Selling a car on eBay
Its Easy take photo, list car, and wait for the funds through pay-pal !!
Okay as usual a quick proviso. Selling on eBay, Auto trader, The village news or anywhere else falls under selling privately, and you should also read my guide for that first. Here
So why would you want to sell a car on eBay?
If you have already read my guide to buying on eBay you know my opinion that cars on eBay are usually sold slightly cheaper than what they would make through other Media (trader, mart, motors etc).
I Don’t use eBay as a tool to maximise the price of my car, I find it the most efficient way of selling a car that I am willing to accept a fair price on. If you are looking for the best price possible then you need a cross media platform for your vehicle. Probably best Starting with the Autotrader or Exchange and mart and then for free you can also put your car on www.pistonheads.com and www.gumtree.com . Once your car is advertised on the web, internet search engines will pick it up and some of the other scavenger sites will also list it. It’s not a bad Idea to place an ad on eBay, as a 30 day classified . It usually only costs about £12.
So I am presuming you are an eBay member and you know how to do simple listings etc? If you are not particularly computer literate it might not be for you.
The most important information I can give you about selling your car on eBay is, spend the extra bit of time on your listing and you will save yourself a whole lot of time for the rest of the week….Oh and you will sell your car.
I only sell about 10 cars a year off eBay. These are usually my own personal cars which I chop and change regularly. I also sell cancelled orders from dealers. I buy cars for dealers in Ireland, Malta and Cyprus and sometimes local tax rates change overnight or there are shipping problems and I am told “we don’t need that car now “. No problem I list the car on eBay and deduct the balance from my customers kitty . Usually they break even.
When I list a car on eBay I am 100% honest about why it is being sold and 100% honest about its condition. This is not because I am a super great guy(although I am really !) It’s because I want the car sold and collected asap . I don’t want to waste anyone’s time and if I’m not honest then that’s all I am doing. I take 10-12 photos and show many different angles inside and out. I take close-ups of any listed damage. Some sellers put up hundreds of photos, but they are eBay professionals. Realistically 12 good pictures front, rear, both sides’ ,couple of interior, under the bonnet and a photo of the service book or docs is also good.
Now give an honest description of the car. Feel free to say the car is in very good condition, but don’t use terms like “mint” or “stunning”. If you are selling a used car it will have some faults you should describe them correctly. stonechips, light scratches or interior wear etc. You should then give a complete rundown of all paperwork that you have, logbook, Mot, Service book any service receipts etc. It’s also a good idea to show dates and mileage for services, and if you are sure the car is Hpi Clear you should state this in your listing.
When you have completed your listing, read back through it and try to imagine any other information that would help sell the car, or anything that a possible buyer might ask of you. This is the way I sell cars. I try to draw a clear picture in the buyers mind of the car they are bidding on, so they feel comfortable buying the car without seeing it. I have a 100% sales record on eBay and since I approached my listings like this have never had requests to even view the car before people bid with confidence.
I wasn’t born perfect! And I made many mistakes before I sussed out how it works. I used to take 5-6 pics of a car and a brief description of what a nice car etc (which it would be) I then spent the rest of the week answering emails and texts and talking to people on the phone. Basically answering fair questions to information that I should have listed in the first place.
Listing your car is pretty straightforward . In the motors section you can enter your cars reg, and the autobot fills in all the information from that. Just one note it works on the information DVLA holds on your vehicle, so make sure you check through the optional extras to be sure it has listed all your extras, for example leather,sat-nav or in-car DVD systems.
Your fees are based on the starting price and selling price, there is also an extra fee for setting a reserve price. I always start my cars at 0.99p. Even if it’s a fifteen grand car, it gets people bidding and looking. Unless you have big cojones you should set a reserve at the price you are happy to sell, if you have a rethink later on in the week you can always lower the reserve (eBay will send you a thoughtful reminder to do this!!)
You will receive some emails of the “alright mate I’ll give you £3000 cash” variety, they are not worth responding to. You may receive genuine enquiries in which case do your best to answer any sensible questions. If you don’t have time to show the car before the auction ends you don’t have to, if you have listed the car as above you will still get bids.
If somebody does view the car and offers you a fair price ,you can choose to end the auction and deal with them. By doing this you avoid paying eBay final listing fees. This is basically against eBay policy but unenforceable. I’m not condoning such practice here but personally I never turn down a good offer for a car.
It’s your auction so your terms and conditions. As I have pointed out in my eBay buying guide you can’t force people to do much really, but you can make it clear that you would like the car collected within a week,(be realistic not everyone will be standing on your doorstep the next morning). And you can also set out how you want to be paid. You don’t want to be paid by PayPal it costs money and it’s a hassle, cash is King, Bank transfer of funds, or a cheque or draft subject to clearance.
Apart from that,everything you need to know about preparing your car for sale or detailing is covered in my other guides. Try to take clear pictures on a decent camera if you can. If you have a leafy driveway great, if not then drive to a nearby park or somewhere salubrious. A blurry camera phone picture with your mate smoking a fag in the background is not helping you. Pick the best shot for your main picture (usually front on, slightly to the side and taken down low) And make your headline bold and clearly descriptive of what you are selling.
As Always your views, comments and abuse is welcome
Happy eBaying