Autojumbles - Selling Parts

Author
Discussion

KTMsm

Original Poster:

27,676 posts

270 months

Wednesday 1st May
quotequote all
I have a huge range of car parts from my late father: wheels, gearboxes, engines, panels, lights etc

30s to 70s cars

I've seen Stratford on Avon Autojumble is on in May and wondered if it's worth taking a stall and trying to sell some parts

It says its for cars and bikes but it's mostly bikes in the pictures

Has anyone done similar recently - I don't want to go if I'm only likely to sell £200 of parts, I've probably got £10k worth

Any experiences of it or others - I'm based in Warwickshire


Huntsman

8,206 posts

257 months

Wednesday 1st May
quotequote all
My observation of going to the Beaulieu autojumble for 30 years is that most of the stuff is there year after year and very little sells.

I've been selling boat jumble lately and had good success on ebay, I gave up on ebay a few years back, but seems much better now for old stuff.


MrBig

3,123 posts

136 months

Wednesday 1st May
quotequote all
No experience of selling I'm afraid, but this one is fairly local and well attended (assuming its not bucketing it down).

https://davidfreerevents.co.uk/a47-auto-jumble/

Huntsman

8,206 posts

257 months

Wednesday 1st May
quotequote all
Might be worth selling as a job lot, you'd get a lost less money, but a lot less work.

harrycovert

452 posts

183 months

Wednesday 1st May
quotequote all
I have a collection of mainly Jaguar parts who buys job lots of these?

austin

1,304 posts

210 months

Wednesday 1st May
quotequote all
I'm currently selling loads of old car / bike bits and have been using eBay / Facebook. FB is tedious question wise and a bit flaky as people don't turn up etc.

eBay seems to be going well at the moment, try and wait for offers on reduced fees if you can.

I've got a routine of taking photos in the morning and the researching / listing in the afternoon.

Using Royal Mail click and collect as all you do is pay online, package up and put outside somewhere and the postman picks it up.

markymarkthree

2,545 posts

178 months

Wednesday 1st May
quotequote all
You will get the best price for stuff that is ok to post (not to heavy) on EBAY.

Bulky stuff i sell at jumbles and usually come home with a grand or so.
Not sure how far it is for you but i would do NORMOUS NEWARK.
https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=d762259604c...

b2hbm

1,293 posts

229 months

Thursday 2nd May
quotequote all
^^^ Newark is a good one, very easy access from the A1 and usually well attended.

Haven't been in the last couple of years but when we did it was more cars than bikes and although there are always stalls of tools/modern stuff there was a good mix of restoration gear. If your stock is new to the market/scarce you might even sell out to traders before it opens to the public ?

KTMsm

Original Poster:

27,676 posts

270 months

Thursday 2nd May
quotequote all
Thanks all, I've been using eBay and it's very slow going mostly because the stuff is all large, panels etc. that I don't want to send

I've sold stuff on Facebook before - I'd rather scrap the lot, than do that again

The other problem with eBay is I don't know what half of it is

I'll give one of those bigger shows a try


Retro_Jim

442 posts

58 months

Thursday 2nd May
quotequote all
Newark has been in decline for a while, it seems to be more random stuff - there was a chap selling merry go round horses and Mrs. Jim bought a Eucalyptus tree.

Why not contact a few owners clubs and see if that generates some interest?

KTMsm

Original Poster:

27,676 posts

270 months

Thursday 2nd May
quotequote all
Retro_Jim said:
Newark has been in decline for a while, it seems to be more random stuff - there was a chap selling merry go round horses and Mrs. Jim bought a Eucalyptus tree.

Why not contact a few owners clubs and see if that generates some interest?
Tried that and you just get people asking for a left-handed widget from some obscure model that I wouldn't know what one was if it bit me on the arse

I have 70% of a matra 501 - I think there are 3 in the UK - no one wants to buy the spares until they need them


tapkaJohnD

1,993 posts

211 months

Thursday 2nd May
quotequote all
KTMsm,
Are all the items form a particular make of car? If you don't know, was your Dad fond of one make?

Most Car Clubs will have a big summer meeting at which they hold an Autojumble. Ask to have a stall at the appropriate club, to recycle your parts back into the right environment.

John

KTMsm

Original Poster:

27,676 posts

270 months

Thursday 2nd May
quotequote all
tapkaJohnD said:
KTMsm,
Are all the items form a particular make of car? If you don't know, was your Dad fond of one make?

Most Car Clubs will have a big summer meeting at which they hold an Autojumble. Ask to have a stall at the appropriate club, to recycle your parts back into the right environment.

John
Far from it - he was a classic car dealer for 40 years

Probably have parts from 100 different cars

SS427 Camaro

6,504 posts

177 months

Thursday 2nd May
quotequote all
KTMsm said:
Far from it - he was a classic car dealer for 40 years

Probably have parts from 100 different cars
Not “ Bob R.I. Johnson “ ?


Edited by SS427 Camaro on Thursday 2nd May 22:28

tapkaJohnD

1,993 posts

211 months

Friday 3rd May
quotequote all
KTMsm said:
Far from it - he was a classic car dealer for 40 years
Probably have parts from 100 different cars
Wow! In that case, I would suggest that you catalogue them, and take marque specific parts to the appropriate owners clubs shows.

Or, as suggested above, sell them on eBay. If you have heavy items, engines etc. then you may have to insist that a buyer collects, but the Bay might be more convenient than visiting multiple shows.
But please don't scrap them! There might be some gens in there!

JOhn

KTMsm

Original Poster:

27,676 posts

270 months

Friday 3rd May
quotequote all
You're missing the point that I don't know what cars they are from

I simply don't have the time (or inclination) to go through it all

larrylamb11

626 posts

258 months

Friday 3rd May
quotequote all
The other option would be to consign the lot to one of the specialist auctioneers and let them deal with it... There are several Classic Car and similar auctioneers that will sell parts in their sales. You won't get as much £ by some margin, but it'll deal with the whole lot in one go.

OutInTheShed

9,376 posts

33 months

Saturday 4th May
quotequote all
The obvious thing to do would be to contact all the likely businesses who deal in such parts.

Possibly an autojumble would be an opportunity to meet a few dealers.

Like any other selling operation, the more effort you put in the more money you might make.
But if the money is not there to justify the effort, you may as well flog it cheap as a job lot.

It might be worth a chat with a few people at motor museums?
Some of them must deal a few excess parts and have lots of contacts?
Some knowledgeable volunteers who'd put the hours in?
Maybe they'd accept some parts as a donation?
Maybe you like to donate some to owners clubs or something?


Memo to self: Tidy up business interests while still alive and well!

I-am-the-reverend

919 posts

42 months

Saturday 4th May
quotequote all
Autojumbles are largely a waste of time, for buying at least.

Every vendor 'knows what it's worth' which is why they take most of it home.

I would go to Beaulieu or similar and take the first offer on anything. People get bargains, you gain money. Make it crystal clear that you want it gone. Don't be standoffish like most of them.

As for identifying parts, the buyers will do that.