Buying stuff on ebay

[rooster57]

I have a friend that is also impacted by the economy and is considering closing down his mom and pop speed shop in Broken Arrow ok. He told me the economy is hurting but ebay is the killer. He told me that 75% of most NEW parts that are purchased on ebay r with in 10% of the original retail price. I took a scan and he is mostly right not taking tax into consideration. He mentioned total preformance and said that before buying speedway or total pref seconds on ebay check their websites for the actual price. If the price is within 10% maybe supporting those companys we seem to hold so dear would be the best thing to do. My friends place is comp priced with speedway and if i need something total or speedway have and he has it guess what i buy it from him. I have purchased several items on ebay and will continue to do so but now i check the price and shipping and tax and then decide what to do.I have purchased a lot from speedway cause i get it the next day, the few things i got from Total took a week to get . And i have found if the price seems to good to be true it probably IS.:lol:

 

[LKE]

I buy a lot of hot rod parts on ebay. Summit racing's west coast warehouse is only about 25 miles from me. But it is easier to buy from home, over the computer in the evening, and have it shipped here. And 10% is still 10%. Every little bit adds up...

 

[Telman2]

Maybe it's my age, (almost 66) but I still believe in supporting my local home town businesses. Yes if they can't supply me with the parts I need I will use Speedway, Jeg's, Summit and the like but it's the guy on the corrner that's goings to keep the heart of this sport beating.

 

[rooster57]

Telman that was my point no so much dont buy on ebay just relize how it impacts the small guys. And if u can support um do it.

 

[Telman2]

Gee Rooster, there must be something to that old saying that "Great Minds Think Alike", hahaha.

 

[Todd]

I don't have much of that around here. I'd rather buy local or from friends that find themselves with extras.

 

[Mike]

With 35+ years experience in the aftermarket, I can tell you there are reasons for the prices being 10% (or more) higher.

What kind of catalog does the eBayer provide you? What kind of technical support does the eBayer provide you? What kind of warranty service does the eBayer provide you? What kind of Web support does the eBayer provide you?

All of these services cost dollars. It is the profit a company makes that pays for these customer conveniences.

The one that frosts me is for local customers to walk in the door complaining about the camshaft or carburetor they have mail-ordered from one of the warehouses or from an eBayer. Or they will walk in the door with their mail-order catalog to ask me if they should order this part or that. The mail-order giants have nearly forced us out of our counter sales business. The profit margins we make on the little bit of walk-in sales is a joke, but if are audacious enough to try making a tick of profit we're never going to make a sale, period.

On the other side of the business, we sell product to almost all the major warehouses. So I get to see everything from that angle, as well. And let me tell you, there are some mail-order houses that are really struggling right now. I'm deliberately not naming names here, but there is one, fairly large player in the mail order business that is withering away to nothing. We've given up hope on ever collecting the money this company owes us. And I'm talking about a company whose ads you regularly see in automotive print media. We're out thousands of dollars and we're also out a customer, to boot.

I don't like watching these companies dying on the vine, but they've done a lot of it to themselves with their miniscule profit margins.

Fractional profit margins are OK when you're bursting at the seams with volume. When the volume slows to a trickle, then those margins won't cover the expenses any longer. And it is having tremendous impact on some of the industry's oldest and most well-known manufacturers. Why do you suppose a time-honored manufacturer recently laid off their entire second and third shift production employees? Another huge manufacturer is struggling to fill orders, because sales profits are not enough to cover the purchase of raw materials. I know it for a fact, because one of my suppliers is trying to offer me the other company's material at rock-bottom prices. Another manufacturing giant is a gnat's rectum away from bankruptcy. If this one goes down, it will turn the entire high-performance industry upside down.

When you look at the industry trade shows like S.E.M.A. and P.R.I., you have to ask yourself why a company like Holley did not display at either show. There were ~100 manufacturers that pulled out of the P.R.I. show. We figured we were in for penny, in that our booth rental had been paid, so we stayed in for a pound. The show was an absolute waste of time and money for us. Turnout was poor and the people in attendance weren't looking to develop new business, they were there for the 'social factor'.

The economy will improve. In time. The question we are all asking is who will be strong enough to weather this storm. Only the strong survive and we'll see who that might be, in another 2-3 years.

 

[Rick]

With 35+ years experience in the aftermarket, I can tell you there are reasons for the prices being 10% (or more) higher.

What kind of catalog does the eBayer provide you? What kind of technical support does the eBayer provide you? What kind of warranty service does the eBayer provide you? What kind of Web support does the eBayer provide you?

All of these services cost dollars. It is the profit a company makes that pays for these customer conveniences.

The one that frosts me is for local customers to walk in the door complaining about the camshaft or carburetor they have mail-ordered from one of the warehouses or from an eBayer. Or they will walk in the door with their mail-order catalog to ask me if they should order this part or that. The mail-order giants have nearly forced us out of our counter sales business. The profit margins we make on the little bit of walk-in sales is a joke, but if are audacious enough to try making a tick of profit we're never going to make a sale, period.

On the other side of the business, we sell product to almost all the major warehouses. So I get to see everything from that angle, as well. And let me tell you, there are some mail-order houses that are really struggling right now. I'm deliberately not naming names here, but there is one, fairly large player in the mail order business that is withering away to nothing. We've given up hope on ever collecting the money this company owes us. And I'm talking about a company whose ads you regularly see in automotive print media. We're out thousands of dollars and we're also out a customer, to boot.

I don't like watching these companies dying on the vine, but they've done a lot of it to themselves with their miniscule profit margins.

Fractional profit margins are OK when you're bursting at the seams with volume. When the volume slows to a trickle, then those margins won't cover the expenses any longer. And it is having tremendous impact on some of the industry's oldest and most well-known manufacturers. Why do you suppose a time-honored manufacturer recently laid off their entire second and third shift production employees? Another huge manufacturer is struggling to fill orders, because sales profits are not enough to cover the purchase of raw materials. I know it for a fact, because one of my suppliers is trying to offer me the other company's material at rock-bottom prices. Another manufacturing giant is a gnat's rectum away from bankruptcy. If this one goes down, it will turn the entire high-performance industry upside down.

When you look at the industry trade shows like S.E.M.A. and P.R.I., you have to ask yourself why a company like Holley did not display at either show. There were ~100 manufacturers that pulled out of the P.R.I. show. We figured we were in for penny, in that our booth rental had been paid, so we stayed in for a pound. The show was an absolute waste of time and money for us. Turnout was poor and the people in attendance weren't looking to develop new business, they were there for the 'social factor'.

The economy will improve. In time. The question we are all asking is who will be strong enough to weather this storm. Only the strong survive and we'll see who that might be, in another 2-3 years.

Gratiot Auto Supply was always major player in drag Racing from the fiftys till the 90's then the money flow went to the big box stores so in a move that doomed them they started to match there prices.Sorry to say we in the Detroit area no longer have Gratiot Auto.We have smaller stores around but nothing could beat Gratiot for knowledge and help.Each store was in areas that had the most hot rodders so they were very busy.But alas no more.Sorry to hijack this Mike but i agree 100%with what you say.

 

[rooster57]

I am glad this post has caused some conversation about retailers and suppliers. I feel like if we who can support these small local shops when it makes sense we should do it. I cant pay twice as much for a service or part. Online shopping is not going to go away and it may be the end of the small guy but i for one, will not drive anymore nails in their coffin than i have to. In my lifetime i have seen several things go away in favor of lower prices and convenience some good some bad.
I have a friend thats works for the state tax commission and he tells me the tax on internet sales is coming and he said it aint gona be fair. With the current state of the goverment coffers they are looking under every rock for spare change. This will cause the online and local retailers to be more apples and apples. We will see.

 

[Todd]

.........that frosts me......

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Sorry, the only other person I have heard say this was my mother. And I heard it alot, us kids laugh about it now.

 

[RPM]

Easy now on the Ebay sellers! I for one sell a lot on Ebay, and I don't see YOUR local mom and pop rod shop help sponsor this great site.

http://stores.ebay.com/tbucket-parts-4u

 

[WMG]

With 35+ years experience in the aftermarket, I can tell you there are reasons for the prices being 10% (or more) higher.

What kind of catalog does the eBayer provide you? What kind of technical support does the eBayer provide you? What kind of warranty service does the eBayer provide you? What kind of Web support does the eBayer provide you?

All of these services cost dollars. It is the profit a company makes that pays for these customer conveniences.

The one that frosts me is for local customers to walk in the door complaining about the camshaft or carburetor they have mail-ordered from one of the warehouses or from an eBayer. Or they will walk in the door with their mail-order catalog to ask me if they should order this part or that. The mail-order giants have nearly forced us out of our counter sales business. The profit margins we make on the little bit of walk-in sales is a joke, but if are audacious enough to try making a tick of profit we're never going to make a sale, period.

On the other side of the business, we sell product to almost all the major warehouses. So I get to see everything from that angle, as well. And let me tell you, there are some mail-order houses that are really struggling right now. I'm deliberately not naming names here, but there is one, fairly large player in the mail order business that is withering away to nothing. We've given up hope on ever collecting the money this company owes us. And I'm talking about a company whose ads you regularly see in automotive print media. We're out thousands of dollars and we're also out a customer, to boot.

I don't like watching these companies dying on the vine, but they've done a lot of it to themselves with their miniscule profit margins.

Fractional profit margins are OK when you're bursting at the seams with volume. When the volume slows to a trickle, then those margins won't cover the expenses any longer. And it is having tremendous impact on some of the industry's oldest and most well-known manufacturers. Why do you suppose a time-honored manufacturer recently laid off their entire second and third shift production employees? Another huge manufacturer is struggling to fill orders, because sales profits are not enough to cover the purchase of raw materials. I know it for a fact, because one of my suppliers is trying to offer me the other company's material at rock-bottom prices. Another manufacturing giant is a gnat's rectum away from bankruptcy. If this one goes down, it will turn the entire high-performance industry upside down.

When you look at the industry trade shows like S.E.M.A. and P.R.I., you have to ask yourself why a company like Holley did not display at either show. There were ~100 manufacturers that pulled out of the P.R.I. show. We figured we were in for penny, in that our booth rental had been paid, so we stayed in for a pound. The show was an absolute waste of time and money for us. Turnout was poor and the people in attendance weren't looking to develop new business, they were there for the 'social factor'.

The economy will improve. In time. The question we are all asking is who will be strong enough to weather this storm. Only the strong survive and we'll see who that might be, in another 2-3 years.

Mike well said. I am in business and we work by an old saying "you get what you pay for" That includes service as well as product. I support the locals unless I absolutely cannot get what I need, which is very seldom. Sopport the locals and they will be there to support you.

 

[GT63]

I would love to be able to walk into a parts store or speed shop and buy parts without being told, we'll have to order it. It seems nowadays the inventories are reduced to save on overhead. The other problem I have is with the counter folks, they can't help you unless you can tell the year and model of the car so they can look it up in the computer. These are just two of the reasons I started buying from Ebay, Summit, Jegs, Parr, and the other msil order places. I don't have to burn a tank of gas running all over town trying to find a parts store that has it in stock.

 

[Rick]

I would love to be able to walk into a parts store or speed shop and buy parts without being told, we'll have to order it. It seems nowadays the inventories are reduced to save on overhead. The other problem I have is with the counter folks, they can't help you unless you can tell the year and model of the car so they can look it up in the computer. These are just two of the reasons I started buying from Ebay, Summit, Jegs, Parr, and the other msil order places. I don't have to burn a tank of gas running all over town trying to find a parts store that has it in stock.

Thats why Ramchargers was so good to go to they had 5 stores in all the suburbs of Detroit and was staffed by racers if you went to one of there stores and wanted a part at 9-10 in the morning they would have it by 12 or one oclock for you from one of there other stores they would give you advice up the whazoo.But as i said Summit and Jeggs put them under.Ironicly the Ramchargers used to race at the big nationals against the big boys.Trend setters for sure Google Ramchargers Racing

 

[Mike]

Easy now on the Ebay sellers! I for one sell a lot on Ebay, and I don't see YOUR local mom and pop rod shop help sponsor this great site.

http://stores.ebay.com/tbucket-parts-4u

Granted and I should have made the distinction between someone like yourself, operating an actual business, and someone selling parts on their laptop.

If I order a part from John Q. eBayer, there is zero sales/tech support. If I order something from you, I can count on you to be there and to support what you've sold. It's a huge difference and I should have pointed that out.

We had a customer drag in a crankshaft, still in the manufacturer's sealed box. It was an eBay purchase, one of those too cheap to be real deals. You know the type. When we started cleaning things up and checking clearances, it turned out this crank was a second. Something went awry and the crank could not be sold, so they cleaned it up and peddled it for a song. A enterprising eBayer was snapping them up and selling them as new, still sealed in the box, Brand You Would Recognize Immediately cranks. Our customer pitched a fit and was informed that he had received exactly what had been advertised. The crank was new and it was still sealed up in the manufacturer's package. The fact the rod journals were already .020" under was just a minor feature that had gone unmentioned.

I knew a fellow that was buying warrantied mini-starters from one of the manufacturers. He was getting them for pennies on the dollar. He would disassemble them, repair whatever was wrong with them, glass-bead the mounting block to make it look new, paint the field housings and sell them as new, for about half of the going rate. See the kinds of scams that exist out there?

Rooster, I believe you are right. Internet sales are here to stay, so we all need to be prepared to do all of our business that way.

RPM, you'll get a kick out of this one, knowing the players as you do. Several years back the boss needed a new helmet for his driver. We weren't direct with anyone, so he ordered one from a mail-order house. Two days later, the UPS driver delivered the package, which arrived COD. The boss wrote the check and then opened up an empty box. The mail order company didn't have the helmet in stock, so he sent us an empty box with a COD tag and had Bell drop-ship the helmet to us. Absolute genius - selling parts at rock-bottom prices, but with absolutely no inventory expense involved.

GT63, with the way we've been forced to reduce our profit margins, it's tough to keep a lot of parts on hand. Another side effect of the mail-order sales, unfortunately. And I sympathize with you, I really do. I'm the same way. When I've made up my mind to purchase something, I want it today.

Here's a good example. MSD is the biggest whore on the block. Anyone could purchase MSD parts from a couple of the mail-order biggies for less money than we had to pay, purchasing directly from MSD as a warehouse distributor. Since I was paying more than the parts were being sold for, how much MSD could I sell? And more to the point, how much of their product could I afford to inventory? In 2008, MSD set up some minimum value pricing levels. A warehouse distributor could sell parts down to a certain price level, but no further. A jobber could then sell parts down to a certain 'retail' price level, but no further. It leveled up the playing field and we were back in the MSD business. Customers were telling me our prices were as good as anyone's, so they were back to buying from us. Of course the economy dropped through the floor and business wasn't so good, so MSD's bean counters got all feartie and removed the pricing restrictions. I talked to a warehouse distributor last week that is now selling 6420 MSD 6AL's to his customers for exactly $1 less than he has in them. Otherwise, he can't sell them at all. How many boxes do you suppose he'll order this year?

Profit margins are 1/3 of what they were just 20 years ago. And operating expenses just keep climbing.

See why the local shops don't have the parts? Or why they've already boarded up the windows and gone home?

 

[RPM]

Now that empty box thing sure is funny.

Another reason we are seeing les inventory is variety in parts. 40 years ago there were no imports. There was the big 3 and most of the GM stuff interchange as did Mopar or Ford. A Plymouth or a Dodge took the same part as did a Ford or a Merc. No a days there are a whole lot more makes and models out there and you just can't stock it all, just no way. Even the big warehouses can't stock it all. :rofl:

 

[Youngster]

sorry guys but it's the bottom line for the guy buying as well as for the guy selling. i will buy new or replacement parts when i can afford them locally. sometimes a deal come along that's too good to pass on. i too buy and sell on the bay and will continue to as long as it puts fun tickets in my pocket. and yes i buy from RPM and Speedway among others if i know i can get quality parts from them. just my nickel cuz 2 cents ain't worth squat any more

Ron

 

[HELLRAISER79]

I dont buy alot of stuff from ebay, but i do buy alot mailorder (summit, jegs, speedway). But before i order something, i call my friend at the local speed shop and tell him what im paying. Sometimes he can match it and when he does, ill buy from him. There are other times when he cant come close. i will agree that there are times when you need a counter persons help, but am i the only one who knows exactly what part number he needs and feels the counter person knows way less than i do?? I feel like if i involve another human in the process, ill get the wrong part. I guess it helps that im a parts manager at a motorcycle shop. We have trouble there too with the internet. I tell my customers "before you buy, give me a shot, Id rather sell it to you and make a dollar than have some guy a million miles away make all the money" Ive sold plenty of stuff in my store that we have made hardly any profit at all on, but we made something which is more than we would if they mailordered it. And Ive gained alot of repeat customers that wouldnt go anywhere else. My advice for the local stores is to match prices if you can otherwise your customers ARE buying it mailorder. And to you guys who buy stuff mailorder and then go to your local dealer with questions. STOP dont waste his time, contact summit or ebay or whoever else made the money on it.

 

[rooster57]

Well said !!

 

[B.C.]

It's all better now we have a new Pres.

Sorry I couldn't help my self. But really everyone should just buy more Hot Rods. Then in 10 years you can freshen up the old Hot Rod and be good to go for another 10 years. And there you go, world problems solved.