Anyone Here Sell a Car at an Online Auction?*UPDATED*

[apoppin]

I have two "classic" cars I want to sell. Both are complete but non-operational. I live in S. Cali's hi-desert near Palm Springs.

I know enough to post pics (I am washing them this morning) and take only cash when the seller comes to pick them up. I am an ebay "virgin" . . . never bought or sold anything off an Internet auction site . . . anyplace I should start to learn a "crash course" in advertising, pitfalls, etc.

BTW, They are 1976 Mazda Cosmos . . . there were only 2000 (total) imported into the USA from 1976-78 and they are desirable for racing or as "show" cars.



Updated . . . what a pain in the rear end! First, I had to clean and polish these vehicles; then take the pictures and upload them to a web site. Then, I had to join at least 4 "car" forums that specialize in rotary engines (talk about "fans") . . . and join a couple of online vendor sites . . . and I still haven't tried e-bay . . . look at my latest post and tell me what you think.

 

[apoppin]

Anyone?

I have already posted on several local Mazda Clubs BBS . . .

Is ebay the way to go? It is effective and/or worth it?

 

[BuckleDownBen]

A guy at my gym makes a living selling cars on EBay. He uses an Escrow service. I think he gets paid 1000 when the auction closes, then 30 days after the sale, he gets the rest of the money unless the buyer contests the quality of the car. The buyer pays for shipping the car. That's all I remember, but if it is important enough to you, let me know and I might be able to find out more (I don't see him every week). You may be able to find out more by searching Google for Escrow, EBAY, Car, etc.

 

[Lucky]

never listed a car but i've seen enough to give a few tips:

-if the buyer isnt local its customary to demand 10% within 3-10 days.
-post picture of every conceivable angle possible...tedious, but it will help
-obviously post "as-is" all over the ad
-since you are a first time seller, it presents some problems. You might want to see if you can use someone else's account with a fair amount of feedback as that might help. Otherwise, make sure to answer emails (and phone calls) from buyers quickly to show you are contactable and trustworthy.

 

[apoppin]

thanks for the tips . . .

My alternative is to advertise in the LA Times. At least they don't ask for a percentage of my sale.
Which one do you think will have better results?

Since the cars are non-operational and have been stored a long time it is going to be a very "unique-type" buyer. Probably someone who owns one, needs parts or is passionate about restoring them.

 

[b0mbrman]

I bought one from Ebay back in the genesis of the site...it's hard getting exposure near you I think...the car I bought had to be shipped from Missouri :Q

 

[apoppin]

I bought one from Ebay back in the genesis of the site...it's hard getting exposure near you I think...the car I bought had to be shipped from Missouri :Q

Thanks . . . would you buy a car from ebay again?

Well, I am NOT going to ship the cars . . . the sellers will have to pick them up on a trailer.
I live about equally distant from LA and San Diego - 120 miles or so.

Do you think ebay would be my best choice or the newspaper ads (which cover much of Southern California - 20 million people)?

 

[AlwaysWong]

Well, rare cars are tough to sell. You might not get a good bid for it within the ebay timeframe. I just moved here to S Cal and I notice that the best place to sell/buy stuff is the Recycler. You might want to throw an ad in there before you try ebay since you mostly want a local buyer. Tip: slap together a webpage on your car and be sure to put the link in any ad you place. Also, have you checked out collectorcartrader.com? It's a good place to sell a rare car and the ad lasts for a whole month.

 

[RossMAN]

Thanks for the reminder gotta wash the car today, it's getting a little dusty, has some bird sh!t on it and it's a beautiful sunny day.

 

[apoppin]

Thanks for the Auto Recycler and website-link tip.

I never thought about that . . . awesome!

 

[apoppin]

GO CLEAN YOUR CAR, RossMAN.

I am on washing my 3rd car now . . . just had lunch (homemade pizza and Caesar salad).

A lot of the car online sales (not ebay) require a running car. If I decided to get mine running, I would go all the way and restore them.
The other thing is that they have about the same number of "readers" as a major newspaper and are just as expensive to advertise.

CarCollectorTraderOnline HAS a restored car like mine for 5K. I am not expecting too much but I'd sure hate to just junk them.

 

[apoppin]

Updated . . . what a pain in the rear end! First, I had to clean and polish these vehicles (they have been stored for TEN years); then take the pictures and upload them to a web site. Then, I had to join at least 4 "car" forums that specialize in rotary engines (talk about forum "fans") . . . and join a couple of online vendor sites . . . and I still haven't tried e-bay . . .

Anyway, My Cosmo PICs are here. (see all 3 pages, if you have time)

I joined the RX7 forum and posted an ad

and posted a free ad on the Parts Trader

not to mention joined the S.Cali and San Diego RX-7 clubs.


Any other suggestions as how to get more "free" exposure? Still no real "bites".

 

[apoppin]

Any other suggestions?

Does anybody know anything about this place . . . it's $20 a year