Posted by Mr. Almost Anon on Wednesday, June 27, 2001 at 11:44AM :
In Reply to: Re: Pssst,...... Brian?. posted by Capitalist Buzzard on Tuesday, June 26, 2001 at 6:58PM :
I posted "I realize some folks make their living by offering PW trucks and parts, and they do a good service to the PW community. But there comes a point when they become detrimental and turn into greedy vultures and price gouge."
Note the first sentence about "...they do a good service...". I'm not whining about VPW but the guys who accumulate PW's and jack the prices up so high they rarely seem to be able to sell them. They are the 'black holes' and your statement about their dying off and the widow selling the 'collection' holds true to them. I know of a fellow who has a pile of choice pieces but is waiting for them 'to become valuable' so he can turn a bigger profit. Well buddy, they are valuable NOW. You'll probably see his 'collection' for sale sometime in the next 20 years.
For the record, I've done business with VPW, AB Linn, Vermont Commercial Sales and Dave Cirillo and have zero complaints. OK, VPW is a bit high, but not what I would consider to be price gouging. At least they have a nice catalog so I don't have to email or phone to find out what they stock. But there are some nickel-dimers out there who are trying to make a business out of a hobby. That probably explains why they can sit on it. They aren't feeding their family from the sales proceeds. One fellow near me is sitting on a bunch of Metropolitans (remember those?). Trouble is, he is asking way too much for them. But he has nowhere to properly store them and year by year they are rusting due to rain. I can't see how raising the price every year makes up for the incremental rust damage.
As for pointing fingers, at one time I had a large pile of Ford FE parts (390, 427 & 428). I bought and sold and swapped. I had fun, didn't price gouge, and never expected to turn it into a business. Helped out several racer buddies. Did this all the while I was drag racing. Had a few of the 'vultures' come by to buy parts, as they sensed a killing to be made. I refused to sell to them, and saved the pieces for those who needed them.
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