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

["David Agnew" <Fnnutz@xxxx>]

Kelly...
.good to see you like a bit of controversy. I am, indeed in your
'salvage yard fan-club'.
Without you guys, the task would be impossible.
It is not for me that I say these things. I have all the stuff I need,
collected up since '93.
I just felt that to split wheelcovers, consoles, 300 grilles into as many
parts as the vendor on e-Bay could possibly get them to, was a bit rich.
If your F or G you want to restore was missing a console, probably you need
the whole thing.
The same bidders were in evidence on many of the 7 console items. Some won,
some lost. OK, fair enough, the quest goes on.
However, I am apparently well in the minority, so I bend over for the boyz!!
Only 4 people e-mailed me saying how hard and expensive it made things, and
everyone else thought it OK to follow the good old motto, Ca$h rules ! The
prize goes to the highest bidder, and indeed it does.
It's a fair way, indeed, the majority of respondents have told me so.....
must check out the hundreds of nos parts I have bought since 1993, and
don't need.
Yummy !!!!
Dave.




----- Original Message -----
From: "Kelly Pierce" <jkrestor300@xxxx>
To: <wranderson@xxxx>; <Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>;
<Fnnutz@xxxx>; "PaddyCaddy ." <paddycaddy@xxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 3:45 PM
Subject: Re: [Chrysler300] Re: In Defense of The Parts Man... e-Bay 300
parts


> 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
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> High-speed Internet access as low as $29.95/month (depending on the local
> service providers in your area). Click here. https://broadband.msn.com
>
>
>
> To send a message to this group, send an email to:
> Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> For list server instructions, go to
> http://www.chrysler300club.com/yahoolist/inst.htm
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> Chrysler300-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>
>
>
> To send a message to this group, send an email to:
> Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> For list server instructions, go to
http://www.chrysler300club.com/yahoolist/inst.htm
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> Chrysler300-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>