The Future of Vehicle Recycling, Cars stripped, boxed and on eBay within hours

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12 points·raybb··7 comments

I don't see how this is so "efficient" if they're destroying valuable parts as scrap by throwing out everything rather than harvesting and reusing them.

This seems to promote energy waste and reduce the amount of salvageable parts from the secondary market. Car makers must love it.

I think we watched a different video. They are harvesting parts and the disassembly plant is 75% powered by solar.

Most bulky and cheap parts are not worth storing, packaging, and shipping. This is especially true if they are not commonly damaged.

The equation for eBay profits might be:

Profit = Sale Price - payment processing fee - eBay commission - shipping - cost of part - packing materials - labor.

Shipping can cost more than the sale price.

Source: I used to run an eBay business.

Is that what chop shops are called these days?

In the UK they are called “breakers” i.e. motor breakers, bike breakers, car breakers etc.

Since the early 2000s I’ve been buying used vehicle parts from these off eBay. One of my local shops closed the physical store and went eBay only in 2000s as that is where most of his business came from so a physical shop was costing to much.

This “new” phenomenon has been happening for 20+ years. Selling used parts has existed way before that also except you’d have to phone around and get the part shipped instead of search online.

Fascinating! Thanks for sharing this!

The future of vehicle theft.

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