Buying off of eBay ?

[Filthy Filbert]

Don't be afraid to use your credit card dispute process.  That should get you back all funds. I had to do that when tire discounters chipped the paint on every lug hole on my dakota because their minimum wage employee thought he was on a nascar crew.  And I said 'please be careful with the wheels.   They're freshly painted in custom Bc/cc paint.'

Store manager said 'we'll make it right'. He wanted me to put the truck on jack stands and ship one wheel at a time to get refinished.  I said 'not gonna work for me.  That going to take 2 months with all the back and forth shipping'.  He offered to send a mobile detailer out to fix them.  I said ok.   Never heard back.   I escalated to regional manager and got lots of lip service about making it right.  No action. 

I provided an estimate in the amount of repair at a local body shop, guy said 'ok'.  But again, no credit or reimbursement.

Filed a dispute fir the amount of the repair, NOT the full amount of the tire purchase. Guy at tire discounters contacted me and said 'we were going to refund.  But you filed a dispute. Please cancel the dispute and we will issue refund'

At that point, I didn't care.  I just wanted made hole.  Provided credit card company with all the email correspondence, they sided with me—their customer; and I got my money back for the amount of the repairs. 

[340challconvert]

Keep in mind; the global supply chain in in poor shape. The cost of global shipping has gone up 10 fold in the last year. Anything shipped from overseas is having trouble getting here and even getting unloaded from containers. Ordered a set of edelbrock aluminum heads for my 340 from Summit in June; still not shipped 

I get an e mail today from Summit; my head order cancelled.
I call edelbrock directly. The reason for non-availability; guides are made of bronze which comes from overseas. They can't put complete heads together without this part! Hence heads not available. 

[Filthy Filbert]

Keep in mind; the global supply chain in in poor shape. The cost of global shipping has gone up 10 fold in the last year. Anything shipped from overseas is having trouble getting here and even getting unloaded from containers. Ordered a set of edelbrock aluminum heads for my 340 from Summit in June; still not shipped 

I get an e mail today from Summit; my head order cancelled.
I call edelbrock directly. The reason for non-availability; guides are made of bronze which comes from overseas. They can't put complete heads together without this part! Hence heads not available. 

Can you buy the raw castings and have your local machine shop do the valves?   Probably get a better end result that way anyway. 

[BIGSHCLUNK]

Ahhh yes, as I read thru the tread... THANK YOU COVID.  There are so many parts right now just NOT available. I know of cars sitting at shops over 90 days.... because there are no parts to complete the repair. Hmmmm maybe cause everything has been sent overseas? Alan I think you got lucky!   

[tparker]

@anlauto You can always message the seller. I have done this once or twice.

One dude was selling a pulley and since there are so many different types I wanted the exact dimensions rather than trust their description. The guy was basically a jerk and seemed indignant that I would ask such a question. He responded but never did give me the info. LOL. But hopefully others handle there customers better.

[340challconvert]

Just sold a used, old part on e bay to someone in California.
E bay added a sales tax onto the person who bought the part.
How can they charge tax on an old car part being sold by a private citizen and not a registered, licensed place of business? 
I pay sales tax on new items I buy myself from licensed vendors which I expect.
SAD

[torredcuda]

"If the estimated delivery date for your item has passed, and you still haven't received your item, let the seller know. You have 30 days from the estimated delivery date to inform the seller that you didn't receive your item.

Report an item that hasn't arrived
Once you've told them there's a problem, the seller has 3 business days to provide a delivery update, offer a replacement, or give you a refund."

[HP_Cuda]

If someone was smart we would start making parts/components in the US again.

Perfect example, I needed a new car cover for one of my cars. I thought if I ordered it now from Cal Car Covers I might get it by Christmas. Guess what? Ordered it, shiped in 1 day and got it the next. I was absolutely floored. How did this happen? Yep they make the car covers in country and shipped the very next day.

Couldn't be happier!

[JonH]

Just sold a used, old part on e bay to someone in California.
E bay added a sales tax onto the person who bought the part.
How can they charge tax on an old car part being sold by a private citizen and not a registered, licensed place of business? 
I pay sales tax on new items I buy myself from licensed vendors which I expect.
SAD

This is a function of Federal and State governments. Don't blame Ebay....

[70vert]

That's good.
Interesting topic though, learned a few tips about eBay & PayPal (:

[Matt13]

Just sold a used, old part on e bay to someone in California.
E bay added a sales tax onto the person who bought the part.
How can they charge tax on an old car part being sold by a private citizen and not a registered, licensed place of business? 
I pay sales tax on new items I buy myself from licensed vendors which I expect.
SAD

Just left California. They would tax the air you breathe if Newsome thought he could get away with it!

[captcolour]

  Just left California. They would tax the air you breathe if Newsome thought he could get away with it!
[/quote]

You would pay sales tax on the air your breathe, and then a hazardous waste/pollution tax on your exhale.

[HP2]

Just sold a used, old part on e bay to someone in California.
E bay added a sales tax onto the person who bought the part.
How can they charge tax on an old car part being sold by a private citizen and not a registered, licensed place of business? 
I pay sales tax on new items I buy myself from licensed vendors which I expect.
SAD

Because you are using a behemoth that is visible everywhere as a means of financial exchange. The states know this and are tired of seeing the loss of sales tax they used to received from people who used to shop locally but are now value shopping and taking their money national.

Where I am at, participation in the largest regional swap meets and flea markets mean that when you register as a seller, you received a tax collection declaration from the county authority expecting you  to provide them with a payment of tax on the sales collected over the weekend. If it hasn't happened where you at, wait, it will get there.

If someone was smart we would start making parts/components in the US again.

Perfect example, I needed a new car cover for one of my cars. I thought if I ordered it now from Cal Car Covers I might get it by Christmas. Guess what? Ordered it, shipped in 1 day and got it the next. I was absolutely floored. How did this happen? Yep they make the car covers in country and shipped the very next day.

Couldn't be happier!

A car cover is a fairly simple component that is made without a lot of expensive equipment and specialized labor so it isn't difficult for a US company to compete in price and excel in quality.  The same can't be said for more complex components made by huge organizations that have to meet shareholder expectations for profitability while selling items that are not in high demand, that are highly specialized, and only utilized by a small slice of a very small segment.

This is where, IMO, the constant and continued de-regulation of businesses over the last 40 years combined with the loss of collective labor and pension plans and the rise of personal retirement accounts that has turned every American worker into a portfolio manager seeking ever greater returns on their accounts which has driven businesses to strive to have ever increasing profitability that eventually  eads to finding the cheapest labor and material sources while peddling lower quality products. 

We have seen the enemy and it is us.

[JH27N0B]

Having worked in manufacturing for over 3 decades, I can say the reason manufacturing went offshore was the much lower costs overseas.  Building a mold or a die in Asia costs pennies on the dollar compared to trying to do that in the US.
Even if the government put highly protectionist policies in place to try to cut out the cost advantages of offshoring manufacturing, it would backfire as few would pay the price of US made widgets for many consumer products.  Take our reproduction parts for example.  If AMD made their sheet metal in North America, a quarter panel might cost $2500 rather than $500.  A molded plastic part like a washer bottle might cost $300 rather than $50.  Demand would be reduced to almost nothing, so the companies simply would not offer the products as it wouldn't be profitable.
It's a complicated subject that gets dumbed down by most only getting their info from media and politicians, all I can say having been in the trenches is that I don't like it but don't see any realistic answers to bringing much mass production back here.
And getting back to the original subject, selling online has certainly become a hassle.  eBay was almost life changing to me when I got into it 20 years ago, both in finding things I'd never be able to find before, to selling things I had gathering dust around the house for years that were too valuable to toss but no idea how to find a buyer for.
eBay turned a lot of that stuff into cash for me.  They called it America's online garage sale then.  Now it's so expensive with fees and potential taxes and such, I won't sell there.
I remember an old Married with Children episode where Al and his neighbor Steve were restoring a Mustang and met some shady seller in a dark alley to buy a rare ashtray for the car, I wonder if selling our used junk is going to come to that, underground like drug dealing! 

[Mopsquad]

I remember an old Married with Children episode where Al and his neighbor Steve were restoring a Mustang and met some shady seller in a dark alley to buy a rare ashtray for the car, I wonder if selling our used junk is going to come to that, underground like drug dealing! 

I remember that episode.  Yes the ashtray!   I was restoring my '65 Mustang at the time and was thinking, why the stink?  - 'That part is readily available as a good reproduction'