Ebay

[tonto1]

Hi;
This may be a question no one has any interest, but I'll ask it anyway.
Does anyone here on the RRT pay any attention to the "collector " cars on Ebay.
Having rebuilt a couple of older cars, I know it is not something done cheaply, but the big disparity between the reserves and the price people are willing to bid simply amazes me.
I also realize most people are not in a position to just run over and look a the cars because most end up being 500 to a 1000 miles away, so they are reluctant to bid the asking price.
So, am I missing something.
I'm not looking to sell anything, it's just a time killer for me.

 :?:  :?:  :?:

[Jokester]

I knew a guy that listed his car with a super high reserve.  Of course it didn't sell.  

After the auction ended, he started with the highest bidder and contacted them directly outside of Ebay.  Sold the car in a week and avoided the fees (except for the original listing fee).  It's against the Ebay rules, but who is going to bust him?

.bjb

[Uncle Bob]

Lots of people don't like ebay, but my guess is that liking it or not depends on expectations.  It would be impossible to cover all the possibilities and/or realities in a reply, but some additional views......

If someone is interested in what rods actually will sell for and what trends are in motion I think it's useful as a "guide".  As individual hobbyists we don't really have an easy way of measuring "where the market is" if we're interested in that sort of thing.  Watching conventional ads tells you lots about what people may think their car is worth, but it tells you almost nothing about what buyers think.........which, when you come down to it is all that matters when pricing.  As opposed to standard for sale listings where you only see the asking price, and when the ad stops you have to guess whether it sold, for what price is a mystery, or if the seller just gave up.  At least with ebay you get some kind of idea.  The other source of sales info is car auction results, but that's almost like another world.  I see that more as trend data than reality for most of us in the hobby.  (for instance Hemi prices peaked a couple years ago and have comparatively tanked since then)  The market has really tightened up in the last couple years for all collector cars.  Likely because the number of real buyers has shrunk since using the home equity as a cash machine has dried up as a funding source.  That's part of what has shown on ebay.  Fewer potential buyers, harder to get competitive bidding.  As Tim said, often ebay is used to generate a field of potential buyers to "work".  Ebay has seen this along with the market contraction and changed their fee structure.  You now pay a flat fee for a complete car at sale, if I remember correctly, $150.  That's a big ticket if you're selling a $2000 rust bucket, but not so much if you're selling a $40k car.

A couple recent personal examples:  last December I found a local car I wanted, needed cash so decided to sell my '33 3 window.  Ran ads in a few local ad venues.  Got the usual online tire kicker "send more pictures, more info" stuff, one real looker, and a snarky email inferring I must have had a head injury to think I could get as much as I was asking.  But in general the local response was underwhelming.  So I took the plunge and listed it on ebay with the same price as reserve, to start with.  Bidding went along slowly at first, died for a day or two, then started to pick up a little.  All the while getting emails asking for more pics and specific questions, (no matter how much you may try to be thorough in your description someone always seems to dream up new questions to ask )  Upshot of it was I ended up with two U.S. guys, and one European who were asking the right kind of questions and indicated they knew where the market price range should be realistically.  Toward the end of the auction I had to adjust my reserve down a bit and one of those guys now owns it.  What I had hoped for was to reach a large enough audience to find someone with the ability to pay, the desire to own such a car, and the willingness to step up.  That's what I found and was happy.

The second example is non-ebay, but still informative, since it shows that if you want/need to sell you need to work multiple ways to get the word out.  It's a numbers game, more eyes, better chance to sell.  That's ebay's strongest point, but it works elsewhere as long as the seller is serious and realistic.  I think a lot of the ads on ebay aren't realistic, the sellers may be fools or fishermen.  I recently decided to sell my '97 Dodge truck which I'd owned since new.  This one I went craigslist, I don't think it would have done poop on ebay.  I listed it in the Seattle area craigslist where the volume of ads is high enough they only run for 7 days.  The first week I got bupkus for response, one guy offered to trade a '53 F-100 junker.   The second week I decided to broaden the market and list in the Portland, Or. craigslist as well.  Second day of the ad I contact the potential buyer and withing a few hours he's on the train with money in his pocket.  Car salesmen have a line, "There's a butt for every seat", he was the butt for my truck.  Which also applies to ebay.  Part of the success is who's watching the ads this week compared to last week.  The right butt for a car may not be searching this week, but may be there next.  If the seller is willing to keep working for it, he might get a sale if he's patient and persistant.

A lot of folks have found ebay to be a good alternative ad location.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it don't.  I suspect it works for motivated, or realistic sellers, a lot of what we see there are probably people who wish they could get two year ago prices, or maybe Barrett-Jackson prices, but it takes a comparatively rare car to do that.

[tonto1]

That's a lot of info. Thanks. It would seem they are using Ebay as a national advertising venue, which is alright with me.  Some of their listing and selling fees seem high.

[BFS57]

Hello
Exactly the reason I quit selling "stuff" on EBAY! I too think that they charge too much! I think they make more money on your stuff than you do!!!

Bruce

[Topsterguy]

I gave up on ebay quite awhile ago. They're virtually impossible to get any satisfaction from if you have a problem with a deal, or anything. Their fees are getting rediculous, it's turning into an ebay store, they changed the format of searching etc (especially on motors) so it's bigtime confusing etc etc. All in all I can easily do without it!

[Arnold]

As said..Fees are waaay too high!
 If you are on dial up..(like I am) for all intents and purposes you can't use it.
 Neg.feedback can't be left for loser buyers.
 Next to impossible to build your war chest..pay pal account..AS all you need is 1 idiot buyer who wants to compain for whatever reason and your ENTIRE account gets frozen. You have to keep transferring it out into a bank account ALL the time..and keep up with that...and wait..SOoo that IF it gets frozen there is only a few bucks in there. Which of course means you can't buy anything really. Can't snag great deals while you are diddling around transferring money into it..unless you tie it to a credit card..another potential BIG problem.
 I am still on it though..still some great deals to be had. For buyers. I had fun on it!! and did ok for 6 years. LOL..I used to buy stuff off Ebay and then make money by selling it on Kijiji or Craigslist haha.

 Best way is to see a great deal..then just email or phone the seller and buy it off Ebay..everybody does that now..they have to. There are many,many business's that just use it as an advertising source. Ditto for sellers..you know if you advertise "X" someone willl contact you looking for "Y" off Ebay..which of course you have to sell them.

[Aussie Rob]

Outside of the states, for anyone with a US manufactured vehicle and a computer, Ebay was a boon. It still is though the prices and shipping hae escalated. I've bought everything from a grill strip to an overdrive solenoid that I either would not have been able to find, or would have had to pay the middle man's mortgage for.

I too watch local collectors vehicles as a general price guide. What is happening all too often now days are people with multiple IDs (or their friends) are bidding up their own items to falsely inflate the prices. It's against Ebay rules but how can you prove it.

I'm also a keen aeromodeler and have bought many a kit/engine that I'd not otherwise have been able to.

Ultimately you pay what it's worth or let it go. Foolish buyers don't get shipping quotes before bidding then complain or renege at auctions end.

Cheers,
Rob

[unklian]

How many cars are on Ebay, because the guys wife wants him to sell it ?

An unrealistic reserve keeps here quiet for a few days.