Opinions on valuing an item.

With all the buying and selling of parts that goes on here, it seems as good a place as any to ask for suggestions about some items a friend wants me to list for him on Ebay.

He purchased these chrome Corvette wheels/tires new from Mid-America Motorworks (Effingham, IL) a few years ago (fall of '09 is what he said) for a Corvette C5 he had at the time. Before he even had a chance to mount the set on the car though, he sold the car (got too good an offer to say no to). Since then, the entire set has been stored in his garage.

So: never even bolted to a car, never seen a lugnut, tires still have all those new rubber nips and pieces of the stickers on the treads, mounted/balanced and ready to go, even have Corvette valve stem caps and Corvette emblem centercaps.

Anyway, he's curious what he should consider a fair current value (or starting bid price) to place on them to at least get the auction started. I posted the same question on a couple of Corvette forums, but the only response I got was from someone who was actually interested in buying them...and maybe I'm looking at the situation incorrectly, but if he was actually interested in buying them, he didn't exactly seem like the best person to be asking what they should be sold for.

This exact set currently sells new for $2200. Any suggestions?

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/100_0730.jpg

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/100_0748.jpg

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/100_0744.jpg

More pics can be seen here. http://s300.photobucket.com/albums/n...0Ebay%20items/

The set of tires and rims together sells new for $2200?

The owner of the set actually said he paid $2300 when he bought them, but yes, they are currently available from the same source for $2200.

I guess I don't know if you were considering that price high or low, but if you meant high, my personal opinion would be because the tires are Goodyears (Eagle F1's). Goodyears have always been overpriced in my opinion.

Can I walk into my local Sears / NTB / Tire Kingdom / Discount Tire and buy these right there? Or would I have to order them online? If this set is readily available new for $2300 then I would think he'd need to be at least $300-400 less - otherwise why would someone take a chance on used when they could just buy new? And you gotta keep in mind that anybody who has $1900 to blow on wheels and tires probably has $2300 for a new set.

I'd let my friend do his own leg work...:slap:

or pm "89 vette"...:_confused

Yeah, my friend was well aware that he couldn't very well charge the same price that they could be currently purchased new, but given their new/used condition, he obviously wasn't inclined to give them away either.

He already had a range in mind for the lowest amount he would take, so I was just posting here and a few other sites for additional reference. I've set up his auction in a way that will tell us what the market will currently bear, so we'll see what happens. Thanks for the input.

I'd guess 75% of their new price.

Is how old the tires are. Never used or not rubber breaks down so that any tires 4-5 years old aren't reliable and generally command a good d eal from the tire manufacturer. I would say start at full retail of the rims and throw the tires in and see where the bidding goes,

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Originally Posted by circmand

Is how old the tires are. Never used or not rubber breaks down so that any tires 4-5 years old aren't reliable and generally command a good d eal from the tire manufacturer. I would say start at full retail of the rims and throw the tires in and see where the bidding goes,

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Very true. And someone from the Corvette crowd also added that with the introduction of run-flats, "regular" tires just aren't are as sought after lately by Corvette owners, even if they're from the bigger name manufacturers like these (Goodyear). Not surprising though given the cost of newer, larger diameter rims these days. Run-flats are like an additional insurance policy against damage.

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Originally Posted by Y33TREKker

Very true. And someone from the Corvette crowd also added that with the introduction of run-flats, "regular" tires just aren't are as sought after lately by Corvette owners, even if they're from the bigger name manufacturers like these (Goodyear). Not surprising though given the cost of newer, larger diameter rims these days. Run-flats are like an additional insurance policy against damage.

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Nice having that protection however need weighed off against the performance loss. Apparently the guys of Top Gear UK are not fans of run flats and bask MB as making them the only option on some of their cars

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Originally Posted by circmand

Nice having that protection however need weighed off against the performance loss. Apparently the guys of Top Gear UK are not fans of run flats and bask MB as making them the only option on some of their cars

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What do the guys of Top Gear cite as causing a performance loss on run-flats? Do they weight more? Is it something to do with different construction requirements of the sidewalls? I'd never known that run-flats had lower performance characteristics when compared to regular tires.

Pretty sure they're heavier. Not sure if they sacrifice any traction etc though.

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Originally Posted by Y33TREKker

What do the guys of Top Gear cite as causing a performance loss on run-flats? Do they weight more? Is it something to do with different construction requirements of the sidewalls? I'd never known that run-flats had lower performance characteristics when compared to regular tires.

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It is the sport feel when turning, power sliding etc. They often tease that American Car manufacturers and designers are still inaware of turns. A tribute to our straight roads. But when they race cars around the track (they have their own race track) with run flats they often disparage the handling. Given that Nascar hasn't even experimented with run flats I have to figure there is something to it.

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Originally Posted by circmand

It is the sport feel when turning, power sliding etc. They often tease that American Car manufacturers and designers are still inaware of turns. A tribute to our straight roads. But when they race cars around the track (they have their own race track) with run flats they often disparage the handling. Given that Nascar hasn't even experimented with run flats I have to figure there is something to it.

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Sounds very similar to the review offered here.

http://www.zr1netregistry.com/F1G3D3.htm

Since the tires on my friends rims are the GS-D3 version of the Goodyear Eagle F1's and not the run-flats, they may actually appeal to some Corvette owners more THAN the run-flats. Basically depends on potential bidders priorities I suppose.

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Originally Posted by Y33TREKker

Sounds very similar to the review offered here.

http://www.zr1netregistry.com/F1G3D3.htm

Since the tires on my friends rims are the GS-D3 version of the Goodyear Eagle F1's and not the run-flats, they may actually appeal to some Corvette owners more THAN the run-flats. Basically depends on potential bidders priorities I suppose.

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some owners will jump at these. After all many corvette owners are like soccer moms with 4 wheel drive SUVs. They never drive them with their intended purpose or to their fullest capability

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Originally Posted by samneil2000

I'd guess 75% of their new price.

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That's probably not too far off. In taking part of many buy/sell threads at the corvetteforum, I see a lot of depreciation for the resale of parts. Granted, these look new, but the $2200 price might not be the lowest.

Another thing to consider is any problem can be taken up with a seller while "used" items are sold as-is. That's a big reason for drop in value.

Another is possible age. Typically, people consider tires good for something like 3-6 years because rubber gets harder with age -- and the tires lose performance.

The Corvetteforum has the most traffic that I've seen but people sometimes put Corvette wheels on other Chevy vehicle. List them in your local Craigslist -- with the bolt-pattern and offset. You might get a non-vette owner wanting to buy them.

My guess is they won't go for more than $1500. Even then, I might be optimistic.

Maybe it would be cheaper for your friend to buy another Corvette!!! Keep in mind those C5 wheels will fit other generations. So post in forums for all generations.

As I said, might not be the best price.

A quick perusal of the C5 forum shows a couple different types of new chrome-plated C5 wheels being sold by vendors for $599.

I'm thinking MAYBE $200/ea for F1's (non-vendor-sourced).

That's why I see $1500 max....Maybe in the $1200 range.

Kinda sucks don't it!

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Originally Posted by 89Vette

As I said, might not be the best price.

A quick perusal of the C5 forum shows a couple different types of new chrome-plated C5 wheels being sold by vendors for $599.

I'm thinking MAYBE $200/ea for F1's (non-vendor-sourced).

That's why I see $1500 max....Maybe in the $1200 range.

Kinda sucks don't it!

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Thanks for the input. Much appreciated. :thumbup: