Cadillac & LaSalle Club Discussion Forum

Cadillac & LaSalle Club Forums => General Discussion => Topic started by: John Morris #23947 on November 07, 2009, 11:48:10 PM

Title: The "Great Jetaway Experiment" Has Failed.
Post by: John Morris #23947 on November 07, 2009, 11:48:10 PM
Well, my attempt to market excellent 56-63 Jetaway parts via Ebay was a dismal non-success. Only 5 out of 17 items sold too cheap. Auctions were well presented, fancy pictures, group & part numbers. I have dozens of these trannys which add up to a lot of nice hard parts. The 1st one of these I took apart years ago amazed me with the large amount of engineering and machining. I was scrapping them before. It is hard to think all these parts are not worth anything. Maybe some of you fellows who have for years been restoring these cars can tell me, are there people out there who need these parts occasionally?

http://completed.shop.ebay.com/zonzloid/m.html?_nkw=&LH_Complete=1&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=50&_sop=1
Title: Re: The "Great Jetaway Experiment" Has Failed.
Post by: The Tassie Devil(le) on November 08, 2009, 12:51:40 AM
Wouldn't go as far as saying "Failed".

But, not as productive as expected.

Have a chat to a few Transmission Shops that concentrate on repairing the old cars.   These parts are getting hard to get hold on, and finding the replacement parts has lead to a lot of unrepaird transmissions, which end up being "Parts Houses" for more transmissions.

Bruce. >:D
Title: Re: The "Great Jetaway Experiment" Has Failed.
Post by: Otto Skorzeny on November 08, 2009, 08:29:00 AM
John, I think there are very few people who work on these transmissions themselves and only a handful that repair them professionally.

Unless someone who is currently rebuilding one happens to see your auction and needed the exact part, I don't think there is anyone who would by them on speculation. Most folks don't even know what those things are or what function the3y serve in the transmission itself.

It's not like a front bumper that they can visualize being damaged in fender bender or something.

If someone does recognize one of those parts as something he needs, chances are there probably wouldn't be anyone else bidding against him.
Title: Re: The "Great Jetaway Experiment" Has Failed.
Post by: Eric S. Maypother #15104 on November 08, 2009, 06:28:22 PM
Hi,
I agree with what the other posters said, plus I'll add on, I also sell car parts on eBay, mostly 10-15 year old headlights, tail lights, mirrors, I find you can have zero bidders 1 week on an item then next week have 3, though most stuff that sells is sold within the first or second auction listing sometimes it's just a matter of waiting till the right person who needs that item to come along, it may be worth your while to open an eBay store, it's like $18 a month, then the items that don't sell on auction can be listed their indefinitely and for a $24.99 item it's 3 cents a month instead of 55 cents a week on auction, I set starting price at the least I'd sell it for on auction, some people have a theory the cheaper the starting price the more the ended sale will be but when your dealing with parts that maybe 1 person in the world needs that week it doesn't work out that way.
Good Luck,
Title: Re: The "Great Jetaway Experiment" Has Failed.
Post by: Doug Houston on November 08, 2009, 09:25:54 PM
If you're selling complete transmissions as wellas parts, there may be a market for those as well.

I have a '56 Cadillac, and would someday like to find a '58 transmission, and a '56 rear housing and shaft. But, the shipping on something like this will be messy at best. So, I haven't pursued it, but it's something that I do need to do.
Title: Re: The "Great Jetaway Experiment" Has Failed.
Post by: Chris Conklin on November 09, 2009, 12:05:13 AM
I think you have a very limited and specific market and you gave it very large exposure. A lot of what you have will likely sit until that very specific need arises and gets posted here.
Title: Re: The "Great Jetaway Experiment" Has Failed.
Post by: The Tassie Devil(le) on November 09, 2009, 01:40:32 AM
The trouble is that a lot of people playing around with these older parts, probably don't have a Computer, let alone use Ebay.

Personally, I would be trying the Self Starter, or even Hemmings.

Bruce. >:D
Title: Re: The "Great Jetaway Experiment" Has Failed.
Post by: Roger Zimmermann on November 09, 2009, 04:08:39 AM
As I do repair and overhaul these transmissions (about 2 per year) as an "entertainment" I know which parts are going bad over the time. I was the the sucessfull bider for 2 items which had to be cheap because shipping costs to Switzerland are almost as expensive as the parts themselves. Anyway, the two items I bought will be stored until one of the transmissions I will rebuild will need them...It's like speculation which can work to me only if the procuct is not too expensive.
John had other parts I would never buy "just in case" because I never had to replace them.
Years ago, I went to flea markets with spare parts. The result was deceiving because people almost never buy parts "in case". Over the time, I switched to paper (owner's manuals, catalogs, shop manuals) and some business can be done because a catalog is a piece interesting to look at, event if the real car is an impossible dream for the buyer.

Roger
Title: Re: The "Great Jetaway Experiment" Has Failed.
Post by: John Morris #23947 on November 09, 2009, 12:05:17 PM
The idea is to compete with Fatsco, not provide him a profit. Selling at 50% their price would tickle me pink. They likely buy whole core trannys and pay scrap weight for the parts. I wanted to supplement my income, and wholesaling these splendid parts is just making someone else money. Hey Roger, I was always wondering which Jetaway parts never wear.Like any machine, it will have some parts that wear out, and others that never need replaced.Some of these assembles look very expensive to build.
Title: Re: The "Great Jetaway Experiment" Has Failed.
Post by: Roger Zimmermann on November 09, 2009, 12:16:23 PM
A governor...Sure, it may fail, but unlikely. The rear gear set: here too, there can be too much play in the pinions requesting replacement. On the transmissions I had to repair, these parts were good. However, I had 2 bad oil pumps and 2 or 3 bad fluid couplings. The central support can go wrong, but I have a NOS in stock.
If you are known as a good supplier for transmission parts you will sell them, but I have doubts that you can succeed on eBay. Don't forget that Pontiac and Oldsmobile had the same transmissions!

Roger
Title: Re: The "Great Jetaway Experiment" Has Failed.
Post by: mgrab on November 09, 2009, 01:42:18 PM
The governor in my Olds failed....well sort of.  Car was going about 60-65 mph on bridge and car dropped out of gear.  Apparently a loose bolt wedged itself against the governor and housing causing drive key to shear apart.  I lucked out I found a NOS one for $3 in the original wrapper.  Only time it ever broke down...

If I were to buy transmission parts I would look for NOS first then used as a last resort.....lot of work to tear back down if part is bad.  I would love to have a spare, but as stated above....logistics is a nightmare and real pain to shuffle around the garage....and personally I don't buy on speculation either.  These transmissions are very tough....I wait for the problem to come my way first.
Title: Re: The "Great Jetaway Experiment" Has Failed.
Post by: Walter Youshock on November 09, 2009, 07:40:01 PM
My '57 broke a front sprag less than a mile from my house.  I got the car home in 2nd gear and then drove it to the trans shop before the clutch plates burned up. 

NOS was the only way to go for those parts.