I was just curious to hear experiences with selling cars on ebay. As I look at a lot of auctions - seems like cars have sold but they keep popping back up for sale a week later. That tells me people are bidding and not buying.

Curious to hear folks thoughts on ebay as a viable selling tool.

D.-

 

Two things about ebay, you can't make someone sell it or buy it if they don't want to. There are many reasons this happens including the seller didn't like the sold amount and had the transaction cancelled and relisted or the buyer refused to pay. Though I've had a lot of good deals some have been cancelled. I bought my 1980 on ebay 5 years ago and drove to Michigan to get it. Took the seller almost an hour to show up with the keys. Multiple calls from his wife finally got him to give it up. I bought others that the seller said he wasn't going to sell it for that price, cancelled the sale and relisted later. I have been buying off ebay for over 15 years and over all it's still a great place to buy. I pay a lot of attention to feed backs so far it has worked very well.

 

Some random experiences:

-Many bids are fake, propped up by the seller or his friends.

-Completed Listings dont tell you half what you think they do. More cars advertised on ebay sell after the auction, or the seller stops the auction when someone checks the car in person and makes a deal. These sales are not on the system.

-Insist people look at the car or have someone who will. Its incredible the buyers who buy cars sight unseen and wonder why they got it wrong and blame you.

-Feedback is nice, but the ebay feedback system was ruined years ago when they stopped letting sellers leave negative feedback. Buyers promptly went on a campaign to threaten and extort sellers without fear of reprisal. Many ebay people stopped using feedback altogether.

-Also, regarding selling cars, feedback ratings are terribly misleading. Unless the seller is a major dealer, most people do not have a lot of car sales in their feedbacks. That doesnt make them bad sellers. But if they have 1000 positive feedbacks because of all the $2 hockey pucks they sold, are they more trustworthy than a person who signed up for ebay for the first time to sell his car? Hint: no.

-always remember: some people have an attitude about "dealers," but the fact is dealers do not have a corner on the market on fraud. Private sellers are just as bad.

-However, ebay could be the best "bang for the buck" sales tool there is. Tremendous national exposure, cheap fees, worth every dime, I think. ebay has its warts like any other method of selling a car, which can try your patience.

 

Quit selling on ebay yrs ago due to that some people will never be happy unless they know they are geting it for free.

Thouht about taking some vids and selling off my vehicles on there as CL is a bottom feeder site just leery of getting screwed.

Everyone wants something new for nothing and a warranty

 

I sell 4 to 5 cars a year on eBay. Not all Vettes.....but all classic cars.

I have never listed a car that didn't sell and have never had a deal fall through....yet.

I feel the secret is that I throughly describe my cars very honestly. I disclose every little blemish and problem.

I also do my homework and I'm realistic about the value of my cars. I have a very clear idea of what they'll bring before I ever list them. Then, I base my selling price accordingly.

I have 100% Positive Feedback and have never had a listing fail.

 

I've bought and sold cars on eBay. No complaints, it's just another tool that works great when used properly. just like any other tool.

 

I have sold vehicles and bought my 69 off ebay,

I like that posting on ebay gives almost the entire world a look at your car, as a buyer VB outlined all the problems,

In my case the seller listed his number in the ad and I called, the 69 was listed as a "custom mako shark" it wasn't but it was modded and had no reserve,
I knew at the time '09 that modded still hurt sales but prices were down, got it for 6300 to my door from ohio,

Watch out for the pita sport bidders, nut ***** and cons, I see many car sales tell would be buyer if you do not have x number feedback do not bid without first contacting the seller, that would help a little,

CL is a dirt flea market yet worse you have every kind of looser hiding behind their computer saying whatever asinine insulting thing they want to....but if you have the nerves to sort through the flakes selling local is pretty cool but unlikely.

 

I've bought and sold a dozen or so cars there, it's my favorite method because of the number of buyers and types of cars.

 

I've sold about 12 classic cars , Grand National , Jag XJ-S, Trans-Am's on Ebay and bought 4 or 5. Had a few "B.S." transactions (mainly jerks bidding / not paying) but for the most part E-bay has been ok.

No Lie, had one guy about 10 years back send a $400 deposit on a Buick T-Type and then drop off the face of the earth! I guess the wife told him no !! I even emailed , regular mailed etc (trying to give back the deposit since he was a pretty straight shooter / called before bidding, asked a lot of questions etc), but never heard back from him. I'm kinda' thinking he died ! That was a first for me - for sure. I re-listed and sold it for $130 more , so it worked out fantastic for me..... wish they all were like that !!

C.L. has turned into a total joke - but I'll still use it here and there. It's funny: You post something and "like clockwork" , the first 2-3 emails that night / next day are always from some scammer... That gets old real fast...

 

EBAY is about one thing: exposure.

the vett car ads sites, cars.com autotrader.com, etc.. have no where near the exposure. it's a way to find that one buyer that will pay that extra for a certain option or color.

the downside is that the price you will get bid is a price that someone will pay for it sight unseen.. which will be lower. so yes, expect to get exposure, but to NOT sell it during the auction, and to get a potential buyer to close the deal after the auction.
I certainly would not spend hundreds on a appraiser/inspector for a car that I did not know what the asking price was.

 

Feedback I've received and observed from eBay sales are prices are often quite low. Could be due to risk bidders take buying a car without being able to inspect first?

At the other end of the spectrum I've seen cars selling for double the price from auctions such as BJ, cars which appear much nicer on eBay where bidding tops off at half as much.

I'm guessing many sell somewhere in between these extremes...

 

Well - I put it up, we'll see how it does

Moderator removed the ebay link - the car is up in the C3 for sale section

 

dman535,

that gal is beautiful! I have a C6, but I absolutely love the C3. Especially with the sugar scoop window.

good luck,

JKHolman

 

I have two buddies that flip a lot of classic cars/trucks. They use Craigslist but feel Ebay is the money maker.

 

Thanks. I have owned her since I was 18. Lots of time spent on that car.

I have sold a fair amount of stuff on Craigslist, including cars and boats. It has not gotten a lot of traffic on the Corvette.

I will probably end up heading up to Cars n Coffee this weekend with a for sale sign.