ShadyJC

iTrader: (2)

Thinking of selling a car... wondering what the experience was like, what costs were and utimately, whether you think it was the right choice of selling your vehicle, as opposed to something like Autotrader, Craigslist, dumping it off at a Carmax or some other method... thanks!

plex

iTrader: (11)

I posted my 240 on ebay back in 04 and ended up selling it offline to a buyer. Ebay gives good exposure if anything else. I would avoid selling it to carmax unless you're in a hurry. Just be careful of the scammers that will contact you once you post online on either ebay, craigslist or where ever.

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

eBay is expensive. Just to post up is about $50, then you have to pay about 3% of the final cost. So, a $10k car will have a $350 eBay fee!!!

I've used AutoTrader twice and that was the best for me. Good local exposure, $75 for an ad "until it sells," and you don't have to deal with anyone too far away, or have people from overseas try to scam you. It was much better than Cars.com.

Threxx

I sold my 99 GS400 on there 2 years ago (so it'd be like a 2001 is today), in excellent condition, with 72k miles and I made the mistake of doing a no reserve auction. Tons of people were watching it but it only made it up to 14-something which according to KBB.com was less than trade in value was. I called one of my friends about 2 hours before the auction was going to close and he was like "do you want me to bid on it for you?" and I was torn because I knew it was wrong, but I did not want some stranger getting my car for less than trade in value. He joked to me "but if I win the auction I better get that car for that price"... and at that point I thought "well, if I do sell it to him for the winning price then it'll be legit w/ him bidding on it for me, plus I'd rather one of my best friends get my car than some stranger"... anyhow - he ended up winning the auction for 14.7, plus he offered me 500 more to keep all of my mods on the car instead of parting them out. So I sold it to him for 15.2. He still has the car today, 2 years later, with 104k miles on it.

BCinDC

A quick correction from a previous post, eBay does not charge 3% on car sales. They charge a $40 listing fee, when the car is listed, and $50 "transaction services fee" if a bid is placed which exceeds the reserve price (or any bid if no reserve), in other words if the cars sells (assuming the buyer pays). There are other listing options (picture upgrades, etc) that add to the listing fee. Here is a link to the "eBay Motors Fees" webpage: http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/motorfees.html

I bought my LS on eBay about a month ago. I spent almost a month poring over cars there, at Autotrader and on Cars.com (Autotrader has a lot more cars, fwiw). During that time I learned a fair amount about how/what seems to work. For most items on eBay (if there is an active market, at least) selling with a reserve price is a good way to kill off interest from would-be bidders. However, with a car, as Threxx' experience showed, it is too risky to not have a reserve.

[Also, FYI, the Kelley Blue Book (kbb.com) is not very reliable. Its pricing is almost always high (I should have paid $3,000 more for mine, if it were right) which is why car sellers, like Carmax, love to say their prices are lower than KBB - for more realistic pricing, go to Edmunds.com.]

From what I saw/experienced, a large percentage of cars listed on eBay don't sell. I think that is partly because buyers, in general, are reluctant to buy a car, often sight unseen, from an auction (so you get more risk-takers looking for a good deal). On the other hand, a fair number of sellers want more than their cars are worth (maybe they are looking at KBB?). Look at completed auctions for your car before you list, if you decide to do so, to see what they are really selling for. Also, a format that I thought made a lot of sense, was "Buy Now, or Best Offer". You WILL get some absurd low ball offers, but it lets you tell people "this is what I want", and then lets buyers make offers. If you get an acceptable offer, you can take it and end the listing right then. Also, include a caveat in your listing that you reserve the right to end the listing early, for local sales. That way if it sells from an ad on Autotrader or from your local newspaper, you can end the listing. Include a phone number for buyers to call you. FWIW, a lot of dealers list their cars on eBay, but complete the sales outside of eBay (no service fee, an eBay violation - nonetheless, its pretty widespread).

That is my $.02 if that helps.

Bob

mjr24

I sold my last Benz on Ebay and ended up selling it offline to someone who saw it there. I put it on Autotrader, too, and was very unimpressed. It seems noone called from the Autotrader ad. For $90 or whatever Ebay costs, it's worth it......

Don't do a no reserve auction, though, because Ebay is no different than any other actual car auction you go to.....the cars go for alot cheaper than they may be worth.

skubasteev

I'm in the middle of selling my 92 Subaru SVX on eBay (auction ends at 9 tonight). So far I have 20+ people watching it, but no actual bids although I have gotten a few low ball offers to end the auction early. I don't understand how someone would think I'd sell the car for $1000, when the auction starts at $1500 w/reserve but whatever.

I'll let you know how it goes after the auction ends. FYI they currently have listing fees 33% off, so it cost me about $30 to list.