Any advice for selling a car on ebay?

Triggaaar

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I've got an old Subaru Impreza to sell, and people will need to see it before deciding if it's for them, and how much they'd pay for it, so I'm assuming that a straight auction isn't the best way to sell.

Has anyone got any tips for selling an old car on ebay?

Thanks
 
Be honest about it and realistic on price
 
i always restrict the potential bidders to anyone with less than 5 feedback, no ebay violations, no foreign bidders and anyone who doesnt have a credit card on their ebay account. this does away with 95% of the morons on their who mess you about big time. if there are any serious bidders, they will contact you directly
 
I have sold two older vehicles over the past few years, one just over a week ago. I thought about putting them up as an auction, but in the end I put them up as classified adverts with a make a offer option, and with the automatic ignore for offers way too low.

I also was very brutal with the description about body damage etc, as this then hopefully put off the time wasters, and it also meant buyers new what they were getting.

Both sold within two weeks of the add (which costs about £14 for 30 days) and I got very near to what I was looking for.

Good luck
 
Whenever i have sold cars that are not straight forward i would use a phrase like "car needs to be viewed as there are cosmetic issues" or "shows signs of age" and make it clear that it is available to view.

You dont want people to turn up and start haggling so make it clear there are problems but don't try and give a definitive list.
 
Thanks for the replies.
Be honest about it and realistic on price
I'll definitely be honest about it. Finding out the right price is less straightforward, I don't think those books are going to help me much. I'm looking at previous sales, but each car is very different.

i always restrict the potential bidders to anyone with less than 5 feedback, no ebay violations, no foreign bidders and anyone who doesnt have a credit card on their ebay account.
You can tell those people not to bid, but can you actually stop them bidding?

I have sold two older vehicles over the past few years, one just over a week ago. I thought about putting them up as an auction, but in the end I put them up as classified adverts with a make a offer option, and with the automatic ignore for offers way too low.

I also was very brutal with the description about body damage etc, as this then hopefully put off the time wasters, and it also meant buyers new what they were getting.
All sounds good, thanks.

Whenever i have sold cars that are not straight forward i would use a phrase like "car needs to be viewed as there are cosmetic issues" or "shows signs of age" and make it clear that it is available to view.

You dont want people to turn up and start haggling so make it clear there are problems but don't try and give a definitive list.
If I was getting an agreed price on ebay, I guess I'd ask people to view first as I wouldn't haggle after a price was agreed, but I had actually thought people wouldn't actually buy it on ebay, they'd come and see it and make an offer then. How can you buy a car for a fair value if you've never seen it?
 
Pistonheads is good for selling cars might even be free for private adds cant remember
 
Pistonheads is good for selling cars might even be free for private adds cant remember

It used to be free, but now they only have ads that are paid for (the free ones used to be at the end of the paid ones to make them a little less visible).
 
Pistonheads is good for selling, £9.99 with full description plus 9 photo's HERE

A classified car add on fleabay is £14.99 simular features as PH'S and no sellers fees when sold.

If you put it on auction thats when you get all the idiots etc and sellers fees.

Just do your homework on it's value and go for it mate......Gotta be realistic though :cool:

PS.
Dont forget about putting it on the AVforums as well HERE selling a car is allowed on here as well as advertising elsewhere - Its in the rules -

ATB

Ron
 
Thanks. Working out the value is not easy though.

What's the model/year/general condition + mot and tax ???

I'm sure someone on here could have a stab @ prices.

Also how much/quick do you want rid? EG is it in the way etc.

All these above things will promote some sort of value to you.

ATB

Ron
 
I always look at parkers then search autotrader for something similay to my car and spec and get a price that way
 
I always look at parkers then search autotrader for something similay to my car and spec and get a price that way

IMHO Parkers is very unreliable, sometimes listing private sale values above what dealers are asking for example (let alone what they actually sell them for). If going the search on Autotrader route, remember that if you look at trade prices, you need to undercut their asking price but a decent amount, otherwise private buyers have nothing to gain buying from you over a dealer. On Pistonheads you can tell how long a car has been for sale, so again you can use this as a guide as to whether the price is realistic (or perhaps just not popular).

It's a horrible business selling privately these days. I used to do it 2-3 times a year when I was much younger, but more recently have just accepted that dealers make money out of it, but it's far less hassle. :( I'm dreading (also for various reasons) the day I have to sell my Mk2 RS2000 especially as it wouldn't be a trade in, so I either get much less selling to a dealer, or run the gauntlet of attempted rip offs/potential views to steal later and low ball offers/weird trade in emails of private buyers. :(
 
Ive always found parkers a good guide myself and i tend to look at the private sales on autotrader and as you say under cut dealer prices, but overall you can get an idea
 
What's the model/year/general condition + mot and tax ???

Also how much/quick do you want rid? EG is it in the way etc.
It's a Subaru Impreza classic WRX import yr 2000 with 80k on the clock. I've owned it since new. New MOT and tax this week, just had major service with new cambelt, water filter etc, and it's got a new clutch. 17" wheels, although all damaged from break dust. Large 4 pot racing breaks, disks are warn but ok. It's got boost and oil gauges + knock link. Engine, turbo, exhaust all standard (276bhp). Some of the clear coating on the paintwork has come off at the front, internally there are marks on the front door linings, otherwise it's good. So it's not the sort of thing that's easy for me to price (I doubt parkers etc will work for me). I'm not in a rush, it's not in the way.
 
So you have owned it from new and its very low millage ! I have a feeling you are potentially undervaluing it just because of familiarity . Get the paint sorted out by chips away , then get it valeted including the wheels re done . Take some high resolution photos ( I phone type photos are no good ) and with a well worded advert not only will it sell it will have multipul bidder's crawling all over it in the last few mins of the auction !
 
I sold my Civic Type-R to .:: Churchs Performance Cars ::. who seem to specialise in this sort of car, after failing to sell privately. I got more than WBAC offered, and a little less than my private ad price. They sent a driver by train to pick it up and drive 200+ miles back to the garage.

I described it accurately to them and did the deal over the phone. The driver looked it over when he arrived, said it was as described, and we went to my bank for him to hand me the cash and me to pay straight into my account.
 
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You can tell those people not to bid, but can you actually stop them bidding?

yeah you can prevent these bidders by changing the bidders criteria when actually setting up the auction. here is what mine are usually defaulted to..... these are actually settings within the auction page

Other things you'd like buyers to know Add or remove options | Get help
Buyer requirements
Use buyer requirements to block certain buyers from bidding on or purchasing your items.
Block buyers who:
Don't have a PayPal account
Have received 2 unpaid item(s) recorded on their account within 12 month(s)
Have a primary delivery address in countries that I don't post to
Have 4 breach of policy report(s) within 6 month(s)
Have a Feedback score equal to or lower than -1
Have a Feedback score of 5 or lower and no credit card on file
Change buyer requirements
Returns policy
No returns accepted.
Change
 

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