Shipping Big Auto Parts Cheaply
November 11, 2018 | Posted in Helpful Tips, Shipping | By fastwrecks
One of the curses of dealing with shipping automotive parts is that some of the parts are really big. A lot of them, however, don’t weigh a lot. We often end up fighting the freight demon of dimensional weight. Let’s say you have a fender from a Toyota Supra. They are almost 6′ (2m) long, but don’t weigh a lot, even packaged. They weigh around 25 pounds (12kg.) If you try to ship this via USPS, UPS, or FedEx, especially long distances, you get penalized for the fact that it is bulky, but light.
We utilize two services that you may not be familiar with to ship these bigger, lighter, items. The first is offered is Greyhound Package Express (Busfreighter will soon be the new name.) GPX is ideal for bulky, somewhat light, items. You’re allowed up to 100# per piece, 82″*47″*29″. This allows you some serious flexibility in shipping things like fenders, hoods, car doors, etc. There are a couple of GOTCHA’s to watch out for. First, it is NOT a door to door service. You drop the package off at the bus station, your consignee has to pick it up at their bus station. The second is that NOT EVERY GREYHOUND LOCATION IS A GPX LOCATION. It is essential to verify before setting up your shipment that the receiving station accepts freight. Check the website. Finally, GPX does NOT INSURE AUTO PARTS FOR DAMAGE. Only for loss. Declare your full value, package it very securely, and pretend it’s going to be tossed around by college football players who don’t like you. We’ve only had a couple of issues with damage, but they do suck. Oh, and MAKE SURE YOU PROVIDE A GOOD PHONE NUMBER FOR THE RECIPIENT. They have 7 days to pick it up and then storage charges may start. Oh, by the way, you save a TON buying your label on the website. Like almost a 50% discount in most cases.
The other service we have used is Fastenal 3PL. 3PL is great for bigger, heavier parts. They handle your item on a pallet, and it moves like any other freight. You have to get a quote BEFORE shipping. The service delivers freight from Fastenal locaton to Fastenal location, and like GPX, is NOT door to door. You’re also at the mercy of their schedule and freight doesn’t always move to all locations all the time. You may have to be flexible in dropping it off a town or two away, and it is NOT an expedited service. That said, we’ve had very good service from them and the only issue we ever really had was a store employee trying to pull the “little lady” BS on me, which was quickly resolved by a call to my 3PL representative. One Gotcha. If you ship on a pallet without a box/crate around the item, it is NOT insurable. Not really a big deal for something like an engine or engine block. More of a big deal for a fiberglass Corvette hood.
So that’s a small summary of those two services. Both are “we’re going there anyway” services, and not the fastest, but the savings over traditional freight, UPS or FedEx can be SIGNIFICANT.
Speaking of UPS, one other tip that applied to them AND Greyhound. You do not HAVE to package your item. It must be safe to handle by drivers and not be a risk to other freight. But it is perfectly acceptable to ship tires, wheels, suspension parts and the like without a box. While a box/crate/pallet offers better protection, it is not always practical. This is a picture of a Toyota Supra subframe I packaged for transport via UPS (and I did the other subframe the same day to go via Greyhound.) I wrapped it in a moving blanket which I then securely taped around it and sent it on the way to our customer. It arrived safely and intact, as did the one sent via UPS.
I hope you find this useful, the quick takeaways are:
- Know the rules and limitations of the carrier you’re going to use.
- Understand that these services are NOT door to door delivery.
- Make sure that both you and the recipient are comfortable with the idea that it may take 2-4 weeks for the item to arrive.
- USE THE WEBSITES to get quotes, information, tracking and delivery times.
- Think outside the box.
Ciao for now!
Marisa Husvar
Owner of www.sportscarsalvage.us.
Mea culpa, posting frequency fail
November 6, 2018 | Posted in Helpful Tips, update | By fastwrecks
Good evening folks,
I have been really bad about posting on the blog here, but I am going to set a goal of doing better at that and getting at least one or two posts up a week. I have been loading our eBay store with parts in anticipation of the winter holiday selling season. We have Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday… Ya know what, I’ll give you a great deal any time. Just ask! I have also just finished a ton of updates on our website. Check them out!
Look for some posts in the next few days. In the meantime, here is a video we did on DIY creation of custom keychains from diecast cars such as Matchbox and Hot Wheels.
All the best,
Marisa
Chevrolet Corvette Items For Sale
August 21, 2018 | Posted in Corvettes, Parts Cars, update | By fastwrecks
Just a quick note, we’re adding items for Chevrolet Corvette daily in our eBay store. Many hard to find and highly desirable parts are going up for sale! Just a few examples in the photo below, hope you’re having a great day!
Some of these are leftover donors from our project car.
More progress pictures on our 1976 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
June 29, 2018 | Posted in Corvettes, update | By fastwrecks
Details: 1976 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, moderately built 350, automatic, straight, never wrecked, former straight-line race car. Dodge Viper Red. Has minimal interior and a custom racing dash in it at present. Car is restorable or is going to be a bad ass summer driver. Not sure how far we’re going to take it, yet.
We’re actually looking at picking up another C3 parts car from a friend with a decent interior/dashboard and the remaining parts from it will end up on our ebay store.
New Season, New Domain Name for the store!
April 10, 2018 | Posted in Helpful Tips, update | By fastwrecks
We’ve always been proactive in making our stuff easy to find, but something escaped our attention… The link to our eBay store has always been http://stores.ebay.com/sportscarsalvage. Not horribly hard to find, but, well, long and not easy to remember. We’ve had an extra domain name sitting for quite some time, Fastwrecks.com, that we haven’t previously used. Today we set it up where that links directly to the store. So now to remember how to find us, simply type that in and you’ll head right to the store! We hope this makes it easier for you!
Happy Spring!
Marisa
Spring and Status and Stuff
February 24, 2018 | Posted in 1989 Chrysler LeBaron Turbo, Family, Parts Cars, Shop Time, update | By fastwrecks
We know we promised the Chrysler LeBaron parts would be appearing on our eBay store soon, but we had a bit of a farm emergency in that Stormy, our 3 months out Boer buckling, developed pneumonia. We had almost a week of providing care for him including antibiotic and vitamin B complex injections, and close monitoring of him. We actually had him in the house and at the workshop with us for most of the last week. He’s made a great recovery and we’re now starting some deeper work around the shop to get ready to part out that LeBaron.
We’ll be taking a couple of days to tear down some old Mustang and other doors we have to post those parts online and clear out the shells, do a bit more cleaning and reorganizing of our workshop and then we should be pulling the LeBaron in by Tuesday to part it out. It has a strong running 2.2 turbo and builds solid boost, so if you need one, get in touch with us. You get a much better price buying direct versus waiting for it to be posted online.
Beyond that the goal is to get that torn down quickly, get the parts online, and get up to a pace of one car a month for the rest of 2018. Make sure you’re following us on Facebook @sportscarsalvage and on Twitter @fastwrecks for updates!
Think Spring!
Back to basics – A 1977 Corvette
September 20, 2015 | Posted in Corvettes, Shop Time | By fastwrecks
We’re parting out a 1977 Corvette. Lots of useful parts on this one! This one suffered a passenger front corner hit, and then sat in a barn for several years afterward. The front clip is (as expected) a basket case and the interior is rough, but with it having originally been a southern car, doesn’t have a whole lot of rust. I’ll be listing parts on eBay as they come off the car.
What can I say, my floor jack is oh so thankful that we didn’t bring in another 4 wheel drive vehicle or an 18 foot long land yacht. 🙂 While we originally had planned to make this into a restoration project, it had more significant damage that we noticed once we dug into things further.
I am ready for Spring. Who is with me?
March 4, 2015 | Posted in Shop Time | By fastwrecks
My secondary storage area has been impassable for a while now because of all the snow. The end result is…I have waaaaay too much stuff in my hair here at the moment. (I am not kidding…I’ve been running sales to clear out entire racks on shelves. Even with two new large shelves!) In fact, I’ve also been going through the older inventory and creating fresh new listings with new pictures
Fortunately, I was able to clear out enough space to work on this 2001 Oldsmobile Alero we got just recently. It’s unofficially for sale at the moment. I’m still working on a few things (nothing major) before advertising it. Including washing it….indoors.
That’s all for now. In anticipation of some new projects coming up, I’ve been doing some pre-spring cleaning of some old listings, our website, and some other general maintenance stuff. It’s good to have a relative lull in the action sometimes.
Those are some funny-looking sports cars!
January 30, 2014 | Posted in Humor, Shop Time | By fastwrecks
Sometimes, I look around the garage and see (or trip over) stuff that is decidedly not sports car material. WJ Jeep parts. An ATV. Maybe a dirtbike or two. Eclectic collectibles. And more.
In what language does “Sportscar Salvage” translate into “PT Cruiser?”
We definitely speak barter. In dealing with small business owners and others in the community, sometimes cash is at a premium and we get items in exchange for goods or other services. This doesn’t bother me; in fact, sometimes I uncover some real treasure troves in the process. 🙂
I will say, though…Speaking of PT Cruisers, I don’t always encounter rear seats, but when I do, they weigh 100+ pounds. I’m glad I was able to sell those to a local customer in need of new rear seats.
Visit our eBay store at http://stores.ebay.com/sportscarsalvage and you’ll see many of these “funny looking sports car” items online. The “Oddities” and “Other” store categories feature the more obscure items. Happy shopping, and stay warm!
Happy Spring and welcome to our new fans!
April 9, 2013 | Posted in Uncategorized | By fastwrecks
After a seemingly endless winter, I was glad to air out the garage!
One of our recent finds was an Allied Fiberglass Astra GT fiberglass body. Somebody please, please, PLEASE buy this before my husband gets any more evil ideas for projects. Please? 🙂 It’s in our eBay store and has quite a few watchers.
We’ve begun buying parts for our Mercury Capri project. When I started cleaning out the car over the winter, I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the parts were already in the car. It was a project where its previous owners ran out of money and motivation midway through. I’m sure you’ve seen a few of these before! We just got a great deal on a rebuilt Mustang engine.
I’d like to offer a warm welcome to our new fans from Home on the Range in Mantua, Ohio and Mike V’s Corner. HOTR is running a contest. I not only run Sportscar Salvage, but I also do Internet marketing. My page is here: http://www.facebook.com/MktgMarisa. Here is how to participate:
Like and share this post from Home on the Range.
Like both of my pages on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MktgMarisa and http://www.facebook.com/SportscarSalvage
Then, comment on both of those pages, “HOTR sent me.”
You could win two brand new in plastic Butler Creek Hot Lips Ruger clear 10/22 25 round magazines. The contest will run until April 15th or when any of the pages hits 1000 ‘Likes.’ Happy participating!
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