How marketable are model parts on eBay?

[seeker589]

There are some 'parts sellers' on eBay.

Some are reasonable and some are outrageous. Like 15 dollars for a AMT Roadrunner frame/suspension (stock)?!

I have kits that are missing parts (due to my or other people's scavenging) Should I try to sell these parts as sub assemblies or is it better to sell these parts as kits disclosing the parts that are missing.

I can see that more money could be made selling the sub assemblies - but how much interest is there in just parts?

[impcon]

There are some 'parts sellers' on eBay.

Some are reasonable and some are outrageous. Like 15 dollars for a AMT Roadrunner frame/suspension (stock)?!

I have kits that are missing parts (due to my or other people's scavenging) Should I try to sell these parts as sub assemblies or is it better to sell these parts as kits disclosing the parts that are missing.

I can see that more money could be made selling the sub assemblies - but how much interest is there in just parts?

I buy a lot of old builds for part and I also buy some old parts for annuals. Yes, there is definitely a market and I see some guys actually parting kits out which irks me when it's stuff like a '59 Pontiac or '58 Ford. Both kits were annuals that to the best of my knowledge were never released again. One guy chopped up a '61 Chevy pickup - I bought the chassis because the cab and box were not getting any bids and then they shot up out of sight in the last hour - so now I have a chassis and nothing to put it on. He got more out of that poor little truck in opieces than he would have gotten for it whole. Sad....really sad...

[Doughnut]

Gary hit the nail on the head. Sometimes they are worth more as parts than as a whole. It happens all the time in the real world of cars. I can buy a complete 1951 Pontiac and get all the parts I need off it for less than I can buy used fenders and doors for. They are just bringing the "chop shop" mentality to the modeling community and it's working for them. They only in it for the money. I don't buy from those people. They can sit on their parts.

[GOTH KUSTOMS]

Gary hit the nail on the head. Sometimes they are worth more as parts than as a whole. It happens all the time in the real world of cars. I can buy a complete 1951 Pontiac and get all the parts I need off it for less than I can buy used fenders and doors for. They are just bringing the "chop shop" mentality to the modeling community and it's working for them. They only in it for the money. I don't buy from those people. They can sit on their parts.

Choke on the parts, as I say, I will not buy parts from these people, no matter how bad I need it, not for the prices there asking, I mean c'mon I saw the engine out of an Old Pro 72 Nova going for 15.00, then they want 5.00 to ship, what are they smoking????, I would rather deal with my friends here and help them out, before handing my money to some guy, that would rather "chop shop" a kit.

Ok off my box now....

[Harry P.]

You can sell anything on ebay! There's a buyer for anything you can imagine, individual kit parts included.

Sell what you want, how you want. Either way, there will be buyers.

[seeker589]

I buy a lot of old builds for part and I also buy some old parts for annuals. Yes, there is definitely a market and I see some guys actually parting kits out which irks me when it's stuff like a '59 Pontiac or '58 Ford. Both kits were annuals that to the best of my knowledge were never released again. One guy chopped up a '61 Chevy pickup - I bought the chassis because the cab and box were not getting any bids and then they shot up out of sight in the last hour - so now I have a chassis and nothing to put it on. He got more out of that poor little truck in opieces than he would have gotten for it whole. Sad....really sad...

I know what you mean. A friend had a pair of Gran Torinos. One was a Cobra - the other a Sport. He took the parts he needed off the Cobra then parted the rest out and sold the carcass with a title. He then bastardized the Sport into a Cobra copy. Yes, he is quite psychopathic - He is the kind of person that is right ALL the time - but even when he is wrong - he's more right then you are. Worse yet - he lost interest and never finished the project. We don't talk much.

I'm not looking to sell off any annual kits - my collection is kits available from the late 80s on. I'm just thinking about the builder that may want the engine out of a kit that has already donated it's chassis to another build or its body to be cut up for another build. Things like that.

I don't have many rare kits. Those kits that are semi-rare will be sold as whole kits. I don't wanna be "that guy".

[seeker589]

You can sell anything on ebay! There's a buyer for anything you can imagine, individual kit parts included.

Sell what you want, how you want. Either way, there will be buyers.

Thanks for the encouragement, Harry. Spoken like a true entrepreneur! That is not a bad thing. I like the free market economy - A-LOT!

[ChrisPflug]

You can list anything.....

Seem to see a lot of the outrageously priced stuff- particularly the model parts that drew attention still aren't actually selling

[TurboKitty]

Personally, I have sold parts before but I price my stuff reasonably, like for a quarter to a dollar. It's up to the bidders how much they want to pay. I sold a Mustang hood awhile back for $8 not including shipping, which was like a $1 something. I had it at a starting bid of 50 cents. It's all in what you sell, some people will buy stuff on the cheap just to have it, or they can use it for a build they're doing, etc. I'm getting ready to list a bunch of spare parts on ebay, since the same parts on emodelcars have sat there for weeks unsold. Now, $15 for a chassis is ridiculous, and whoever bought the hood from me for $8, well, they must have wanted it pretty darn bad!

[randx0]

I think there isn't much money in selling model stuff unless you go all in and sell all the time and even then there is probably an easier way to make money . If you are more about helping fellow modelers out than just start it low and let the market decide what it is worth. but beware the second you sell something you figured you would never use you almost always find a perfect use for it.I like big old vintage parts lots that are all mixedup it is fun to find forgotten custom parts and accessories.

[Mark]

Parting out newer kits works out only when you are able to sell all of the subassemblies. One eBay seller was doing that with the Revell new-tool Willys coupe kits. He'd sell the body and trim pieces, the engine, the bare chassis, and the wheels and tires as assemblies. He did pretty well because the slot car guys would bid the body package up to near the price of a complete kit. He did this with both the gasser and street machine versions.

I did the same with a couple of the street machines. I wanted the chassis for other projects; it's got a decent frame, Mustang II front suspension, and 392 Hemi engine with nice block-hugger headers. I picked up a couple of untouched kits at automotive flea markets or toy shows for $7-$8 apiece. After selling the bodies and related trim pieces at NNL East for $7 each, I basically got a couple of free chassis.

On the flip side, at the Three Rivers show I bought a few kits from someone who was using the bodies to make slot cars. For $4 apiece I got an AMT Resto Rods '66 Nova, AMT '71 Duster (should have bought the other one!) and a Model King issue '70-1/2 Z/28. I wanted the Resto Rod wheels, tires, and seats from the Nova. Now that I think of it, I might just use the whole chassis under a '65 Nova AWB body after moving the rear wheel openings on the body back to stock. The Duster chassis pan gets set aside for a Richard Petty Barracuda, with the 340 engine being set aside to upgrade the AMT Dodge Kit Car roundy-round car. I don't have specific plans for the Camaro parts, but did want a Camaro front subframe, engine, and wheels for different things. The Model King issue decals are there to be used to upgrade an original issue kit. For some reason the hood wasn't taken from the kit, and I was looking for one of those too. One other kit I bought was a '66 Fairlane 427, the one with the bench seats. I've got a model of my first car ('66 two-door sedan) around here somewhere, the new chassis will be an upgrade over the original and will let me scratch the single exhaust system that my car had.

So, parting kits out can work for buyers and sellers. I seldom sell parted-out kits and don't part out older stuff. When I do sell something that's missing parts though, I advise potential buyers, as do the guys who set up with me.

[impcon]

I just watched what was left of a '59 Ford convertible body sell for $18.00 ( http://cgi.ebay.com/AMT-1959-Ford-Galaxie-Conv-Model-Car-Kit-Body-/380273408786?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item588a0fbb12 ) including shipping. *sighs* Broken windshield frame with half of it missing, a scoop glued onto the hood *yummy!*, and one cruiser shirt which means that the "washboard" behind the rear wheel is destroyed. It did have the boot and interior but no chassis or tail lights and the "Fairlane 500" script on the deck lid and some of the trim has been morphed into a shapeless, meaningless, ugly blob by an over zealous person who seems to have had a surlus of glue that he had to use up. AIn't it a good thing that us guys never built stuff like that? I mean, our builds were all show quality - right?

Granted, the boot, steering wheel and interior are worth something but the body was pretty far gone unless you wanted to build a custom of some kind.. and even then... I wanted the body to experiment with on putting a Modelhaus Fairlane roof on to replicate my own '59, but maybe I am too cheap - just didn't want it bad enough I guess. Oh hwell - there will be another one. On Ebay, you have to lose the mindset that the one that you are looking at is the last one available on the planet. Most things come around again and again and again. It's just a matter opf waiting. I recently bought a nice built up original issue '64 Mercury hardtop for dirt cheap. I have wanted one for a long time as I prefer the old annuals to the reissues - just because they come from the years of my youth I guess and I just like old stuff- even old people - they're wise and wonderful even when they can be ornery and upset. Hmmmm.. *looking around atthe world today* - maybe they have a right to be that way.. . But as for buying stuff offof Ebay or anywhere else - I have learned that if you just wait and watch.. you'll get what you want at your price.