SELLING CAR PARTS ONLINE
Are you into automotive and want to make some extra cash? Selling car parts online is not that hard.
We originally purchased a Datsun 280ZX project car for only $1800. We planned to restore it, but we later found that the chassis was bent pretty bad. So we decided to see if we could part the Datsun out for a profit. Our goal is to make at least $3,000 in profit. Let’s see if we can hit that target.
THE INITIAL BREAKDOWN
We started by assessing what parts we could sell and how much we could make on each part. The best way to do this is by searching eBay for the identical part with the completed/sold listings filter enabled.
You can also place another filter for parts which sold in the last two months.
Make sure to look for parts that have recently sold which can indicate that there’s a higher demand for the part. We were pleasantly surprised by the results. Here’s the price for some of the parts from our Datsun 280ZX turbo variant:
ECU/ECM Computer: $200-350
Turbo Valve Cover: $100-200
Primary Wire Harness: $80-150
Secondary Wire Harness: $50-100
Headlights: $50-100 for pair
Taillights: $50-100 for pair
We had dozens of other miscellaneous parts that are going anywhere from $25-$100 too.
After tallying up all the parts prices on eBay, we found that we could make about $5000 in total. This included selling the engine block, cylinder head, and automatic transmission we originally bought for $250.
The BIGGEST downside to selling on eBay is they take around 15% in fees.
Make sure you also calculate the shipping costs. You can include shipping in the price or pass on the shipping price to the buyer.
Just remember, customers are going to look at the overall price including shipping compared to other listings. If your price is higher than other listings, you won’t be able to sell your part unless its rare.
eBay fees/taxes vary too. Here’s a breakdown of some Datsun mirrors we sold:
We always bake shipping into the price. This makes things a little easier for a customer comparing listing prices.
We also opt for flat-rate shipping. If you purchase the shipping label through eBay, they also provide a discount. So if you look at our $79 part sold our total earnings after fees, taxes, and shipping was $57.65. This is about 27% gone. You also have to calculate the initial part cost.
If you can sell your parts on Facebook Marketplace, that would remove your shipping and fees. However, that comes with a few more pain points and also decreases the size of buyers.
Once we finished stripping the rest of the parts from our parts car, we had a local scrap yard tow the body away for free. Basic math tells us you should allocate 30% of your potential profits for shipping, fees, and taxes if selling on eBay.
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