good deal?

[john fotakis]

Hi guys.  If someone in Illinois offered to send me- in Melbourne, Australia- the following:  , an external mirror [in excellent condition ], a clock,a vanity miror and a small lens,  all for the princely sum of 50 dollars [this price incudes shipping via surface mail ] should I jump at the chance or should loud alarm bells be waking me from my slumber? Were the transaction to go ahead I would be paying by money order to a specific person at a specific address.

[Jerry]

Your comments do bring a couple questions to mind:

1. How did you get in contact with this person - did you respond to his advertisement or he contact you?  Is he a regular advertiser in Hemmings, Old Cars Weekly or someone that responded to your "Parts Wanted" inquiry?

2. Is he a CLC member? (CLC membership doesnt guarantee anything but it seems to help - most of the time)

3. Is his price "too good to be true"?  If the parts are for a 41 Cadillac or 59 Eldo I would be concerned - if the parts are for a 1978 Fleetwood, I probably wouldnt be concerned.  You dont mention what type of car the parts are for...

[john fotakis]

Hi Jerry. I initially responded to an advertisement-on an internet forum- by a fellow who was parting out a 61 cadillac. I received a reply from a different person [ this was an open forum much like this one ] offering me the parts at a fairly unbelievable price. Im skeptical but would like to believe that I may get something purely for the cost of postage. I know a 61 does not command anything like the price of a 59 but parts still dont come cheap.

[Geoff Newcombe #4719]

My opinion ..... an external mirror, in excellent condition,  for that car should be worth $50 all by itself (not even considering the shipping), if it is a right hand mirror it is worth even more.  If the clock is working, it too is worth at least that much.  I think your "seller" is a "lurker" at the site you were on and is looking to scam people like yourself.

Again, my opinion only.

[Bruce Reynolds # 18992]

Gday John,

What I do in cases like this is put the word out and find a local CLC Member who will be willing to pick it up for you, and then post it for you by him or herself.

I have done this on a number of occasions, and been very grateful of the assistance of members and in all cases, it has cost me less in stress and monetary terms.   Plus, it is a chance to "meet" other members.   As it is, I have a number of parts waiting for me to pick up during the "Reynolds Invasion" in 08.

Transferring funds is easy as well, but just takes a bit of time, and if the "helper" has PayPal, that helps as well.

Bruce,
The Tassie Devil(le),
60 CDV

[Geoff Newcombe #4719]

Bruce is right.  What state is this seller in?  Maybe a member would check the pieces out (and the seller) for you.  Contact him and ask where and when you could have someone inspect the parts.  You might find him backpedalling real fast, or he might say he JUST sold the parts.  If hes in Florida Id be happy to look at them for my direct expenses only.

[john fotakis]

Thanks for the replies guys. I have tried to contact the seller again asking him to provide some references or CLC member contact details but no response yet. The guy has given me an address that ends as  Tinley Park, IL. If someone wants to chase it up I am happy to provide the address- [ as long as we keep it private-no-one has done anything wrong yet]. I am also happy to re-imburse the person for their efforts. I think I may have a phone no. also. It may help future buyers.