I’ve been using eBay motors to buy and sell new and used parts for well over a decade now.  How has it changed the way I get through a project?  Simple: I can honestly say that through this well known medium, I’ve been able to source products that I would not have otherwise been able to find at a reasonable price.  I’ve sold several cars, and several more cars worth of parts.  Drag racing, road racing, ATV and motorcycle racing – no matter what I’m working on, I know I can head over to the eBay Motors website and find something that I need for that project.  Heck, I often go on just to look around and see what I can’t live without!  Depending on what you’re in to, you might find dozens of pages worth of interesting parts for your project.  Getting on to eBay Motors has become part of my normal build routine.  After I create my project timeline and list out the parts I’ll need, one of the first things I do is jump on eBay to see what I might be able to find.  Then, throughout the project I check back often to see what new items might have been listed.  Knowing where along the project timeline I need a particular part lets me know if I can afford to pass on an auction that might have gone above my price point.  Of course, there always seems to be that one part I don’t need till the end, but find a deal I just can’t pass up!

1996 Yamaha Banshee
I bought this Yamaha Banshee that we modified and raced at Pikes Peak for several years. I’m in the process of selling off the last few bits from this awesome machine.

On the selling side, I’ve been able to find buyers for stuff I normally would have thrown in the bin.  One mans trash being another mans treasure is a fact that’s certainly plays out here on a daily basis.  You just never know what someone might need to keep their project rolling.  I’ve bankrolled entire mods just off of stuff I didn’t think I’d be able to sell!  Being able to pad a project bankroll in this way is a huge benefit.

For my current project, a BMW E36 time attack car, I have been able to find tons of interesting stuff.  Spares that I need to collect: axles, driveshafts, wiring bits, etc., parts I need to replace: throttle cable, intake boot, clutch parts, and body panels, just to name a few.  And not just parts, but tools, as well.  I needed a specialty tool to align the camshafts on the M42 engine currently in the car, and sure enough, I was able to find the tool I needed at a reasonable price.  Not too bad!

Is it all peaches and cream…well of course not.  Nothing and nobody is perfect, and when you get down to it, eBay Motors is still about doing business with another individual, which is GREAT, but not always perfect.  I have to say, however, that over all the time and all the transactions I have made using eBay Motors, I’ve had way more good experiences than bad (literally 99 out of a 100 go off without a hitch), and eBay has always provided me an easy way to resolve any issues I might have had. In the end you really can’t ask for more than that.

Bought this car on eBay Motors in 2006 - Rebuilt it and modified it to run Time Attack at Pikes Peak. After three years, we parted it out - all on eBay Motors, and funded subsequent projects, including the current one.
Bought this car on eBay Motors in 2006 – Rebuilt it and modified it to run Time Attack at Pikes Peak. After three years running, we parted it out – all on eBay Motors, and funded subsequent projects, including the current e36.

If you do your research and really learn how to use eBay Motors as a tool, you can get even more out of it.  For example, I was curious about when is the best time to list and end an auction – a quick search got me the info I needed, along with a new strategy for selling AND buying.  I could then plan which sellers auctions to target based on their end times and have a better idea about what kind of bidding war I would get into.  I also made sure to schedule the end of my auctions to coincide with times of peak use, so I always know my auctions will do well.  Small stuff like that has made me a more savvy user, and allowed me to maximize my project dollar.

So if you have a project underway, or have one planned for the long winter ahead, be sure you head over to eBay Motors and start your search there.  You never know what cool stuff you’ll find.

Looking to start a new project or find a new driver?  Here’s a couple favorites of mine that I found this morning (click the photos to see the listing):

 

1985 BMW E30 coupe
1985 BMW e30 – Begging to be driven.

 

Ferrari 308Gti
1982 Ferrari 308 GTi – not a bad price for a clean classic.

 

1934 Ford 1 ton
This could be the worlds coolest tow rig.

 

1967 Chevrolet Camaro
Somebody please buy this poor Camaro and fix those rear fender flares. Yikes!

 

Got a cool experience about eBay motors you’d like to share?  Feel free to tell us about it in the comments section below!