Being that after market automotive parts is a billion dollar a year industry and there really is no set market value for used parts. Why is it when i buy a part for top dollar it has little to no value once i've taken it off the shelf? Usually a manufacture factors in there cost to make the product then it is shipped to a vendor then both parties factor in their overhead then add their mark up and then still must stay competitive in their pricing. I firmly believe in personalizing ones vehicle but at what cost. I've been doing it for almost 15 years and every new car i get I tell myself im not gonna spend as much $ on it but as others do i get bored looking at the same platform. My gripe is an after market part has a set price but when purchased no matter the condition even if bnib even if one lowers the price to 25% below retail there will be little to no interest in buying it. In a lot of cases after market parts fetch a higher price than oem parts which do have a value.No matter what the part whether its $10 or $10k it has no trade-in value and the buyer must succumb to what someone is willing to pay him for it. I have now chosen to purchase used parts but for the most part being that the z is a rear wheel sports car most of the good stuff is either in cali. or florida(factor in shipping). Yes there is no set market price for these parts so they're essentially worth what someone is willing to spend on them but why is it sooo much less than the top dollar that manufactures ask for them even when sold as bnib. Yes this does apply to most items sold in the U.S but for the most part we spend the most $ modding our cars aside from our homes which do have value. Yes there is piece of mind when buying new parts from a vendor instead of from joe smoe. So while on their shelves the part is worth top dollar but once i give my hard earned money for it the value has fallen to much less than wholesale. I'd like to know others take on the matter. Mods this is probably in the wrong section but I didnt know where it fell under.

 

Its a select market......despite the fact that aftermarket parts is a "billion dollar industry", when a person goes to sell a car specific aftermarket part, say an eibach rear camber kit NEW IN BOX.

It's still 3rd party sales, internet sales, its car specific (our case 350z) and if its not on ebay its on a forum, so the demand is low, exposure is low and risk is high in buying from "some dude on the internet".........

if its anywhere near retail, its not worth it.....so the price suffers for the seller..


-J

 

So what you're saying is once you buy a part, it's worth a lot less if you try to sell it, right? I thought this was something everyone was aware of and accepted. If you want to save money and take a risk, buy used parts. But if you want a guarantee behind it, buy new from the vendor. It's the same concept as buying and selling cars.

If you wanna see getting on prices, look at computer parts.

Please correct me if I'm wrong because I don't fully get it

 

Look at it this way...

You have a BNIB part that you sell. I buy it and it fails so I contact the manufacturer and they say sure they'll replace it, do I have a copy of your receipt to prove it's still in warranty. No, you have that. I contact you and it turns out that even though it's BNIB, you bought it two years ago so it's out of warranty. Hence I'm screwed.

Or let say you sold me a set of wheels. One gets damaged or lost in shipping. Insurance covers it but now I have three wheels. Do you have another to replace it, of course not. So now I have to pay retail or top dollar to buy one wheel and maybe wait three months for it to come from Japan.

There are dozens of scenarios that could occur but it all boils down to risk mitigation. You can't offer the same service and support as a real business can. You paid them for that lower risk but it's not something you can pass the cost onto a subsequent buyer. The higher risk of dealing with you lowers the value of what you're selling.

 

unless i physically see a used part in person, and can verify its condition and usability myself with my own eyes, i usually buy all new parts for the reason dave said above. in addition, cars and car parts are a fully and constantly depreciating market (at least on a relative short-term basis), and like said above, i thought we all were very well aware of that. at least i am. whether I buy new or used car parts, i go into the purchase with the full expectation of getting zero value out of what I buy. I am therefore usually quite content with whatever I get out of selling a part at some point in the future, knowing that I have gotten what I needed out of it.

 

The other part of this discussion has to do with trade-in value with dealers. Aftermarket parts are never given appropriate value because dealers need trade-ins to make them money. It's that simple. You'll never get full (or even part) value for aftermarket parts because dealers need to buy low and sell high.

More importantly, our need to personalize our vehicles is, IMHO where the real value of these parts lie. If I enjoy having a car modded to my personal tastes and no one else has such a unique Z, then that is worth quite a bit to me. If, and when I sell the car, I might be lucky enough to find a buyer who also appreciates what I've done with my car. But that's only with a private sale. You'll NEVER find that buyer in a trade-in deal...

 

on the same token, the parts are not worth a pretty penny used cause sometimes the manufactures go out of business or are not around anymore.........it doesnt make them rare unless they are a unique special part.

for instance there are a lot of small aftermarket companies that are usually one man shops with a welder.......some slightly bigger, but say like Battle version or Kirk racing roll bars.....(not to demean them, just using an example)

Camber and toe arms (battle version) can be purchased by many other manufactures and a roll bars (kirk) can be made by a local welder........so neither products are worth a dammn later down the road.........a used part is a used part, thus unless its a deal..........most wont buy..

In the end, were talking about a CAR, typically a depreciating asset......
The goods added to it, depreciate as well....

-J

 

all that pretty much explains why such places like E-bay, and Craigs List were created.

Another mans junk is another mans treasure! And another mans treasure can be junk once received but hey that is the risks!!

 

Yes i totally agree with the customer having the piece of mind of buying brand new parts including having a receipt to cover him on his end from being screwed. Yes when one sells parts on a forum there is only a very small amount of people actually seeing it. idk it just seems like parts can be equated to a dealership give us top dollar for our car but where gonna give you pennies on the dollar for yours. When driven off the lot even if its only a matter of feet the car just depreciated a certain amount.

 

yes it is a gamble buying parts from a private seller but even now a days buying from a vendor seems to be a crap shoot also. Doesnt it **** you guys of though that all the $ we spend modding our cars that only pennies on the dollar can be recuperated once we decide to sell the parts no matter the condition. The ones that decide not to be bothered by parting the car out get murdered on the price of there car just, visit the classified section at any given time.

 

The last part is a common misunderstanding of vehicle depreciation. It has nothing to do with "driving off the lot." that is just an expression. The depreciation has to do with the fact that somebody owned it. it is no longer new, it is now a used car. The risks explained above have to do with that, not with driving it off the lot. Otherwise, let's take a quick test drive of a Ferrari over and over again and then buy it for $10! The driving of the car a few feet does not depreciate it. The fact that someone owned it depreciates it.

BTW, this applies almost to any industry, not just cars and car parts. My used clothes are less valuable to you than new clothes from a store.

 

Exactly, once it's titled, it's considered used. It doesn't matter if it's driven off the lot or not.

 

i think hes refering to the lack of value mods add to the car, in some cases a lightly modded car is worth less than a 100% stock one. its an odd industry for sure in terms of the mindset; spend money with a guarantee of no return whatsoever

 

Yea. However if everyone modified their cars correctly and kept them in 100% running condition when they resold them, I am sure the values of reselling cars with mods would go up. People are afraid to buy modified cars (usually) because they don't know if it's going to blow up as soon as they pay for it. I know this won't happen, but it's my two cents on why price drop so much.

 

It's not so much getting screwed as it is screwing yourself. You pay for the stuff, and you pay again when it comes time to sell your car with the stuff on it.

Most people associate modifications with hard driving and abuse of the car, and they're not willing to pay top dollar (or even average dollar) for a car with that dark cloud hanging over it.

I think you probably eliminate about 75% of potential used car buyers when you mod your car, and the other 25% know they've got you over the barrel.

 

I had started a thread not too long ago which was about how come most guys sell there cars once the modding or vision was complete. The general consensus was the planning and anticipation is what we were after yes the the final image is nice but its the age old saying of we want what we dont have and once we have it well you know the rest. Im not opposed to buying a modded car minus an FI car that wasnt oem. Like most on this site looking at a stock body gets old real quick and even before we buy a car we're planning what we're gonna do to it. idk my major gripe is how come that part is worth so much while its on the shelf but yet worth so little once i purchase it even if its bnib somethings wrong here. Yes I can decide to not mod my cars which would be the best financial decision but we all know that isnt possible.

 

I think it has to do with the fact that for most people, the time frame from start to finish of what you get in the beginning (brand new car) and what you finish with in the end (vision completed) takes so long that you get tired of it and by then there is something bigger and better out there, or they just get tired of trying to finish it and figure its better to cut the losses and move on. I've owned my Z for over four years and its taken me most of them to get it where it is now and there is still a ton of stuff I want to do. The car will be paid off hopefully this year and that is what I'm looking foward to most right now.

Very little you buy appreciates after you buy it, most stuff depreciates in value. Not much you can do about it, its the nature of things. But you make it sound like its this drastic drop. I see people selling used Volks for nearly the cost new, rare body parts for top dollar, etc. Sometimes its more about the quality of the product that is being sold.

 

Modifying your car is for leisure, you do it for pleasure. It is not an investment. We don't modify our cars in hopes for a financial return.

 

after reading the first line, all i have to say is used market value is determined by the users of the product, not the producer. lets say there was this worldwide conspiracy that everyone selling used big brake kits decided to from one point on sell the kit for only 15% off the price they paid new. if everyone followed the rule and people didnt try to undercut each other, then from that point on, the used value of BBKs would be 15% off retail, not 40% or 30% off like most used parts

 

If you look at the drag times on this site. The fastest stock time beats the fastest bolt on time...