'34 pickup sale;am I wrong?

A

anteek

Senior Member
i'm the worlds worst for abandoning projects. i have a '34 pickup that i gathered parts for for over 5 years that ended sitting another 15 years. this was a passion with me and I gathered parts on the net from mostly western sources. Many were bought on here. reality bit me on the butt and my kids don't want projects,just finished cars. Well, fast foreward to now. I've got ads on here and several other places. I've still got it but keep getting contacted by flippers. you know the a** holes in the hobby to buy cars and part them out or resell them. I want this to go to a hobbyist,not one of these guys. Am I wrong to feel this way? I love old cars,had them for 50 years and don't want to sell it and see it busted up.Parts for the '34 aren't so scarce that it will be sacrificed to fix others. Opinions/
 
No matter what anyone tells you who is buying, once it is sold, they will do with it what they want....
Of course you have the right to choose who you sell it too, and that sentiment is well understood. I too prefer to sell to a stock guy, though I have had junk to sell that I am glad is being put to good use, no matter who buys it and what it's used for.
 
anteek, yours is a very common sentiment: We as hobbyists have a natural dislike of those who are in our domain just to make a buck and don't give a damn about the hobby or the car or the person selling it. They are out to pad their pockets, sometimes at great sacrifice of a widow who knows not the value of what she has, sometimes at a loss to pay for medical treatment, the list goes on, and we all know the story. We have spent our time in the hobby trading or giving parts to friends, and here's this guy who sees dollar signs.
From another perspective, without that guy and more like him, we wouldn't have a stable market for our cars, prices would fluctuate wildly without relation to true value because only the hobbyists would respond... or not, to our desire to sell. These guys do fill a need, as many of us can relate that we ouselves bought from these traders. Someone has to make a profit from the hobby, but we hope the profit is not at our expense when we sell.
 
if you took 5 years to gather the needed parts, then you at some point were depending on these "assholes" for the parts you needed. BUT, are people like Drake and Carpenter "assholes" for running a business at profit to keep these cars on the road?

point is, feel however you want about how some prey on the "hobbie" but price it at what you need to sell it for and move on. don't waste the time being pissed off about it. at some point in time all of the hobby will be gone and no one will care at all.

as for me, i cant wait for hershey to buy someone elses junk and sell some of my junk to someone that wants it :) BUT i do know some of the high rollers that do prey and rome the swapmeet and they get a different price :) thats why the parts do not have writen price tags
 
phat rat said:
I'm always suspicious of any swapper who doesn't have his stuff marked.
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prices subject to change due to customers attitude :)

never bothered me when looking at something i like. found an original beehive oil filter with no price tag, when i asked it was $10. go figure
 
If you get your asking price who cares what the buyer does with the car. Obviously you didn't finish it, so why do you worry what happens to it? If you are that concerned you should have finished it the way you wanted to see it done. I've sold cars to "flippers" and as long as I got my money it made no difference. it was no longer my car. Just remember everything you have is only on loan to you. You really don't own anything . You came into the world with nothing and you leave the same way. "Ain't no pockets on a casket".
 
skidmarks said:
prices subject to change due to customers attitude :)

never bothered me when looking at something i like. found an original beehive oil filter with no price tag, when i asked it was $10. go figure
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Right on Skidmarks,all my parts are price tagged at shows. And it depends on customers attitude as far as final price goes. Some buyers are real busters and they pay tag price others usually get something off. Thank you ken ct.
 
Depending on a few variables if you are looking for a good home for it I could be your man. Feel free to PM me details. It would be going in the middle of my 33 Coupe and 36 Coupe so shouldnt be lonely.
 
Being sentimental is noble BUT, especially in this economy I would think if you were lucky enough to get a cash buyer at your price (or very close) it would be gone?? JMO
Paul in CT
 
I never buy something to sell. I never sell anything and my place looks like a junk yard. When the county comes by to complain , I tell them some peoples wealth is hard to hide. No body seems to complain about the 10,000 square feet homes which I consider architecture in your face. I love to look at what my friends drag home. There are two types of neighborhoods. One where your neighbors are jealous of your new find and the ones that are made about your new find.
 
People who flip cars are taking a risk.
They put up cash money, transport it home, typically make some improvements, place an ad, and deal with tire kickers.
They are knowledgeable, skillfull, and they know the market.
So somehow they are deemed "assholes" for their efforts/knowledge?
Many "flippers" use this as a way to fund their personal projects, and are very passionate about the hobbie.
Nobody forces anyone to sell, or to buy..it is a choice.
If you have come to the decision to sell a vehicle, and someone is willing to buy it..take the cash and don't look back.
 
If you look careful at the sign on the windshield on this 1941 Buick Super, you can see that the guy purchased this car for $4,950. He tried to sell it to me for $10,000 and sent me this photo and several others. The sign was still in the window in the photos. I asked the guy if the car included $5,000 in the glove box. He asked what I was talking about. I pointed out the sign for $4,950 and the $10,000 asking price. He said I was not supposed to see that. He then offered me the car for $7,500. I told him to take a jump. Car flippers are not car people, they are money people.

Edit: can't see the sign as good as I hoped, but you get the idea.
 

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I just went through something similar only with my old house in New Hampshire rather than a car. I lived in the same home for 32 years. Raised 3 kids, built alot of hotrods & vintage motorcycles in the old 3 bay "carriage house" etc. and that place had a ton of very special memories for me. I sold it 2 years ago and moved to East Tennessee. 2 weeks ago I had to go back to NH for my sons wedding and it was the first time I had gone by the old place. The 3 garage doors on the carriage house are gone, replaced by a wall and some windows. The porch we built on the front of the house is gone and has been replaced with landscaping. The flower garden in the front yard & brick lined walkway is gone as well and has been completely changed. It looks really nice (just not how she left it). At first I was very sad by what I saw. But after thinking it over I realized that being a wood worker, the new owner had no need for garage doors and with them gone the shop will be much easier to heat in the Winter. In fact all the changes they made are nice, just different than how we had it. And the check he wrote me allowed me to buy this place here in the mountains of Tennessee AND to build the garage I've always dreamed of with room for 4 cars, a lift, an "office" area to display all my gas & oil collectibles, etc. So in the long run it was a good decision to sell to them.
 
TonyM said:
If you look careful at the sign on the windshield on this 1941 Buick Super, you can see that the guy purchased this car for $4,950. He tried to sell it to me for $10,000 and sent me this photo and several others. The sign was still in the window in the photos. I asked the guy if the car included $5,000 in the glove box. He asked what I was talking about. I pointed out the sign for $4,950 and the $10,000 asking price. He said I was not supposed to see that. He then offered me the car for $7,500. I told him to take a jump. Car flippers are not car people, they are money people.

edit: can't see the sign as good as I hoped. But you get the idea.
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See that's where I'm different. I try to use logic and leave the emotions at home when dealing with cars. The ONLY question I would ask myself would be if $7500 is a fair price for what the car is. Why should I care if he makes money off the deal ? We're not family and he dosn't owe me anything.
 
So, i don't see your problem. Sell it to the restoration guy. Nobody says you have to sell it to a hot rodder. All the cars gets sold sooner or later..............All of em'.

You see that pickup in my avatar. Most of it came from parts from other pickups that were parted out. Good thing or I wouldn't have been able to build it.
 
Hello there,
Forgive me for not joining the discussion. I am the posting following yours asking about the '34 truck fenders...read all the way to the bottom, my reply. I just want to know about your '34 pickup project. Do you still have it? Flip this, I drove my '32 3-W today, the one I have had since Oct of 1970. I am interested Please e-mail me. Dave in Spokane dlstrand@webband.com
 
TonyM said:
If you look careful at the sign on the windshield on this 1941 Buick Super, you can see that the guy purchased this car for $4,950. He tried to sell it to me for $10,000 and sent me this photo and several others. The sign was still in the window in the photos. I asked the guy if the car included $5,000 in the glove box. He asked what I was talking about. I pointed out the sign for $4,950 and the $10,000 asking price. He said I was not supposed to see that. He then offered me the car for $7,500. I told him to take a jump. Car flippers are not car people, they are money people.

Edit: can't see the sign as good as I hoped, but you get the idea.
Click to expand...

Would you have found the car otherwise? You were interested enough to ask for pictures so if you hadn't seen the sign would you have paid $10,000 or close to it?
 
TonyM said:
If you look careful at the sign on the windshield on this 1941 Buick Super, you can see that the guy purchased this car for $4,950. He tried to sell it to me for $10,000...
Click to expand...

phat rat said:
Would you have found the car otherwise? You were interested enough to ask for pictures so if you hadn't seen the sign would you have paid $10,000 or close to it?
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Exactly. If the car was worth $10k, but he was able to get for $4950, why should he have to sell it for less than market value?

I've purchased parts at a heckuva deal, that if I were to "flip" (I won't), I'd price them at what they're actually worth. Just because I was in the right place at the right time and paid half of that doesn't mean I have to pass that "savings" on to the next guy.

Price your cars / parts for what they're worth and don't look back. "Flippers" aren't interested in paying market value, as they won't be able to make any money on the resale. Even if they do, it's not like the car / parts will get crushed and sent to the scrapper; they'll go on to help finish other projects.
 
Several years ago I sold a 55 pickup that was freshly restored. A 17 year old with doting parents bought it for him and his main interest was if a 4 speed transmisson would fit in it. I knew he had no interest in it as a collectable vehicle, but I got my price. For all it mattered, he could have sent the pickup to the crusher and I could have flushed the money down the drain. The truck was now his, not mine and the money was now mine, not his.
 
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