Saw this on everyone's 3rd favorite website after Classic Olds and Facebook, eBay.

These are some crazy prices even for rare parts, IMO. I think this guy is a league all his own. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?sid=...6.m3561.l49496

 

I dunno ... I always wanted a set of Ram Air door hinges.

 

In what world do asking prices have any bearing on what something is worth? People have been asking stupid money for decades. I don't lose a lot of sleep over it.

 

You missed his other bargains.....

 

Now what we have here is some extremely rare and desirable parts that will make any Poncho owner proud to own.

 

He’s got a lot of kids to put through college

 

You want to know something almost as bad? 78-88 A/G-body, and a whole host of others, 0.58" tall door bumpers p/n (old p/n 4565591) new p/n 20376243, from GM are sold 20 to a bag, unless you can find them at a dealer who's got them in stock and selling individually. If you order them, you got to buy 20. No biggie, right? Be ready to shell out $223 for that bag at list price, and almost $150 if you get the typical dealer discount. That's 11.15 per bumper list price!! That's $44.60 for a single 2-door car. I got my bags back in the late 90s for about 12 bucks per bag. Insane!

From gmparts.com:

 

The door hinge listing was removed.

 

Nope, still there
https://www.ebay.com/itm/11615502967...0AAOSwU-dmJWar

 

It won’t last long at that price

 

Hmm. Sold a set of '69/'70 X body hinges for $200 ish, thought did well. Believe they also fit '69 F body. They took YEARS to sell. Late '70 they went to Welded door hinges, so this Guys' listing is incorrect.

 

I was gona say, drop a zero...$240.00....Ya, league all his own...the lick the Windex off the short bus windows league...Pass the pipe. Its all outta control for sure.
Everything has frigging doubled except my paycheck.

 

Its everywhere, and on all the other car sites I visit. Remember, 'Asking' is one thing, 'getting' is another.

 

Look at all the free publicity he gets....

 

A couple of thoughts
1) The purchasing power of a dollar we grew up with (and those older than us) is completely different from what that dollar buys today. Thanks, inflation. As, generally, older people our instincts for what a dollar should buy are getting worse & worse.

2) Many of these sellers are at or beyond the age where they’ve realized they’ll die before they sell their stuff and want to sell. But some are also trying to fund/supplement their retirements with these ridiculously priced items betting on what economists call the “Bigger fool” theory. I believe I overheard a price complaint at the ‘23 National Meet where the gist of the conversation was a buyer telling a seller “hey, you’re going to die somewhere along the way, wouldn’t you rather get some of your stuff sold now?”. Buyer trying to apply price pressure, sure, but also true.

Thing is, as enthusiasts, we revere some of these old rare parts, no matter what condition they’re in, some of us have a tendency to price according to sentimentality. I’m just settling the estate for my now-gone parents. They didn’t have much stuff (thankfully) but I’ll tell ya, beyond sentimental/emotional tangible goods, most plain old used stuff is worth 5-10% of purchase price, even in good condition.

3) Here & there I overpay for parts since I’m well aware of how rare, but the overpayment never gets beyond a few hundred dollars. One of the fun parts of an old Olds, as compared to say, a Ferrari, is how inexpensive they are to run on a relative basis. If I recall an _oil_change_ on a McLaren requires pulling apart the whole rear of the car. Ouch, even if you have the cash.

My $.04 (inflation)
cf

 

I can agree with most of this. But if you don't have some spare cash when owning an Oldsmobile or two, you're in the wrong hobby. "It's all relative" doesn't matter. It's going to cost money. If it's an Oldsmobile specific, and unobtanium part, it's going to be relatively expensive in general to those who know what is what. The buyer can whine all they want about the seller dying someday and sell it now instead. I'm not too worried about it. The prices I ask for the more rare stuff I sell isn't too far out of line, and I've sold everything I put a for sale sign on. I price stuff to sell, not to keep. $2400 for door hinges is off the hinges. You could probably pay a fabricator to build some for less. Maybe not. But still. 240 maybe, but not 2400.

But I also happen to know how rare some of these parts are, and f**k sentimental/emotional value. It's plain old supply and demand. You want it? Here's my price. Don't like the price? Make an offer or buy it from someone else, like Oldsparts.com (BAP), Originality Plus, or Billions and Trillions. Happy hunting. And in case something happens to me, my spreadsheet has a reasonable value attached to the line item by the part number so the wife can sell the stuff after I'm dead. Not like she'll need the money, but still, it also doubles as sort of an investment. Which is almost as good as gold coins. Easy to sell. The same with buying parts. I decide if someone's asking price is worth it to me, and I'll either pass or buy it. It's only money. In 5 years, I won't care that I paid more for that rare part than most people. At least I don't have to look for it any longer as it's probably on the car living its best life.

I also have a tendency of donating spare NOS parts or excellent used parts to someone's project, all depending on my mood at the time, and whether or not I believe they're really wanting to use it. Or give them a major discount. What I won't do, is sell a rare part for dirt to someone I don't know because I know how hard it is to find such a part, and it's very likely they're just a parts flipper. Which is fine, because I don't care what happens to the parts after the sale, but if I know all they want to do if flip it, then no discount.

 

A friend once told me "its easier to find the money than a rare part"

 

I don't know what you people are talking about. I live in Canada. Due to a declining Canadian dollar, these prices all seem quite reasonable to me.

 

I saw a 1963 98 right hand tail light lens NOS on Evil Bay last week, lots of pictures showing front and back and bid on it. I won the auction for 69.99, good price without reserve or restrictions on delivery to Canada. That 70.00 bucks worked out to $185.85 canadian after dollar exchange, shipping and tax. Now the lens is close to what it's worth at a swap meet to me.
Paid PayPal on Saturday just after winning it, all good so far I think. I get an e mail from Evil Bay saying order cancelled due to following reasons "I'm out of stock or the item is damaged" funds returned.
Does anyone reconize this seller "satoeauto" in Tulas Ok?
I'm thinking either I dodged a bullet from Billions and Trillions or it's ligit.
Steve

 

Prices have been getting out of hand ever since there have been prices.

 

It's not just parts, yesterday I went into a convenience store for a 12 oz. bottle of water, $2.98, wow. You WILL pay for the convenience.
Or not. I walked.

 

I find it slightly odd that they wanted $2.98 for 12oz of water when I just filled up my car at BJ's for $2.68 a gallon.

 

You are both comparing apples and oranges. About the only thing that water and gasoline have in common is that they’re both liquids.

I used to see a similar complaint all the time. “A gallon of milk costs more than a gallon of gasoline.”

I have news for you! Milk (and water) are sold in entirely different ways in entirely different amounts. Bottled water and milk are things that humans consume. Not so for gasoline. The processing, handling, packaging, and storage of the gasoline versus human consumables are entirely different with the human consumables requiring MUCH more care.

You buy entirely different amounts of water and milk compared to gasoline as well. When you stop at the gas station maybe twice a month or whatever, how much gas do you put in each time? 10 gallons? 15 gallons? Is it sold in individual, one-gallon containers like milk is or 12 oz bottles like bottled water is? Do you buy 15 gallons of milk or water twice a month? Is the milk or water you buy stored in 500 gallon containers buried underground? The answers are no, no, no, no, and no.

The pricing on these is going to be entirely different because of all of these differences. The volumes sold, the packaging required, the sterilization required for human consumables, etc., etc., etc.

Find something better to whine about!

 

You just don't realize the humor of the situation, do you? I wasn't whining. There's no point to that. I try not to take things like this too seriously. There's no gain in it and definitely no reason to raise your blood pressure about it.

 

Humorously meant or not, it just comes across as whining.

 

Speaking as one, I can now officially welcome you to the "Boomer" club. Welcome aboard. Land line phones are on the left next to the Rubik's cubes. Ham radios are on the right near the VHS tapes.

Now...get off my lawn!

 

Biker Fox (aka "Billions and Trillions") has a Physical address inside Tulsa OK city limits. He has used numerous other aliases.

 

Thanks Newmexguy,
I had a gut feeling that this might be a Frank L sale after I had bid.
I checked his site and I couldn't find a lens listed so most likely just fishing on his part.
Dodged a bullet.
Steve

 

Marketing ploy..gets your listing on top of page..when you bid the real number loads .years of use now