OK, well I need to sell my daily ride. I've had in the local classifieds/autotrader/random messageboards, but no bites. Mostly punk welfare putos who want a free joyride (but they don't drive til they pay ) I'm guessing I'll try eBay and see how it goes. I'm wondering how to post pics on eBay. I remember long ago I tried selling a bike on there but they required a host to link-up to the pics, and I'm computer-dumb, so I never did the auction. I also want a gallery thing for my '30 model A pics.... Is it different now? orrrr Is there a free host I can use to hold images? I dunno what to do. Also...... Let's say I want a minimum of $5,000 for the car, I should set my reserve at $5,000 right? and what should i have the starting bid at? What "legal-type" things should i put in the ad just to cover my butt as far as payments, shipping, etc.? Thanks dudes....
Its a lot simpler to upload your pics from your computer now as it is in the listing -just click brouse and up come your picks from your c drive click open then move on to next by clicking brouse again. as for your price I would do a reserve[ costs a little- few cents] and sell it as is no matter how good it is- I do all my auctions that way. I think its a lot easier to use now than a year or so ago I was having trouble inserting pics in ebay auctions- Kenny
I can do it for you if you want. email me off the board if you are interested..... HAMB SPECIAL: Freebie! Nada!! Zip!!! mailto:kultureshoq@earthlink.net Becca
You can use the ebay iPix picture hosting service for the photos. The first Pic is free, and they will charge you for any others. The quality is not as good as the privately run picture hosting services or hosting them yourself on webspace your ISP may provide, but they work for selling a car (but I think they delete them pretty fast after an auction ends these days).
AS far as what to put in your ad, look at other cars for sale and see what they say. Use this as a guide
[ QUOTE ] Also...... Let's say I want a minimum of $5,000 for the car, I should set my reserve at $5,000 right? and what should i have the starting bid at? What "legal-type" things should i put in the ad just to cover my butt as far as payments, shipping, etc.? [/ QUOTE ] yeah, set the reserve at the minimum amount youd take. The starting bid is your choice. as far as shipping, you have to decide if you want to help the buyer out with shipping arrangements i.e. finding a shipper and or bringing the car to a place to be shipped. Some people insist that the movers pick the car up. Also make it clear that the buyer pays the shipping cost. Tell them they have "X" amount of days to pick the car up after the auction is over so you arent stuck with a car you dont own in your yard for months. Hope this helps...........................Briggs
also, you might want to give bidders the option of coming to your house to view the car before the auction is over
You also may want to check out the people who bid on your car. A bidder with little or no feedback maybe bad pay have them e-mail you first before they bid you can put that in your ad. Ebay has been a good way for me to fund and find new projects but it can also be a pain if you bidder doesn't come through.
thanks for the replies..... few more questions..... how much does a typical ad run? how do I pay eBay? do they charge you if the auction ends under the reserve? or no bids?
To run the auction for a car, they will charge you a $40.00 auction insertion fee (not refundable even if the car doesn't sell) To run the auction with a Reserve price they will charge you $2.00. If the car sells or you get a bid at or over the reserve price they will charge you an additional $40.00 "Transaction Services Fee" (if you do not get a bid at or over the Reserve, you will not be charged this fee). They will want you to set up a sellers account with a credit card they can bill for all their fees. There "may" be a way to pay them online by credit card as a one time thing or to send them a check, but I think they REALLY want a valid credit card. One of the problems with running a Reserve auction will be potential bidders emailing you asking: "What's The Reserve?"...It's up to you to decide if you want to tell them, but I think most bidders do tell potential bidders what the Reserve is, fearing they may piss off a potential bidder if they don't tell them what the Reserve is.
If the car can at all be described as a "project/parts car" you can avoid the whole $40 list/$40 more when it sells by putting it under the parts car section. Then it's just regular fees like any other auction. If you're selling a 54 chevy, most people just search for 54 chevy, so they'll still find it.
make sure to write for instance if it is a chevy 1954 make the headline somethign like "chevy 1954 54 chevrolet" so all that search for chevy 1954, or if someone search for chevrolet 54 all get your auction up... i kinda prefer to have an auction with an higher opening bid then like 1000 opening bid and 5400 reserve, you might get people not to win if you have a to high reserve because if someone is willing to pay like 6000 for a car its a drag to get the price up past the reserve... and make sure to have real good photos, maybe even say that you can email bigger pictures if needed in real high resolution or post that on a separate page so people see better what they bid on
Good info, Thanks to everyone, but after reading all this I don't feel I want to pay around $80 to auction off my car. Setting NO reserve would probably end up breaking my ass. Setting a reserve is too expensive. Fuck it, back tot he classified ads and parking lots. That is, unless someone on here wants a rice-rocket? HAHA Thanks
I had alot of response, and I sold my Impala wagon on www.cars-on-line.com it costs $45.00 and it runs until it sells. You can post pics and describe it to a tee. The response was greater than auto swappers and if nothing else its also a good place to dream. Good Luck