It's been harder and harder to make good jy money ever since pullaparts have been opening, everyone seems to go get their own shit anymore
Yep... and people are cheapasses. I got people offering me $150 for a kingpin dana 60 at a swapmeet last spring. Told em to get ****ed, of course... I get em for that price, but that's not swapmeet price. That's "lurk the yards for 4 months and then lie in broken glass filled mud eating angle grinder sparks and bashing your knuckles" price. People want d60s for $150, they better go find and pull them themselves.
The prices at my local pick n pulls are crazy high anymore. ZJ disk brakes, WJ knuckles, and explorer 8.8" were good investments back in the day but now sell cheap and don't have a good profit margin. One tons and NV4500s seem to be the JY gold these days but hard to find.
I got multiple offers of $100 for ZJ disc swap sets a few years ago but it's such a bastard to get em out (most local yards pull the wheels and drop the jeeps right on their axles on the ground) that by the time I'm done, I could have pulled something else more worth my time.
Front 60s (aside from awful dodge balljoint ones) sell well if you find the right buyer.
nv4500s always sell well.
Both hard to find though.
I don't buy anything for the prices I sell it for. Similarly, I usually don't sell to friends, because I pull stuff like that to make a stack of money, and I'd feel bad making that kind of money off a friend. You want a d60 or an nv4500, you come to the yard with me, I'll be more than happy to help pull it, then you pay for it directly and it goes in your car and we're square.
I've bought nv4500s for 170 bucks and 270 (including clutch/flywheel/PP/pedal box) and sold for 900 and 1300 respectively. I didn't sit on either for more than a week, either. I literally buy any nv4500 I find for under 300 bucks in good condition and then it goes on craigslist. People frankly pay stupid money for them, mostly because dodge autos blow and fullsize truck bro-ricers get tired of nuking them.