The Used Parts Market & Resellers

[dizzariot]

We've been having a talk about the YAJ thread and some recent happenings within the used-parts market. In an effort to not be the one that posts the direct link, I'll summarize it:

Someone goes to get some parts for their car, is pissed at the reseller's price (and his rejected offer) , and then posts a full article listing all of the known ways to get parts from Japan in an effort to 'eliminate the middleman' and bring balance to the used parts market.

Points to be made:

1.) If the price is too high, what do you think is going to happen when the bids are driven up due to more bidders being present?

2.) The reseller obviously knows about one of the listed avenues, how many more resell pages will be created by this article?

3.) If you don't want 'fly-by-night-fuckboys' to have an easy leg-up, then (again) what is the point of this article?

I thought we'd move the talk here. How do you feel about this shit?

I used to just think 'fuck it, man...it is what it is' but now I'm starting to think that as a collective we can stem the tide a little. Personal attacks are always expected, but it would be cool if we could just have a heated debate about this shit instead of devolving into the whole 'it's just business' or 'don't knock the hustle' or 'you're obviously threatened' lines that normally accompany this argument.

[dizzariot]

The way I think it breaks down is kind of simple. I'll list them in order from least to most money made:

1.) People that have access to YAJ and buy stuff at a fixed commission (like Jesse) for their immediate acquaintances.

2.) People that buy stuff they intend to use, and then sell it for a markup when they decide not to use it.

3.) People that start resale pages to charge more than a few times what they paid for an item.

[Almighty So]

That article is so dumb. I’m more upset about the flawed logic than the “secret” getting out.

Like you mentioned before, people with brains already knew all of this info so it’s not like we never had competition to begin with. (Although more first-timers who just want some IG cred are going to follow the article step by step )

As far as the 1, 2, 3 you have listed there, I draw the line at 2. I have purchased items that I want to use and generally when it comes time to sell, the goal is to make your money back. If you don’t lose on shipping, it’s a win. Any extra on top, it’s a win.

My main issue would be people who buy items strictly with the intentions of mark-up and profit. That isn’t cool imo. If you have no intentions of using the item, send the link to a friend who might be interested. Don’t buy it and offer it to them for double.

[Almighty So]

On the other hand I do believe there is a silver lining and genuine people on the market providing a true service.
Someone like Yokoworks. It’s hard to see sometimes with certain sellers, but I feel yokoworks is legitimately attempting to bring cool product to American consumers who would otherwise not have the chance to buy said items.
Barely scraping any profit just to bring cool/rare parts to the community is a pretty awesome/time consuming service with no real benefits.
It’s a shame that scummy resellers will wear the same mask of “helping” you on their mark-up item pages.

[deolio]

just buy shit new. keep the industry alive. /thread

[Almighty So]

I can agree with that. Bought my ings skirts brand new. Support where you can ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
But a lot of parts I enjoy are also old and discontinued. No options other than second-hand purchases.

[tuzzio]

I'm all for the people bringing containers of cool shit over or stocking cool parts (garageattack, wolfreign motors, etc.)

but the fuckin mhubeny's are what irritates me.

Half of me dislikes the fact that I don't have instagram cause I see people posting cool stuff there for sale all the time, the other half of me still hates instagram. I already spend too much money on my car.

I'm not gonna name names, but theres some shit that gets posted on here that is mind blowing. Seriously, $1,000 for s13 light up louvers? LMAO.

[yunglinguine]

@zer0dimes is a scum YAJ reseller, I want to see his head on a pike.


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[Almighty So]

Boy if u don’t get yo

[tb13]

Its hilarious to think that dude wanted to "Get rid of the middle man", you still need a middle man to get parts from Japan most of the time. That proxy service website is a middle man, your buddy in Japan is a middle man, Streeter is a middle man. That guy just made a post whining about the shit he was promoting at the same time...

The pricing increase on parts isn't because there is a middle man anyway, its all of the hype around specific shit that was only ever originally sold in Japan. Fan boys get hardons for the stuff and the price jumps 5x seemingly overnight. Capitalism at its finest ladies and gentlemen!

I figured out how to do it on my own years ago because I wanted something I could not buy in the states, period. I've brought a lot of shit over and sold some of it, but I've never been in it for making money. Recently I just use my setup accounts to help friends get parts they want and don't charge them anything. I don't deserve a cut for having an account on xxxxx.jp.co, I just like cool parts and seeing others happy to be able to own them.

[Almighty So]

Originally Posted by tb13

That guy just made a post whining about the shit he was promoting at the same time...

Thank god other people can see this. I pointed this out to him and he deleted my comment lol.

Originally Posted by tb13

. I don't deserve a cut for having an account on xxxxx.jp.co, I just like cool parts and seeing others happy to be able to own them.

Good man

[dizzariot]

The biggest problem with all of this shit is how people adopt the attitude that they can't make a change in all of this. It's so defeatist and it really just perpetuates the problem.

People like to say that this is the 'future' and we either need to 'stop bitching' or just get on board with it. How fucking stupid is that? If enough people actually do something about it (like Hiroshi/runningfree86's IG post) then maybe this shit can AT LEAST be slowed down.

There aren't any super rare parts I want when I think about it. Old Nismo logo stuff is alright, old OEM stuff is pretty cool, and discontinued parts are fun to hunt for...but there's nothing I can think of that I really want at this moment. So if I'm essentially at my personal finish line, why would I just sit back and watch things get shittier and shittier for the people that are just starting?

I always see these reseller dudes masquerading as heroes: self-proclaimed saviors of the used-parts market because they bring a 'valuable service' to 'those in need'. So they buy parts for cheap and sell them for 2-3 times what they paid and make people think they're getting a good deal. Win-win, right? Happy customers, guy is making stupid money, all good? Now what happens when someone goes to get the same part later on? All of these fucking cocksuckers say their prices are warranted due to supply and demand. They honestly don't realize that by poaching the fucking supply the demand is rising and the demand DIRECTLY correlates to the market price.

So who the fuck are they helping? If their buy-in was once cheap , now it's super fucking high. At that point (since these are just young dudes that fancy themselves 'entrepreneurs' and not legitimate businessmen) they cut themselves off from the market because either their profit markets shrink or they raise the prices to levels that even the dumbest motherfucker won't pay.

The other thing they frequently try to use as a scapegoat is the fact that they think they're 'teaching a younger generation' how to do it right. What are you teaching them? That you can throw a fuckton of money at some cunt's marked-up parts and gain scene points? Why not suggest some magazines or old Option videos? They can join a forum, ask what part this is they saw in whatever video, and start a rapport with their community. Zilvia is quick to weed out assholes that want to be spoon-fed or are too impatient to post these questions in the right thread but whenever someone gets it right and asks for help in the right place, people help. If we're truly the 'shittiest forum' then why can we get it right sometimes?

The dude that wrote the article is so fucking pretentious it makes me sick. Reading his personal biography as well as the website's fucking 'mission statement' is a God damn joke.

Mission statement:

"----- is the intersection of car life and knowledge. We see ourselves as automotive stewards, historians, enthusiasts, teachers and learners all at the same time. We’ve been involved with Japanese cars for a significant part of our lives and feel that there has always been a void in the representation of cars that hail from NYC and the surrounding areas."


The author's biography:


"---- comes from a background in academia and consistently pursues the development of a community both with his work in academia and his interest in all things motor. It is this community which he believes will help preserve automotive history and knowledge, priming a future generation of enthusiasts to expand and improvise on previous builds. Through his lens, he captures fleeting moments as car enthusiasts build, break and rebuild their creations as a means to preserve and express what the enthusiast originally intended. He finds his daily inspiration from the merging of cultures, mainly the transfer of street culture to the front stage of art, food and design. Consequently, nothing is more relevant to this merging than automotive builds meant for the street."


These are all my opinions. You're welcome to share yours and I hope you do regardless of what side you fall on.

[Reece]

That article gave me fucking cancer.
I can't wait to see the new wave of Hubeny dipshits nown that the "secret" is out. Can't wait for the day where parts on YAJ cost more than stateside parts. Also can't wait to see the super fucking ridiculous "if it's Japanese it's obviously cool" builds.

[!Zar!]

Humans are parasites. This isn't news.

86 dude was crying about some used ass Levin headlights being shipped to America.

Too bad he missed the mark since Toyota still sells them BRAND NEW at the dealership.

[Almighty So]

Originally Posted by Reece

Can't wait for the day where parts on YAJ cost more than stateside parts.

Too late lol!
I see lots of shift knobs, horn buttons, nismo items, etc for what I would consider average stateside, if not more!
$100 prompt-decision for a grex knob?
Japanese see resellers prices and don’t want to be left out on that money.

Originally Posted by !Zar!

86 dude was crying about some used ass Levin headlights being shipped to America.

Too bad he missed the mark since Toyota still sells them BRAND NEW at the dealership.

I don’t think his beef is specifically over a few pairs of headlights. I know that’s what the original post was but the way he speaks of the 86 market and used parts in general lead me to believe he’s looking at the bigger picture.
Also, if perfectly fine used headlights are available, dealership prices aren’t always everyone’s first thought. I understand supporting Toyota and buying new but there are plenty of scenarios where brand new headlights for a 30 year old car that was probably less than a months salary isn’t usually a priority.

[Reece]

Originally Posted by Almighty So

Too late lol!
I see lots of shift knobs, horn buttons, nismo items, etc for what I would consider average stateside, if not more!
$100 prompt-decision for a grex knob?
Japanese see resellers prices and don’t want to be left out on that money.

Literally made a Facebook post about this a week ago, in 2014 I bought a BNIB Grex knob for $30, used it for a few months, and sold it to hotrodjoseph for $30.
Last week I saw a used, scratched up Grex sell for 95. Nice ones for over 100. What the fuck.
There is literally NO reason for that. The only reason why it's happening is because of these new dumbasses coming in and inflating the price.
I've seen this happen so many times with so many things.

[ZenkiKid]

Originally Posted by Reece

Literally made a Facebook post about this a week ago, in 2014 I bought a BNIB Grex knob for $30, used it for a few months, and sold it to hotrodjoseph for $30.
Last week I saw a used, scratched up Grex sell for 95. Nice ones for over 100. What the fuck.

SAME. I bought a brand new grex knob for around the same price in like 2010 and seeing how much they go for now makes my head spin.

I bought a few things off of YAJ and to be honest I never really thought I got that good a deal on stuff after commission fees and shipping.

Whenever local car guys brought up possibly buying stuff on YAJ I always tell them my personal rule of thumb that after everything prepare to pay about double what you won the item for.

[Jo_Galezo]

Whats happening now with these parts is basically whats happening with sneakers or supreme or clothes in general. Something limited/rare comes out and then people come in and buy out the whole supply & sell them for 4x the price because they know others want it and will pay the price & sadly with these parts. Alot of people don't care enough to spend how ever many days/weeks looking everywhere themselves to find a part & the second they see it pop up. No matter the price they'll buy it. And yeah the only way to stop it is to stop paying those prices but sadly that's something that will never be in our control :/ because the normal person is way to impulsive and impatient and does no research on what something should cost.


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[tuzzio]

This thread immediately brings one user on here to mind. Dudes prices are real irritating.

Anyways, I have no issues with the people that are buying stuff cheaper than market value and selling it for market value. Its the people charging 5-600 for ganadors.

[Jake12]

Originally Posted by Reece

That article gave me fucking cancer.
I can't wait to see the new wave of Hubeny dipshits nown that the "secret" is out. Can't wait for the day where parts on YAJ cost more than stateside parts. Also can't wait to see the super fucking ridiculous "if it's Japanese it's obviously cool" builds.

Read that article.... scrolled down to your comment and nearly died.
I got some carbon blue Lens s14 ganadors in 2013 from gtr garage for 325 or 350 bucks. I sold them last year for about the same given it was kind of a package deal with my pal Kam (boostaddict).
I looked at it this way.
1) I pretty much made my money back.
2) I helped a good friend out
3) they went to a cool car

Win win for both parties.

[Y0SH]

Originally Posted by dizzariot

If we're truly the 'shittiest forum'

JZXPronect holds that title. You can’t take that away from use.

[souljaseth33]

I have always enjoyed going to YAJ for parts, but over the past year or so I've noticed the prices creeping up. If I sell an item purchased from over there, its sold at or below what I paid. Most recent thing was a Do-Luck grill that I sold less than paid for.

I even go there for Harley parts since my bike is discontinued & more popular in Japan lol

[CamryOnBronze]

Originally Posted by tuzzio

Anyways, I have no issues with the people that are buying stuff cheaper than market value and selling it for market value. Its the people charging 5-600 for ganadors.

If I can post a pair of Ganador mirrors I have decided not to use for sale on Instagram for $550 shipped and sell them within 20 minutes, I am going to do it. There are plenty of other ways I can help the community, like posting useful part numbers when I find them and answering every PM I receive from someone asking me a question about these cars. Taking a loss on parts or selling things for under the market value to help people out is not something that fits into my budget right now, as nice as that would be.

However, I don't disagree with you. It sucks S13 Ganador mirrors go for $450+ all day when they used to be $200 a few years back. I don't really have a good explanation for why this shift has taken place, but it's the reality we live in I guess.

I do kind of feel the whole sense of the community and what is going on is blown a bit out of proportion though. The S chassis community is a small one in the grand scheme of things, and the people that want these old "2001 Golden Era" parts are a very small portion of that already small community. Sometimes it feels like we all get so bent out of shape about things that impact such a small number of people because we are so consumed by/obsessed with this hobby. Maybe it's the fact that I have a family now and my priorities have shifted (but don't mistake this for a lack of motivation and interest in these cars), but it's not something I really find myself getting upset/worked up about.

[sidewaysil80]

Hell, I can't get over how much bricks are going for. I remember when mint sets were like $200-$300 through various importers. It's 3x that now..

Originally Posted by tuzzio

Anyways, I have no issues with the people that are buying stuff cheaper than market value and selling it for market value. Its the people charging 5-600 for ganadors.

It is what it is, that's the beauty of capitalism. If someone is willing to pay that amount, someone will charge that amount. If not and the product sits idle, they will have to adjust their price.

[Almighty So]

Originally Posted by CamryOnBronze

. Taking a loss on parts or selling things for under the market value to help people out is not something that fits into my budget right now, as nice as that would be.
.

the people that want these old "2001 Golden Era" parts are a very small portion of that already small community. .

I agree with these statements.
Selling ganadors for a loss wouldn’t be logical. I’m just not with actively hunting all cheap pairs of ganadors for profit when I already have mirrors if that makes sense.

Second part is surprisingly true. I usually don’t post items until they’re in my possession and lots of people still end up asking me where I got it. I usually assume they would have seen the auction. But stepping back to think about it, I don’t spend everyday on the auctions either so I miss a ton of good stuff too.

[gbaby2089]

Originally Posted by Reece

That article gave me fucking cancer.
I can't wait to see the new wave of Hubeny dipshits nown that the "secret" is out. Can't wait for the day where parts on YAJ cost more than stateside parts. Also can't wait to see the super fucking ridiculous "if it's Japanese it's obviously cool" builds.

The ironing.

http://www.jdmchicago.com/forums/sho...ve-title-here*

On-topic, it is amazing how many parts people are paying more than new prices for....on things that are still available brand new.

[Reece]

Originally Posted by gbaby2089

The ironing.

http://www.jdmchicago.com/forums/sho...ve-title-here*

On-topic, it is amazing how many parts people are paying more than new prices for....on things that are still available brand new.

So a car that I put together when I was 16 years old is somehow relevant to anything in this thread? I fail to see what this comment is supposed to mean lmao.

[tb13]

Oh man, I imported 2 pair of Ganadors for friends recently. Like I said before I don't charge friends anything when I import them things, this is just to show how inflated prices are and how the US resellers are inflating those prices even further.

The first was a carbon pair with blue lenses for the Z32, these are really rare and hard to find. On YAJ they were 59k yen for the pair plus some tax and shipping of course. There is someone trying to sell the same pair for $950 USD + shipping...

The second pair was for an MK4 Supra, these were paint matched for his vehicle and had blue lenses. These were 89k yen + shipping, insanely expensive, but when I talked to him about what they sell for in the states he said this was a really good deal for him.

I don't think much will change going forward, prices will continue to rise, people will continue to pay. Sucks for all of the guys just now getting into japanese cars...

[dizzariot]

Originally Posted by Y0SH

JZXPronect holds that title. You can’t take that away from use.

It was given to us by all the people that got roasted on this forum lol.

Originally Posted by CamryOnBronze

1.) Taking a loss on parts or selling things for under the market value to help people out is not something that fits into my budget right now, as nice as that would be.

2.) I do kind of feel the whole sense of the community and what is going on is blown a bit out of proportion though.

3.) Maybe it's the fact I have a family now...

1.) Yeah that's a weird thing to do (posted by souljaseth33) and I think he's the only one saying people should do that lol. I'm either making my money back or studying price trends and still pricing them competitively. I got fucked on my silver LMGT4s and that's why (when they were briefly listed) I asked the price I asked, but it was STILL fucking better than some dude with beat bronze LMGT4s on a ZN6 asking the same price *cough*.

2.) With all due respect, I feel like this sort of thinking has led us here. The lack of community values makes it easy for us to say 'oh that will never happen to me so I don't care about anyone else' so we don't speak out or blacklist greedy fuckers...but can you imagine if we did? What if we (as Zilvia) decided not to promote this shit and boycott it on this forum? I don't have an answer to that question but I really want people to think about, you know?

3.) Yes to this x457,678,689.

Originally Posted by gbaby2089

On-topic, it is amazing how many parts people are paying more than new prices for....on things that are still available brand new.

That's a matter of preference. I won't buy something used if I can get it new for marginally more. I honestly blame that (paying more for used than new) on laziness. Someone will buy a used Kakimoto exhaust on Zilvia instead of checking the new price on YAJ.



Here's another couple things to ponder:

These cats are buying (let's just say) 5 sets of Ganadors for super cheap and then selling them at a huge markup. Wouldn't it be funny as fuck if that seller couldn't move their product? How long until you guys think they'd be forced to lower their profit margin from ridiculously fucking greedy to reasonable?

What about the guys ordering multiple sets of BNIB wheels and then still selling them at US market prices? If you've ever priced out BNIB Rays wheels from Japan you'll see how fucking ludicrous the markup is. Businesses have to pay for their containers and (probably) follow a price listed by the manufacturer for overseas sales. I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about dudes on IG that pretend they have an actual 'supplier' when they're really using YAJ or some other provider to ship these wheels 'normally'. Why the fuck are y'all still paying these cunts as much as a respectable local shop? Their prices are NEVER better than FRSport and shops like that...so why?

[vdubkidd]

My gripe is these guys that say they can "source" from Japan and use pictures that have UPGarage and Croooober watermarks in them. Please acquire the parts first before trying to hustle someone for something they can purchase themselves.