As long as I have been interested in buying and owning a Porsche, and even ever since, I have been looking on ebay. What I have noticed is that a lot of people seem to list and defer to ebay for examples. I see very little reach the reserve and sell. Now, I am not saying this is only with 911s but I really don't watch other cars that much. It seems people/dealers list their cars on ebay for some stupid starting price like $100 or $1000 dollars( when the car might be worth 100 to 1000 times more). Then people bid, and the reserve price is never met or even close, and the car never sells.

I am sure some sell on ebay but it seems few. Why don't sellers start the bidding at their reserve price and potential buyers would know the deal right from the start? Do sellers on ebay think that the potential buyer of an expensive car like a 911 are going to get caught up in the bidding and bid over the market value?

I just don't get it.

 

your guess is as good as mine.

After unsuccessfully listing 2 cars on ebay, I decided not to list my 996TT.

Both of the times that I listed my car, I had multiple offers for low trade-in, but no one even remotely close to my asking price/reserve.

 

Ebay is a great way to get your car the most exposure! I would never bid for a car on Ebay, but I bought both my Boxster an TT off Ebay. I just waited for the ads to run out, contacted the seller and worked out a deal.

 

EXACTLY!!!
Great advertising, get many, many phone calls and emails from Ebay... We have sold a good 4-5 cars off of ebay advertising!!
Regards,
Evan

 

For cars, 'advertising' is precisely how I think of it....

 

I sold my old M5 on ebay (did very well).

 

i've bought and sold a few cars and bikes on ebay but most have been outside of the auction. the only way i've ever actually sold something through the site has been no reserve auctions.

 

I guess advertising is what it is about then. Still, why not just start the bidding at the least amount(reserve)acceptable?

 

I think that it is less expensive for the seller to start at a low bid-- at least it is with non-automotive items.

I have bid on watches, and the seller contacted me wanted me to buy off-site. I imagine he pays less to eBay if it doesn't sell and he can re-insert the advertisement.

 

i just tried. we'll see

 

Sell it to Kirby!

 

I bought my 996 cab on eBay. No problem what so ever. I would definitely do it again. Why low start price? I think it's to attrack impluse buyers. Most people buy (sell) on ebay for two reasons:

1. selection (exposure)
2. price

Winning a bid is more exciting than buying at fix price. Bidding makes prices lower usually. It is certainly true that lots of people use eBay to advertise and will sell offline.

 

he's too cheap even to buy the wheels

 

I sold 3 high end cars on ebay, 2 Ferrari's and a Lambo
They all sold outside the auction but ebay is what provided the exposure and 3 of the buyers were local

 

When it's sold outside of eBay, either post or during auction, do you pay less to eBay?