know that not one of the Mavericks currently in my area have been seen here.

 

I know a lot of us would like to hear more about your pro street Mav!

 

I think I have a bid on one your ebay parts now.

 

Am an active member of many auto related forums. What has been said above is accurate regarding vendors. Mr Blum, you are a vendor.
Vendors typically have a lot of technical knowledge and should freely offer technical support when possible. Vendors who profit from the various enthusiast forums, should also be supporting members. Supporting members get a cool icon next to their name, and it doesn't cost a lot of money. Lots of bang for the buck.
Do some detailed restoration articles, or 'How to' threads related to your specialty. Build trust, and your items will sell themselves. Last I checked, eBay collects about 13% of the listing sale value.

 

The best forum for a specific make/model is going to be populated by the folks that are the most enthusiastic about that car. They are also the folks that would tend to hoard parts for them. I tend to believe that most folks here have piles of stuff, if nothing else, by default, because of finding upgraded parts and stashing the originals.

It also has been my experience that things sell faster on eBay, and I think the folks looking there are needier. I typically will post items for sale here first, and if they stagnate, shuffle them over to eBay. Overall, a good strategy.

 

"I've found that most of the members on this forum are "do it yourself " kind of hobbyists. They prefer to tinker and restore parts themselves with the help of other members."

I agree, if not why not buy a car someone has already restored? a lot of people want a good restoreable (driver) part if they have a part that't trashed...I know I do....JMO