Why do rod owners "over-estimate" the value of their rods?

On craigslist, a feller here in town has a fiberglass 29 Roadster rat rod with a 350/350 combo for sale and is asking around $6600 for it. I emailed him to see if he was interested in trades, after a few emails he tells me he'll take my 1974 2dr Nova (I value it around $5200), a 4-71 blower (had a $500 rebuild and conversion done a year ago, hasnt been run since conversion), offenhauser 6-71 manifold, 4x Brand new 29x15.5x15 Mickey Thompson sportsman pros, 2x brand new 15x12 Weld Draglites, t5 tranny, complete 68' Vette 327sbc /w 64' vette fuelie heads, totally complete 142 weiand supercharger, and $1200 cash for the 29' rat.

I told him no thanks, he's asking way too much for it, he says "Thats Fine, It'll be up on ebay in a week for $10,000"....


Heres the link to the listing..

http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/car/246819825.html


I love ratrods, im currently on my 3rd one, but I cannot grasp the idea of throwing $3000 or $4000 worth of parts together and selling it for 3 times that much (face it, unless your job title is "rod builder", the time spent on the rod means next to nothing to the buyer). This same guy was selling another roadster pickup on ebay and was asking $13,500 for a $7000 rat.


My questions...

Are idiots like these very common in rodding? Am I an idiot? Why is it that if something is primer black with some red somewhere on it they call it a "rat rod"?

You were just dealing with a crook.They are very common,8 out of 10 are crooks.

Just because it goes on eBay for 10k doesn't mean it will be bought. Looked at his roadster, not bad but not $6600 either IMO. The reason he's asking so much is cuz rat rods are in style and he knows it. Someone with more money then sense will probably give him what he wants for it cuz they wanna be in style and have a rat.... I would say the seller sees the market and is wanting to capitalize on it.....

On the other hand, it's his car and he can ask whatever he wants for it... Most folks around here say my stuff is way overpriced, but it's mine and I can ask whatever I want, all I'm looking for is someone who wants it more then I do.... and I either get my price or keep it...

On the other hand, a fiberglass '29 roadster body can be anywhere between $3000 and $5500 new, depending on which one you buy. I think I paid $5500 for the Bebops 'glass roadster with fenders and door and deck handles installed. The cheapest '29 body would be the one from Md. which used to be AI (Anderson Industries) but it is uder another name now and I think it would be about $2700 or so without fenders. When the price of gas went up, so did the price of fiberglass so the 'glass bodies are not that cheap but still about $1000 less than a Brookville steel body. How old is this body and does it have a rotted plywood floor or is it all 'glass like most are today? I have close to $20K in mine and it doesn't run yet! That looks like a bargain to me, although I would rather have a 700R4. It has a seat to sit on and gauges and it runs! That is a pretty good start for $6600 and you can gradually improve it while it is still in running condition. Still the trade is not good, it would be better to buy the car somehow and maybe add your parts to it and sell the Nova for what you can get or install the blower and get it set up and get your price for that car. I'm just saying that his price is a bargain but he wants too much of your stuff in the trade.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Looks to me like it's a START of a Rat Rod which we call mouse terds. Anyone that would give $6600. for that needs to know that I have a dead race horse I want to sell. Maybe I'll put it on Ebay.

Well, I know you expect to buy a car for less than what it cost to build but from the builders point of view the present owner tends to add up the cost of the parts. It is of course buying a pig-in-a-poke on e-Bay and I would like to look it over closely. I do not like the look of the firewall mount for the master cylinder on fiberglass but I note a gas tank in place and instruments. What is the story on the 350 engine, out of a wreck or rebuilt? So let's add up a few parts.

350 SBC worth $500 running (smoke?)

350 trans worth $300 ( ? )

rear worth maybe $200

'glass body worth $2500 ( ? )

steering column worth $50

wiring worth $100

used alternator $50

4 good tires worth $200

radiator worth $100

Early Ford front end $300

Etc. Etc. Etc.

If this were four years ago before I started my '29 buildup I would have laid $5000 on the table and showed the guy cash and be glad I had a good start on a running roadster. Factor into this that I have previously brought back a '70 MG Midget from a field where I had to cut down a small tree growing up through the floor and put out about $15K to get a 90+ point restoration. I do wonder why the pictures do not show the usual rear fender indents in the body? Who made the body? What is the history of the engine and trans? Still I would be thrilled to start such a car after looking at my $20K heap of expensive parts that still does not run and I am tired of paying $50 to a tow truck every time I need to move the car to the next shop. The next move will be to install an H-pipe exhaust system and that will involve perhaps two $50 flatbed trips to and from a muffler shop. Compared to a shop which can do all those things in house an amateur build up is hassled by the need for towing to and from many shops and that in itself makes me appreciate a car that might be brought to a inspectable/driveable condition to save on these multiple tow expenses. A home builder may have a different point of view than a pro shop.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

I don't see where you would have got hurt that bad a $6600. Everyone is an optimist, and would like to "make some money" on their cars when they sell them. I see that Don Shillady is saying that he has $20,000 invested in his car, and he isn't finished yet.---and I don't doubt Don one bit!!! Don and I started building our cars at about the same time two years ago, and I have $28,000 invested in mine. (and I have done more of my own work than Don has, and I am not including any dollar value for the work I have done). Hotrodding is not a cheap hobby.

I search ebay daily for all types of cars and parts. I see an awful lot of over priced junk on average,but still come up with things to buy. I won't bid higher than what i think is 50 cents on the dollar. There are some really cheap bodies out there,and you have to watch out. 98% of what I see listed as ratrod is more like ratturd,and I look at them as components only,if it ain't cheap,move on.I do a lot of searching before i get donor cars,pick em clear to the bone,and junk whats left for a few bucks.Most of what you see on ebay wasn't built by the seller,he bought it cheap too! Hank

yup, and pictures don't usually tell the entire story... If it's being sold as a project that would usually mean somebody ran out of time, money, ability, or all of the above and is trying to dump it..... You may well get a bunch of parts for X dollars that would of cost X dollars times 2 if bought new.... But you will also have the added expense of going after it and from previous experience usually whatever you get needs to be torn apart, get rid of all the cobble and clutter, throw away a bunch of worthless junk, then start over... Not always the deal it would appear to be.... But, there are also some deals to be had if you are a very careful shopper....

People markup these absurd prices, cause people are willing to pay it,look at the prices parts get on ebay, the bidders drive them up, but then i wonder what a fair price is? if i sold my merc for only what ive spent in parts, i would have to ask 10-11k and i dont think anybody would pay that, then if i priced all the work ive done the price would be even higher, so is that fair or should i loose money?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Peiceofpaper

On craigslist, a feller here in town has a fiberglass 29 Roadster rat rod with a 350/350 combo for sale and is asking around $6600 for it. I emailed him to see if he was interested in trades, after a few emails he tells me he'll take my 1974 2dr Nova (I value it around $5200), a 4-71 blower (had a $500 rebuild and conversion done a year ago, hasnt been run since conversion), offenhauser 6-71 manifold, 4x Brand new 29x15.5x15 Mickey Thompson sportsman pros, 2x brand new 15x12 Weld Draglites, t5 tranny, complete 68' Vette 327sbc /w 64' vette fuelie heads, totally complete 142 weiand supercharger, and $1200 cash for the 29' rat.

I told him no thanks, he's asking way too much for it, he says "Thats Fine, It'll be up on ebay in a week for $10,000"....


Heres the link to the listing..

http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/car/246819825.html


I love ratrods, im currently on my 3rd one, but I cannot grasp the idea of throwing $3000 or $4000 worth of parts together and selling it for 3 times that much (face it, unless your job title is "rod builder", the time spent on the rod means next to nothing to the buyer). This same guy was selling another roadster pickup on ebay and was asking $13,500 for a $7000 rat.


My questions...

Are idiots like these very common in rodding? Am I an idiot? Why is it that if something is primer black with some red somewhere on it they call it a "rat rod"?

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Why do you call him an "idiot"? He's not and either are you!

Seems to me that his asking price is not out of line for today's date. What he asks for and what he actually sells for are not the same.

EXAMPLE: In 1960 I bought a completely stock 1936 Ford 3-window coupe from the original owner for $35.00 (thirty five dollars). Other than the paint being oxidized it was perfect. No rust or dents. I drove it for a year and got a cracked block. (Whole other story about that and "water glass" that I will write about some other time) I lived in Sparks, Nevada at that time and drove the car down to San Mateo, California to my folks. After the repair I didn't trust driving it back to Nevada so I put it up for sale at the Shell service station that my Dad dealt with. It sold for $50.00 (fifty dollars) and I was glad to get that. If that car is still around today it would bring $30,000 easily.

My point is simple. The selling price of anything is whatever the buyer is willing to pay at the time.

By the way; the term "rat rod" is one that I will be glad to see fade away. I really dislike that terminology.

Um, I don't know... but it seems that $6600.00 isn't too far of the mark for the value. Remember, an object is only really worth what somebody is willing to pay for it (one man's trash, yada yada). I more or less follow the same philosophy that Halftanked does, about fifty cents on the dollar for something I am interested in.

The problem with the auction sites is, that some people fall in love with something, and that competitive feeling kicks in, and then they bid the hell out of stuff, and end up overpaying for an item just so they win it. I see this all the time with some of the local farm auctions I go to.

In the end, it all boils down to what is it worth to you? And that is my 2 cents worth. :3dSMILE:

I think some of you misunderstood what I was saying. The $6600 is fine by me, I was going to trade the Nova + $1000 for the roadster, but when he seriously wanted my $5000+ Nova, $4000+ in extra parts, and $1500 cash, thats when I decided he was an "idiot" (dictionary definition, "foolish or senseless person", he's foolish to have asked for that much and senseless to to think its worth $10,000).

If you spent $4,000 or $5,000 building a rat rod over 4 months and its not done yet, dont expect to get $10,000 when its only half done.

....or if you don't mind steping OVER the doors to get in instead of THROUGH the door {a race body where the doors don't open} you can get a '29 Roadster body for less than a grand..... Bill

29 15and a halfs? 15 rim size mickeys? how much you want for 2 of them????