Classic/Antique Car Repair: want to sell re-cromed 52 packard parts, packards international, ebay fees

Question
where would i get best price or exposure for re-chromed bumpers. hood ornament, all exterior items

Answer
You can run an ad on the Packard Club web site - go to www.packardclub.org and follow the directions.  You might have to join the club first, I don't know. I think they might let you advertise one item free before joining.

You can take the parts to the Packard swap meet in February run by the Packards International group in Santa Ana, CA.  You have to buy a swap space, then bring the parts there and display them. If you have a good price on them and they are VERY nice parts, some of them will sell.  You can walk around early to see what others are asking for the same parts and use that to set your price a bit lower, that will bring the buyers to your swap space.  You can also watch eBay for similar parts, and check the "completed items" list to see what they sell for.

You can run the parts on eBay, but then you will have to hassel with shipping them.

Packard folks are usually VERY fussy about rechromed parts - many of them have been ruined by overzealous polishing that destroys detail on the parts - so most experienced Packard restorers won't buy a part unless then can inspect it first - they'd rather wait for an NOS part.

As for where you can get the "BEST" price, I have no idea - probably eBay for rare parts, and swap meets would be second best, but you have to learn what the parts are really worth so you can set a price which will attract people to bid on them - otherwise you will waste your money on eBay fees and no one will bid if your parts are too high.

If you want to avoid all the hassle and work, you can find a dealer who is interested in buying the whole lot - they will want to inspect he parts to make sure the re-chrome shop did a good quality job on them - they won't be interested unless they are show quality, with all the orignal detail still clear and crisp.  Some dealers are: Kanter Brothers in Boonton New Jersey, Joel Ray in Michigan, and Sandy Chirco in Tucson, AZ.  You can find them all with a Google search.  Remember they will have to buy them cheap enough to make a profit on them after shipping them and storing them - so don't expect more than about 1/4 of the true market value from a dealer.

Good luck with your stash!

Dick