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Selling Classic Cars on E Bay ?


bobg1951chevy

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1 hour ago, 60FlatTop said:

Oh, and once I heard the Brits don't believe life should be too easy. They heat their house with a little scuttle of coal lumps and wear sweaters, drink warm beer stored in Lucas refrigerators, and include a tool kit with new cars. Wealthy Brits own two cars so they are always sure one runs, generally.

 

I don't know why you guys give the Brits such a hard time.  They engineer and build some fine equipment.  In fact, my Lucas pacemaker has been in for over a year now, and it's never given me any trou

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19 hours ago, Pilgrim65 said:

Amuses me the stereotype you describe of brits ,  things have changed a bit since that description , 

 

Since about 1990 I have been hanging around a Rolls-Royce repair shop run by a square head German . You think that makes a difference?

Bernie

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Ebay is hard to beat for the number of interested eyeballs in the shortest period of time. There can be many frustrations that go along with it, as others have outlined (non-paying bidders, cranks who just want to show you how much they know, guys who end the auction THEN decide the car isn't for them, buyers who didn't get permission from mommy, etc.) but it probably generates more interest than most any other advertising venue.

 

That said, I rarely sell a car on eBay, although I list many, so don't get discouraged if the auction ends and there's no sale or the bids are below what you think a reasonable price might be. I often sell cars after the auction, either by contacting the bidders directly or later when someone sees an expired auction and contacts us to see if the car is still available. Too many people give up too quickly when selling a car. We see it all the time on this board where someone will list a car on Friday and by Monday they're already getting desperate by marking it down and saying, "Nobody?!?!?!? Come on, this is a good car!!!" It just doesn't happen overnight--in fact, it's quite rare for any car at any price to sell in less than 90 days around here, and we are marketing them around the world with nearly 20 internet storefronts, print ads, E-mail blasts, etc. So when your auction ends without a winner, don't just give up and assume the market is bad--the auction is only one piece of the marketing plan you need to sell a car for top dollar. And a big part of it is time and a willingness to wait for the right buyer. Don't keep running it on eBay, but don't assume it'll sell immediately, either. The right guy might not have checked eBay that week. He might be waiting for a bonus. He might be waiting to sell his own car. It's unreasonable to assume that 100% of the buyers are looking for a car 100% of the time. Give them the opportunity to get around to looking at your car. Time...

 

I personally would never put a car on BaT and let the jackals tear into it. It's 10 times worse than here because they all like to come off sounding like they're experts. "Well, you know, on Thursdays they were using cadmium plated bolts, by by Friday they ran out and switched to stainless, and that car has stainless bolts but it was built on a Monday, so who knows what else is wrong with it--it's probably a wreck that was rebuilt by an elementary school class." Screw that. How many of those "experts" actually know what they're talking about? Far fewer than you'd think, I'm sure. And they love to tear into dealers as crooks and liars because we don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of every single possible aspect of a1935 Whippersnapper Wundermobile and are just trying to sell an old car. No thanks. Some cars sell, but only the really good ones that everyone wants anyway. If you have anything other than a Mercedes SL, Porsche 928, or BMW M-something, or a car in less than perfect condition, I wouldn't risk it. Your car will be branded and the internet never forgets.

 

Selling your car for top dollar takes time. There's no magic bullet and no single place to put it that will have buyers beating a path to your door. I don't care what it is, selling it will take longer than you think. Maybe you tweak the price a little, but that only controls how much time it will take. An auction will give you a gauge of your car's popularity, but you'll probably also be stunned when you have 25 bids but the price has only moved $250. Time and patience and the willingness to wait for the right guy to come along. That's what you need.

 

 

1 hour ago, RICHELIEUMOTORCAR said:

 I must say, the only place I have not had any luck in selling cars is right here on our own AACA forum and I have posted some pretty rare machines here. I have heard this many times before from other AACA members that very few people have actually made a deal through this site. I wonder why.

 

I've experienced the same thing. My only explanation is that the people here already have the cars they want. Most are browsers and are interested in all kinds of cars, but their garages are already full. I still put interesting things here so we have something to talk about at least.

Edited by Matt Harwood (see edit history)
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I guess I have had really good luck with eBay in the last 3 years. Most cars sold the first go around and only 2 took longer. They happened to be posted right before Christmas, so I wasn’t surprised. 

 

I do agree though, that just because it doesn’t sell the first or second time on eBay, doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the car or price. I agree with Matt that it can take time for the right buyer to come along. 

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Bernie, 

 

You're a real kick, you always make me laugh! I hate this LOL thing, but your words of wisdom really make me laugh out loud. I have to admit that sometimes I have to reread them, before I get it. My old brain just has some trouble catching up.

 

EBay has worked for us. I don't pretend to be an expert, one car bought and another sold. The first was a car bought more then ten years ago, not well bought! I took the responsibility for making a bad choice. The number of mistakes I made on this transaction could fill a chapter, on what not to do, but lessons learned have been invaluable  The second was the sale of a car, to a buyer in Florida. The transaction went off without a hitch. We couldn't be happier with the outcome.

 

EBay's dispute resolution process, has gone a long way to making the process safer, for both buyer and seller. Vetting of the seller, and trying to weed out the scammers, has made for a much better environment.

 

It seems to me, that the cars that sell on eBay, would probably sell on any sales forum. Many cars of the independent manufacturers, and cars in poor condition, are in for a struggle.

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Here is my question to Matt or V.L., or anyone else who has had positive car selling experiences on E Bay.

Regarding the deposit, which is due 24 or 48 hours,  after the sale is final.

Does anyone or everyone state the deposit is non refundable ?

It would be my thought that a "non refundable deposit" would separate the actual buyers from the guys who are just playing games.

Your thoughts and experiences ?

Thanks.

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21 minutes ago, bobg1951chevy said:

Here is my question to Matt or V.L., or anyone else who has had positive car selling experiences on E Bay.

Regarding the deposit, which is due 24 or 48 hours,  after the sale is final.

Does anyone or everyone state the deposit is non refundable ?

It would be my thought that a "non refundable deposit" would separate the actual buyers from the guys who are just playing games.

Your thoughts and experiences ?

Thanks.

 

The deposit is a variable thing; in most cases it is done through Paypal and they will take it back without hesitation. Our terms and conditions on our auctions state that deposits are non-refundable, but that's why we only do $500 instead of $1000 or more. We explain why it's not refundable because there's an opportunity cost to ending the auction and turning away other buyers, and a few people understand that and are reasonable about it. On the other hand, most people don't read the terms and conditions, so when they win an auction and then decide they don't want the car, there's a fight over getting the deposit back--hiding behind our terms and conditions doesn't work. I usually give the money back unless the guy is a real jackass. It costs me money, but at least I can live with myself. But it adds up after a while. If you're just a private guy, my advice would be to give it back and move on. Trying to enforce the non-refundable part will give you headaches.

 

With a Buy-It-Now, it's a good idea to do an instant Paypal deposit, otherwise guys will hit Buy-It-Now with no consequence and wreck your auction--that used to happen to us a lot. With an instant Paypal deposit, the Buy-It-Now won't go through without the buyer committing to the deposit. It at least got rid of the guys who would to it just for sport or to stop the auction while they decided if they really wanted the car.

 

You can state non-refundable, but it's not guaranteed to eliminate the nonsense that goes on with eBay auctions. Scammers are gonna scam and dummies are gonna dummy.

 

 

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29 minutes ago, mike6024 said:

I have used Buy-it-Now or best offer to sell parts and like that method. Put your buy it now price at a little over what your "reserve" price would be if you were using an auction, and maybe put "must sell" in the listing description to encourage offers. Think I would use buy it now or best offer if I were selling a car. An auction with low starting bid just seems to encourage low bids and small bid increments and the price moves up too slow to get where it should.

I have tried both methods for selling cars, sometimes on the same listing. Have had much better luck with the auction, although I sold one “Buy it now” when I offered it in addition to an auction. The price was getting close to the buy it now price and the buyer didn’t want to lose out. 

 

Low starting prices with reserve gets a lot of eyeballs on the listing. The more exposure, the better chance of selling and the more bids (activity), even low ones, the more the listing is featured in searches.  

Edited by victorialynn2 (see edit history)
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Victoria,

 

must depend what you are editing, because Ive never had a problem adding to the description during bidding and even adding more photos.

 

I never use buy it now, because to me it kills the auction. Might as well use a fixed price listing, if doing that.

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5 minutes ago, mercer09 said:

Victoria,

 

must depend what you are editing, because Ive never had a problem adding to the description during bidding and even adding more photos.

 

I never use buy it now, because to me it kills the auction. Might as well use a fixed price listing, if doing that.

Yes I’ve been able to add, but not edit what I’d previously written. 

Edited by victorialynn2 (see edit history)
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9 minutes ago, victorialynn2 said:

Yes I’ve been able to add, but not edit what I’d previously written. 

 

This is correct. Once there's a bid, the description is locked. You can only add information and photos at the bottom of the listing. The main listing can't be modified after someone has bid.

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17 hours ago, victorialynn2 said:

Low starting prices with reserve gets a lot of eyeballs on the listing.

 

There was a rumor that Ebay's search algorithm would set you back in priority if you had lots of lookers whom didn't bid or buy. The programmers thought you may have a poor presentation that was not compelling enough to move the buyer off the pot. It is an example of Ebay looking after THEIR customers and keeping lame presenters out of the mainstream.

 

 

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5 hours ago, 60FlatTop said:

 

There was a rumor that Ebay's search algorithm would set you back in priority if you had lots of lookers whom didn't bid or buy. The programmers thought you may have a poor presentation that was not compelling enough to move the buyer off the pot. It is an example of Ebay looking after THEIR customers and keeping lame presenters out of the mainstream.

 

 

Hum... I’ve had good luck for the past several years, including the Lincoln I just sold. 

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  • 4 weeks later...
On ‎2‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 11:37 AM, 60FlatTop said:

 

Liters are for soft drinks. Torque is Boomer American style. When you grow up comfortable with a 4 to 4 1/8" bore it is pretty hard to get a stroke to make those little displacement number.

 

Every time I stop behind a car with an emblem on 2.8, 3.8,  4 or thereabouts I wonder if they are looking for empathy or warning me. I am for taking my living room where I drive. The whimpy buzzy stuff is for a whole different species of driver.

 

I have been looking for a less utilitarian replacement for my Silverado. Friday I tried out a 2017 Cadillac XTS 3.8. I read a lot and they are the DeVille "big commercial service" car. Walked away and didn't look back. Why play with a Piper Cub when you can fly a 747?

 

One look at the Cadillac and it is over. FIVE times, I have stopped in a town just north of me and looked at this:

2779632359.jpg.eb547572fc42b794450408fd470c12bf.jpg2779632361.jpg.b9f40dabf81e44af62757a02a271b364.jpg

6 liter V12, 4800 pounds. And a longitudinal engine with rear wheels pushing. Kind of like my truck!

 

I can do a lot of maintenance myself on the high predicted upkeep. And justify that second lift I want in oil charge expenses alone. ;)

 

Five visits, anyone who knows about Navy anchor pools would be buying chances on which trip it comes home with me. I like them furin cars, but I lean to the teutonic ones, maybe even teu and a half tonic.

 

Big, I want the living room.

Bernie

Going through these EBAY comments, as I prepare to pull the trigger and get my '51 Chevy listed.  ( I never said I was quick to decide ) I always get a chuckle out of the wit displayed by Bernie.  I like this post of his that speaks of the engine specs, stuck to the rear panel of cars ....... and his comment about the "wimpy, buzzy stuff". Bernie, you make my day. :-)

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On the 11th visit to that car I did end up buying it., about a week and a half ago. That is something you can't do on Ebay. You can keep looking at pictures but it ain't the same. Mosst of my visits were off hours just looking. The test drive may have been visit number 9.

 

Ebay doesn't really sell as many cars as one would think. Most are fishing trips. And I don't even both with items having a reserve. A while back Ebay touted something like the sale of their one millionth car. I though "God, how many millions of listings did it take to do that?"

They used to list completed items with sold in green and unsold in red. Looking at completed cars made you think your monitor was hemorrhaging!

 

I have bought and sold cars on Ebay, but generally i buy if I think I am stealing it and sell if I know I can't sell locally.

 

My Wife and I are going out for lunch in the BMW today. Her back is bad and the car has four thrones for seats. The dealer was a car hobbyist who had a V12 Mercedes that I looked at last year. He picks something special, enjoys the experience, and passes it on. I think he will be driving a Corvette this year.

 

The local sale over the Ebay sale gives you a chance to get a grip on the history. This guy had done the routine service and addressed common reliability items. I have a list of my own. One key question a friend of mine let me in on is to ask the present owner what he would do it he kept the car. The answer can be very telling, something to think about when you sell your car.

 

An interesting parallel arose on the BMW purchase. It is almost, exactly the same age my '64 Riviera was when I bought it 40 years ago and I am looking at usage in pretty much the same vein. Riviera in the Spring of 1978, BMW in the Spring of 2018. I like that relationship. Actually , glad I can do it for a whole bunch of reasons. How many years to keep it? I am saying through my 70's right now, all ten years.

 

After my medical incident 5 years ago, my Doctor told me that for every ten years I do the right things the medical field will advance to give me 10 more. That could be a long time to own a couple of cars. I had a check up last week. The Doctor left a few patients waiting while we went out in the parking lot, he sat in the car, we opened the hood, and probably annoyed the hell out of the others. I like having him on my side.

Bernie

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On ‎2‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 6:39 PM, trimacar said:

I sold a '71 Pontiac on Ebay, the entire transaction was fine, I put a price on the car, had a close offer, took it.  Took a $500 deposit via Ebay Paypal, then had the balance from the buyer wired to my bank.  All painless, other than dealing with the transport company that came to pick it up.  Not a name carrier, but one of those other companies that use drivers not versed in the English language, so it wasn't as much fun getting it loaded as it was selling it.

 

There are three ways to sell a car on Ebay.

 

No reserve, start the auction at a low price.  Usually the car will find it's price level, but the hazard is there that few will bid and it will go cheap.

 

Reserve, start the auction at a low price and put a reserve on it.  If bidding gets close, you can always lower reserve as you see fit.

 

Buy it Now, list the price, and either have that as a firm price, or put the option to Make an Offer.  You'll get some lowball offers, but you can also set the auction to automatically refuse those.  If you get a fair offer, either sell or counteroffer.

 

Ebay will expose you to tens of thousands of potential buyers.

 

One piece of advice, put meaningful words in your listing title, that people can search and find it.  Words like "mint" and "rare" and "one of a kind" and such are NOT what people are searching.  Put in "1955 Ford Station Wagon Antique Classic automobile car vintage".  You'll list it in Motors, of course, so people can find it there, but someone searching "1955 Automobile" or "Antique Automobile" will happen upon your listing, too, if those words are there and they just might end up bidding.

 

Good luck!

QUESTIONS, if I choose to use the "buy it now" option and add the option "make an offer",  can I (1)  still put in a reserve and (2) if that reserve is passed, am I obligated to sell to  that individual who passed the reserve ?

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4 hours ago, bobg1951chevy said:

QUESTIONS, if I choose to use the "buy it now" option and add the option "make an offer",  can I (1)  still put in a reserve and (2) if that reserve is passed, am I obligated to sell to  that individual who passed the reserve ?

Your "buy it now" price IS your reserve.  You are not obligated to accept any offer under that price, but you can choose to have people make offers.

 

Thus, you have a 1972 Gargantuamobile.  You list it for a "buy it now" $10K, which is what you want to get for the car.  Someone can buy it immediately and pay that price.  If you allow offers, someone can offer, say, $7K, and you refuse the offer.  Someone else offers $9K, and after thinking it over, you accept that offer.  You can CONSIDER the offers, but your Buy It Now price holds as a reserve.

 

There's one fellow on Ebay who lists things that I look at, and although he says "best offer" on his listings, he'll refuse absolutely any offer.  I've offered him $5 less on a $100 item, and he still says no....just an example showing you're in complete control...

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No, I wouldn't say that. The Buy it Now or Best Offer, I wouldn't call the Buy it Now price the reserve.

 

You can set it up so that any "Best Offer" at or above a certain figure will be automatically accepted. That I would consider your "reserve" if you did it that way.

 

Or you can have it just so any Best Offer made, you look at and decide if you want to accept, ignore, or counter.

 

Don't automatically counter any offers. If it is a good serious offer. you like it, then just accept. Low ball, ignore it, don't counter.

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2 hours ago, mike6024 said:

No, I wouldn't say that. The Buy it Now or Best Offer, I wouldn't call the Buy it Now price the reserve.

 

You can set it up so that any "Best Offer" at or above a certain figure will be automatically accepted. That I would consider your "reserve" if you did it that way.

 

Or you can have it just so any Best Offer made, you look at and decide if you want to accept, ignore, or counter.

 

Don't automatically counter any offers. If it is a good serious offer. you like it, then just accept. Low ball, ignore it, don't counter.

 

I think what David was saying is that with Buy It Now, you will sell it for that price. Now you may take less if it's offered, so technically your personal "reserve" might be less, but in a technical sense, Buy It Now is like a reserve merely by virtue of the fact that it will DEFINITELY buy the item.

Edited by Matt Harwood (see edit history)
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  • 2 weeks later...

My blue '51 Chevy has been sold and picked up, is now heading to Houston Texas area to its new caretaker.

 

Although it was not necessary to post the car on EBAY, I thank ALL who gave me such valuable info.

 

I must tell you my HEMMINGS ad for my blue '51 provided so much feedback, I was truly impressed !

 

My black beauty  '51 Chevy, pictured below,  will be the next one to be sold, perhaps this will be an EBAY car.

 

 

100_5447.JPG

100_5448.JPG

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Congrats! I do think these are perfect cars for Hemmings. I had the 50 Ford on there and got quite a few inquiries. I just don’t like talking to people about the cars due to my limited knowledge and emotional connection. I prefer to have my buddy write up everything he knows about them to post on eBay to avoid that. It seems my father enjoyed that process of meeting prospective buyers and sellers, but with all the emotions connected to this liquidation, I tend to be defensive with buyers especially ones that pick things apart and lowball. It’s part of the hobby most enjoy and I do understand that. 

 

The purple 55 Chevy shipped out last week to Colorado. Chalk another up for eBay. 

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16 minutes ago, victorialynn2 said:

Congrats! I do think these are perfect cars for Hemmings. I had the 50 Ford on there and got quite a few inquiries. I just don’t like talking to people about the cars due to my limited knowledge and emotional connection. I prefer to have my buddy write up everything he knows about them to post on eBay to avoid that. It seems my father enjoyed that process of meeting prospective buyers and sellers, but with all the emotions connected to this liquidation, I tend to be defensive with buyers especially ones that pick things apart and lowball. It’s part of the hobby most enjoy and I do understand that. 

 

The purple 55 Chevy shipped out last week to Colorado. Chalk another up for eBay. 

Good to hear the '55 was sold.  Hope your move will go down as being "uneventful".  Be safe, my friend.

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15 minutes ago, bobg1951chevy said:

Good to hear the '55 was sold.  Hope your move will go down as being "uneventful".  Be safe, my friend.

Thanks Bob. Movers are coming Friday and I’m in a mad dash to pack everything up. I’ve lived here 23 years so there’s a lot to be donated and thrown away as well. I can only keep furniture that will fit in a 8x8x16 POD. It’s a major downsizing from a 4 bedroom house with a two car garage. I have gotten good at giving stuff away even if there is some value, as the time to sell it is too much for me. I’m taking next week to unpack and settle in before starting work the following week. Lots of changes. I think a fresh start will be good. It’s been an overwhelming and rough few years and I’d like to put a lot of it behind me. 

Edited by victorialynn2 (see edit history)
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1 hour ago, victorialynn2 said:

Thanks Bob. Movers are coming Friday and I’m in a mad dash to pack everything up. I’ve lived here 23 years so there’s a lot to be donated and thrown away as well. I can only keep furniture that will fit in a 8x8x16 POD. It’s a major downsizing from a 4 bedroom house with a two car garage. I have gotten good at giving stuff away even if there is some value, as the time to sell it is too much for me. I’m taking next week to unpack and settle in before starting work the following week. Lots of changes. I think a fresh start will be good. It’s been an overwhelming and rough few years and I’d like to put a lot of it behind me. 

Your previous years have been filled with a variety of emotions, but you need to be proud of your accomplishments.   I am amazed at your resiliency ! 

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