how many make a livin sellin car parts?????

with my uncles fall, its uncertain whether or not he will continue farming...meanin, if he does not, ill be outta work....i like my time home with my kids, so i was thinking, I'm in the process of finally getting a shop...so why couldn't i start parting out cars for income? Ive done a couple so i know the pain in the *** stories, so you can save those!

i don't need to make silly coin per month, just need enough to help keep our heads off the block!
how many of you do this for a living, or second income?????? and what should i look for before taking it further??
thanks much...
Todd

 

we bought a desoto from a guy that did this on the side...
he had a job where he went door to door- and while doing that seen/and would buy cars at these farms etc...

its totally doable... you would just need to find the cars-

 

yeah, i have a few, and i know of 20 more decent ones off the top of my head i could get for s**** price..... theres alot of worthy parts cars in the area....
folks are always callin me about old cars they see, but i wasnt that interested till i realized im going broke fast!!!

 

It's great as long as you can find the stuff, but you gotta find the stuff and be able to make money from it. I have stuff I've had for years trying to sell it for a reasonable amount. But for the money I make I could just as easily be working a regular job.

 

I have parted a few out, both early and late model. I think finding cars that are common enough to have shared parts, reasonably popular, and priced to sell are the main keys to doing it.

If you price things to sell, you can keep the cash flow going and don't end up with a bunch of sh!t sitting around...And when they are picked down far enough, don't feel guilty about s****ping them...

 

yeah, i wont feel bad! i was to the point of crushing everything i owned to pay for my hamb drags trip! but i took a midal and went without doing so!
rustyNY< i have no problem just working, but as i stated, i really like being home with my kiddies! in my off season, i get to spend almost everyday with them, not sure i could handle it any other way!

 

PM sent.

 

I sell on Ebay and at a local swap meet. I also had my truck stickered up advertising that I bought and sold vintage car parts. A willingness to ship parts worldwide when possible makes my buyers numerous.Bought a car trailer and made deals with local yards that if they let me strip the old stuff I would in turn drop off newer stuff they could have free to crush. Works out for both of us.I don,t make enough to quit my 8-5 job though....

 

I think to make enough money at it to raise a family on you'd have to work your *** off so much you'd never see your kids that much anyways, you'd have to have multiple cars at all times and when you're not pulling parts and shipping them you'd have to be out looking for more parts/cars.

It's a lot easier to just resell whole cars.

 

I think you get out of it what you put into it.
If you are gung-ho, and list parts on ebay, and other venues, as well as swap meets, you can make alot of money.

If you work 3 or 4 hours a day, you make less. But you still will make decent money.
Its all about having parts you know you can sell.
If I find a car for sale, I'll go look at the completed items on Ebay to see what sold from this model in the last month. Theres always that part that gets crazy $$. If my car has it, then I can see I'll make money from that part, and most likely others.

Another way is to buy parts from a self service wrecker (if you have those) that you know you can sell. Stuff like disc brake swaps, rear ends, and anything else thats good. My brother was making somewhere around 10K a month just buying stuff at the pick yards, and selling it on ebay.
But he had to go out to each yard almost every day.
If you want to be at home, that won't work. It does keep your yard from filling up with cars though.

If you have a good supply of product, you will do alright. Make sure you have a good outlet for cheap shipping supplies near you. It ****s to sell a part and have to hunt all over town for a box.

 

I made a nice living during my working days selling car parts. I did'nt sell them the way I read as your intent.I was a Manuf.rep for the factories that made them.Called on Warehouse distributors.got paid a commission on every thing they sold in my territory.Never had to handle a part or ship any. Be a middleman and you'll make lots more than bustin your ****.I was fortunate to sell for some very well accepted brands
such as Moroso,Mallory,Hedman,Weiand.MSD to name a few.Get to go to SEMA every year too!

 

a guy i know makes a living selling auto parts on ebay. he buys and strips old cars and also has access to a couple old salvage yards in his area. also, people bring him stuff to sell. right now he claims to have enough stuff ready to sell to last him 2 years

he has been doing if for at least 5 years and claims and appears to be doing fine , but he tells me you have to work hard and all day every day. 10-12 hours a day. he adds 15-20 items every day 7 days a week, so 15-20 items are ending every day too.think about it...running around to get cars to strip , stripping and cleaning them up (that's important) , taking pictures , writing good descriptions and ***les so people find your auctions , answering email questions , collecting the money , and boxing up the item and shipping it out takes time. everyday he goes to the post office , UPS , and Federal Express. he puts in his auctions he sells and ships overseas , so that brings in a lot more bidders.

another guy i know somewhat did it for a couple years...but quit because it was too much work and wasn't making enough.

so , i guess what i'm saying is it appears to depend on how much effort you out into it

 

Like 36^^^^^^^^^^said, the time shipping can take more than actually finding,stripping and selling the part. When I was at the rod shop I would only list3 or 4 items at a time. Just keeping up on auctions is a *****. When I had 4 auctions ending a day apart, the communication,packing,tracking payents and shipping was more than enough. Cant imagine doing 15-20 a day w/o some bomber system!

 

problem anymore is EPA! not to bum you out but if you own your place and lets say 20 years later somebody makes you a crazy offer, yahoo! so they do a routine "soil evaluation" and it come up dirty and that could be one of hundreds of things it goes on a list as "flagged" which essentially makes it worthless.

 

dude, if you have been watching the last couple years Breeders soil gets washed into the Gulf of Mexico anyway!

 

Trying to make a living selling used car parts is like gambling for a living ...

 

I sold parts on ebay and craigs list for 5 years. being in California in the Bay Area meant I have a bunch of swap meets to go to in the summer. I'd buy from people at swap meets who didn't have ebay and sell to people on ebay that didn't have swap meets.

I also parted a few cars. did a 51 chevy fleetline, 1960 ElCamino, 53 chevy 4 door and a 96 Trans Am. got about 3 grand a car, though closer to $4000.00 with the El Camino.

it's a lot of ****ing work to completely dis***emble a car. I don't throw anything away until I try to list it at least a couple of times. I break down each part... like doors for instance. I sell the shell, the window mechanisms, the locks all seperate.

I think I got good money for my junk on ebay because I put in big clear pics and described my parts well. people need to know exactly what they are bidding on when it comes to old parts. I also knew the best catagory and what keywords to use to attract the most people. listing is fairly easy...listing to get maximum exposure and give the buyers the confidence to spend thier money on your part is the hard part.

one more thing... ebay really ****s these days and it is not going to get better. prices are down, hits on your listing is down, scams and non payers are up. the sell through rate is way down. it is not a good time to start an ebay business.

ebay ****s much less for people selling car parts, but it ain't what it used to be. car part buyers are good customers... other than a few people who didn't pay I had no problems in 3000 or so transactions.

I basically quit selling in January when I got a job. soon after the changes started and I haven't been back but just a few items here and there.

 

really good points! thanks everyone so far for the info!
i have a few things here in my favor....
have a short bus that i was planning on using for a portable [chop shop, if you will] and it could easily pull a trailer.
my mail Lady rocks! i just sit all my boxes out by the mailbox, she does all the work for me...even puts things in packages for me if i don't have anything here to place the item it....brings me boxes, and other packing stuff all the time at no charge! so, she will be a great ***et!
and with restaurant business, theres folks stopping in there every few days, leaving info about an old car they've seen and wondering if i would want it...
my wifes totally behind it [as long as I'm making more then i spend}
i live on a 130 acre farm, so space isnt an issue!
I'm on this fuggin box all day when I'm not farming anyway, so might as well be making money with it[ my gay midget bro bowler's pay per site, never really took off]
only really thing I'm lacking is....A SHOP! however, we are looking into moving one up the road to my place thats 46x46 with a 20x 46 lean too off the south end...
i actually enjoy tearing down cars, cleaning up parts, just haven't really done it for money!

so, theres alot of pro's in my corner! and also, i have alot of club mates that find a different car almost everyday of the week, all within 40 miles of me!
i don't mind long hrs [ i am a farmer after all] and i think it would still work fine with the kids... i can feed them, get them baths, help with there homework, pray and tuck them in, and still get back on here and sell!

this is the "perfect world" scenario Ive laid out here, but hey, its a start!
thanks again all.........keep the thoughts coming!

 

You got a short bus? Someone said you had one.

Whats up with the mail lady? What did you do the Sharon Stone thing to her too.

Nothing wrong with doing something you love. Sounds to me like you got it figured out. I was talking to a guy that owns a building by me. He has some old cars in it. (they are not for sale either). He is retired and sells his parts on ebay I think. Five things a week and that keeps him busy he said.
Just don't be stipping cars while you are naked. That could get painful. No polka music for you.

 

yeah, when i finally stopped being forced to ride it, i bought the damn thing!
no Sharon stone for her, she just likes me ...why you ask>??? no idea!

theres enough inside jokes on this thing, to even confuse me Scott!!!!


heres a pic i found the day i bought it....ive since licked all the windows clean and installed some foam padding!

sure would haul alot of mini bikes bud!!!!

 

I do it as a sideline with 2nd gen trans-am parts.

Pays pretty well but not enough to quit my day job. That's fine, the day job satisfies the tax man and keeps food on my table, the auto parts are tax free gravy.

Spe******e in ONE model, this shows your customers that you're not just some hack and really know your stuff. Get your name out there and customers will be looking for you.

Shawn

 

I have made my living selling projects and parting cars. We have about 300 at this time. Around here the economy is so bad local sales are few and far between. Since fuel got so high shipping rates kill a lot of sales. And Ebay just ****s. So now i drive a semi part time. The main rule when you are trading only buy bargains,If you cant buy at your price walk away save your seed money, something will turn up tomorrow. I think you should try it though just oqit when it stopsbeing fun. OLdWolf

 

She does you a good service...till your shipping requirements go through the roof. I have 2 ideas, 1 have you thought about running a mini farm, you say you live on 130 acres, makes an excellent write off. You can still do the parts car thing as a side gig. OR....you could start your own junkyard, let people take the parts off themselves, good junk yards are getting hard to find. Any exceptional old stuff, you can sell complete.

 

todd i used to but i worked at a napa

 

well, she is actually cool enough, she will not care! honestly! also, i will still be farming in the spring and fall even if my uncle ends up on disability!! the main problems are as follows
our restaurant bills are getting bigger [thanks to gas prices]
also, even in the off months, i used to help my uncle...like 20-30 hrs a week....but since he has had his accident and owes 350k in hospital bills, i try to avoid any unnecessary hrs.... between the 2 things [and other factors] i need to come up with a way to make a lil extra...ive always been poor, and getting married to the one i married, pretty well encased me in poor mode til death![not really] so, thats really not an issue...i just need to make a lil more for my family stuff....you know, food, car parts, water, car parts, etc...... i kid, i kid!!

 

hahaha....smart***!!

 

since I retired I have been hitting it pretty hard, 27 grand on ebay so far this year,about 17 of that profit,BUT it is a lot of work .
I agree about specializing,say GM pickups,Ford pickups or whatever,that allows you to be an expert.
Also merchandising is important,answer every question honestly and promply,you will be surprised how many repeat customers you will have.
I have zero luck selling anywhere other than ebay,I don't ever try to sell at swapmeets.
Don't forget Garage sales and yard sales for buying, I just got back and bought a carousel horse for $25,that will net a nice profit.

 

If things don't pick up around here I will be selling parts to make a living.

 

Like some of the others have already said, it's a nice supplemental income, but I wouldn't want to have to count on it to pay my cost of living. About the time it was my sole source of income, it would cease being fun, which it is for me right now, for the most part. Of course, working my day job in the parts department of a Chevy dealership has also led to people asking me if I wanted to buy "some old junk" that they've got lying around, which sometimes leads to treasure.

 

The selling wasnt the problem, not getting caught taking the parts was the real trick.......

Doc.