Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Bidonde
I found this year that due to the cloudy-misty-chilly weather, the attendance of sellers, buyers and Model A's on display were down. Prices of parts were up, way up!  However I enjoyed visiting with friends & chatting with some of the sellers.  It was nice to see Bratton's there selling what inventory they have left, but it is sad they are closing up retail operation. |
IMHO, prices need to be up!! Both for the Buyer and the Seller.
While cheap parts (-or vehicles) might seem to be good for the hobby, it is actually the opposite. Costs to attend a swap are expensive whereas the parts sales are too cheap, then there is not any value in trying to save them. I am a great example of that. I just scrapped a tad over 6,000 pounds of Model-A parts. These were good useable parts however not enough demand to warrant keeping them for resale. Adding to that, if new reproduction parts struggle to get a ROI, then there really isn't any incentive for a supplier to tool for a needed item.
Also, from my vantage point, the overall prices of Model-As has not kept up with other collector car marques. This has seemingly allowed many people to purchase a Model-A with the mindset that they are a cheap car to have. At that point, those owners typically won't/don't spend $$ for upkeep. When someone pays a lot of money for a collector vehicle, they tend to maintain their "investment" both in storage and mechanically.