Value of extra parts

[pflaming]

Yesterday,  as I was reclaiming needed parts to finish my Suburban, I started collecting "parts of perceived value, and placed them in a separate place. Last night I looked up the value of those reclaimed small parts and discovered that they had little saleable value. 

[casper50]

I couldn't give away my drums/brake sets.  They went to the dump.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Unfortunately it seems the very preventative cost of moving an item even if giving it away is the cost to ship it to the next man.   I know of no real shipping venue that is truly cost effective, surcharges on fuel, size verse weight.....they get you coming and going these days.

[casper50]

Greyhound bus is pretty decent on shipping large items.  Caveat is you have to pick up from a station.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Greyhound is so far out of my area as terminals go.....the drive to and fro puts it at as a cost prohibitive factor.  I have received one large item via Greyhound, they are a viable carrier for sure if their terminals are within reasonable distance....88 miles is just a tad much....

[casper50]

I agree.  There are none in Alaska.  We pay out the you know what for shipping.  That's why almost everyone here has Amazon Prime and are very reluctant to do business with those that won't ship via USPS.  UPS and FEDEX rip us royally. 

[Plymouthy Adams]

at the present, USPS, UPS and FED-EX are all in the same bed.....with the USPS contracting these private carriers for delivery of their mail/packages.....there is now no competition in pricing as before.....why undercut a shipping price when you know you going to get paid to deliver...…?????????  

[casper50]

USPS prices are at least 1/3rd the price of the other two to get things up here.  That's all I know.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I just shipped a 1963 Plymouth grille to California.....the pricing was not enough to flip a coin over and the USPS is probably going to put it on a UPS truck as it is anyway....in my general area....the pricing is not a significant difference except for some very heavy items.  This box was less than 7 lbs.  This is where you weigh service and convenience and pick your poison.  Fed-Ex has no local hub....DHL sends their rural out of hub delivery to our area via Fed-Ex...again, the big companies seem to be in bed together and cost is cost as there are now no competitors.   Some companies will not ship to PO box and you have to give physical address, now for the real killer, FED-EX with their partnership in USPS drops my so called home deliveries at the PO and luckily my postmaster knows who I am and what number box to place a pick up notice.   Maybe it is just common to this very out of the way rural area, but this is the way business is done here.

[casper50]

fedex and ups will still deliver to my door.  Even with my driveway in the winter.  The driveway is no joke.  The previous UPS driver would not come up it after he almost went over the side in the winter.  I had to leave a tub with lid at the bottom.  The new driver has no problem.

[Plymouthy Adams]

UPS gives me front door delivery, Fed-Ex, not everytime..mostly PO drop off for them.  We too far out of their hub to be cost effective for them to go door to door.  UPS shows up at our local PO appox same time every day.....they are there for a bit of time offloading packages and taking on new ones outgoing.  On top of this the contracted mail truck runs twice, pickup AM drop off PM from the main sorting facility some 40 miles away....case in point....our PO is only open 4 hours through the week, we get two hours on Saturday.....well, you learn to live in rural areas...may not like it, but you live with it....lol  Still like the country though.....last night was s a still damp night, could hear the cotton gin about 6 miles away whirling.  Other than the train about all we hear out here...well, there seems to have been a dove shoot this morning.

 

NOTE...another tidbit, if the other carriers drop off at my PO...they are not allowed to post the notice for pick up till the following business day....never did figure that rule out....

Edited January 19, 2019 by Plymouthy Adams

[casper50]

Our PO is open 6 days a week.  Nice people working there.  They know just about everyone by name. It's about 5 miles from me but we get most of our mail at a cluster box.  Carriers don't deliver to the home up here.

[Los_Control]

Something I really need to consider.

Many know I started with Molly my 49 B1C,  Then moved 1800 miles away, now Molly is sitting at my Uncles place.

I bought another 1949 B1B .... Just cost to move Molly 1800 miles is starting to ramp up, I need the spare parts, if I had Molly here I could make a second truck.

I know that I can not sell the parts in the current condition and expect to get rich.

For the price of gas money I could buy another parts truck local.

Yet I have a bunch of spare parts stored over there, a rebuilt 218 engine, a brand new gas tank / sending unit from tanksrus in a box, a new engine gasket set ... I have a 52 parts truck sitting there that is partially stripped, I gave it away already, but yet to be picked up ... I have the radiator, heater gauges already stored away ..... I have a lot of extra parts.

I have no choice I have to drive 1800 miles one way to pick them up and drive them another 1800 miles to get them home ...... sometimes wish could just turn a blind eye and buy new stock local  

[Eneto-55]

Some car sites have a sort of resident car hauler who combines different loads to get the price down, and arrange loaded miles both directions.  But while I didn't have to go 1800 miles one way, I had to go half that distance (one way) to bring my 46 from Oklahoma to Ohio,  But I do also still have a parts car out there, and because we had to clear the old home place, I had to move it another 150 miles farther away, to my brother's place.  We did have loads going both ways, because my son-in-law borrowed the pick up truck & trailer we used, and I needed to stay longer, so we put my Dodge Caravan on the trailer for the trip out there.  (Don't get me started on the hidden 'dangers' of borrowing a trailer, especially one that is rarely taken any appreciable distance. Fortunately we didn't have any problems with the PU.)

The problem with having someone else do the hauling, however, is that a car in progress is going to be scattered hither & yon.  At lest mine was, but it had sat there in my Dad's shop for over 35 years.  (Some parts are missing now, too, unfortunately.)

So I anguished over this same decision, but my P15 is really solid, an Oklahoma car that while it has over 90K miles on it, it had almost no rust to start with, and I had done a great deal of work on it already back when I bought it.  I decided that if I had to start over now, I would just let it all go.  Some say to just buy one that someone else has already done the work on, but that's a bit like the Apostle Paul talking about building on another's foundation (in relation to the Gospel) - you just don't know what problems are lurking under the shiny paint, or under the carpet, or even undercoating.  Do it yourself, and you know what you did & what you didn't (and if the stuff you didn't do causes problems later, you can blame yourself for that).

But it is a real shame when usable parts go to the scrap yard because of the cost of shipping.

[pflaming]

Seems this thread has strayed. The intent was the value of parts and what members do with the small stuff. 

[Eneto-55]

5 minutes ago, pflaming said:

Seems this thread has strayed. The intent was the value of parts and what members do with the small stuff. 

Sorry for my part in that. 

But I think it is true of both small parts, and large parts (like entire parts cars) as well.  Something like a head, or intake-exhaust manifold, or even a starter, generator, or water pump - what percentage of the value of the item is the shipping going to come to?   I recently bought some (new) bushings (to repair my door hinges), and the actual parts weighed less than a pound.  But they put them in a much larger box than necessary (a padded envelope would have served just fine), and then shipped it, instead of using the postal service, which is a lot cheaper than UPS or FedEx on really small packages.  The shipping was more than the cost of the parts, and I even bought twice what I actually needed.  (It was one of those companies that don't give you any idea of the shipping cost until after they ship your order.)

So like if someone is traveling by car, and is near by to someone who needs a part that is close to their destination (or the reverse), how many people are willing to take a bit of extra time to help out?  From reading here in the site I know that some guys have friends they 'met' through this site that also live close by.  There's no one I know of who is close to me here, and for some others (like the gentleman from Alaska) it's much worse yet.

[Plymouthy Adams]

24 minutes ago, pflaming said:

Seems this thread has strayed. The intent was the value of parts and what members do with the small stuff. 

I do not think it has strayed off the mark at all...if you  have a need for these items then yes the value is at a plus, but if they are useless to even you, then the total cost of the part includes what it takes to get it to the next owner......unless you planning on dropping it off in person on one of your spring trips east….the total cost will always involve shipping....if that cost is extravagant, odd of moving it just came to a halt.....and while many folks could transport odd stuff from point to point, the logistics of that in often quite involved and the delays of travel ibn handling this makes the process not worth while.  Just an overview of the subject as I see it.  I know lots of folks wanting x parts but when the shipping quote is made....you never hear from them again.....even when free....I can vouch for that from a member or so here...

[Frank Elder]

As long as we are discussing shipping........this thread needs to be shipped to Off Topic as it has absolutely nothing to do with the Technical Advice Forum....

[pflaming]

From the previous posts I conclude that small parts of little value have only trade or "good guy" value. Accordingly I'm going to inventory and such store items. Somewhere along the way, it might be a nice throw in item. Maybe those who frequent THE BBQ should bring such items place them on a table. Purchaser makes a contribution to the event. 

[casper50]

that is a great idea.

[plymouthcranbrook]

I have several parts most of which were given to me about 10 years ago by a guy who could not find a buyer even though his business was old car parts. Sadly I still have most of them(gave away some to those who needed them enough to pay shipping) and most are the type that either are not wear items or the type that never seems to wear out at all.

[CO54]

Based on reading through this and knowing that I'll end up with some misc parts that are still of value to me or someone else. When the time comes I can see posting in the classified section with a buyer pays shipping.  I also see this forum as band of brothers/sisters with the same goals of keeping em alive and helping each other with knowledge, input and parts as needed.   Why ruin it.....

Just my 2 cents, and I do agree that shipping on everything has gotten ridonkulous no matter where you are.