i live in delaware for now...and theres one old fart that lives a few miles away from me thats got probably 50 or 60 cars from all different decades, all in various states of disrepair surrounding his house and property. i dont think ive ever seen a single car move from where its been since ive seen the place but the other day i saw something new out there: some homemade farming contraption or fire truck looking thing made out of an old F-1 chassis, with an 8BA style flathead, cool F-1 shock mounts, and a bitchin 32 commercial grille (which i want to get my hands on in the worst way)...i know everyone knows a bunch of guys like that, but how do you get them to sell you stuff? i might know some folks that know this guy, which is how im going to approach this one, but is there a good way to get in contact with these type of guys and get them to sell you stuff? just a thought...hope somebody's got some sort of advice. thanks
introduce yourself and be a friend. Help him and listen to his advice and stories. If he doesn't sell you anything at least you've made a friend and heard some good stories. If you go up to him and ask to buy stuff and he doesn't want to sell chances are you'll never get the chance. Oh, and calling him an old fart probably isn't a good start
Most of the guys like this won`t sell you stuff. But I would try to get to know him before just trying to buy stuff from him. Stop by and introduce yourself, who knows you might make a new friend. The Old guy always have the coolest stuff, its because they have been colleting treasures a lot longer then the youngins. I would bet he has some even cooler stuff out of site.
I am 69 and in poor health. I would dearly love to sell my stuff just to know some younger dude will use, it. When I advertise it, most guys think I will sell for pennies instead of an honest price. Most guys I have sold to are speculators. I sold a set of matched carbs with the corrct plates installed for a three two set up. The buyer bitched becasue one carb had a 97 logo that was smaller. He said it wouldnt sell as well as the others. What I sold him was ready to put on and run. If you care more about what it looks like than how it runs, are you still a hot rodder????
be a friend,offer help,dont mention you want to buy stuff yet,unless someone else wants it. It works for me,I got a lot of stuff either free or real cheep.
Good luck! It's been my experience that these guys collect stuff just to have it and they have no intention of ever selling it. They just want you to lust after it. I hope this guy is the exception. Good luck.
im a young guy...i appreciate the idea that you want to help out the young guys AND the fact that most guys are only willing to pay pennies! other than that the only thing that bothers me is that i dont think this old fella here in delaware will ever sell ANYTHING!
I'd just wait for him to die and hit up the estate sale, that's probably going to take less time and less effort than befriending the guy and bending his arm into selling something he doesn't want to sell. That sounds kind of bad when I read it.
Being what I am sure you would consider an old fart I am almost willing to bet he will sell you anything you want as long as you are willing to step up to the plate and pay him what he want's,,,I have had a lot of guys both young and old offer to buy parts from me for pennies on the dollar,,,that's generally when we become curmudgeons. HRP
An old guy with cool crap didn't amass that stuff by selling to each guy who came along with a "oh, that's cool, would you sell it?" attitude. Just like all car guys, we enjoy showing off our collections. Eventually a guy realizes what he doesn't need to keep, but there are some things the guy will take to his grave, and if that's what makes him happy, so be it.
Amen! And as mentioned earlier, approach him and spend some time with him. You might be surprised what you learn about him; and maybe about yourself. Who knows; you might even begin to understand why he holds on to this stuff, .......... or even help him accumulate and preserve more!
Im am now one of those old guys. I used to be a young guy who successfully bought from the old guys. That is how I got all of this stuff. I want to sell however I want just a little more than scrap price. I have enough friends. I dont want or need any help. Be up front state your buisness & have cash in hand . Be prepared to immediately take it with you. If you came he to buy a car and didnt bring something to drag it off you wont even get to look. Bring cash Remember cash talks bull walks. Dont make a offer unless he first ask you to. If he quotes you a price take it or leave it. Dont show up with a bunch of buddies , children or your dog . Dont bring a bitchy wife or girlfriend. A pretty smiley girl is whole different story. If you have to ask the wife the answer is NO I wont sell it to you. In order to be a buyer or seller you need to be able to read a person or situation . some old guys like to tell the story,s before pricing the item. Be patient, respectful. Above all If someone starts pointing out all the bad things and running the item down Stating sitting & rotting. I will run them off in a heartbeat. Its my stuff . I know what it is or isnt. Sometimes the old guys will never sell no matter what thay enjoy having the stuff. OldWolf
Try and find yourself near enough to strike up a conversation with the old fella. Polite is good, it buys a lot from strangers at my house. Don't be a total know it all ask questions and let him talk if he wants to. I.E make friends with him. Maybe he is willing to sell some stuff and maybe he isn't. It will be way easier for him to sell you something if he likes you. I know an old guy well older than me by several years that collects one of everything. He won't sell a thing to anyone. I made fiends with him one time not because I really wanted his stuff but because I wanted to see his stuff, just nosey I guess. he lives in an old shack of a house in the midst of his stuff and he has some of the neatest stuff in the world. Anyway one day I was up just visiting and he invited me in to eat lunch. I said sure and went in and ate the better part of a pot of beans with him. he told me his own realatives wouldn't go in and eat with him. I told him I couldn't go to most of my realatives houses and he just grinned. He knew it was true. Anyway long story short I traded him some stuff that I had once just because I could. After that I could get pretty near anything that I needed from his stuff normally a trade or free or cheap as dirt. Bottom line is your best bet is to make friends with him first.
Well said! I have always said the customers attitude CAN effect the price. PS - the price DOESN'T ever come down! Asking "How much is that rusted out piece of (*&^%$"? is going to automatically double the price to you, even if the price is posted! And sometimes you will find something that just isn't for sale. Respect that, and maybe in time it will be. Don't ask the second time. If the guy decides to sell it, he will contact you. Jon.
But do not let him ever catch you selling and making a profit on what you get from him. A lot of his stuff is special to him and he trusts you to treat it like he would himself. Using it on your own car is one thing but you selling his special stuff for a profit is wrong in his eyes.
thanks guys, lots of helpful advice! i guess ill brave the old fellas driveway hoping not to get shot and give him a visit
Change you attitude towards the guy first. You already put him in a catagory,(old fart) You think he won"t sell to you already. Positive attitude ,respect for your elders,no smart-ass remarks about his stuff will go along way. If you are to scared of the guy to just go up there and strike up a conversation you might as well move on.Old guys don"t bite,they just want a little respect and honesty,that is how people used to be raised. When you go up just tell him you have been admiring his collection and wanted to meet another car guy.Don"t show up with your pants hanging off your ass or rap music on the stereo.Probably a nice guy.If he was such a bad guy he would have(( not for sale)) signs on the stuff to stop people from bothering him.One question for you. How old to you have to be to get in the Old Fart catagory?
Old enough to remember when we didn't lock the doors on the house at night, because the doors DIDN'T even have locks! On the other hand, locks weren't needed. Jon.
That's the attitude. One other suggestion - first impressions are lasting impressions. Regardless of what is cool (or whatever is the current "in" word) with your crowd, neatness and cleanliness probably counts with the older generation. Clothes that fit neatly and are clean, and a general neat presentation might help. If you have a tattoo, cover it. All of the above can change if necessary once you have met the guy. There are a few old hippies out there. And good luck. Jon.
but how do you get them to sell you stuff? i might know some folks that know this guy, which is how im going to approach this one, but is there a good way to get in contact with these type of guys and get them to sell you stuff? really??? you need to do research on the internet for this? were you home schooled and don't work outside the house? I learned how to talk with people in school when I was 5.
Start by remembering but for his hording it would have probably gone to the junk yard years ago. Any chance you are in a position to trade some of your labor to help him get a couple of cars running? That would be a "win win" solution. Charlie Stephens
Ask them to sell you something you need for your project, or sell you a vehicle that you will restore or hot rod. I will sell to that guy. I won't sell to the smooth, smiling fool who can't tell me the reason he wants what I have. Usually to resell at a profit, I sell to guys who need something, words out and at lot of my stuff is now being used by the guys who I sold it to at a fire sale price. They tell me who the scammers are, and it's a kick to pin them down and watch them do the backward camel.
Hello! we are still alive and all though most of us are nearly deaf we can still read, we're in the room, stop the conspirisys. Listen to yourselves no wonder us stupid "old farts" don't want to deal with anyone. I have lots of cool old stuff and I regularly give it away to deserving young people when I know they aren't going to just flip it like the "Pheranges" from Star Trek. One other thing to consider is that we may not have decided which project we want to do next so they can build up and in many cases that cool stuff would have been lost forever if some "old fart" hadn't rescued it.
Absolutely. If you make friends with someone you should try and keep it that way. Never loose a friendship over something as dumb as money.
A whole lot of good advice here. I found one of those Ol' Guys with a lot FULL of '40 Ford trucks and then some. By being a genuinely polite guy, listening to his stories, (and learniing quite a lot) we became good friends. He wanted to clear out everything, and has given me a bunch, or sold me at dirt prices. He's even bartered my labor for some great stuff, including a '41 Ford Coupe. Go make a new friend...
My advice would be to find a buddy who has an old car "unless you have one" And show up at the gentlemens door. " Hi my name is blah blah and I see you like old cars too" . Porkandbeaner has it right. And if he likes you, chances are he will be showing you all his stuff and telling you stories about his stuff. That my friend is worth more than ANY car or part could ever be. JMO. Later, Lippy
If (and I say IF) you get this guy to talk/be friends with you at all, he will only sell/give you parts if you show him why you need them. They better be for your own ride and not to sell for profit. He may even ask you to bring stuff back to show him you actually used the parts. He will test you for sure. He will size you up the second he meets you. He may not be friendly the first time you meet him either. Blow that off try to get to know the man. If he's got parts...he's got stories.....they go hand in hand. Ask him about his first car and what got him into liking cars/tractors/whatever. The most important is respect.
I'm a middle aged dude and had what I thought was a "cool crap" this morning ... the wife absolutely refused to even look at it ... guess my idea of cool and her idea of cool are two totally different things.
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