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[Alan Drover]

I've got a Lucas catalogue of coils, points etc for vehicles up to 1970. A coil for an Aston Martin is the same type as for a Mini. I wonder what the price difference would be if each was purchased from the relevant dealer spares department.

[diffwhine]

You quite often see that with JLR. Not so much now, but for a long time when Jaguar and Land Rover dealers were separate, prices for identical items (different part numbers) were shocking!).

I know I keep banging on about this, but for better or worse, these vehicles are now firmly in the classic car market now. Parts prices reflect this. I've benefitted several times from generous parts offers on this forum when on other platforms, similar parts have been ludicrously priced. There are speculators out there and we need to keep them off this forum. Part of the joy of being part of a club is that we work together to keep our vehicles running. Provided people here don't speculate and treat our sales and wants section in the spirit in which it is intended, we will all get on fine. This should be a safe haven away from public speculation and should be a key selling point of our club. As long as the message is clear - speculators are not welcome, all should be as friendly and as reasonably priced as possible.

[Larry S.]

I’m loving this page and everyone’s opinions on good and bad what’s is a good way or not , I have bought ,sold ,given or exchanged parts with folks and to be honest I never once thought of dates but how much a part would cost that I needed, I’m sad to say got a eBay sticky finger and tend to hunt down the cheapest part or a part I could fix that I can afford , I seen cheap parts from the states but the postage costs are near double the cost if the part due to weights or some I just can’t see why it cost so much to send , there’s the slow boat from China parts some are okay others I regard as throw aways till a original part comes available at a affordable price, then it’s collect only only a few hundred miles away and his forbid if you ask seller if you win would they consider posting it , well I had a few let’s say very rude reply’s or over priced costs to send it .
As I been a seller and stop during lockdown I look at the same parts being offered and lust mine at least say 20-30£ cheaper and offer the cheapest delivery I can find that I’m able to get as I’m interested in getting stuff sold so if it sells it sells I will check that my price is fair or is still cheaper as I’m not out to make money more s case of making space for parts I need the space for .
I have to laugh to myself at cost of some parts are dear just with the word landrover series attached to it for a nut and bolt fir say bulkhead where same nut and bolt out of bbq is a fraction of the cost brand new and I see the same bolt with different car makes all at same price but still bbq one is the one I buy as it works the same , fits the same and probably better I’m not interested if it has landriver in big letters and date stamped to it it doesn’t mean it’s going to work or last or be cheapest so when buying I’m a tight fisted git but when selling I’m happy to sell cheaper just to get item sold but not out of pocket and do make extra on some that folk have bidded up high but I’m not going to say no am I but find that in the end it all levels out .
Swap shop emmm nope , why as one said bern caught dangling looking far over the edge for my part to come to find it’s nothing like or works or broken and person no longer able to get hold off or item given I see for sale ten times the price I sold to them or just asked for postage costs I have lots and happy to help out to find it being sold next week so sorry swap shop not for me but it may work for others .
So end of the day if someone in the states needs a part and I have it and they willing to get or find postage to get it to them I take what they offer for the part as long as they not taking the mick same if other country’s and before folk go oh hold on let me tell you one item I sold years ago was a coffin on eBay but this was painted with a landscape and was used as a display item in shop window the buyer got and paid fir her own courier to pic it up I had wrapped it up in bubble wrap and tape it well up , well it arrived safe and no damage and the comment I got was she lived the tape I used - I hadn’t even crossed my mind at the time that I just grab what roll tape I had and it had skull and crossbones on it lol 😂

       

You and I are a lot alike! 

All I have to say is"I own a vintage Land Rover" and everyone who's into vehicles respond with either "I bet those parts are hard to find" or "I bet parts are really expensive" or both.  The parts are relatively cheap  and easy to find considering where I live.  The equivalent parts on SWMBO's car are incredibly expensive by comparison. 

I always shop around for the best price, but not necessarily the cheapest part, quality of the part is my primary focus.   Case in point, when I first got Grover all of the original lights, except the headlights, had been scalped and replaced by trailer lights - the cheapest available.  The parts dealer I use the most here had a sale on lights about tge same time I started the rebuild, so I bought everything needed to replace the trailer ones.  In 2019 these lights were installed.  Unfortunately that's when I discovered that the amber glass lenses for the front running lights were cheap copies - and they came from the #1 dealer here in the States.  The lenses were glass, but the 'amber' was nothing but orange glass paint and it was flaking off.

When I looked at buying NOS lenses I was blown away by the crazy money people wanted for them.  Then I searched for new ones - those labeled as 'Land Rover' weren't as bad as the NOS ones, but still pretty high.  So I did some research to find out what other vehicles used these amber lenses.  With that info in hand I did a search and found them through Moss Motors.  I was able to get real amber glass lenses for less than what they were being sold as under the name Land Rover.  Also through Moss Motors I was able to get a set of mesh headlight guards for 1/3 the cost the ones labeled 'Land Rover' were selling for.

So, it's not just the secondary market that likes to inflate the prices. 

I mentioned the price discrepancy between the NOS steering columns from the UK I purchased vs the new ones being sold here in the States on Instagram.  I got my head bit off by a person who works for one of the parts dealers when I did this.  He said "cost of shipping drives the price up".  This is true, but then I pointed out that I got 2 columns and several other parts from the UK and that the cost, plus shipping, was less than half the cost of what they were charging for one.  And yes, they have overhead, so that drives the price as well.  The guy just kept trying to give me reason after reason why their prices were so high.  He really didn't like it when I asked why they were higher than their competitors here in the States for the exact same parts, whether genuine LR parts not - he stopped talking to me then.  The company is well known as having the highest prices, to the point of gouging, yet people still buy from them.  That's what I don't understand... why do people still buy from them when they know they can get the same part elsewhere for less.

[agg221]

I didn't comment on how I price things, only on why I wasn't worried about what prices other people choose to put on things.

I tend to split parts into three groups: those which are something I might want to put on a vehicle - those are pretty much not for sale at all, those which I don't need but I had to pay something for, usually because I bought a job lot for the part(s) I really wanted and they came with it, in which case I will look to sell them on to recover my costs and those which don't owe me anything, usually because someone gave them to me alongside something else and I don't need all of them. There are options for this last category and I am considering something - some parts should be coming up in the next few weeks.

What I don't think any of us want to see is requesting parts or selling parts under false pretences. Someone giving the impression that they need a part and then selling it on Ebay at an inflated price will not go down well.

Alec

[w3526602]

Hi,

My father used to recount the story (probably made up) about the time he visited a builder's merchant to buy some house bricks. He was offered two types of brick ... one was twice the price of the other. When he asked what the difference was, he was told that the expensive bricks would last five times as long as the cheaper bricks.

"How long will the expensive bricks last?"

"At least a thousand years!"

Dad bought the cheaper bricks.

The "life" of your rebuilt classic car will probably be decreed by the remaining reserves of fossil fuels ... which might be influenced by both "tree huggers" and "suppliers of essential services".  A single donkey can move a 80-ton canal barge, breed new "power plants", and then you can eat her. Mules are better than horses at everything ... except making new mules. It's a pity that nobody has developed a "draught" pig.(excellent fertiliser, too).

Visions of a S2 Land Rover fitted with "windmill" sails driving the rear axle. The 4x4 version is still at the "doodle on fag packet" stage. 

602

[Sunny Jim]

Someone giving the impression that they need a part and then selling it on Ebay at an inflated price will not go down well.

It didn't - luckily they offered too little for the item, well below the asking price that was already well below what worse condition items were actually selling for on E-bay - unsurprisingly, this was declined, but others must have provided the stock then on sale. Ironically, now knowing the full costs involved they could have paid the asking price and still made a handsome profit on the deal! I have now had the item restored myself and, when it is returned, may do a post on it! The unfortunate knock on effect is an unwillingness to part with items that any buyer could then sell on at a profit, which is sad in the light of the purpose of this Forum!

Sunny Jim

[Peter Holden]

I agree with Jim

Peter

[Sunny Jim]

Had they paid the asking price, they would have still made £325 on their BIN E-bay sale, even allowing for postage etc! That's about a weeks wages for some people.

Sunny Jim