Question for those who have sold cars on e-bay

[Welby]

I'm not having much luck selling my Jeep (I've tried the typical "for sale" sign in the window, and the local truck trader, with no luck), so it's looking like I'll try to do it on E-bay.
I'm a little confused about reserve prices. If I don't set a reserve, can I personally make a first bid on my own Jeep to ensure that I don't wind up selling it for $2,000, lol? Can I set a first bid at say $10,000 to make sure I don't get less than that? I see there are extra fees for setting a reserve, so I'm trying to avoid them.
Also, if I get it sold, what do I have to do with the title? Is there another form I have to send out, or just a certain spot I have to sign on the back, then send it? Only sold one other car (A $300 hooptie), and we just went to a local AAA and they took care of everything. Any other tips would be greatly appreciated.

I need to get rid of this thing to be able to get into a TR. I'm already getting tired of seeing decent $6,500 turbo Buicks slip away because I don't have the $$$ yet

Thanks,
Mark

 

[SinistrV6]

Mark,

I've bought and sold several on eBay and here's my $.02 worth.

Always set a reserve, it costs a little (very little) more but is money well spent if you're afraid of it selling too low.

Start the bidding low (mine all start at $100) just to get some action going on it. Do not bid on your own car. This is called "shill" bidding and is unethical and illegal according to eBay's rules.

Set the reserve at a realistic price and you'll do fine. Relist if it doesn't sell the first time (it's free).

Run 10 day auctions and have them end on Sat. night or Sun. morning (early). That way most people are off work and can sit in front of the computer and put in last minute bids. The 10 days gives people long enough to get their finances in order and check on shipping costs, get permission from the wife, etc.

Take plenty of high quality clear pictures. Post more on one of the free photo hosting sites if you have more than the 12 or so eBay gives you room for. The more detail you provide, the more comfortable prospective buyers will be.

Answer any and all questions quickly and as completely as possible. Be BRUTALLY honest in your description of the car! It's better to underpromise and overdeliver than the other way around. Put as much info in your description as possible to avoid having too many e-mail questions about the same things.

Hope that helps,

 

[DCEPTCN]

Funny, I sold a Jeep on Ebay earlier this year....it helped to finance the GN's rebuild. I didn't expect to get much at all for it...it was a hunk o' ****....rust, high mileage, SALVAGE TITLE , etc. Some girl locally wanted a Jeep so bad that she fought like hell to be the high bidder and ended up paying $3200 for that POS! (I felt bad but, hey, I didn't mislead her at all and she took it for a drive before bidding....oh well.) Having seen how much luck I had selling that crapheap, my father-in-law decided to put his up on eBay. His was VERY nice. It had everything that you can screw, glue or snap to a Jeep: Lift, American Racing rims, big ol' muds, huge winch, etc. etc.....and only like 40k miles. He ran his twice and had no luck....strange, huh? I guess there are just times when folks are shopping and times when they aint. Anyway, I hate reserves when I'm bidding, so I don't use them when I'm selling (really a personal preference thing). I set the starting bid at the absolute rock-bottom that I'll let it go for...and include a 'Buy It Now' price that would be fairly nice to get. As far as title concerns go, generally all you'll need to do is sign the thing for them, write up a simple bill of sale and then it's their responsibilty from there on. Make sure that you are crystal clear on the fact that shipping is the sole responsibilty of the buyer. You'll likely get about 8,000,000 emails from people asking you to do the footwork and find out how much it'll cost to flatbed the thing to them in Cousinlove, AL. --and then get all 'Yeah, right!' when you tell them that it's likely going to cost five or six hundred dollars.....I don't get involved with that, just tell 'em it's up to them to contact shippers if that's what they want to do. That, coupled with all the folks who email asking if you'll trade it for a motorcycle or Fiat or their mother's dentures will drive you mad. Oh, and the people asking, 'What's the least you'll take for it?' and you wanna email 'em back and say, take a look at the ****ing auction, you moron. Be realistic about what you're looking to get for it. Also, be VERY tentative with answering emails. Most of what you'll need is listed on eBay's little tutorial pages, so don't forget to read that. Good luck, HTH.

 

[Welby]

Originally posted by SinistrV6
Mark,

Answer any and all questions quickly and as completely as possible. Be BRUTALLY honest in your description of the car! It's better to underpromise and overdeliver than the other way around. Put as much info in your description as possible to avoid having too many e-mail questions about the same things.

Hope that helps,

Huge help, thanks! I figured I'd do what you said. I'm going to list every possible thing I can think of concerning the Jeep. I'm not looking to deceive anyone, I just want to sell it for a fair price (Even though with as much money I've dumped into it, nothing will seem too fair to me )

Thanks,
Mark

EDIT: Cousinlove, AL... lmao

 

[dhauser]

I personally prefer 7 day auctions--there's about a 4 day period in the middle where nothing happens, so a 10 day auction just makes that period longer. My thought is that if people can't get it together within 10 days of the auctions close financially, they shouldn't even be bidding. That of course, is the one big drawback to ebay--ill-prepared or qualified bidders.

Be sure to include that the vehicle is sold "as is where is" without exception and they should completely satisfy themselves on the condition of the vehicle BEFORE they bid.

Good luck.

 

[RobsIron]

The best thing about ebay is your item is advertised Worldwide. If it doesn't sell it's possible you may receive an offer via email. Good Luck.

 

[SinistrV6]

!

Originally posted by RobsIron
The best thing about ebay is your item is advertised Worldwide. If it doesn't sell it's possible you may receive an offer via email. Good Luck.

Which reminds me, search the web for "Nigerian scam". I think there's even info on eBay. NEVER accept a cashier's check for more than the purchase price, it's part of this scam and comes in an e-mail offer.

You may get legitimate e-mail offers (I have) but that's not one of them !

 

[TurboBuckeye]

I had great luck selling a car on Autotrader.com, I couldn't sell it locally for over a month but sold it to the first guy who looked at it after listing it. Took less than a week and he came from out of state too. Just another option