Re: [Chrysler300] Re: In Defense of The Parts Man... e-Bay 300 parts

["Kelly Pierce" <jkrestor300@xxxx>]

Greetings Sean and all 300 club members!
Wow! I really got a kick out of this one. Now that I am one of the
"salvage yard workers" it is neat to know we have a (small) fan club! If
you don't recall. I retired from law enforcement this spring and went to
work at Freman's Auto, a classic and collector car salvage yard here in
Montana as the yard manager(fancy title for a parts puller). My boss drives
nothing newer than late 70's vehicles, rarely vacations anywhere, and while
not scratching to make ends meet, far from a wealthy man.
As more and more yards disappear for various reasons, the parts
available for the 40's thru 70's cars are rapidly dwindling and the supply
of cars to "re-stock" are disappearing as well. Even in remote Montana we
have a Junk Vehicle Law that sends many real good parts cars directly to the
crusher. Once the state program, administered by each county, gets a vehicle
given to them by the owner- it cannot be sold or parted out- it has to be
crushed. In Montana in the last few years, at least 20 yards have closed
forever, for various reasons- retirement, EPA laws,court orders, poor
management etc.
Both my boss and I love the cars, the hobby and meeting many interesting
people from all over the World, many have become friends as well as
customers. Yes the parts are getting expensive in many cases- but ask
yourself this- What else in this world is cheaper now than 20 or 30 years
ago or even the same price? I used to buy three spoke woodgrain steering
wheels out of B body cars that were mint for $5, $15 at the most, but then
almost every yard you went to had at least one or two, 300's, Road Runners,
Super Bees, R/T's etc.
We deal with the State on a regular basis- environmental laws, fencing
regs, titles, etc. Pay State, County and Federal taxes on inventory,
property taxes, insurance, Worker's Comp taxes, etc. Then we have to find
the cars, buy them, haul them to our yard, pay hired help to pull parts&
pack and ship them, fix the trucks and trailers used to haul the cars, buy
license plates etc. etc.
I know you all realize most of this, but I thought I could give the
group a fresh view of all this and something to remember so that when any
yard or parts seller gives you a price and you think- GAWD that's high
priced!- costs are high for us too- fuel, electricity, etc. and rarely does
anyone give away cars to us......(They do to the state, and it is a great
way to rid the world of 80's FWD generic junk.) Remember- you could buy a
brand new Chrysler in 63 for just over $2,000.00, a J for around 5 grand.
Now a 300M is around 30 grand, gas is $2.00 a gallon and with winter coming
what are our utility bills going to look like?
Just because it's a "junk yard" doesn't mean what's there is junk and
didn't cost the "junk man" anything and that he is out to strip your
wallet....... for Neil and I it is not just a way to make a living- it is a
way to do so doing something we really enjoy, meet new people and make new
friends, see old friends (both the cars and people!) and yes, we do feel
that we help people make their dreams come true by helping them find that
part(s) to put that "dream" on the road again- it's a great job I have and
if you are ever up in this part of the world- be sure and stop in and see
us- even if all you want to do is browse thru the yard and see all the
"memories" that we have out there..... as for the individuals on ebay that
seem to want to make the most $ they can- it is a free market, driven by
what someone is willing to pay. And yes, with some hesitation we are getting
into ebay as well, attempting to generate $'s from parts that seem to go
begging, mixing some rare and oddities as well. A business owner who
ignores opportunity to increase business will fail to survive. Sorry I
rattled on so long, and I guess it is "off topic" as far as our letter cars
and the server goes, again my apologies to all.
Joe Pierce "Yard grunt" and 300 lover J+Kx3+M+others.
----- Original Message -----
From: "PaddyCaddy ." <paddycaddy@xxxx>
To: <wranderson@xxxx>; <Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>;
<Fnnutz@xxxx>
Sent: Sunday, September 28, 2003 2:49 PM
Subject: [Chrysler300] Re: In Defense of The Parts Man... e-Bay 300 parts


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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