I think the idea is that eBay sellers have feedback - i.e., this person has bought 76 tea cosies in the past and therefore is an ideal type to buy a used car from, or something.
It works on the theory that the seller will be honest, in order to prevent negative feedback (i.e., as Mapmaker is referring to the Adam Smith style perfect market where buyers and sellers know about each other as well) and so people assess the value of the car on that basis.
I think a lot of people do actually see the eBay car that they buy. Others will be most afraid not of buying a bad car but being sold a bad one and are therefore grateful to be told about the slipping clutch or the rusty wheelarch, thinking that at least worse isn't hidden and they lack the skills to find it anyway. I don't necessarily agree with this theory but I can see some logic behind it. There is also the fact that a full range of photos makes a car seem much more appealing than three lines of 7 point text.
Incidentally, I am typing this on a laptop that I bought from eBay (new) and with which I am very happy, particularly given the 32% discount I got, so the market does sometimes clear below what might be expected in a retail store as well.
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Ah, but unless you're a main dealer you don't have the opportunity to pay trade-in prices on a car. You have to pay somewhere between private sale & forecourt price. Therefore the eBay price is generally between trade-in and private sale.
So, private purchaser gets car more cheaply than out of Autotrader; and somebody who would otherwise have traden in gets more money than he would have done from the garage.
Anyway, you can go to view cars that are on eBay.
But look at one or two of these motors I've seen recently which have gone for (or at least bid up to) more than one would expect if OldPeculiar were right. (I'm still hoping to find a scrap one of these which is why I've noticed them and the apparently high prices they go for.)
cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=...1
cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=...1
cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=...1
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The thing about your Audis, Mapmaker, is that people like audimadmike aren't just chancing across them but are actively looking for Audi 100 Estates, and these are relatively rare cars and the buyers are choosing them, hence they're willing to travel further and pay more than the non-specialised buyer in the local paper. For them, choosing an Audi is not a chance decision against a Peugeot 605 or a Granada but actually the first step in their purchase process.
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I don't disagree at all, David - I suppose that's my point - you may well have answered my question. But why would you want to:
1. put one of these into Autotrader at £700 - as people do?
2. trade it in for £500 - or less?
when Audimadmike will give you more than twice that (admittedly for the V6, but those appear in Autotrader at sub-1000.). But look at teadrinker's diesel with the dodgy 'box and the intergalactic mileage.
For a Granada, the same seems to apply. Autotrader will give you a trade-sale estate for broadly 400-1400 (and a couple anomalies at 1k more) which appears to tally with completed Granadas on ebay (if you ignore the scrap ones). In comparison with the Audi, the only difference appears to be the number for sale.
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Also, of course, there is the psychological factor at play in auctions - no-one likes to be beaten, and it is all too easy to bid a little more in the heat of the moment than you really intended.
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There is one very important item about selling (or buying ) a car on ebay.
If the car has faults NOT described by the vendor but found by the buyer before he completes the sale by paying for the car, the contract is null and void.
So vendors must be truthful...or hide the problems well.
madf
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Ebay seems to work well for the slightly rarer or off-beat car, but I'm not so sure its that good for run-of-the-mill cars like Mondeos and Cav/Vectra. Why both with Ebay and possibly having to drive miles to see the thing when Autotrader will show you 50+ examples within 25 miles?
I would be most hesitant to buy a car essentially 'unseen' unless is was something unusual.
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Ebay prices can be rather 'manufactured'. It is quite possible to make a second identity, then bid for his/her own vehicle, thus jacking up the price. I am not saying that this happens all the time, but more often than you think.
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There is no doubt that people can get carried away in bidding in the last few hours of an auction. I prefer not to bid until the very last moment and use Auction Sentry to snipe with.
www.auction-sentry.com
It works very well. Continuous bidding from low prices is a waste of time if you are buying (great if selling:-). As long as you adopt the policy of a limit price above which you will not go, and only buying REAL bargains, I have found ebay a great way to buy things very cheaply. Conversely I have done very well selling things.
The art is in the presentation: time spent preparing the sales blurb is well worthwhile as it frequently means more bidders and a higher price. Badly written and poorly presented sales writeups are often a good way of buying cheaply if you ask the seller questions...
madf
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Just to add some personal experience.
I have been trying to sell a 2002 318iSE (72.5k miles) for two months. Advertised with Autotrader, starting at 11,995 in early August. Progressively brought the price down - and by last week it reached £10,750.
A few telephone calls - but no real interest.
Finally, out of sheer frustration listed on eBay on Thursday (the free listing day). Listed the car at 1440hrs, by 1800 hrs did a deal over the phone, and the buyer paid a £100 deposit. Tomorrow, he is coming to pick the car up with the bankers draft for the remainder.
I think Auto Trader is a waste of money. On eBay, if you don?t sell they only charge listing fees which comes to less than £10.
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Be VERY careful with that bankers draft, or you could be waving goodbye to your car and your money.
Sorry to be a cynic, but it could easily be a stolen blank bank draft.
As he is collecting on a SUNDAY, you can't phone the originating bank branch to check it's authenticity can you??
BE VERY CAREFUL!!!!!!
I recommend you delay the collection until the banks are open on Monday, or don't hand the car over until the draft has been verified.
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Yes,do not part with your car until you are know that it is a genuine bankers draft (and I don't how you can establish that on a Sunday.... ) , there are many forgeries about. I recently bought a car privately and the vendor accompanied me to my bank whilst I collected the bankers draft. DON'T be caught out like my friends' father in law who sold his BMW X5 privately to an Eastern European for £30k and accepted a banker's draft. When the seller returned from a fortnight's holiday there was a letter from his bank informing him that the banker's draft was a forgery. So he lost his car ( no redress from his insurance company ) and had to pay off the remaining £15 k finance. If the buyer is genuine he will understand your reasons for refusing to part with the car till your satisfied.( Of course you may already of done this in which case we needn't worry! )
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Thanks for the warning guys.
I did check the autheticity of the draft with the bank on Friday (he sent a scanned copy).
The buyer was a policeman from Northern Ireland.
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Just bought on E Bay replacemt motorbike CBR 1000 on it's second or third listing.Had a sarting price of £1600 With a buy it now option of £ 2000 did not get a single bidder. Relisted with no starting price and made £1420.
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I just sold my old van - an N reg Renault Trafic T900D at 187K miles 6 months MOT with a knackered gearbox on e bay.
I put on a starting bid of £255 with a Buy it Now option of £350 and a 10 day duration to give people plenty of time to enquire and consider the vehicle.
I put a full description with my mobile phone number and offered additional photos to anyone who wanted them and made sure I answered all questions promptly.
I offered the 6 months RFL to the successful bidder for its worth (£80) in addition to the final bid price - I suspected that some people wouldn't be interested in that.
For the first 9 days I had a few questions but no bid. I would have been happy to get £200 though the local paper.
Then with 2 hours to go I got a phone call, asking me questions, then shortly after the first bid at £255.
Within the last 2 hours the price rose to £290. I only had 2 people after it. One pushed the others proxy bid up to that figure.
The transction worked very well. The buyer chose to buy the remaining tax at £80, so often taken as a perk by the buyer.
So now £370 better off. That'll meet one months payment on the new van!
H
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How does ebay make it's money?
Does it charge a fixed fee for each advert or a percentage of the selling price or collect commission from paypal?
I once bought a small item from the site (sent a cheque to the vendor) but that has been my total involvement.
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All of the above. Overall the fees are quite low. Whwn you consider that a car advertisement has virtually unlinited text and the option of numerous photos.
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It depends on what you are selling
For automobiles
Listing fees: £6
Reserve Price: £3
Then if it sells (over £5k): £30 - refunded if the guy doesn't pay
Then there are 1001 options on how to promote your item, if you are really keen I suppose you could end up paying £100 just to put the advert in!!
Have a look at the 'fees' section on ebay, it is all there.
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Basically there's £6 outlay, unless you opt for one of those free listing days, plus extras depending on whether you want a subtitle, extra photos, reserve etc.
Plus, if you sell there's the seller's commission and if you sell above the reserve, I think I'm right in saying you get the reserve cost back.
I was pleased at my result. From previous e bay auctions for this van I valued it at £600 to £700 max ready for work. To fit the box was going to cost total just over £300 minimum. I am too busy to do it myself. I got £290, so worst case scenario I would have broken even, just.
My experience taught me the following:
Don't be tempted into reducing the opening bid price in the last day if there have been no bids, especially if it has been there for up to 10 days. Loads of people will be watching your item. I had 28 people watching my van until the auction ended.
You only need two people to bid each other up to get a good result, so if two or more people want it, you're onto a winner.
Use the title to put in as much info as you can plus different variations on spelling of the make and model, for example the correct spelling for the model of my van is "Trafic" but so many people search under "Traffic". Hence have both variations in the title. In addition, it is virtually identical to the Vauxhall Arena, so I fitted "vauxhall Arena" in the title as well.
Also summarise any major problems with it in the title or sub title (50p extra). I used the subtitle to mention "Versatile van MOT April 05 Gearbox Fault" The other details (2.1 Diesel etc) fitted in the main title.
Then when you list the item use a counter. If you have captured the main aspect of the vehicle in the title and subtitle, this will be a very good indicator to assess how many people are viewing your item. I had over 1500 hits (for some reason the counter reset itself during the auction).
Unless you're desparate to get shot of the item, use the longest duration (10 days). For people who are serious, this will give them plenty of time to research the vehicle and ask questions.
When setting the start price, there are several schools of thought here. People flogging Landrover Discovery TD5s often get away with starting at 99p with no reserve! Anyone who keeps an eye on that type of vehicle will know withing £500 of what the final bid price will be.
My situation was slightly different. I reckoned that my market was very limited because of it needing a new box, so I may only get one bidder. In addition, I didn't want to appeal to timewasters who bid small amounts without thinking about the logistics of fixing and collecting it etc. So I started with a price that I would be happy if I got, and no reserve. In addition I set a Buy it Now price at a figure some 40% above the start price and offered some bits I had as an inducement to anyone who did not want to wait until the auction ended. In addition, the bid price looked good value compared to this.
Finally make sure you put in EVERYTHING you know about the vehicle. As one BR member has said, the overall honesty of e bayers does reassure people who may be buying.
Include a mobile number in the listing to enable people to contact you at any time to ask questions. This can be particularly effective in the final hours of the auction.
Once you have listed the item, manage the listing carefully. 24 hours response for questions is acceptable, as people work etc. Make sure you answer all q's as fully as you can. If you don't know the answers, discuss it with them - "what am I looking for on the vehicle to answer your question?".
Finally, when people bid, look at their feedback. Are they a complete joker who bids in items then just leaves bad feedback without even collecting it? I have come across one of those, though fortunately not on one of my listings! If you don't like the look of them, write to them to ask them questions to re assure yourself they are genuine. Leave their bid there until towards the end to increase the competition for your item though!
Well, that is what I have learned anyway! Others' opinions may differ but that is what worked for me.
Hugo
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The great advantage of Ebay is that one isn't plagued by timewasters enquiring about the motor and being let down when the prospective buyer fails to turn up. I'm sure that some of the lonely and sad trawl the ads just to hear a friendly voice. I've sold three motors on Ebay without a hitch. The secret is to be honest about the product you're selling.
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I'll second virtually everything Hugo says, except the ?buy it now? pricing strategy. On the other hand, I suppose, it is really horses for courses. Anyway this is what I did.
My starting price was £10,000, and buy it now at £10,995. And like I said, within 4 hours a deal was done at £10,700. I also think, at this price range if you are serious about selling you need to offer a compelling case, i.e. make the buy it now price very, very reasonable. It gives a positive signal to the buyer.
Also make sure that you have every inch of the car photographed in high resolution photographs. It helps if you have your own web space, otherwise you end up paying a significant amount to eBay for putting up multiple images. Besides, eBay does not allow very high resolution pictures. My buyer said that he was very impressed with the level of detail and the amount of photographs.
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Has anybody got any positive/negative experiences of *buying* a car via ebay?
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I'll second virtually everything Hugo says, except the ?buy it now? pricing strategy. On the other hand, I suppose, it is really horses for courses. Anyway this is what I did.
CJay
Yes I agree 40% on top of the starting bid of £10 is a bit much, but in my case we were talking an extra £95.
Maybe in retrospec the Buy it Now price should have been closer to the bid price. But I was happy with the end result and that's what maters at the end of the day I suppose.
This is the second vehicle I have sold over e bay and the one thing I have been struck with is the buyers' keeness to close the deal.
H
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