Experiences with ebay

[Monge405]

I need to put my car up for sale and wanted to know your experiences selling it through ebay - the good the bad the not so good

[AndyS]

lots of advertising coverage. Don't let the lack of offers break your heart. I have sold a few American cars on E Bay with great results. Not really the case with German cars.

[Dr2002]

No offense to anyone, but most cars I have seen from an eBay purchase are pieces of junk. Sellers are usually trying to hide defects that a local buyer or an informed one would see.

Why not sell it through this or another loving community?

[Monge405]

I have, no takers though - either its too expensive, snow storm, not what they were looking for or they just flake out

[thehackmechanic]

I've sold a couple, and had a couple others not reach the reserve but result in a sale because a bidder contacted me.

Because, on eBay, an item has to be "as advertised," the trend with cars seems to be to say as little as possible. If you say "absolutely positively no rust ANYWHERE I PROMISE," then if someone finds rust, the car is not "as advertised." There is some reasonable concern on this point from the seller's end, but with a car like a 2002 where most of us can tell in 15 seconds if it's solid and in 30 seconds if it's rust-free, it's maddening. When I've posted 2002s, I've photographed the living snot out of them, including every blemish and rust spot.

The appeal of eBay is that you're entering into a process that has a defined endpoint (if it's a no reserve auction and if the buyer follows through with the purchase). This is in contrast with Craigslist, which I love as a buyer but hate as a seller, as you get people who don't show up for appointments, and receive 20 e-mails lowballing you, and with appalling grammar to boot ("wld U tk 1k 4 it?" My answer: "no").

If you're selling on eBay, write the ad you'd like to see if you were the buyer. You'll be surprised how many nice comments you'll receive.

--Rob

[mikecrum]

I am in Charlotte NC and looking for a 72 or 73 tii. What are you trying to sell?

[epicyclic]

I wanted to pick up on Rob's last comment about making an ad like the kind you'd like to see yourself...

I brokered bikes and bike gear for a professional cycling team while I was in graduate school. I knew that buying a $1500 bike on Ebay was a big leap of faith, so I overdocumented everthing. I rebuilt one of the bikes and posted over a hundred photos of the entire process. I got a few cracks about one of the shots that showed me cleaning out some threads with a Qtip, and plenty of people who weren't even interested in bidding posted compliments. Taking that approach, I always got what I was asking (usually about half retail) and nearly always on the first posting.

People love Ebay, but it is scary... a well documented sale (plusses and minuses) stands out and goes a loooong way to help a potential buyer feel good about bidding. Though it may seem counterintuitive, showing the negatives in the same light as the positives is another key differentiator. Buyers like to know what they're getting and they know it won't be perfect. Knowing *how* something isn't perfect is hugely valuable.

I bet folks on this thread would love to sample your ebay listing before you post it there. You'd get some good feedback and maybe even find a buyer!

Good luck!