Re: In Defense of The Parts Man... e-Bay 300 parts

["PaddyCaddy ." <paddycaddy@xxxx>]

The solution to these ebay ripoff artists and salvage yard thieves is very 
simple.

You guys simply need to start your own salvage yard on your front lawn ! 
Then you can all know the joys of fighting off the EPA, county ordinance 
inspectors, irate nieghbors (soon to include your wife), and - yes - buyers 
who think that every part should be sold for $1.00 more than it sold for in 
1957. Wouldn't want to be "greedy" now - would we...?

Forgive the directness of my response. But I once owned a shop and stripped 
cars and sold parts. I am one of the few who have been on both sides of the 
antique car parts business. It was a fairly miserable existence being on 
the supply side for a few years. Hundreds of hours of hazardous and back 
breaking work vanish with very little to show for it once the bills are 
paid. Ever seen a salvage yard owner who drives a new Lexus and vacations 
in the Virgin Islands ? Any look to you like they'll be dropping $200 on a 
gourmet dinner anytime soon ?

I trust you get my point. Now that ebay has provided some of these guys 
with a way to move beyond eeking out an existence for a living, why would 
they not try and maximise profits ??? What do you guys do in your 
professions ? Charge as little as possible and sell many items at once ? 
Minimise profits at all costs ? Of course not.

So why does the old car hobby have so many people who think that the salvage 
business should be the only in America to operate on a Stalinist program of 
giving very rare parts away at minimum cost ? Because we are to be so 
admired for keeping such cars alive and preserved - and therefore have 
earned a special exemption from the free market ? Yeah... Keep thinking 
that really hard until it comes true.
Really now - I think we ought to all thank our lucky stars that there are 
still people around who have such parts - and that they have become soooooo 
much easier to get since the advent of ebay. I for one spend far fewer 
weekends busting knuckles and fighting off mosquitoes and snakes now that I 
have a computer.

Lets not forget - many states have passed corrupt crusher laws that enable 
salvage yard owners to sell off all their older cars to chemical companies, 
who then crush them and are given pollution credits once they do ! I have 
personally witnessed hundreds of 1950's and 1960's vehicles disappear from a 
few yards in the northeast and hauled off to the crusher. It is a gut 
wrenching thing to watch knowing that there isn't anything I could or can do 
to stop it. But I suspect now that more of what is left is surviving now 
that ebay is around.

That there are still some old timers who have resisted this temptation and 
kept a very dwidling supply of very rare parts available to us should earn 
them a big thank you. Yeah - most are really tough to deal with - even on 
ebay. That's what years of hard work and little or no payoff or 
appreciation will do for just about anyone.

Maybe if you started your next transaction with one of them with a little 
complement and appreciation for all his hard work, some of those grungy, 
tempermental salvage yard "wierdos" might just brighten up a bit and make 
you purchases for your Brute a little less infuriating.

It works for me....

This has been a public service announcement from the Mid-Atlantic States 
Office of "Save our Salvage Yard Workers." A non-profit organization 
serving the junkyard community with free public showers, grooming advice, 
bunion removal, amputaions, and catastrophic dental work. Look for our 
free personals section in our website coming soon !

Sean.


> From: "Warren R Anderson" To: ,"David Agnew" Subject: Re: [Chrysler300] 
> e-Bay 300 parts Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 17:57:48 -0700
>
>
>
>
> Recently, I've noticed an insidious little trend creeping in to sales of 
> some 300 used parts on e-Bay. You make more! Apparently. I don't think it's 
> a good thing, greed seems to be taking over, more and more.
>
>
> I ran into the take apart practice with auction items being lot packaged by 
> the handling auction company at an auction in 1973. I had to bid on lot 
> quantities of strange things just to get whole tools that I wanted. The 
> practice is used to maximize sales etc and the practice was totally 
> acknowledged by the auction company when I asked a company rep.
>
> Warren Anderson Sedona,AZ

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