Selling car on ebay, Advice requested.

[JPSpen]

I'm thinking I'm going to try to sell my Jaguar on Ebay, I haven't driven it since I got my LT and it's just sitting in the garage.:(

It needs a couple of minor things but I just figured I'd spell it all out in the auction. I figure as long as I'm honest about it things will be just fine.

Anyone have any advice for selling a car on Ebay??

Thanks

John

[SilverBuffalo]

I haven't sold a car, but I did sell a motorcycle (K1100LT) a Bunkhouse camper and a Bushtec trailer and a bunch of other smaller items.
I am no expert but I have learned a few things.
1. figure out what the least is you'll take and set a reserve price there.
Usually things sell real good but I have "given" a couple of things away because I didn't set a reserve.
2. Start the bidding low, $100 for instance, it builds exitement for the bidders and creates rivalry and competition amongst them.
3. Run the add for at least ten days, two weekends.
4. Start the add so it will end at a time when most people are home. (E-bay is on Pacific time)
(the real bidding is done in the last 10 minutes)
5. Get a deposit when its sold.
6. Reserve the right to sell early (for sale locally)
7. Don't fall for any foreign buyer scams.
I'm sure there's more advice from others.

[Dick]

I'm thinking I'm going to try to sell my Jaguar on Ebay, I haven't driven it since I got my LT and it's just sitting in the garage.:(

It needs a couple of minor things but I just figured I'd spell it all out in the auction. I figure as long as I'm honest about it things will be just fine.

Anyone have any advice for selling a car on Ebay??

Thanks

John
Hi, John - like you, I'm occasionally too honest (if thats even possible) in descriptions of thangs I sell, butt also, like you, I sleep better knowing there will be no surprises to a successful bidder. When it comes time to upload any pictures, upload as many as you would like to see if you were the bidder/buyer. Close ups of any potential 'gotchas', as well as views in sequential order of just walking around the car and looking/clicking.

Make sure you or eBay put your car in the correct category. I listed my '55 T-bird a month or so ago, and it ended up in an obscure category that wuz difficult to find in a routine search function (coulda been my fault, tho) - as a result, I got no bids the first run, and very few looks. I got it correctly placed on the second run and got 26 bids and a ton of looks.

Beware of the *Second Chance Offers* category and procedures for 'after the auction' ending. Read lotsa info on this subject on the eBay FAQ pages and banner notes. The caution of *Second Chance Offers* has more negative impact to buyers than sellers, butt it can work in either situation.

Hope you receive more assistance from some of the 'senior' eBay players.

[bassj]

Let me know how you made out, I have never sold on Ebay but I have a 97 XJ6L with 73,000 miles I wold like to sell.

[midwilshire]

I bought my R100RT on eBay. It went smoothly, but I know that not all do.

I think it would be a good idea to include a term in the auction that requires a down payment of some sort within, say, 24 or 72 hours of auction close. That way, you still get something out of a deadbeat buyer.

And although eBay says bidders enter a binding agreement, I like to use a simple, one-page BILL OF SALE AND PURCHASE AGREEMENT whenever I buy or sell a vehicle, anyhow. You can customize it to match any particular negotiated terms (e.g., "I'll give you $100 to fix that wiring harness" or "Let me pay you 1/2 now and 1/2 when I get my next paycheck"). I can send you sample if you think you'll need one.

And of course, don't sign it over until the money's in the bank. :)

[jkersh1]

I'm not an eBay seller, but I bought both my BMW's there, and looked at seriously at many more. Some of the things that I want from a seller are the VIN, prompt response to questions (even if it's, "I don't know, let me check"), an ad that doesn't take forever to load (living in a dial-up world), and an ad that's devoid of gimmicks such as, all caps, extra large fonts, multi color, etc.

Good luck on your auction.

[dshealey]

I have never sold a car on eBay, but I purchased my current two cars, a '94 BMW 525i and a 2001 740iL, very happy with both.

[vernvernvern]

I'm thinking I'm going to try to sell my Jaguar on Ebay, I haven't driven it since I got my LT and it's just sitting in the garage.:(

It needs a couple of minor things but I just figured I'd spell it all out in the auction. I figure as long as I'm honest about it things will be just fine.

Anyone have any advice for selling a car on Ebay??

Thanks

John
Hi, I've been selling on ebay for several years. I'd suggest you sell something simple first. Just to get the hang of how things work.

Set up a PayPal account............it's free. They(buyers) can use CC's or their checking account for you down payment at auction end. Real safe mode.

Don't accept money to be "wired" to you.

Fee's for a car are $40 to list and another $40 IF it sells.

If you use ebay to load pics, they are .15 each after the first free pic. I use an outside pic source and link from there to the description on ebay. Much cheaper if you do lots of selling.

Aws mentioned before, do your home work and take good pics that actually show what you'd like to see if you were the buyer.

Use the description area to TELL everything about your vehicle. I believe honesty is the best policy.

Make sure they know where the vehicle is should they wish to have a look at it while the listing is in effect.

Tell them exactly how you want paid and don't change it for anyone. If they can't do as you ask, then they shouldn't bid. I even put that info in the description.

Answer their question promptly!

As mentioned before, END your listing on Sunday evening.

There are lots of things to learn on ebay. That's why I suggest you sell small items first to learn to use the listing tools available to you. Do you have an old hand tool you no longer use, or something hanging in your garage that you don't use anymore. Folks will bid on most anything. Listings for auto's are different than for small items(ie, fees to list) but you can find out those fees on the ebay site. Of course you do have to have a sellers account set up on Ebay in order to sell.

Also there are folks that will do the listing for you for a fee. You can find them on the Ebay site as well.

Hope I haven't overwhelmed you. :)

[vtwinwilly]

John,

All good advice....

In addition to what others have suggested, here's what I did when I sold a Mercedes on E-Bay. Becasue I had only sold a few items and had very little feedback as a seller, I offered a one time right of refusal, with a deposit refund. That is... if the winning bidder showed up at my house to take delivery, and the vehicle wasn't exactly as I described it, they could back out of the deal and I would refund the deposit. I did this to give the bidder confidence that they were not going to be shammed.

In the end it worked out well. The winning bidder showed up at my door within 6 hours of the auction close, with cash in hand. I made him go to the bank with me to deposit the money, then he drove the car home.

Bill B.

[Dick]

John,

All good advice....

In addition to what others have suggested, here's what I did when I sold a Mercedes on E-Bay. Becasue I had only sold a few item and had very little feedback as a seller, I offered a one time right of refusal, with a deposit refund. That is... if the winning bidder showed up at my house to take delivery, and the vehicle wasn't exactly as I described it, they could back out of the deal and I would refund the deposit. I did this to give the bidder confidence that they were not going to be shammed.

In the end it worked out well. The winning bidder showed up at my door within 6 hours of the auction close, with cash in hand. I made him go to the bank with me to deposit the money, then he drove the car home.

Bill B.

Hi, Bill - I like that. I'm not gonna be selling lots of thangs on eBay, butt since the T-Bird wuz my first run at it, I don't have a feedback record either (well, it sez 100%, butt..... ;) ). The other thang I've noticed in reading some of the other seller's disclaimers --- state that the car may be sold by means other than eBay, if you have it advertised elsewhere. That allows one to advertise locally, or with Auto Trader or Craig's list, etc. Not sure just when that ticket gets punched, whether before the first eBay bid, or when. I'm learnin'!!! :rolleyes: :)

[vtwinwilly]

... The other thang I've noticed in reading some of the other seller's disclaimers --- state that the car may be sold by means other than eBay, if you have it advertised elsewhere. That allows one to advertise locally, or with Auto Trader or Craig's list, etc. Not sure just when that ticket gets punched, whether before the first eBay bid, or when. I'm learnin'!!! :rolleyes: :)

Dick,

I also put that disclaimer in my E-Bay ad. While the car was on E-Bay, I also had it listed in Auto Trader. The way I handled it was... I set my reserve on E-Bay. As long as the reserve was not met, I was comfortable entertaining offers from Auto Trader shoppers. However, as soon as the reserve was met, I thought it was only fair to cease activity from Auto Trader. In fact, once the reserve was met, I was contacted by 2 potential buyers from Auto Trader. I told them if they were interested they'd just have to go to E-Bay and bid on it like everyone else. Obviously, this worked to my advantage.

Bill B.

[Daman858]

I sold an old Mercedes diesel on E-bay, got twice what I thought I would for it. The guy came from upstate NY to Maryland to get it and drove it home! He was very happy with it. It had 295,000 miles on it but ran well, just had some rust and a leaky steering box. The deal went off without a hitch.
I just sold a western show saddle and shipped it out to Colorado to a young lady who was starting in the horse show world.

I found that if you are very honest with what you are selling and post lots of photos, things go pretty well. You also have to be honest with yourself and be realistic about what you are selling. Serious bidding starts about an hour before the auction is to end.

[Dick]

Dick,

I also put that disclaimer in my E-Bay ad. While the car was on E-Bay, I also had it listed in Auto Trader. The way I handled it was... I set my reserve on E-Bay. As long as the reserve was not met, I was comfortable entertaining offers from Auto Trader shoppers. However, as soon as the reserve was met, I thought it was only fair to cease activity from Auto Trader. In fact, once the reserve was met, I was contacted by 2 potential buyers from Auto Trader. I told them if they were interested they'd just have to go to E-Bay and bid on it like everyone else. Obviously, this worked to my advantage.

Bill B.
Thanks, Bill - that sure seems fair and just, and well above board. I'll do that too - on the next run.

[JPSpen]

Thanks for all the input guys. This has helped me a lot and I can see that I need to cover my bases if i'm going to sell this on Ebay...


John