Selling car on Ebay tips
Selling car on Ebay tips
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Discussion

AndyT77

Original Poster:

1,755 posts

191 months

Tuesday 11th August 2020
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Got an old C Class i'm looking to sell, and would like to hear any good tips for using Ebay. Things like listing type, format, reserve price worth paying for etc?

Sir Bagalot

7,073 posts

210 months

Tuesday 11th August 2020
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Plenty of pics of a clean car. Honest description.

I didn't put a reserve. Sold to someone who turned up in the dark, paid and drove off

anonymous-user

83 months

Tuesday 11th August 2020
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Classified ad with best offer.

I would try facebook marketplace as it is free.


anonymous-user

83 months

Tuesday 11th August 2020
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The Spruce Goose said:
Classified ad with best offer.

I would try facebook marketplace as it is free.
I would only list a car on eBay as a classified ad that stays live until the car drives away with it's new owner. In my experience selling it via auction or with a Buy it Now price is a total waste of time as the winner will rarely turn up to buy the car. What will happen is they will either never make contact or string you along for weeks with "Can you wait until pay day?" and "really excited to collect the car" type messages until the night before you will get a "Sorry, something unexpected has happened and I can no longer collect the car as my mum's aunties cat died."

You will have wasted all that time where other people can look at it, you will lose your original listing fees and when you relist it people will immediately be suspicious. In the end you will virtually give the car away due to the hassle as you will just want it gone by this point.

Oh and only list facts such as colour, age, mileage etc. do not put things such as "good condition" or "very reliable" as if they decide the car is not for them and take you to the small claims court you will lose due to it not being as described.

It costs £20 to list a car on eBay as a classified advert so you may as well list it for free on Facebook.

littlebasher

3,954 posts

200 months

Tuesday 11th August 2020
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AndyT77 said:
Got an old C Class i'm looking to sell, and would like to hear any good tips for using Ebay. Things like listing type, format, reserve price worth paying for etc?
Let me save you the hassle and give you £50 for it.

You know it makes sense

Terzo123

4,727 posts

237 months

Tuesday 11th August 2020
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Facebook market place. The exposure your ad will get is insane.


Fastlane

1,349 posts

246 months

Tuesday 11th August 2020
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I have just sold my wife's 2016 Zafira. I have sold 5 cars using Ebay classified ads over the last few years, but this time I also put a free ad on Facebook Marketplace. Sold it within a week (for £8k) to the first person to view it at the price I wanted to sell it for - they saw it on Facebook.

I always clean my cars very thoroughly, take lots of good quality photos (in a nice place) and provide a very clear and honest description of the car. I personally always avoid any ad. that mentions "no tyre kickers, test pilots or time wasters" as this is most likely a description of the seller.

Price wise, use one of the many car buying services (Wizzle, WBAC etc) to see what the trade value is and then use Autotrader/Pistonheads/eBay to see what the retail price is. Then ideally price your car in between the two, preferably slightly lower than the median.

Finally, treat all potential buyers with respect as you never know who might actually buy it.

Good luck.

Camelot1971

2,847 posts

195 months

Tuesday 11th August 2020
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Terzo123 said:
Facebook market place. The amount of fking morons who contact you with no intent to actually buy the car is insane.
Fixed that for you.

Karl_Alp

96 posts

84 months

Tuesday 11th August 2020
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I've sold two cars on eBay and I've been lucky as both buyers have been very decent and straightforward.One of mine was a basket case, which is why we were getting rid, and the other had a couple of minor faults.

I would suggest plenty of photos, and a detailed description including known faults. I've done this both times, as I considered if they came back to complain about anything my advert and photos would give me good creditability. Either by the fact I've been open about the fault, or the fact that I'm obviously not trying to hide anything as I had declared everything I known about.

In the first case, with the basket case mini, a mechanic bought it, and repaired it. We got on so well, that he ended up doing some work on one of my other cars at the time. The 2nd buyer sent me a thank you note for being such a decent honest chap.

Rayy

131 posts

170 months

Tuesday 11th August 2020
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What Fastlane says above is, on my experience, pretty much spot-on.

All I'd add is to include as many photos as you can. If the car has major marks or rust, include pics. Stick to the facts in the description but give plenty of them. Don't say 'first to see will buy' - it's meaningless. Or, if you list it as a classified, put 'offers accepted'. Buyers will take this as read.

Good luck

GreatGranny

9,519 posts

255 months

Tuesday 11th August 2020
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I've got to sell our V60 in the next few weeks and I'm dreading it.

Normally trade in or have leased the one time.

It's been a commuter/workhorse so it has 143k miles, patchy service history (done some myself) and while the inside is in good nick the outside has the obligatory scratches and being black they look worse than on any other colour.

I was thinking Ebay or Facebook and price it pretty low as we just want to get rid.

Last resort is WBAC which I don't mind.

AndyT77

Original Poster:

1,755 posts

191 months

Tuesday 11th August 2020
quotequote all
Thanks for all the replies, have it listed on market place already, and a few interested parties. If it hadn’t sold by the weekend I might try eBay (or lowering the price)🤪

Terzo123

4,727 posts

237 months

Thursday 13th August 2020
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Camelot1971 said:
Terzo123 said:
Facebook market place. The amount of fking morons who contact you with no intent to actually buy the car is insane.
Fixed that for you.
I recently sold my parents 350Z for them via marketplace. It sold within the week to a nice chap from Belfast and if he didn't buy it, there was another chap from Englandshire wanting first refusal.

It was a fairly easy process.