Locating parts for vintage cars can test your patience. Collector Part Exchange aims to change that with a new online marketplace exclusively for the collector car community. The site launched in June and is headed by co-founders Chris Bright and Aaron Laliberte.
Searching for these special parts can be frustrating and time-consuming — especially in a world where we find and buy items with one click. Conversely for sellers, setting up an e-commerce site requires a significant amount of time and money. CPX will speed up the process by gathering the finest suppliers from around the world in one place.
“The collector car hobby is experiencing continued growth fueled by a shift to online sales. Unfortunately for suppliers, who typically are specialized, small businesses, it is a big challenge to support online sales. We built Collector Part Exchange to bolster them with a no-risk on-ramp to online sales so they can meet their buyers where they are,” said Chris Bright, Co-founder of Collector Part Exchange. “We also hope to encourage private sellers to clean out their garages to get more and more spare parts back into circulation.”
Collector Part Exchange was built on feedback resulting from hundreds of hours of interviews with parts suppliers, custom manufacturers, and restoration and repair shops. CPX is optimized for the collector car community’s needs with the following key features:
•Buyer/seller communication throughout the transaction.
•Sellers offer items for free and pay a 5% commission when an item sells.
•Powerful on-site search engine finds parts quickly.
•Buyers purchase with confidence from a community of reputable sellers.
•The online marketplace is easy and Intuitive to use from the first visit.
•The entire shopping experience is ad and sponsor free.
“We’ve accumulated many parts along with vehicles we buy and sell and started a CPX store to sell them. Finding special parts is like discovering gold. Previously, you had to know someone with the same kind of car, or spend hours calling around the world to locate them. CPX fills a great need and should help reduce the cost of restoration. Less time will be spent chasing parts and more actually working on vehicles,” said Bruce Trenery, Founder, Fantasy Junction.
“The response has been overwhelmingly supportive from dozens of sellers in America and Europe who are offering tens of thousands of items on our site, valued at more than $4 million. More parts are being added daily. We have complete Ferrari engines, custom-made upholstery, automobilia, and even a Project Cars section offering non-running vehicles. It will be ‘the’ place to find what you need. If you don’t see it, try our Part Ping™ service to help locate the exact part” concluded Bright.
According to Hagerty Insurance, the collector car community in the U.S. consists of 18 million owners and 31 million vehicles with a total value of more than $1 trillion. SEMA estimates that $890 million worth of parts for pre-1974 vehicles are sold each year in the U.S. When adding in global parts sales for pre-1990 cars, estimates exceed $2 billion.
To learn more, visit www.collectorpartexchange.com or look for CPX at Concorso Italiano and other events throughout the week.
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