Tips for selling my car on eBay

oceanscape

- Should I let potential bidders come and see it before the auction ends?

- If so, should I put my mobile number on the listing or is this a bad idea?

- If a potential bidder does come and see the car, I assume they can't test drive it?

- What about payment methods? I was going to require a £250 PayPal deposit within 24 hours of the auction end and then the balance via cash on collection. Does this sound okay? Should I offer any other payment methods?

Any other tips?

Thanks in advance!

mikey72

oceanscape wrote: »

- Should I let potential bidders come and see it before the auction ends?

- If so, should I put my mobile number on the listing or is this a bad idea?

- If a potential bidder does come and see the car, I assume they can't test drive it?

- What about payment methods? I was going to require a £250 PayPal deposit within 24 hours of the auction end and then the balance via cash on collection. Does this sound okay? Should I offer any other payment methods?

Any other tips?

Thanks in advance!

Well, the deposit puts me off, so I wouldn't bid.
If I was a scammer with no intention of paying at all it wouldn't worry me though.

I may or may not come to see it, but even if I didn't, I'd want a test drive before I paid, or I'd walk away.

oceanscape

mikey72 wrote: »

Well, the deposit puts me off, so I wouldn't bid.
If I was a scammer with no intention of paying at all it wouldn't worry me though.

I may or may not come to see it, but even if I didn't, I'd want a test drive before I paid, or I'd walk away.

Well you won't be bidding then

jase1

mikey72 wrote: »

I may or may not come to see it, but even if I didn't, I'd want a test drive before I paid, or I'd walk away.

No no no no no.

If the bidder doesn't bother to visit before bidding, he has no right whatsoever to pull out after winning. I would be putting in a NPB strike before you could blink if you pulled that on me.

ALWAYS invite people to view before bidding even if the car is a shed.

BargainHunter09

A few thoughts...
I don't know about other people but I hate the phrases "good runner" - sounds like it will only just about get me from a to b, and "sold as seen" - suggests problems and hoping you won't notice them. - harsh maybe but just a personal preference.
I look for things like service history and MOT/Tax info so be sure to promote these if they are positive
Include as many photos as poss.
Don't block out reg no. that way people can do a check before buying - i wouldn't buy a car on ebay if i couldn't do this first.
Rather than putting your mobile number on your ad just be sure to check emails very often
I wouldn't pay a deposit. Consider saying something like "collection within x days with full cash payment."

Hope this helps.

BH09

mikey72

jase1 wrote: »

No no no no no.

If the bidder doesn't bother to visit before bidding, he has no right whatsoever to pull out after winning. I would be putting in a NPB strike before you could blink if you pulled that on me.

ALWAYS invite people to view before bidding even if the car is a shed.

I can live with that.
But it'll be back on ebay if I don't have a test drive, and if it's not as described.

This wasn't me, but would have been.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3238106=

jase1

There is no excuse for entering into a supposedly legally-binding contract with the seller when you have no intention of buying unconditionally. The time to look is before you bid.

Ebay should be throwing non-paying bidders off the system IMO, and putting checks in place such that they do not return.

Exemplar

I've sold loads of cars on ebay and I have always found that, if you put a mobile number on, you will be plagued by people calling asking 'what's the minimum/least you will take for it' without even seeing it!! Seriously they will ring morning, noon and night and usually from witheld numbers!! (and lots of them from ethnic backgrounds...).

Anyway be as descriptive as you can, and honest in your description. List things like scratches, marks on the outside. Condition of interior, seats etc.

Also list all the history, you will get loads of questions asking about things like cambelt etc so make sure that you clearly state things like that!!

Hope this helps?

Alex

zappahey

jase1 wrote: »

There is no excuse for entering into a supposedly legally-binding contract with the seller when you have no intention of buying unconditionally. The time to look is before you bid.

No one is bidding to buy unconditionally, we bid on the condition that the item is as described and the description includes the answers to any questions asked.

As an example, I bid on a car that was too far away to view but, before doing so, I asked specific questions about the condition and I also asked if there were any faults that needed to be rectified for the MOT that was soon due.

The seller answered no but, when I went to collect, the handbrake didn't work, the ABS light was on and the airbag light was on, so I walked away.

Your view only works if sellers are honest

emmell

Most of the time the reg. no. is blocked out to stop cloning.
I used a spare mobile for ebay, buy a cheap pay as you go.
All the cars (3) I have sold through ebay have been bought by the first person that came to view, before the listing ended. I just start the bidding at the least I will take for the car and if someone rings up and want's to know how much I will take for the car and remove from ebay (You're not supposed to do this), I tell them "I will not take any less than £x" to remove it from ebay, and I won't remove it until I have the money in my hand and the car has gone. Genuine interested buyers will come and view the car, no one will bid from the other end of the country unless they think they are 'nicking' it from you or it is something really rare.
ML.

Exemplar

Good point Zappa, as I stated the seller needs to list all faults and be very specific. I too went some distance to collect a car and had asked very, very specific questions and when I got there the airbag light was on, seller said 'oh it's never done that before'....yea right... So I negotiated a £250 discount (which off a 1K car was reasonable). Luckily turned out to be caused by the drivers seat being moved backwards and forwards too many times.. disconnect, contact cleaner, sorted!!

I normally take photos of the dash both off, running and lights off/on so that buyers can see what's expected.