I found this search term finds mostly BRAT parts and eliminates all the extraneous toys, RC Cars, Key chains, dash covers etc.  

 

Put the following in the ebay search bar:

subaru brat -tamiya -tamya -"hot wheels" -hotwheels -toy -hw -shifter -"hot wheel" -keychain -coverking

 

Link for example

Edited November 6, 201510 yr by eatmorepossum

Buying parts on ebay can get you some really good deals, but you have to be careful. Make sure the seller has a return policy so when you get the wrong part or a defective part it's a painless process to return it. I recently bought a part for my Mercedes on ebay that looked really good and listed as new, however I was sent a used, defective part. I had to go through an ebay claim to get the seller to refund me, pita all around. Then I bought more parts for my hydraulic suspension and they actually sent me a different, more expensive brand than I paid for. I guess you win some, you lose some.

Yes, you have to be aware on ebay. Read feedback. Even with a few not so great deals, I am way ahead. Even including the one outright ripoff. I only buy brand names I know .

Yes, I agree, eBay is a potentially dangerous marketplace (as is Craigs List).  But when buying old parts, you can't always buy local.  There are great protections in place when using paypal as a buyer.  A few weeks ago, I bought a NOS fender for my brat.  When I received it and unboxed it, I found it was dented.  Not really bad... but i paid for a fender in perfect shape.  So the seller had trouble negotiating with UPS and getting the shipipng refund and exchange etc... Not my problem.  I disputed the sale within ebay/paypal and within 2 weeks I got a full refund AND they let me keep the dented fender... which i'll probably end up using.  But always use caution when buying from an individual at a distance.  I've had pretty good luck over the last 17 years as an eBay User. 

I find craigslist a lot safer for buying used things, especially. Craigslist is pick up only for me, I'd never trust a craigslist seller to ship something, that's just asking for it. At least with ebay the seller almost always wins a dispute, so even if you do get ripped off, you usually get refunded.

Someone actually approached me about shipping parts I had listed on Craigslist recently.  They paypal'd the money over and I shipped the parts the next day...because I'm an honest person, but I was like wow, I'd never trust someone to do that.  In fact, the buyer was only an hour and a half away, to me it'd been worth the drive to see and feel what I was paying for.

I won't sell with paypal unless I really trust the person...

A buyer can claim you never shipped it, or it was broken, etc. File a claim with paypal and get refunded. Then paypal makes you pay them back. That happened to a friend of mine, complete fraud.

all the time. amazon probably more often, but yeah for used it's a good starting point.  searching is a debacle - sometimes it's too much effort to searching for something I'm obvoiusly looking for....but I get it.

 

i've had two bad parts.

 

"OEM Subaru ball joints" - not only not OEM ball joints, they weren't even the right size.

a brand new cheap strut mount - in about 10 miles the top of the strut rod, the metal part the strut rod bolts too - pulled out of the strut mount and pushed right through the top strut mount, into the car cabin and bashed up the rear deck of a legacy sedan.

The biggest PITA is that they let sellers flag anything as OEM or NOS, that way your search for NOS OEM Brat mirror glass returns 12,000 listings for mirrors with backup monitors and disco balls to hang from your rear view mirror, it makes much of the search engine useless.

For eBay purchases read their feedback.  I have all positive feedback with 4461 sales recorded.  Read the comments.  They tell the story.  My eBay id:  w4wx. I also just posted a long list of Subaru parts on Craig's List.  They are listed under Jacksonville, FL.  I will ship.  Majority of parts are NOS in Subaru packing and boxes with part numbers. Parts for 1970's, 1980's, and few for 1990's.  I sold to dozen or so members on this form without any complaints.

 

Bill in Middleburg, FL

Never buy valve lifters on EBAY.  All you get is crappy lifters that don't hold oil.  My biggest Subaru score on EBAY was a LSD 3.7 rear differential.  Most parts are best extracted from the local junk yard.

I've scored some hard to find or expensive mercedes parts off ebay recently, brand new in box. Guys just had stuff sitting around from cars they sold and wanted it gone. If you take your time, those deals are out there. You see this with pretty much anything 20+ years old if you take your time.

Edited November 19, 201510 yr by 987687

Ive gotten some camaro and subaru scores on ebay over the years and haven't got any bad things to say about it.  Ive also made a good chunk of change on car parts.  It just depends on who you buy from and if they are honest.  I keep an eye on ebay for old EA81 parts and camaro part here and there.