rearenginekarts.com

Hi guys,

As some may know i managed to get a few very nice parts from the Vintage Karting Auction before it imploded.
in my mind , everything i bought was better than expected and priced fairly.
i reflected this thought in my emails with Robbin (the fellow in charge).
As i understand it this was not the usual way we as vintage karters treated him.
many people complained about the fixed shipping and HIGH prices .

to my understanding We almost got the parts lost to us from so many complaints
These parts are owned by someone aware of their value .
As he bought the parts they are his to sell or not sell.

So my point is please remember that the parts are in the USA and Robbin is in the Netherlands.
The owner (not Robbin) made a deal for packing and shipping and it can't be altered.
So please don't "kill the messenger" Robbin.

i guess my politeness was remembered as he still will talk to me from time to time.
i've checked on the possibility of the Vintage site re-opening.
Finally he has an answer.

Here's the letter he sent:

The website did go offline due a technical problem from the webscripter or the hosting company both denied it was their mistake.
The both did not want/could solve it, the webscripter even blocked my email and phone calls, leaving me with nothing.
This is kind of what happened.

I VERY much appreciate your response, because most of the time I only got complains of shipping and regular prices were too high.
What people maybe did not understand, was the huge effort it took to correspond the emails everyday and send the invoice's,
next to the time it took to store, clean and index the parts, all summer long.

This was also kind of the problem since I still go to University I got limited time a day, and also needed to pay my bills.
I started the vintage kart auction in the summer when I did got the time, not because it paid so much but because I liked the adventure.
And then hearing people complaining is not exactly rewarding! Of course on the long term we will get our investment back (time as well money).

Fortunately there are a handful of thankful costumers which you are one of too.
This also the reason why the will be back online under the name http://www.vintagekartshop.com.
I guess this will take approximately 2 months, I will keep you informed about the re-opening.

Best regards,

Robbin

So please be nice.
i've seen the karts and they are amazing.
it's alot like an entire rally with no people there.
Dave

... I had a good experience with them, after more than a year searching, I found a LH Mean Machine engine mount there.

IMO, they would find it much easier to simply sell the stuff on Ebay, since Ebay handles all the Internet and backoffice work for the seller. It's not a simple task maintaining an auction website, and as we saw, sometimes things crash badly.

Jeff

I know I'm speaking out of school.
I listed a Caretta 6 years ago with a $1600 reserve and it reached $850 bidding on e-bay. I sold it the same week for $3,200. Guy's in vintage karting don't like the idea of bidding against each other. The best deals are on Criagslist, only if the seller has Paypal.

I too could be out of place on this as well but god bless good old Ebay i bought a reasonably rare saw after watching a few of it's brothers and sisters go through and paid $ 250-00 US ......... THEN TWO DAYS LATER GOT ANOTHER IN AS GOOD AS CONDITION for $ 25.00

Go work that one out ...............................

Mc Bob.

on ebay,
as i understand it Robbin figures 25% after various fees is what it costs to list on e-steal.
for me that's alot but maybe foriegn sales have a different rate, i don't know.
i suspect that the new site will offer the parts as a best offer sort of sale with a dollar amount in mind.
their buy instant prices were pretty good on some things a little high on others.
the shipping was a pain but they do allow pick ups on the karts.
i personally got three pretty rare karts for about what i might have bought them for on craigslist.
the more complete ones are a bit pricey but they are nicer than the pix show.

as far as random ebay prices.
one week a set of margay stars brought 400 for a set.
the next week i bought a set for 75 $
it all depends on who is bidding and when.
you are much better off setting a top dollar bid amount and dropping out if you go past it.
the same stuff shows up time after time anyway.
just my two cents D