Where do eBay cars go to

[wieoa911]

Most car sales at Pelican refer to eBay as their method of last resort to sell their 911's. Looking at completed sales of 911's (atleast the 1987 to 1989 models I'm looking at) show about only 10% of them selling. What happens to the other 90% ?

Here's my guess:

20% stay with the owner and never sell
20% sell, but not via the eBay site through e-mail/web contacts
20% get re-listed within the next month or so
20% get sold on other sites like Rennlist
20% get offed to dealers on trade-ins

Can anyone else offer their thoughts on my percentages or categories?

Dave

[Misterightbrain]

Dave,

I sold a 1972 911T late last year through Ebay on my first attempt http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4593069137. The original reserve about 20-30% under prevailing asking prices, and it was a really decent car.

There were a few inquiries thorugh this site, but far more through Ebay - the car went to an enthusiast in Yokohama Japan, who was (and hopefully still is) thrilled.

Ebay seems to cast a wide net.

I've facilitated several sales - hooking up friends, fellow Pelicans, etc. - but almost exclusively outside any formal advertising medium, and not for money, just to spread the love (and the cars) around. Some of the better examples I've observed change hands offline - never 'officially' advertised. I'd surmise this to be the case 10-20% of the time.

And forums such as this - a credit to Wayne, Noah and all those who participate - do seen to draw a fair number of laptop quarterbacks who don't have resources to purchase what's advertised. For whatever reason. Knowledgeable, personable bunch, though.

Hard to quantify percentages on the rest. Many through contact made after auctions or ads expire. Only the buyer and seller would know.

Pure opinion here, with about $4 will get you a coffee at Starbucks.

Best,

Joe

[Hetmann]

I would suspect a fair number trade hands outside the auction. A potential buyer will contact the lister and make a deal after the listing expires.

[AirCooledExcellence]

Originally posted by Hetmann
I would suspect a fair number trade hands outside the auction. A potential buyer will contact the lister and make a deal after the listing expires.

Yeah, I've sold a couple of cars like that, eBay's great for getting the word out!

Cheers,

Tim.

[wieoa911]

Guys,
Thanks for the replies. I've bought/sold my Harleys with the assistance of eBay, but out of the 3 transactions only one was technically completed on eBay.

(By the way, I didn't want this post in the Technical forum here -- it is not a technical post. I had posted it in the Pelican Porsche 911's for Sale forum and the moderator moved it.)

[wholberg]

I followed 911 listings on EBay, specific ally '78-'89, for about 6 months before I purchased my car. During that time, about 2% of the listed cars sold in any given week. More than 80% of them were relisted, and ultimately only about 20% ever sold on EBay. Ironically, I bought mine on EBay. Around the same time, I listed two International Scouts on EBay, and they both sold in the first week.

[wieoa911]

Thanks Noah. I did give the guidelines a read about 4 months ago. Must have missed that one.

Anyways, I'm still very curious to hear what others thoughts were about my original question above. Do others have personal experiences with their purchasing/selling of their 911's they can share as it relates to eBay?

I also check out www.pca.org "The Mart" every couple days and it's almost like eBay is "below" those sellers... I may be wrong.

[jluetjen]

From an economic standpoint, I'm confused why people insist on doing deals outside of ebay after the car has been listed there. I can understand as a seller you might try to avoid the ebay service charge (which is kind of sleezy if you ask me, but anyway...), but from a buyers' perspective I don't see what the benefit is. You lose all of feedback mechanisms, and potentially pay more for the car.

Not to mention having a reserve on the auction actually turns off buyers since they generally don't feel like the seller is serious about selling to the highest bidder. The result is fewer and lower bids on the auction.

And then of course there are the sellers who have somehow confused an automobile such as a 911 with a holy relic. These are the folks who believe that their car is absolutely worth about 10K more then anyone sane person would bid given the alternatives. Why the wishfull sellers believe that their period of ownership has added so much to the value of the car is beyond me.

Rant over.

[imcarthur]

While I was shopping for mine, I tracked sales for over 2 years. Here, rennlist etc but 80% eBay sales. And yes, eBay non-duplicate sales - found by searching recent sales data. I only tracked 80-89 911s. I was careful not to duplicate data if the car re-sold. Not perfect, but usable. I have almost 800 sold cars in the database. If 80% were eBay (approx) thats over 600 sold. see Sales

fwiw

Ian

[anthony]

There are a huge number of laptop quarterbacks however, who, while extremely nice people, just don't have resources to purchase what's advertised. Keeps things interesting, though.

Have you considered that all these laptop quarterbacks already own Porsches? I already have three Porsches which is at least one too many so I'm not in the market unless something is a can't pass up deal and is geographically close to me.

I think craigslist.org in many markets is a better place to sell a car. Ebay is an ok way to reach a large audience. The biggest problem with ebay is that it's difficult to inspect a car and get a PPI. I think that is why probably many cars that start off with an ebay ad ultimately get sold outside of ebay.

[patkeefe]

I bought the SC on EBay. PO had a high reserve, and I was the high bidder, although I didn't come near the reserve. He emailed and asked if I wanted the car at my bid number. I took it. He wasn't motivated by money (oil man), but he had a newer C4 cab, and the wife told him "you don't need two Porsches". He even flew me out to Houston to pick it up, and I drove it home.

So, it was a car that technically did not sell on EBay.

[stevej37]

Three of the four vehicles I own were purchased on EBay. Very satisfied will each. If the seller doesn't expect more than current market value, EBay is a great tool.

[Ron Cumiford]

Many of the dealers are running a higher than expected reserve so the car doesn't sell. They then contact and negotiate with the highest bidders attemping to run up the price a bit from their original bid sometimes settling for the actual highest or near highest bid. This gives maximum exposure, lowest sales costs (no final fee), maximum return, and a clearing house for overstock. A virtual international negotiated marketplace. Where else can you do that for $40 and get unlimited pics, unlimited narative and history, and build a rating system. Believe me, many cars are selling that don't meet the reserve. Most that don't sell this way get relisted and the process starts over. It is the largest car marketplace in the world. There aren't hundreds of dealers on eBay for an unsuccessful process.
Ron

[sweet97m3]

I would tend to agree that it is difficult to beat Ebay when it comes to the photos, narrative and seller/buyer feedback aspects. This site, Autotrader, craigstlist, etc. are all good but typically don't present these aspects as strongly. Compared to a "typical" used car listing this is a lot of information. The quality and number of the photos that can be hosted on Ebay can be a the deciding factor for me, particularly if the car is located at a distance. I have purchased three directly through Ebay and two vehicles by negotiating post-auction when they didn't meet their reserve. Also sold one "through" Ebay..post auction when one of the bidders contacted me directly and we settled on a price. I'm a fan, but certainly know that avenue is nowhere near perfect. Lots of unscrupulous folks out there who just change user names when their feedback ratio gets bad. One should always beware of photos of poor quality or taken at a distance just far enough away to make flaws less detectable. Ask me how I know...

[K9Torro]

Hey guy's -

I have been on both sides of this fence with Ebay, I have both sold car's and purchased car's from the site. I have to say that on the sales side you get alot of responce the hard part is keeping up with the emails and seperating the " tire kickers" from the potential buyers.

On the sales end , on one car I listed it with a " buy it now " and it sold within two hours of the listing so that told me that I had more than likely listed it way to cheap, after that I just used a reserve, I did try one where I set the opening bid at my own sell price just to see what had happened but the car did not sell as no one bid, I relisted the same car with a low opening bid but used the same figure from before as my reserve and it sold for more than that... go figure.

The main thing I use Ebay for is a "real world" version of Kelly Blue Book by seeing what a comparative car has recently sold for on Ebay as to what I am looking at, not perfect but it helps.

I do move all kinds of small stuff on Ebay, and purchase same from there as well, I think it is a great site and wish I had thought of it in the beginning, then I would have more money for Porsche stuff.

Todd

[Zef]

The 911 that was not sold was mine after the owner contact me because the reserve was not met.I think a lot of car sale finish like that...I really don`t need the positive feedback that come with a buy on e-bay V/S the 1000 or so $ that I keep in my wallet...

[rbuswell]

I went to see a car in my home town that was listed on eBay and the conversation was interesting. This fellow listed on eBay first because his perception was that the action was better to get the word out than any other medium and the price to list was actually less than any other national ad systems. I believe he's right. He also assumed that his reserve wouldn't be met and it wasn't.

The ability to reserve the right to sell outside of eBay seems to be a problem for eBay since it would be up to the seller to confirm that he got the lead from eBay. I think I could have made a deal for this car and written this fellow a check on the spot, the auction would have ended and he could have never told eBay. He seemed very honest and I would guess he would have still paid the fee but who knows.

I think the main reason cars don't sell on eBay is that the seller puts a high reserve on the car and people have no interest in following an auction that they aren't sure someone is going to win. On the other hand, the feeding frenzy can be quite exciting for a car that everyone bidding knows someone is actually going to win. The leap of faith by the seller seems to pay off more often than not.

[wieoa911]

All,
Thank you everyone for your feedback. This gives me some other arrows in the quiver to fire off at the 911's I'm going for.

imcarthur,
Your link http://members.rennlist.com/imcarthur/sales.htm you posted above is AWESOME! I learned quite a bit doing a detailed review of 1987 coupes -- which happens to be my target year/style. That is incredible data.