[Moondog]

Hi Guys,

My 330 is on order, should get a produciton number tomorrow. Selling my 5 series. I had a guy make an offer yesterday but it looks like the deal is going to fall through.

I am consdering listing the 5 on ebay. There is a similar 2000 528i - with the same miles going for a reasonable price. (I set up a basic webpage in an effort to sell my 5 at www.richloney.com if you want to check it out.)

I've bought and sold on ebay for years, but not a big ticket item like a car.

Anyone sell an car on ebay. How was the experience? Does ebay take a big chunk of the sale price? If the car doesn't sell do you still paying ebay a fee???

Thanks in advance for the advice!

Rich

[longtran]

the cost to sell a car on ebay is $40 to post and if the car sell its another $40. that was the last time i sold a car on ebay.

[SCA]

Yup, I attempted to. It did not meet the reserve. Waste of $50.00

[nabutes]

Try AutoTrader. I sold my old car within a day after listing it....

[Orangeman5]

I listed my 2001 honda civic on autotrader seven days before I was to take delivery on my new ride. I was concerned that because I listed it so late in the process that I wasn't going to be able to use the money from the sale as a down payment forcing me to use some savings.

To my astonishment the car sold two days later for two hundred dollars more than the list price and I thought I listed it way to high based on the blue book value. It cost me $40 bucks to create the add and I couldn't believe the response.

[BrunoT]

I've used Ebay for years for some big and lots of small transactions. It has definitely gotten more dangerous as it gets more popular. The scams are quite innovative, so beware.

I almost resorted to selling one car there a while back but thankfully it sold before I had to post it on Ebay.

Beware of fake certified checks. That is a big scam. They are so realistic looking now with lazer printers that you need to be able to confirm it with a bank before letting the vehicle go. They will even give you a fake "bank phone number" so beware of that.

I used to be big on buying/selling used cars, but I've decided that the risks are just too big now to make it worth it unless I can walk into a bank where the buyer is getting his loan and get a check from them.

Also be aware that you may get a lot of bidders that are not going to pay, or will show up, try to find flaws you didn't disclose, then want a huge discount. They're hoping to knock money off because you're under pressure to sell. Many cars for sale on ebay mention deadbeat bidders being the reason for relisting, so be prepared for it to take several weeks to get a deal done.

You generally will get less on Ebay than selling locally if you advertise it right. That's reasonable, since buyers are often bidding on it based on pictures alone w/ no test drive.

Be aware of offers to do the transaction off ebay. That is a common way for scammers to make contact.

My best advice again would be to try it, but advertise locally elsewhere and be sure to handle any transaction at the lender's location so you're sure the funds you get are legit. They say it takes weeks to track a forged certified check, and by then your car is long gone and you may have canceled you insurance.

Also be sure to write up a bill of sale so you have proof you are not liable for their actions after you sell it. They can claim you're the owner if you don't have proof.

[Atty]

I tried selling my Harley on it a couple of years ago under Ebaymotors, it was an eye opening experience. There is one fundamental, underlying theme behind Ebay: people who shop there are used to buying things at a discount.

So if you aren't too worried about how much you sell your car for, go for it. But if you want to get at least KBB private party sale values, forget it. Even if you pay extra for the "Buy It Now" price, you will still get people contacting you to see if they can buy it for less.

[seh]

Originally Posted by nabutes

Try AutoTrader.

Did you place a print ad, an online ad, or both?

[govtec]

my suggestion is cars.com and or autotrader.com. i like cars.com because of the relative ease in sorting and the layout of the site. i sold my 96 integra gsr with little loss in value after using it to learn to drive manual for 3 months. it was a local buy and i was getting calls left and right for it. i ended up selling it in about 2 weeks time after post up. i don't know about ur 5 series but my car was highly popular with the import tuners crowd and the vtec engine.

[nabutes]

Originally Posted by seh

Did you place a print ad, an online ad, or both?

I only did the online ad. I'm not quite sure how effective the print version is...?

[Jesse Wilson]

I have sold two cars on Ebay including a '73 2002. I got more the KBB both times, once I even got about double. I have also sold and bought 5 or so cars on the auto trader as well which worked ok too, though I only got KBB for them.


Jesse

[E24]

I have never sold a car of ebay but I have garnered interest from lookers or watchers as they call them. One of the two cars that I posted on the site I sold as a result of a watcher who was out of town when the auction ended and bought the car from me for my buy-it-now price. So I use it more to create interest. I also do autotrader (print and online) as well as cars.com. Best to cover all bases. Personally I have found local newspaper ads to be a complete waste of time. I have bought cars of ebay with fantastic success. I always use my attorney in this case to protect the transaction. I send him the title to the vehicle, the purchaser sends wire transfers the funds. The title is kept in his vault and the funds are kept in his escrow account. I ship the car. The car arrives - the buyer gives my attorney the thumbs up - he releases the title to the buyer and the funds to me. It makes for a very clean and safe transaction.

[Petercat]

I bought my 911 C4 on e-bay from out of state. It was an easy and simple transaction.

From the buyers perspective, since the car was in Fl and I in MN, I had chosen to buy from a dealer rather than private party (assumed more reputable) had a 3rd party inspection from a tuning shop in the area and had a carfax run.

The only suggestion is only trust anyone with 100% positive feedback and many transactions (dealer had an attitude problem). Disclose every little nick, rock chip and surface scratch. Sometimes photos are not as clear as you think and carfax does not tell an entire story.

As a seller, I think you need to be well under market value to get a sale on e-bay. My 911 was about 10K under market value. Your more likely to get a fair value on sites like autotrader and cars.com.