Facebook Marketplace v Craigslist v ebay

[B Jake Moran]

I am not a fan of Facebook but see more and more links provided by forum members to check out a car on Facebook Marketplace. 

 

Then I put one of my cars on Des Moines Craigs List, which now costs $5 (not a big deal, except).  I do the obligatory warnings about no Spam, serious only, etc and place a bargain basement price on the ad.   The 1st 15 responses, some almost instantly, were scammers.   Ding ding went my phone, only to swipe them away. 

 

No local real people have shown interest. Granted, it has only been a day, but under the new $5 rules, your ad drops immediately. 

 

My wife said craigslist is dead.  Is this "Facebook Marketplace" ready to take off?  Is it set up to eliminate stupid scammers?  Why doesn't Craigslist do something to stop the scammers? 

 

I ad really poor results on ebay as well, trying to sell 2 older enthusiast cars.  Both ended with sales.  Both buyers were deadbeats playing around and I saw no money and no follow up.  I cancelled the results with ebay, and ebay said something like I would get my fees back if I relisted.  But I went to relist and saw where there was no refund.  More listing fees.  And no way to communicate to the company ebay.  Anybody ever tried to reach an ebay employee to assist?  It's impossible!

[39BuickEight]

The benefit to FB marketplace is that you can see a little about who you are dealing with (usually local people).  You can get a good (or bad) feel about them based on what you can see about them.  With CL you don't even know what the person's name is.

 

Craigslist and FB don't particularly care about scammers because they don't have to.  The sites are not involved handling money or in the actual transaction itself.  Its buyer (and seller) beware.

 

I personally use them both (and eBay) all the time to buy and sell all sorts of different things.

 

If you only list "buy it now" on eBay, it eliminates most bad buyers.  That's what I do.  I never list as an auction.  Sellers will normally contact you about your price, and you can vet them, rather than them being able to just click to bid without consequence.

 

Of course there are no absolutes. 

[auburnseeker]

Actually with ebay you can do a classified ad type listing which is better than a buy it now as people often hit the buy it now with no intention of buying.  Might be cleared up some if you add they need to make an immediate deposit.  I only use auction format so I'm not sure how that all works,  other than I have heard Matt complain about guys always banging his buy it now and never following through.  As anyone knows,  the first time on ebay is the time you will make the sale.  If you have to relist,  it kills the enthusiasm so your item now seems tainted and very hard to sell the second or worse yet following runs through. (why didn't the last guy buy it,  must be a POS) 

 

Facebook with a few tweeks could really rule the market.  Letting you search by newly listed in the automotive section would really help when searching by a specific set of years.  Also a larger search area would be nice.  We are looking for cars and willing to travel hundreds of miles but they limit you to around 100 I think.  I also notice some ads seem to kind of disappear but aren't pulled,  then after a while you will see them again.  

I think craigslist drove people away with the 5.00 charge.  It's not the money,  but the fact you get buried and can't refresh without paying another 5.00.   Lots of guys have shifted to listing in other places like Barter but those items don't turn up in car searches,  only general searches.  

I search by decades using for example 192* to search for 1920's stuff and it pulls up all results for anything with 1920-1929 in the title or listing.  Granted I get to look at lots of stuff from Grandma's house but cars and parts show up as well. 

 

 

[1912Staver]

I have decent luck with CL . Both buying and selling. Perhaps scammers don't bother with Canada much, or perhaps old car / tools etc. related listings are not as popular with scammers as I devices and related gear.

So far several decent price purchases and several sales. Nothing involving very much money but some good transactions.

Facebook seems to have way too much baggage for my comfort. Probably just the sensationalist media but even Zuckerberg himself did not give me much confidence during his televised testimony.

Ebay is hopeless as a selling platform for Canadians. The shipping kills us when selling. Buying I can get things sent to my U.S. address. In theory I can take Canadian goods to the U.S. and use U.S. shippers but in reality U.S. Customs makes it a definite hassle.

For something expensive it is worth the trouble but not the other 95% of my excess old car parts, extra tools etc. 

Greg in Canada

 

 

Edited December 9, 2019 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Sold a car within 24 hours on fb, as in collected and paid for.  Never used CL, but I have used other avenues, HMN, etc. By far this was quickest.

 

Oh, and as usual what Randy said...

Edited December 9, 2019 by Steve_Mack_CT (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

If you have anything kind of unusual or special , Hemmings still seems to be good bang for the buck.  A common car not so much.   I don't like the endless scrolling with facebook and no individual pages.  Also craigslist,  gives you the number of matches,  where facebook you never know. 

Each is what they are,  but I think alot of market for cars is pulling away from Facebook.  The free to pay alone dropped a daily search result from 3 pages of items to 1 or two rows.  Lots of old guys are cheap,  face it and would rather not sell than to pay anything or put their personal info out there like you have to do now to list on craigslist by giving them access to financial information.  Some guys still don't have credit cards so that makes it tough for them to use either venue.  However they can still get a Money order at the post office and mail in an ad to Hemmings like they did with a polaroid photo 40 years ago.  I don't mind buying from these guys as they usually don't have the latest auction results on their phone,  which is still connected to the wall in the kitchen of their house. 

[alsancle]

I refuse to have anything to do with Facebook.

[Harold]

I've had the same percentage of losers no matter what website I use. When I list on CL, I have the following statement in every ad:  "Send phone number and I'll call you.  I won't reply by email."   The serious buyers send a phone number, if no number the reply gets trashed.  No exceptions.

 

Most of what I sell ends-up going via eBay.   Maybe 15% is through other venues, including make-specific forums (grass-roots target marketing!) The $5.00 thing really turned me off to CL for listing cars.  I was skeptical about using Facebook but listed a car there anyway and it sold in a few days.  I list non-vehicles wherever I can, as long as it's free (yes, many older folks are cheapskates). 

[39BuickEight]

The $5 CL fee for cars has drastically reduced the number of fraudulent ads.  If that was the goal, it certainly worked.  Before, at least 1/4 of the vehicles (in my market anyway) were clearly photos of someone else’s vehicle with a Gmail email address photoshopped to the photo, to prevent having to put it in a searchable or traceable manner.

 

Many people don’t know that CL started as a service for companies looking for new employees.  It then went to cars.  Until the $5 car charge started, they made their money from charging companies looking for employees, and car dealers listing their vehicles for sale.  It was never meant to be the “classified” service that it is.

Edited December 9, 2019 by 39BuickEight (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

43 minutes ago, Harold said:

I've had the same percentage of losers no matter what website I use. When I list on CL, I have the following statement in every ad:  "Send phone number and I'll call you.  I won't reply by email."   The serious buyers send a phone number, if no number the reply gets trashed.  No exceptions.

For cars especially I prefer email.  All I want is a few more simple questions answered and most importantly some more photos.  If I have to call,  i just pass.  Usually the guy on the other end,  talks the car up to be the maharajas Duessy ,  then when you get there it's a 20 year old pinto that was only used in the winter and looks the part. 

As a seller I never list my number.  I screen the buyers to see who is really serious and what their expectations are as well as easier to screen possible trades. 

Lots of time wasted on phone calls for cars I never went to look at because all I wanted was an answer to 2 questions which they never usually answered or with that word well it's solid.  About the most useless word used in describing old cars with the widest interpretation possible.  

[mike6024]

The old days when you paid $15 to place a classified ad in your local paper for a week was better.

 

You had to fill out the form that had one box per character.

 

People would answer the phone number. it was the only contact. But now you get no response to your emails.

 

if you saw an ad in the classifieds, you knew it was a serious seller.

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2019 by mike6024 (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

Craigslist never seemed to have all that many fraudulent cars here.  Maybe one a day.  Usually easy to spot.  Atleast on 1970 and older stuff.  Maybe there was alot of scamming on new stuff.  It also drove off the guys thinking about selling that would throw an ad on to see if there was any interest.  

It didn't really drive the junks off,  just moved them around.  Some guy that thinks he is going to flip a 1000 50's 4 door sedan that needs everything for 5 grand when he paid 500 will gladly pony up $5 hell of a return if his ship comes in.  

I still see a junkyard in NH listing all sorts of old cars with 4 year old photos of cars that are restorable sitting out in their junkyard for 3500-10 grand. 

[39BuickEight]

The CL scams were mostly newer cars.  There would be a legitimate 2015 Camry for $12,900 beside a mint 2017 Maxima for $3500 with palm trees in the photo (in Kentucky) and a something like ehshsj2826@gmail.com shopped into the corner of the photos.  Late model farm equipment, boats, RVs were/are all the same too.

[wayne sheldon]

Personally, I hate facebook. (Actually, I hate using the word "hate", but for facebook, I really can't think of a better word for how I feel about them?). I have from their beginning, it has gotten worse with each passing year, and I don't think I will change.

 

The biggest problem with facebook anything, is that the people that run the thing are clueless virtual reality and gamer inhabitants that do not understand that there is a world outside their part of the internet. I cannot connect to facebook because their programming is so bad, their "dancing googaws" and popup "you gotta like this" garbage can't get through the "not quite a DSL" internet connection I am limited to. The fact IS, that there are tens of millions of people in this country that CANNOT reasonably connect to facebook. And that means YOUR ad. To make this worse. The far and away vast majority of people that follow facebook also tend to be more interested in virtual reality than in turning a wrench or actually driving a car (any car!). There are a lot of people in this country interested in antique and classic automobiles that do not live in the center of the major urban areas. And for good reason. We don't like to drive so much in an urban setting. The building and storage costs are much higher in urban areas. A lot of us do have good high speed internet access. But a lot of us do not. 

While I do think facebook should be utilized as club informational point of entry, I do not think it should be the primary point. Websites open to anywhere there is an internet connection should be first and foremost. That goes for club websites, and I think also sound advice for advertising.

[mercer09]

valid questions...................  I find CL to be lots of scams, but I do advertise on there anyway. sometimes you get lucky.

 

good point on ebay. they tell you you can relist for free with a deadbeat buyer, but then they double charge you. they are bastards..............but- every time I list a few cars, I do tend to sell one or two. they are far from fault and how they handle their site, but the exposure is superior to the other sites.

I just sold a model a chassis and parts on ebay. the buyer saw it on cl, but decided to bid on ebay at the last minute. I dont know why, but thats how it went down. He came and paid me a few days later. so a combination of listings made that sale.

I have also listed here and find it useless and Ford Barn and HAMB. In the end, I think the multiply exposure doesnt hurt and expectations should be low, so then there are no disappointments.

 

ebays costs are high, but I only list cars. Long done with selling parts where they nickel and dime you to death.

[Kevin M]

I find FB is okay. One thing it does that I hate is sometimes it doesn’t show exactly what your looking for. You may search one thing and something else comes up and when searching that thing a different one of the first comes up. Last summer a beautiful 96 Park Avenue showed up when I was looking up roadmasters. But not park aves. And naturally some one else had bought it by then

[39BuickEight]

5 hours ago, wayne sheldon said:

Personally, I hate facebook. (Actually, I hate using the word "hate", but for facebook, I really can't think of a better word for how I feel about them?). I have from their beginning, it has gotten worse with each passing year, and I don't think I will change.

 

 

 

There is really no better way to organize a person's interests into one single feed/site than Facebook.  I have a handful people I am interested in.  Close family, friends that are either interesting, smart, funny, or a combination of those.   Other than that, my feed is full of my interests.  Page after page of cars, camping, soccer, mountain biking, travel, Route 66, abandoned railroads, national parks, etc.  I don't follow people.  I follow what I like to read about.  It's great in that regard.  Anyone who posts something unintelligent, political, or otherwise uninteresting or useless to me, I simply block, and I never have to see their words again.  Facebook is like a magazine to me, full of all the random things I choose to read and learn about.   I'm sure some high school classmate or other random acquaintance from 20 years ago thinks I am rude for blocking them, and that's fine.  I'm not on Facebook for that reason.   If I want to talk to you, I will call you.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

19 hours ago, alsancle said:

I refuse to have anything to do with Facebook.

Yeah but your cars make the rounds regularly enough AJ.  

 

The number of dedicated groups is staggering but lots of redundancy.  I think there are 10 r107 MB groups - mostly same members...

 

[JACK M]

Well, I don't sell a car very often, but just sold the Jeepster.

Hemmings brought one lowball offer, C/L nothing, Ebay nothing, AACA ad brought some good comment but no takers, FB was listed for several months and that's where it sold.

 The buyer commented that he had seen it early on but it was his daughter that finally lit the fire under him.

I did get a few questions and requests for pictures from some ads.

And I always responded, I also would send a phone number saying  "If you are a serious shopper please give me a call".  Not many calls.

 

I find FB difficult to navigate. I may see an item listed and then cant find it the next day. Its definitely for those with more computer skills than I have. So yea, kids and scammers.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Seeker is right on, a few tweaks would help a lot, so simple really I believe its difficult in part at least, by design.  Geography seems to impact filters whether you want it to or not..

[trimacar]

I recently listed my '53 Chevy pickup on Ebay, got a high bid, lowered reserve, woo-hoo it's sold!  Well, no, buyer was from Panama and kept going back and forth about how to ship it.  I asked for deposit per the Ebay auction format, he said no, I have seven days to pay for it.  Seven days went by, I went to cancel his bid, and truck was "tied up" for another 10 days since he had to "approve" the cancellation.  So, after almost a month, truck not sold.

 

No Ebay bid is binding if the buyer wants to just walk away, particularly on vehicles.

 

Speaking of scams on Craigslist, I once saw a local ad for a "1932 Ford Roadster, it has to go, $3000".  I called the number, of course realizing it had to be too good to be true, and a very irate person answered the phone.  "Someone who doesn't like me pulled a prank on me, I've gotten hundreds of phone calls, I DON'T have a Ford for sale...."  slam....

[mike6024]

Facebook is OK. You find interesting stuff sometimes.

 

 

1926 Dodge Brothers 4 door Sedan.  Original, unrestored condition.  runs good, drives good, has been on 100 mile cruises thru the foothills.
New tires, New battery serviced and maintained.  Current registration and title in hand.  Have owned for the past 13 years.  Service manual and extra wheels and tires included.  Great car for parades and local car shows. 

1926 Dodge 4 Door Sedan std
Rescue, CA · over a week ago · 
$9,500

[Billy Kingsley]

9 hours ago, wayne sheldon said:

Personally, I hate facebook. (Actually, I hate using the word "hate", but for facebook, I really can't think of a better word for how I feel about them?). I have from their beginning, it has gotten worse with each passing year, and I don't think I will change.

 

The biggest problem with facebook anything, is that the people that run the thing are clueless virtual reality and gamer inhabitants that do not understand that there is a world outside their part of the internet. I cannot connect to facebook because their programming is so bad, their "dancing googaws" and popup "you gotta like this" garbage can't get through the "not quite a DSL" internet connection I am limited to. The fact IS, that there are tens of millions of people in this country that CANNOT reasonably connect to facebook. And that means YOUR ad. To make this worse. The far and away vast majority of people that follow facebook also tend to be more interested in virtual reality than in turning a wrench or actually driving a car (any car!). There are a lot of people in this country interested in antique and classic automobiles that do not live in the center of the major urban areas. And for good reason. We don't like to drive so much in an urban setting. The building and storage costs are much higher in urban areas. A lot of us do have good high speed internet access. But a lot of us do not. 

While I do think facebook should be utilized as club informational point of entry, I do not think it should be the primary point. Websites open to anywhere there is an internet connection should be first and foremost. That goes for club websites, and I think also sound advice for advertising.

 

This is not accurate at all. Facebook has zero popup ads. They do have sidebar ads but so does this very website, they aren't intrusive. The virtual reality comments I have no idea what spurred on but I've been on there every day since 2008 have no idea what you're talking about.

 

Not saying Facebook is great. Or that I particularly enjoy it...it used to be fun but it's mostly devolved into political whining. The groups are usually fun but can get frustrating at times. 

 

Like everything in life lately it can be a lot of people trying to shout down anyone who doesn't agree with them...but that's not the platform's fault as it is the users. 

 

Any thoughts of leaving it behind are quickly quashed due to the fact that it's my only real contact with many family and friends. 

 

Don't ever try Twitter...that's a true cesspool. I maintain an account because it's the place to find up to the minute sports news, and where the athletes and sports lesgues themselves post...but it's not fun wading through the garbage to find the nuggets of good. Most of the hobby accounts on there in every hobby is just people trying to sell stuff...the actual collectors posting about their collection are there but it takes some effort to find them.

[Billy Kingsley]

21 hours ago, Harold said:

I've had the same percentage of losers no matter what website I use. When I list on CL, I have the following statement in every ad:  "Send phone number and I'll call you.  I won't reply by email."   The serious buyers send a phone number, if no number the reply gets trashed.  No exceptions.

 

Most of what I sell ends-up going via eBay.   Maybe 15% is through other venues, including make-specific forums (grass-roots target marketing!) The $5.00 thing really turned me off to CL for listing cars.  I was skeptical about using Facebook but listed a car there anyway and it sold in a few days.  I list non-vehicles wherever I can, as long as it's free (yes, many older folks are cheapskates). 

I'm not a telephone person. Hate, hate hate talking on the phone. I'd rather write a letter and wait for the postal system than call someone. If I was in position to buy something from you you would have lost the sale. I am not going to jump through hoops to buy something, I'll just move on. Also, I'm usually awake in the middle of the night. Very few people want a 4 am phone call. 

 

Now, I'm not in that position, but who knows how many people are like me? 

[keithb7]

You’re never going to please everyone. 

 

As a seller, a telephone conversation is the quickest way to vet interested buyers. People hide too much behind cell phones, texting and emailing these days.  You’ll get 10, 20, 30 idiots for every honest serious person. When a serious, respectful person shows interest you’ll know it. Bells start ringing. 

 

I’d say FB is pretty good. Kijiji up here in Canada is ok. Craigslist seems to be the worst for scammers. If I were selling today I’d use FB, Kijiji and my local vintage car clubs to advertise the car for sale. 

Edited December 10, 2019 by keithb7 (see edit history)

[mike6024]

Facebook has tons of advertising in my newsfeed. If ever I look to buy something online, then I will see repeated ads for those types of items in my facebook newsfeed.

[39BuickEight]

If you click on the options button by the ad you can mark them as “irrelevant,” and they will mostly all go away after a week or so.

[stakeside]

I attempted to make a bid on e-bay and found a note “Use your Facebook “. Use unable to get into my account. Ended up with a cyber connection to India and an attempt to set my password. I was unable to set my account password. I do not have a FACE book account and do not plan on getting one.

With all this technology who knows what else will be used in the future. We already have Instagram. My grandsons do not even use Facebook any more and prefers Instagram.

We still have telephones.

Edited December 11, 2019 by stakeside
E (see edit history)

[Frank DuVal]

11 hours ago, stakeside said:

We still have telephones.

 

Everyone in the world has a phone  it seems. 

 

You mean you have one with copper wire attached to the wall like me?😄

I use a dial phone (Western Electric 500 series) at work just to impress the youngsters. "You put your finger in here and move the dial..."

[victorialynn2]

On 12/10/2019 at 10:24 AM, JACK M said:

Well, I don't sell a car very often, but just sold the Jeepster.

Hemmings brought one lowball offer, C/L nothing, Ebay nothing, AACA ad brought some good comment but no takers, FB was listed for several months and that's where it sold.

 The buyer commented that he had seen it early on but it was his daughter that finally lit the fire under him.

I did get a few questions and requests for pictures from some ads.

And I always responded, I also would send a phone number saying  "If you are a serious shopper please give me a call".  Not many calls.

 

I find FB difficult to navigate. I may see an item listed and then cant find it the next day. Its definitely for those with more computer skills than I have. So yea, kids and scammers.

 

I sold the ‘79 LTC and the ‘50 Shoebox, and an ‘80’s Dodge Van from Texas on Facebook also. Had them both posted on eBay and the Shoebox on Hemming too. The Shoebox buyer ended the auction with “buy it now” on eBay because he was afraid to loose it, but he found the link on Facebook from an ad I posted in a old car group. 

 

Sold the ‘30 A, ‘70 Bronco, ‘63 Rampy, and the ‘55 Chev all on eBay. 

 

I sold the ‘24 T and ‘61 Greenbrier by word of mouth. 

 

Since Facebook is free, it doesn’t hurt to add it for exposure by posting a link to eBay, Hemmings, etc. I stayed away from Craigslists because of the scammers. They are everywhere but Craigslist is the worst. I had no issues with bad bidders or scammers. 

Edited January 19, 2020 by victorialynn2 (see edit history)

[mercer09]

 

No Ebay bid is binding if the buyer wants to just walk away, particularly on vehicles

 

 

same with sellers- bought a few vehicles on ebay, only to find the seller cancelled the sale- they are allowed to do that. so if you dont get what you want for a vehicle, just cancel your sale. lesson learned.

 

ebay also owns a good part of CL- as many of you may already know.

 

Just listed 2 small motorcycles on CL under parts...........well not only did I not give out my ccd, but I was also able to renew them weekly.

both sold for full price. cash in hand.

[Trulyvintage]

Regardless of where you list your vehicle for sale - this is the worst time of the year ro try and sell.

 

Unless you are strapped for cash - wait until the Spring.

 

Folks are maxed out from Christmas purchases - taxes are coming due.

 

Buyers want Bargains in Winter.

 

The last car I dropped off was an obscure one - a 1988 Alpha Romeo Milano my customer found on " Bring A Trailer ".

 

 

 

He got it at a good price - in January of 2019  he also bought this 2002 Maserati  Spyder in January of 2019

on " Bring A Trailer " at a good price that I hauled for him.

 

 

 

Right now I have a vehicle for sale both on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist.

 

Neither FB or CL is attracting serious interest ....

 

Wait until Spring.

 

 

 

Jim

 

 

 

[vermontboy]

I hate to give new life to threads that died  awhile ago but I am curious as to whether or not anyone is using Ebay's "Managed Payment" program that they forced on some sellers in lieu of Paypal. It looks like all sellers will eventually end up being forced to join and am just wondering if it creates any problems.  Thanks for any information you can give.

[39BuickEight]

I just listed something a few days ago, and I have no idea what it is you are talking about.  It was the same for me. I’ve never heard of this payment program.

[1937hd45]

Quote

 

 

 

You have the JOIN Facebook to view the cars for sale correct? If so I don't think it worth the risk. Bob

Edited February 29, 2020 by 1937hd45 (see edit history)

[39BuickEight]

No more risk than joining here.  Plus, I would imagine a site like Facebook has way better security that a site about old cars.  It’s only a risk if you actually put information on there that you don’t want people to have.

[vermontboy]

Ebay has stated that they will be requiring all sellers to accept "Managed Payments" and will, by the end of the year, try to incorporate all sellers. Managed payments is envisioned to replace Paypal. They have switched an unknown number of dealers over so far, voluntarily. They are now going to force the issue. You will be getting paid for your sales by Ebay, not Paypal. From the latest User Agreement notice.

 

Key updates:

• eBay intends to manage payments for more sellers in more markets in the near future

• Clarification of which user agreement applies when you buy or sell in other countries

• Know when we hold or restrict seller funds   It nay be a few months away for most but the new management states it will happen.

[mike6024]

Paypal collects a substantial fee, in addition to the "seller's fee" that eBay collects.

 

eBay wants you to pay through eBay and not use Paypal. The net benefit to the seller will probably be zero. Total fees will probably be the same.

[auburnseeker]

More paperwork for us peons though.  It's a bit of a pain now to get your tax info off ebay and pay pal now.  So anytime they throw another hoop in the works to jump through it just makes it more work for us.  You get the nice 1099 from pay pal but that doesn't break down money paid to ebay for shipping or other things which you then have to go into ebay to figure out which doesn't have a nice easy way or simple total.  So now ebay will have to report to the IRS and supply a 1099 as well.  I like to keep things simple not make them more complicated but I'm sure ebay found a new way to squeeze some more pennies out of us.  Like not refunding money on shipping we refund amongst other things.   I just need to figure my way to bleed an extra few cents out of every transaction instead of losing that much every time they come up with something new and improved. 

[vermontboy]

It will not be cheaper - though tight lipped there are a few things that are known, mostly

 

1) Money will not be instantly available - think they are down to 3 days now -still a lot of "float" money for them. They have also condescended to allow paying for shipping out of funds they are still holding

2) At the last q&a they are holding firm to a 25 cent per sold item charge in addition to the percentage - obvious attempt to get rid of the low end stuff

 

There's more but it appears that it will be more expensive and a  lot harder to deal with than  paypal

 

Re: the tax issue don't forget that the sales tax ebay collected shows up in Paypal totals starting in November and has to be backed out to make your accounts balance - what fun......