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-   -   Is Autotrader worth the price? (http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/874883-autotrader-worth-price.html)

johnsjmc 07-16-2015 07:40 AM

I sold my 993 several months ago. I listed it on Autotrader ,craigslist Kijiji and Rennlist I got numerous inquiries from all sites BUT what sold the car (in 24 hrs) was a price drop after I tired of dealing with missed appointments and long distance calls. . I ended up selling it to a dealer ,who,s son has kept it and couldn,t be happier. Selling to a dealer allowed me to carry the sales tax saving on my replacement making the price more attractive.
I actually missed a higher offer than it eventually sold for because I was too firm on a high price to begin with. When I called the guy back to take his offer he had just paid more for another one.
Your price is too high , simplify your ad to get people to show up and drive it or at least look at it. Don,t bother explaining where the big reds came from just "has big reds brake upgrade" .

asphaltgambler 07-16-2015 07:44 AM

^^^^^^^^^^so then the lesson is price to sell, the guy with cash standing in front of you always trumps anyone else not there with a higher offer^^^^^^^^

Don Ro 07-16-2015 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler (Post 8712931)
^^^^^^^^^^so then the lesson is price to sell, the guy with cash standing in front of you always trumps anyone else not there with a higher offer^^^^^^^^

Well put.

Rick Lee 07-16-2015 07:53 AM

Ok, edited the ad and price. Let me know if you think I've left anything out that would piss someone off once we discussed in greater detail.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-cars-sale/870445-fs-1996-993-c2-super-clean.html

aigel 07-16-2015 08:10 AM

I would price it just under 50k 49500 or 49993 if you want to be cute. There is a reason they do that in sales. It will get the 40k buyers going!

G

Cajundaddy 07-16-2015 08:11 AM

So now wild thing offers 44, you say I'll take 46, wild thing says 45k cash in hand today and this deal is done at a fair price for all. Whew! Time for a cold beer!

Don Ro 07-16-2015 08:14 AM

I'm not in the market at all...but your ad reads much better. More positive, etc.
For example, you deleted the calipers being from a wrecked car.
As has been said, I'd drop the price below 50k.
Good luck.

herr_oberst 07-16-2015 08:26 AM

That reads so much better, it's almost a different car.

johnsjmc 07-16-2015 08:33 AM

Agree price below $50K 49995 . Leave out DIYed everything. Just say extensive records /logbook of all repairs /service. there are fewer DIYers looking at 993,s most prefer dealer maintained original spec and even if they want upgrades they won,t pay extra for them.
Pro rebuilt trans ,don,t bother with by whom or why in the ad.
Clean carfax but resprayed by present meticulous owner after minor damage 2005?. Have before pics.
Engine resealed no leaks , starts easily ,runs well , good oil pressure etc.
keep it simple.

Cajundaddy 07-16-2015 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnsjmc (Post 8713038)
Agree price below $50K 49995 . Leave out DIYed everything. Just say extensive records /logbook of all repairs /service. there are fewer DIYers looking at 993,s most prefer dealer maintained original spec and even if they want upgrades they won,t pay extra for them.
Pro rebuilt trans ,don,t bother with by whom or why in the ad.
Clean carfax but resprayed by present meticulous owner after minor damage 2005?. Have before pics.
Engine resealed no leaks , starts easily ,runs well , good oil pressure etc.
keep it simple.

Yep,

HVAC is excellent, AC is ice cold. (stop) the rest is just TMI and doesn't improve the ad.

monoflo 07-16-2015 10:14 AM

Price is price and the market sets that . If you are too high the market is telling you or will. Right now the economy seems to have hit the doldrums compared to where it was a year ago.

I've sold several over the years on AT and mostly very close to my price. Ebay is sort of funny as it is to me at least the heartland of wishful thinking.
Selling on Pelican was easy but it goes right at a targeted market. Plus my price was likely on the low end of an ascending market.
Good Luck -- I like the car

onewhippedpuppy 07-16-2015 10:32 AM

The ad looks good, but your car not selling in about one month means the price is too high, period. The 993 market is hot, and even cars with terrible ads are selling in a few days when priced well. In the $50k range you are competing against lower mileage cars with zero stories. If you really want to sell it, drop the price.

johnsjmc 07-16-2015 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy (Post 8713221)
The ad looks good, but your car not selling in about one month means the price is too high, period. The 993 market is hot, and even cars with terrible ads are selling in a few days when priced well. In the $50k range you are competing against lower mileage cars with zero stories. If you really want to sell it, drop the price.

I started at $48 Canadian (about $40US ) with mine with 110,000 miles and ended up selling for $40 Cdn in 24 hrs plus saved 6 on tax for my replacement ,which was like getting $46.
I think you are still overpriced at $50 US but you are nearer a stronger market and can wait I was perhaps more motivated . Americans are hesitant to buy "overseas" even when only 60 miles from the border.

enzo1 07-16-2015 08:20 PM

I think you need to get the car out of your driveway and take it for a drive. Take some really good pictures of her out in the wild so that someone says to themselves " what a beautiful car, I have to have it"! That car is *****'n!:) some examples: Porsche 993 tribute thread - Teamspeed.com

aigel 07-16-2015 11:44 PM

+1 on better pictures. Nothing against your garage, but a nice AZ landscape in the background will do wonders.

I guess what we also learn here is that the 993 market isn't as hot as it is made out to be?

G

speeder 07-17-2015 07:22 AM

Wait...someone offered you $45k and you didn't take it? Start driving the car more and putting on miles. Enjoy it. It's not going anywhere.

Rick Lee 07-17-2015 07:23 AM

No, no one offered me $45k.

speeder 07-17-2015 07:51 AM

OK, I misunderstood a post above. Apparently someone did offer $40k on this thread? Are you in discussions with him?

It's already been said but you need a well written ad with great photos and a realistic price. If someone posts a car for sale @ $10k over value, I move on to the next listing. I assume that they have an extremely unrealistic idea of the value of their item. Life is too short for dealing with these people, especially when there are multiple examples of the same item for a better price/condition ratio.

What does a low mileage, no paintwork, bone stock 993 coupe with records in the best resale color go for these days? (I don't follow these cars at all). You need to price your car $10k below this figure and show a willingness to deal. Saying or implying, "I don't need to sell" always has me skip to the next one. Refer back to "life is too short" comment above.

If you have some aversion or fear of eBay, you are extremely limiting the exposure of the car. For anything that will not sell easily on CL, I eBay for exposure alone. It's free unless you sell through them and everyone in the world looking at 993s this week will see it. List it as a true auction with secret reserve and start at $1000. Even if it only goes up to $30k, (which will be well below your reserve), you will get an email from a real buyer looking for that color. Don't kid yourself that everyone wants that color combo.

I have only bought one car from AT and never listed there. And I buy and sell a lot more cars than the average person. I look at eBay and CL constantly, including for vehicles I'm not even buying now but just want to track prices. You are using the wrong outlet, although you can never go wrong with free ones like Pelican and CL.

911SauCy 07-17-2015 10:19 AM

Short answer to address the title of the OP.

NO, it's not worth the $.

enzo1 07-17-2015 10:35 AM

also I thought this listing started at 60 and got lowered to where it is now, not positive and could be wrong:) maybe it was 55, can't remember for sure

asphaltgambler 07-17-2015 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speeder (Post 8714597)
....................If you have some aversion or fear of eBay, you are extremely limiting the exposure of the car. For anything that will not sell easily on CL, I eBay for exposure alone............................................I have only bought one car from AT and never listed there. And I buy and sell a lot more cars than the average person. I look at eBay and CL constantly, including for vehicles I'm not even buying now but just want to track prices. You are using the wrong outlet, although you can never go wrong with free ones like Pelican and CL.

^^^^ I could not agree more and I have a solid track record of success^^^^^^^^^^

speeder 07-17-2015 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by enzo1 (Post 8714876)
also I thought this listing started at 60 and got lowered to where it is now, not positive and could be wrong:) maybe it was 55, can't remember for sure

When something is $20k over-priced, you get a lot of inquiries wondering who your crack dealer is. Not so many about the vehicle. :cool:

Rick Lee 07-17-2015 11:56 AM

I had it on eBay twice. The first time I had 96 watchers by the time it ended. But it got twice as many views on Pelican as on eBay.

Rinty 07-17-2015 12:11 PM

I listed my 993 on Kjiji and the Rennlist last summer. I was fortunate to find 4 then current price points in Western Canada and priced the car realistically, I thought, in relation to those.

It sold in 2 days for my full asking price.

speeder 07-17-2015 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Lee (Post 8715001)
I had it on eBay twice. The first time I had 96 watchers by the time it ended. But it got twice as many views on Pelican as on eBay.

But not as an auction, right?

Rick Lee 07-17-2015 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speeder (Post 8715046)
But not as an auction, right?

I had it with a reserve. If you have a reserve or BIN price, it's around $18 in fees, regardless of whether it sells. If I want to relist with no fees, I have to make it a no reserve auction and then pull it down at the last minute if it doesn't get to my price. Not sure I want to do that. And then if someone does buy it and flakes, the car is tied up a while longer while that gets resolved. Frankly, I'm far more impressed with Pelican's view numbers than eBay's.

onewhippedpuppy 07-17-2015 03:49 PM

I love the forums, but 9/10 of those views are window shoppers. I sell probably 3/4 of my Porsches on EBay. Forum shoppers also tend to waste your time. A lot.

speeder 07-17-2015 04:39 PM

Rick, you're confusing page views or watchers with number of buyers. My advice would be to put it on eBay with a reserve and start @ $10k or some ridiculous low starting bid. Don't worry about $18 here and there when you're selling a $40k+ car, fer chrisakes. Ebay is a million dollars worth of advertising for peanuts. :cool:

onewhippedpuppy 07-17-2015 05:39 PM

If you want to sell your car for the absolute top of market price, you'll need to spend more than $18. You also need to be very patient.

Rick Lee 07-17-2015 11:33 PM

I've even had a few crackpots on eBay contact me. One guy was from Stuttgart. I answered all his questions in German, was very thorough, and he wrote back that he just wasn't interested in blue. WTF? He didn't know that before he sent me a page of questions? A nutbag from CL called to ask why I just don't try to sell it at a car show. Wow.

aigel 07-17-2015 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aigel (Post 8711849)
Your ad is seen, no doubt. But at your price you may be testing the market. It may be too high?

I put my Sequoia on the local CL and getting zilch, figured I'll try Autotrader = same result. This tells me I need to drop the price by at least a grand, which is almost 20%. It isn't costing me anything in my driveway, so I'll wait for the first weekend to pass and if there is still no bites, then relist at dropped price.

George

Sold the Sequoia today. Had it on CL for 5 days. On Autotrader for 3 days. On autotrader 9 people clicked on my ad and 1 looked at my contact info.

For a used car - very used in my case - CL looks to be the way to go. For the 993, I'd definitely do a national advertisement.

Special thanks to OWT for engine detailing tricks. I will miss the nice engine compartment - so much room! Usually I clean the car up really well and sell to literally the first person that shows up to see the car.



Ghttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437205349.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1437205366.jpg

glewis80SC 07-18-2015 11:41 AM

No

Cooper911SC 07-18-2015 08:42 PM

Here's another data point... I bought a '95 993 Tip today from an Auto Trader ad.

Drove 2 1/2 hours up to Santa Barbara from O.C. To look at the car and finalize the deal.

I have bought and sold cars from A.T. many times.

I agree with others here, skip their up-sell on Premium placement etc.

My wife found the listing. She's been looking to replace another 993 for 6 months now.

Checked anything listed on every site possible.

Cooper

DanielDudley 07-19-2015 03:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by porsche4life (Post 8711620)
Pelican, PCA, and sadly Craigslist will bring your biggest pools of buyers.

Big 993 crowd at Rennlist also.

onewhippedpuppy 07-19-2015 03:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanielDudley (Post 8716572)
Big 993 crowd at Rennlist also.

True, but you have to be a paid member to advertise there.

Rick Lee 07-19-2015 09:22 AM

I would think anyone who would search on Rennlist would also come here to search.

biosurfer1 07-19-2015 01:57 PM

I would say there is a 99% chance most of those eBay "watchers" are people with a similar car who want to see how much you car sells for so they can price theirs accordingly.

Tervuren 07-19-2015 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Lee (Post 8711609)
I've had my 993 on Autotrader for three weeks and have not gotten a single inquiry about it. I've gotten more views on Pelican than on eBay and the only serious inquiries have been through Pelican. I have run into some Porsche guys who had never heard of Pelican, so I figured Autotrader would be a good way to reach those guys, as well as some of the European market.

I got an email from a guy who works at Autotrader, asking me how my ad was working out for me. I replied that it was a total waste of money so far. He called today to discuss and tried to upsell me to their $250 ultimate or whatever package, said my current ad was getting buried at the bottom of the last page.

When I do a search for 95-98 993s, I put a price range of $35-60k, which weeds out the turbos and S'es and then 37 results appear. I don't think 37 is too many ads to scroll through, particularly when each one has a thumbnail photo showing the color. This Autotrader rep. claims I'll get 93% more views and my car will sell quickly with this package. I'm very skeptical. Should I do it?

I skim past the premium listings by habit, used to be they appear twice, so pointless to look at them on the top. Not sure if its still the case, but I still skim right past them.

People looking for a car will look through everything that turns up in their search criteria anyway.

johnsjmc 07-19-2015 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Lee (Post 8716953)
I would think anyone who would search on Rennlist would also come here to search.

I advertised my 993 on Pelican ,Rennlist and both Craigslist and Kijiji all at the same time.
I often asked where the caller saw the ad. I think I got about the same number of inquiries from all 4 sites .
I think eventual the buyer saw it on Rennlist ( a year membership to list is less than $40) but could be wrong.

speeder 07-20-2015 06:30 AM

The bottom line is that a decent 993 that sits unsold for more than a few days in today's market is priced incorrectly. I've said it before but the market price of a car, (or anything else), is what you can sell it for in a reasonably short period of time, marketed properly.

The value is not what some hypothetical buyer in a cave or on a mountaintop in the Himilayas might pay for it if he only had Internet service and could find out you are selling.

If it's an air-cooled 911 listed here, it's marketed properly. Oh haha just sold his 911SC in one day to a guy in Germany from this site for a strong price in relation to condition of the car. Everyone on earth is looking here. :cool:


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