by Brian Birk

Created on: March 31, 2009

I recently searched for a front right brake caliper for a 1985 Ford Mustang on www.autopartswarehouse.com. Their website made it easy to find the part. The first step was to enter the year and the make of the car on their "shop by vehicle" sidebar. I entered 1985 and Ford and was transferred to a page where I could select the model from a list of 24 possible Ford models. I selected Mustang from the list. My next step was to select brake caliper from a list of parts. At the next page I was prompted to select the position of the caliper and I chose front, passenger side.

With those few clicks of the mouse I had arrived at the place where I could purchase a brake caliper that would be exactly what I needed. The part was not new. The caliper was remanufactured by A1 Cardone, a trusted name in the remanufacturing business. The cost would be $26.88 plus a $6.10 core charge plus $5.50 for shipping. My total would be $38.48. There were a variety of options for payment including credit cards and Paypal.

I have listed a very similar item for sale on eBay. A local auto parts store asked me to sell some of his slow moving items on eBay. The one I have for sale is a Wagner, but it was remanufactured for Wagner by A1 Cardone. In other words it is the same thing, but it comes in a different box. Mine is listed for sale on eBay for $19.60. There is no core charge and shipping and handling is $14.95. The total comes to $34.55.

If you were to type "1985 Mustang Caliper" into the eBay search engine the caliper I listed for sale would not appear. This caliper also fits Lincoln Continentals, Lincoln Mark series cars, Lincoln Town Cars and full size Mercuries. There isn't room to list all those models of cars along with the years in the title of an eBay listing. When people search for items on eBay they only search the titles. There is a way to search through the text of listings, but most eBay shoppers never use it.

Most people who list calipers for sale on eBay do not sell them. If you want to verify this here is how to do it. Click the blue letters that say "advanced search" near the top of the eBay home page. Type the word caliper into the search blank and click the box that says "completed listings". You will have to look down the list eliminating the tools, the bike parts, and the caliper decals. If it says reserve not met or if there is a "0" in the bid column it did not sell. If it did sell take a look at the price and compare it to the prices at one or more of the online

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