flathead48
Well-known member
Get well first, the parts can wait
Quitting
- Thread starter Andy
- Start date
totto
Senior Member
Andy: If you lived closer to Auburn, IN, you could "donate" your parts to Early Ford V-8 Foundation. That is what I did this past September. Drove a U-haul full of parts and 4 flathead engines. My wife was so happy that the parts left our garage. I got a nice letter and tax deduction from the Foundation. The Museum has swap meets in Spring and Fall where they sell parts and they also do restorations so parts come in handy for the Foundation/Museum.
markdtn
Senior Member
Get well first.
I don't have your exact Delima, but I have a 40+ year collection of parts that my kids don't care anything about. I had been saving them for this project or that but I am pushing 60 now and realize I don't have that many projects left in me so I need to at least thin the herd. I tried for a time to sell at the Nashville AACA sale in February, but it got to where all people wanted was cheap tools and repro signs. This will be my second year not taking stuff there. The last few years especially there were way too many bottom feeders that wanted to buy at pennies on the dollar. I don't want to hit a home run on every part, but some of the good stuff I have had for over 40 years in some cases and I was not ready to give it away. (As a side note we should all be respectful of the vendors at a swap meet. You have to "give away" a lot of parts to get there and get home and to just sell parts-not to mention cleaning it, loading it, unloading it, setting it up, loading it, unloading it....)
Big stuff is an issue to move. Shipping is hard, packing stuff is hard. I would try to gather up the best big stuff and get a booth at a big show-Hershey or Carlisle type. Try to get decent money for the stuff that is hardest to ship. FB Marketplace is great with no fees but it is only local so it severely limits the buyer pool.
For the past year I have sold a bunch of smaller stuff that would ship for about $25 or less USPS, UPS, or FedEx ground on Ebay. Their shipping rates are very hard to beat. I don't like Ebay fees but the fact remains that they have a worldwide audience and it's hard to beat the exposure. I price my parts just less than the most similar one and I have got decent prices for my parts-even after fees.
Don't make any knee-jerk decisions, get better first.
I don't have your exact Delima, but I have a 40+ year collection of parts that my kids don't care anything about. I had been saving them for this project or that but I am pushing 60 now and realize I don't have that many projects left in me so I need to at least thin the herd. I tried for a time to sell at the Nashville AACA sale in February, but it got to where all people wanted was cheap tools and repro signs. This will be my second year not taking stuff there. The last few years especially there were way too many bottom feeders that wanted to buy at pennies on the dollar. I don't want to hit a home run on every part, but some of the good stuff I have had for over 40 years in some cases and I was not ready to give it away. (As a side note we should all be respectful of the vendors at a swap meet. You have to "give away" a lot of parts to get there and get home and to just sell parts-not to mention cleaning it, loading it, unloading it, setting it up, loading it, unloading it....)
Big stuff is an issue to move. Shipping is hard, packing stuff is hard. I would try to gather up the best big stuff and get a booth at a big show-Hershey or Carlisle type. Try to get decent money for the stuff that is hardest to ship. FB Marketplace is great with no fees but it is only local so it severely limits the buyer pool.
For the past year I have sold a bunch of smaller stuff that would ship for about $25 or less USPS, UPS, or FedEx ground on Ebay. Their shipping rates are very hard to beat. I don't like Ebay fees but the fact remains that they have a worldwide audience and it's hard to beat the exposure. I price my parts just less than the most similar one and I have got decent prices for my parts-even after fees.
Don't make any knee-jerk decisions, get better first.
rockfla
Well-known member
Andy - Blessings and wishes for a healthy recovery.
I would "HOPE" IF you were looking for one person to take on what you have accumulated......Michael Driskell at Third Gen would be absolute first on the list......OR......maybe IF he would "broker" the parts sale and distribution of them. I will state - I have "NEVER" dealt with or had any negative experience with "Iron Trap Garage" BUT just as an observation.......I wouldn't sell my collection to them......Just don't get the "warm fuzzy" from his whole operation with respect to "originality" and "As Henry Built It". IT seems to me that IF he cannot use it, modify it for his "customized" needs THEN he'll cash in and move it along as a "last resort"....AGAIN, just my observation and opinion.....AND I have been wrong in my life before. I can just about guarantee that there are at least two or three here on the barn that would be interested (or buy) ALL of what you listed as having.......Count me As one of them that could "sure" use the complete 32 front end....Which I bet I'm at least 3rd or 4th on the list. Just my altruistic $ .02 worth
I would "HOPE" IF you were looking for one person to take on what you have accumulated......Michael Driskell at Third Gen would be absolute first on the list......OR......maybe IF he would "broker" the parts sale and distribution of them. I will state - I have "NEVER" dealt with or had any negative experience with "Iron Trap Garage" BUT just as an observation.......I wouldn't sell my collection to them......Just don't get the "warm fuzzy" from his whole operation with respect to "originality" and "As Henry Built It". IT seems to me that IF he cannot use it, modify it for his "customized" needs THEN he'll cash in and move it along as a "last resort"....AGAIN, just my observation and opinion.....AND I have been wrong in my life before. I can just about guarantee that there are at least two or three here on the barn that would be interested (or buy) ALL of what you listed as having.......Count me As one of them that could "sure" use the complete 32 front end....Which I bet I'm at least 3rd or 4th on the list. Just my altruistic $ .02 worth
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TomT/Williamsburg
Well-known member
When you're better and want to sell, divide and conquer: sell the best stuff you have first at onesy twosey prices. Then sell the worst stuff off as a lot keeping what’s left to sell/donate as you see fit. Just mho ….