If you’re a real do-it-yourselfer, the kind of person who tackles scores of jobs in a year and has lots of fun doing it, chances are you have some pieces left over at the end of each project. Restoring a vintage car is a perfect example. Amateur restorers know that they need to buy hard-to-find used parts when they see them, not necessarily when they need them. If you wait until you need it, you may be waiting a long time.

As a result, do it yourselfers often end up with a pretty big collection of spare parts laying around. Eventually, they may realize that this collection of spare bits is getting a little out of hand, or they have so many duplicates of parts that they can stand to thin the herd a bit. This serves the dual purpose of freeing up always needed space in the garage or storage unit, and also makes the seller a little extra money that he or she can then pour into their current projects. It’s a win either way in most cases. 

Photographs:
The most important part of your eBay listing is the collection of photos you present to potential buyers. It may seem like your description would trump the pics, but it simply doesn’t. If your pics looks bad, chances are nobody will even bother to click on the part unless it’s so hard to find yours is the only available option. This is seldom the case, so the pic that buyers see when they are scrolling their search results is your one chance to draw them into your listing.

 

Before you start taking any pictures, you need to clean, inspect and otherwise prep the part you’ll be selling. It may not seem like it matters whether or not a used car part is clean, but a clean part gives the impression it was removed before it was abused or broken. It also allows potential buyers to really see what they’re buying. Cleaning your part is also your best opportunity to make sure there’s nothing obviously wrong with it. Believe me, you don’t want to sell a part that’s broken unless buyers know it ahead of time. It’s not cool, and you won’t do it more than once or twice before the word is out that you are a bad seller. This is why a proper representation of your part — both visually and in your description — is super important. 

Description:
The way you describe your part can make or break the actual sale. Your clean part and great pics led the buyer to your listing, now you need to seal the deal with a good description. Description length is important. Too short and you seem like your not sure what you’re selling. Too long and buyers get bored. In fact, the entire description is a balancing act. You want to be sure to disclose anything that you know is wrong with the part, but you don’t want to spend an entire paragraph beating it up verbally. Keep in mind that your buyer has found your part by searching for it specifically, and they don’t need a history lesson or infomercial on what the part does. Stick to the specifics of your part when compared to a new part. 

Payment:
Unless you need money badly, there’s no reason to limit your payment methods. I love PayPal, but they do take a percentage of the payment. I’m always happy to accept a personal check as long as the buyer is ok with waiting for it to clear before I ship the part. 

Shipping:
Try to get as real a shipping cost as possible. I prefer to set a fixed shipping rate for the entire country. If you go with this method, pick a part of the country that is far from you and calculate it to that point. If you can weigh the part, add 2-3 pounds for shipping materials. UPS offers $100 in automatic shipping insurance, USPS is less than that. FYI, I have had great results in collecting from a UPS damage or loss claim, far less success when trying to collect from the postal service. And pack it well! 

Time to clean out! You can also sell your car online!