my EBAY experience with car parts (*Imperial stuff for me)

[DocMcNeedy]

I know Ebay gets some bad press for it's variety of headaches to sell something and the way it has changed over the years. I personally have had good experiences thru the years being a buyer only. In fact, here's an example. I picked up these letters today for 12.99 no shipping. I paid much more last year for a set that is presently on Big Red. First purchase of the new year. Add it to the parts section in the basement when it arrives. Never know when I'll need them.

 

[live4theking]

I guess I kind of feel the same way. It's a bit of a pain sometimes when it comes to selling, but how else can you reach around the world.

 

[67440NewYorker]

I have also had great luck with Ebay. I bought some HP exhaust manifolds and i couldnt be happier with them. Got a great price to!

 

[Wildaugust]

I've been buying car parts on ebay for several years now and have had good results. I've also bought electrical parts, furnace parts and even a home stereo cassette deck for parts. I ended up parting the deck I was going to fix and keeping the ebay deck. I always check the seller's stats and use PayPal, but have had no issues. I wish more people who have items for sale would list them there. Anyway, for me as a buyer, it's been positive.

 

[monroegtx]

I too agree. Not being a US resident, sometimes it’s the only way i can get the pieces i need for my car. Other than the rising cost of shipping, and a couple of bad experiences mostly with the shipping company, so far it hasn’t been to bad. I’ve managed to buy some hard to get pieces. These forums are a great place for parts as well, i’ve bought some good pieces on FBBO.

 

[Big_John]

I've been using eBay since about 2000. I've bought tons of stuff there... I even had two accounts for most of those years, one for myself and one for business.

In all those years, and all the stuff I bought, I can say that I only really had just a few problems with sellers and those problems got worked out pretty well.

I've also sold a bunch of stuff and that's all worked out pretty well.

Buying stuff on forums... Well... The issue I seem to have had is that sometimes my interpretation of the words "excellent condition" are different from others seem to think it means. Blurry pictures are sometimes done on purpose. Packaging and shipping seems to be an ongoing problem too. I once received stuff for someone else... and it was packed so badly, that I had to repack it before sending it on to the right guy. The guy that got my stuff was a complete dick about the whole thing.... and wouldn't send me my stuff until he got his and I paid him to ship my stuff. I lost out on that one...

Also, you don't stick an original 50+ year old plastic A-pillar trim in an envelope and expect it to arrive in one piece.

Then there are some guys that are pretty honest about what they have. @C Body Bob comes to mind here.

Selling stuff on forums can be problematic. Usually it's OK, but there seems to be a lot of dreamers out there that want something but don't have the money... or PayPal... or even a checking account.. I do PayPal only now.

 

[C Body Bob]

Thank you Big John. I do appreciate that

 

[LocuMob]

I've been using eBay since about 2000. I've bought tons of stuff there... I even had two accounts for most of those years, one for myself and one for business.

In all those years, and all the stuff I bought, I can say that I only really had just a few problems with sellers and those problems got worked out pretty well.

I've also sold a bunch of stuff and that's all worked out pretty well.

Buying stuff on forums... Well... The issue I seem to have had is that sometimes my interpretation of the words "excellent condition" are different from others seem to think it means. Blurry pictures are sometimes done on purpose. Packaging and shipping seems to be an ongoing problem too. I once received stuff for someone else... and it was packed so badly, that I had to repack it before sending it on to the right guy. The guy that got my stuff was a complete dick about the whole thing.... and wouldn't send me my stuff until he got his and I paid him to ship my stuff. I lost out on that one...

Also, you don't stick an original 50+ year old plastic A-pillar trim in an envelope and expect it to arrive in one piece.

Then there are some guys that are pretty honest about what they have. @C Body Bob comes to mind here.

Selling stuff on forums can be problematic. Usually it's OK, but there seems to be a lot of dreamers out there that want something but don't have the money... or PayPal... or even a checking account.. I do PayPal only now.

I got screwed as a seller years ago, using my friends account and having him "communicate" with the buyer. That's why I got screwed, and I learned a lot from that.

All good points on buying off the forums. I've found what I need on the F_BO/FTO sites with no hassles. But I've learned to pack things better, no issues just seen some bad jobs and don't want that to reflect on me, so I pack like my life depends on it. And I go over the top explaining the condition of a part, I like to be as honest as possible. Painted dash panels, no mention of that in the ad when I bought them or the correspondence leading to shipping. I've never gotten screwed or lost a part, so I'll keep going with what I've been doing. But I did score some emblems for the Medalist for cheap on eBay, and that won't happen again in my lifetime. I'll use it again when I need to.

 

[commando1]

Then there are some guys that are pretty honest about what they have. @C Body Bob comes to mind here.

Agreed.

 

[C Body Bob]

Agreed.

Thank you Stan

 

[bluefury361]

I've been a member on ebay since 98. As a seller it was great back then but the rules have been stacked against individual sellers in the years since. I still search and buy almost every day. Likely would never have found some of the parts needed for my 61 Fury without ebay.
I use BIN or "make an offer" on the site, but go through e-snipe for auction type items. No sense getting into bidding wars.

 

[oliver]

When you are selling, eBay is a PITA and unless what you are selling is a big ticket item you got for free, it's not worth the time/trouble and fees.
I do however greatly enjoy eBay as a buyer/collector of old telephones and parts and am finding lots of stuff. This is resulting in a total invasion of old telephones; I may have to call an exterminator soon.

 

[Ripinator]

Thank you Big John. I do appreciate that

I see they haven't found about you yet. . .

 

[DocMcNeedy]

I've been a member on ebay since 98. As a seller it was great back then but the rules have been stacked against individual sellers in the years since. I still search and buy almost every day. Likely would never have found some of the parts needed for my 61 Fury without ebay.
I use BIN or "make an offer" on the site, but go through e-snipe for auction type items. No sense getting into bidding wars.

what's e-snipe?

 

[oliver]

what's e-snipe?

it's a very fast server, you enter your bid on that server rather than eBay and the server will bid for you on eBay at the last moment, up to your maximum bid, and in the smallest possible increments.
I personally use EZSNIPER and it works great; I've won numerous auctions with it. It's very practical for when you're not available to watch the end of an auction. The fee they charge for a snipe is extremely
minimal.
Additionally, that server is so fast that it can bid for you in the last fraction of a second much faster that you possibly could if you were bidding on eBay directly.

 

[68PK21 440.6bbl]

Searching around YouTube today for Dakar stuff, this vid keeps coming up in the 'Up Next' listings.
Anyone know this guy? Kinda explains it all, penny bids/feedback, proxy bid via multiple accounts etc.

 

[1970cat]

i used to sell on ebay, but the shipping costs kill me.
i can't justify selling something for $9.99 and charging $49.99 for shipping. i've given parts away and had people balk at the shipping charges. not my fault and i'm not paying to get rid of stuff.
buying has been good, but the variety isn't there like 10+ years ago.
my thoughts on shipping are that you can pack it to survive an atom bomb but with handlers like this,

it doesn't work out.

 

[commando1]

eBay is a vast Socialist slave labor camp of humanity garnishing a huge amount of their salaries whereby Total Net Profit devided by Total Labor works out to 10¢ per hour. Compared to eBay, Walmart looks like a Forbes Top 10 Benevolent Employer.

 

[bluefury361]

what's e-snipe?

esnipe.com