WHY is eBay no longer a place to sell vintage car parts?

[u_cant_take_it_with_u]

I have had my seller account since  1999. I sell vintage, difficult-to-find NOS, and used, auto restoration parts... Nothing is reproduction, and they are parts, one cannot find, just anywhere. (ergo, I don't deal in '55-'57 Chevy parts.)  I realize my seller niche does not enjoy the ebay bidding fire, of years past... But in the last 18 months, my sales ON EBAY have flat-lined.  However, my swap meet sales are still great, and continue to rise every year. Several years back, I learned THAT is the place to take the "good stuff"...As, it would seem, that eBay bidders/buyers have come to be *cheap*, for what ever reason. Now, I like a good deal, like anyone...But I'm also a realist.  Low-ball offers (even on non-OBO listings). A bidder may feel his car is worth multiple $1,000's...But heaven forbid, they should spend $30.00 for a rare, not-reproduced emblem for it. None of us sell on eBay, for our health.  But one cannot have crazy prices either. What has sales traffic been for you other vintage auto parts sellers? 

[u_cant_take_it_with_u · Accepted solution]

Hauling stuff to a swap meet is hard work, and can be expensive.... But at least at swap meets, people pull out their wallets. Ebay has just become too *penny ante*.  More and more vintage auto parts sellers are realizing two things: Never list rare, pricier items in a no-reserve auction (which, at one time, one could do, with no fear)....And one cannot write checks on watchers and lurkers. 

[jr-41ford]

I'd like to attend the Carlisle Swap just one time, been to a few but not as big as that one.

I enjoy swap meets and like I mentioned earlier, my car club has put on a 2-day event for 39 years. Yeah, it's hard work but it really pays off. We fund our scholarships with the money and are able to give a lot of the funds back to the community and have some fun too.

The best part of setting it up is being able to get a preview of what is being sold. Also clean up afterwards is good, many times people don't want to take things home and ask if we want it. Tires no, other items maybe.

I normally am involved with our food vendors and using a golf cart or ATV to take the selrs to their spaces. I also help setting up the spaces in one of the buildings. 

[corndog2]

I don't think it is necessarily the possibility of finding the part cheaper, but the social aspect of it. Seeing friends and automotive enthusiasts that maybe you only see once or twice a year and catching up on each other's projects. And getting out from behind a computer screen and getting some fresh air and sunshine. Getting together with a group of friends and stopping for breakfast on the way..  Plus there is always the possibility of finding that unique item on someone's table that is unrelated, and a cool find. That "serendipity" used to happen on Ebay, but no longer as Ebay directs you to what THEY think you want to find. No more casual searching and finding those things any more.

[legitimate_bidder]

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@corndog2 wrote:

I don't think it is necessarily the possibility of finding the part cheaper, but the social aspect of it. Seeing friends and automotive enthusiasts that maybe you only see once or twice a year and catching up on each other's projects. And getting out from behind a computer screen and getting some fresh air and sunshine. Getting together with a group of friends and stopping for breakfast on the way..  Plus there is always the possibility of finding that unique item on someone's table that is unrelated, and a cool find. That "serendipity" used to happen on Ebay, but no longer as Ebay directs you to what THEY think you want to find. No more casual searching and finding those things any more.

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Well-said, Lindy!

Ebay was great when it was the online version of that! There was a community here- not just on the boards, but among buyers and sellers- as ya'd often find amateur sellers who'd often have interesting stuff, and who were great to deal with, who you'd patronize over and over.

Those sellers are long gone, since Ebay decided that every seller must ship within 23 seconds, and that they can't accept checks or money-orders; and since those small-time seller's items get buried in search results due to the glut of cookie-cutter cheesy Chinese trinkets in every category, etc.

In short, they made it so that not only is selling on Ebay no longer fun, it is downright odious. And thus it is no longer fun or profitable to shop here. Ebay is now an online Walmart or Harbor Freight- we come just to pick up those little <$10 sundries for convenience- but our real online shopping is done elsewhere.

And NOW, it appears that Craigslist is no longer going to be viable for local classifieds- as I was browsing last night on CL, and when I'd click on "reply" or "show contact info" I'd get this thing to tick, to affirm that I'm not a robot, and then some puzzle to complete, before being able to see the contact info! I just clicked away. This stuff is gettinmg out of hand- I'm yearning for the days of print classifieds! (I had about 7 ads I wanted to investigate- as the first thing I usually do on CL is look at the contact infor to make sure there's a phone number and that it's local, so I know it's not a scam- but I have better things to do than to spend half the night doing little puzzles to prove that I'm human.... Would that I had lived and died before the advent of computers!)

[corndog2]

Actually Legit, the box to click that you're not a robot and the little puzzle thingy is to prove that YOU are not the scam artist! Of course we know that you are not,   but the website wants to make sure you're not spamming everyone else. 

[legitimate_bidder]

I know, Lindy. But it's getting ridiculous when they have to enact that level of "protection".  No wonder I'm getting NO responses to two ads I currently have on there. This is the first time I've never gotten a response to a CL ad. I always price my stuff very reasonably, compared to most around here, and don't sell junk- and thus usually get a good response, and sell stuff quickly and easily. Now that this puzzle nonsense was just implemented here....NOTHING. Just as I'm disgusted a click away from other's ads...so too, everyone else must be doing.

[jr-41ford]

I have an ad on CL for non-auto stuff and it is listed so cheap... no calls but one text message from a scammer. I won't respond to text messages. I just want the stuff out of my garage, will be taking it to Salvation Army this week if no sale.

[dubiousgain]

So why not do both?  Purchase some items on ebay AND also hot the swap-meets. I certainly wouldn't forsake one, for the other.... But I guess, that's just me.

[legitimate_bidder]

Don't ya love it, JR? The age of communication. Seems to be a good thing if you happen to be a scammer- but for the rest of us....not so much. Computers...texting...cellphones....and yet it's harder to get a hold of an actual person today than it was in 1975 when all we had were landlines.

Wondered why I wasn't getting any calls on my F250 which I have on CL. I get an email last night, which I almost deleted, but it contained a local phone number... So I call the guy this mornin'...turns out, for some reason my phone number never made it into the ad! He almost didn't email, thinking I was a scammer.

Ironically too, around here where everything you see for sale is usually 2 hours away, this guy lives right down the road from me....and he happens to have a mower I'd be interested in trading for...and he'd still be interested in the truck even if I didn't want the mower, and I'd still be interested in his mower even if he doesn't take the truck....so there will likely be some action here! (On the other hand....no action on my tractor which I also have on CL...and I checked to make sure the phone number is in the ad- it is. Probably have to wait till spring to sell that...)

[atikovi]

The problem with internet selling for sellers is that buyers can search on many different criteria, and most often it's on price. If you have a beater listed for cheap, it gets the most response, while the ones priced a little more, but in much better condition get few hits. And worse thing is people can't really browse for anything like they could in a paper classified or Autotrader magazine. Someone looking for Chevy truck may look at a few Fords or Dodges and may buy one of those, instead of exactly what they were looking for. That was great if you were selling a less popular vehicle.

[legitimate_bidder]

That is a very, very good point, Ati!

Things get even worse when you're looking for something which could fit into two or more categories. My friend is selling an F350 dually with a flatbed right now....didn't know whether to put it in F350 or commercial pick-ups or "other pick-ups" category on here...

Some of the best things I've purchased over the years, weren't things I was looking for- but things I saw while looking for the things I was looking for, like you said.

[corndog2]

Chiming in on Hershey.  It was on our Bucket List, but had to wait a while to get there. Other stuff always got in the way in the fall. We went last year and the weather was fantastic and it is all on blacktop, so more getting stuck in the mud.

There are 9K booths. Yes, that was thousand!  And different "fields" as they used to call them when it was grass.  Different selling areas. It is where you will see all kinds of cool stuff. Stuff you will never ever see anywhere else. Top shelf stuff and bottom shelf stuff.

We'd probably be going back this year if we weren't into a kitchen remodel at the moment. 

[atikovi]

I got a Saturn Vue running right now. I'll bet 90% of the people shopping for an Durango, Explorer, Equinox, Pilot, etc. of this age don't even know this vehicle exists. And it's probably better and cheaper than those too.

[jr-41ford]

When selling anything on any media, texting for me is the worst. I get all sorts of weird text. Phone calls get the serious buyer for me.

Wife will do both, but not me.

[legitimate_bidder]

Yeah, I do not text. I put in my ads: "I DO NOT TEXT - This is a landline- If you get my answering machine, be sure and leave your number". Seems to weed-out all but the serious buyers- as usually the first person who comes, buys. And STILL, I'll get people saying things like "Dude, can you text me your address?".

Next time someone under 30 comes, I'm gonna scare them: I'll hand 'em a pen and a piece of paper, and watch them freak out, as they stand there looking dumbfounded!