I'm thinking of selling my Dad's classic car on Ebay. Any advise, tips, or personal experiences?

Any advise on how to set the right reserve price, etc.?

I notice a lot of cars don't get any bidding activity until about the last couple of hours of the auction.

Too bad Ebay doesn't require potential buyers to list a minimum amount of bids before buying something. Like say you have to atleast bid 5 times before making a final bid. That way it would encourage early bidding and would help increase the final bid.

I appreciate everyone's imput.

1. Be patient. You are right - the vast majority of bids will come in the listing's final couple of minutes. It's fun to watch, but don't get discouraged if there's little action before that.

2. If you set a reserve and the high bid doesn't reach the reserve, you will probably be contacted by one or two losing bidders who will want to see if they can negotiate a price with you. So again, don't get discouraged if the auction doesn't net you what you want. You may still sell the car.

3. For classic cars, the more pictures and description the better. The biggest red X in classic car auctions is "I'm listing this for a friend". That pretty much means "My car is a piece of crap and I don't want to tell you that". So if you're selling your dad's car don't say it's your dad's (that doesn't really matter anyway), just say "We're selling our car". Or write the description as if your dad is the one listing the car

4. For a reserve price, check out other auctions of similar cars. The only thing about a reserve price is that if it's reached, it guarantees a sale. Some people really don't want to sell their car so they set a really high reserve. They're just trying to see what their car is worth. But if you want to sell your car, set a realistic reserve price. Once it's reached, my experience has been that strengthens the auction because now bidders know the high bid definitely gets the car, and that you're not just some tire-kicker trying to waste peoples' time in order to find out what your car might be worth.

5. You can even go with no reserve. If you are definitely selling your car, and you're confident you'll get the best price from an eBay auction, then selling with no reserve can be a selling point. Again, it lets bidders know you're serious about selling the car.

What kind of car is your dad selling?

Good luck!

while un familiar with the process of selling a vehicle on ebay, there is a caution you should remember once a buyer comes forth.

1. be sure to meet in a trafficed area (maybe close to your bank or in the bank parking lot)

2. be sure to either take a friend with you or let a friend know when and where the transaction will be made.

3. ask the buyer for his/her driver license (to view)

4. be sure to take care of all the dmv paper work before the selling (here it's called an sr38 form)

5. it's wise to do the transaction during daylight hours

6. google "requiirements before selling your car on ebay." there's a lot of info.

I hope this helps. good luck, be safe.

Another tip - do NOT take a cashier's check. Wire transfer funds only. People can fake cashier's check. Don't deliver the car until after the WIRED funds are in your bank account. That's standard.

Cash also works, though. I once sold a car that didn't reach its reserve price on eBay. I sold it to the guy that had placed the highest bid. I was asking $73K, we agreed on $70K. He brought cash. I thought I was going to get robbed! But it was all cool.

RodeoSchro said:

1. Be patient. You are right - the vast majority of bids will come in the listing's final couple of minutes. It's fun to watch, but don't get discouraged if there's little action before that.

2. If you set a reserve and the high bid doesn't reach the reserve, you will probably be contacted by one or two losing bidders who will want to see if they can negotiate a price with you. So again, don't get discouraged if the auction doesn't net you what you want. You may still sell the car.

3. For classic cars, the more pictures and description the better. The biggest red X in classic car auctions is "I'm listing this for a friend". That pretty much means "My car is a piece of crap and I don't want to tell you that". So if you're selling your dad's car don't say it's your dad's (that doesn't really matter anyway), just say "We're selling our car". Or write the description as if your dad is the one listing the car

4. For a reserve price, check out other auctions of similar cars. The only thing about a reserve price is that if it's reached, it guarantees a sale. Some people really don't want to sell their car so they set a really high reserve. They're just trying to see what their car is worth. But if you want to sell your car, set a realistic reserve price. Once it's reached, my experience has been that strengthens the auction because now bidders know the high bid definitely gets the car, and that you're not just some tire-kicker trying to waste peoples' time in order to find out what your car might be worth.

5. You can even go with no reserve. If you are definitely selling your car, and you're confident you'll get the best price from an eBay auction, then selling with no reserve can be a selling point. Again, it lets bidders know you're serious about selling the car.

What kind of car is your dad selling?

Good luck!

Thanks Rodeo! It's a mustang. alot of good info. Damn you sold a car for 70k is that us money? What kind of car was it. I would be nervous too that kind of money.

RodeoSchro said:

Another tip - do NOT take a cashier's check. Wire transfer funds only. People can fake cashier's check. Don't deliver the car until after the WIRED funds are in your bank account. That's standard.

Cash also works, though. I once sold a car that didn't reach its reserve price on eBay. I sold it to the guy that had placed the highest bid. I was asking $73K, we agreed on $70K. He brought cash. I thought I was going to get robbed! But it was all cool.

If you do bank wire transfer? do you have to give the buyer your bank account number?

free2bfreeda said:

while un familiar with the process of selling a vehicle on ebay, there is a caution you should remember once a buyer comes forth.

1. be sure to meet in a trafficed area (maybe close to your bank or in the bank parking lot)

2. be sure to either take a friend with you or let a friend know when and where the transaction will be made.

3. ask the buyer for his/her driver license (to view)

4. be sure to take care of all the dmv paper work before the selling (here it's called an sr38 form)

5. it's wise to do the transaction during daylight hours

6. google "requiirements before selling your car on ebay." there's a lot of info.

I hope this helps. good luck, be safe.

Thanks Free!

If someone bids on your item on ebay? Are they legal obligated to buy your item. Will ebay go after fake or fraud bids? I would hate to have some young kid clown me on my bids.

jaimestarr79 said:

RodeoSchro said:

1. Be patient. You are right - the vast majority of bids will come in the listing's final couple of minutes. It's fun to watch, but don't get discouraged if there's little action before that.

2. If you set a reserve and the high bid doesn't reach the reserve, you will probably be contacted by one or two losing bidders who will want to see if they can negotiate a price with you. So again, don't get discouraged if the auction doesn't net you what you want. You may still sell the car.

3. For classic cars, the more pictures and description the better. The biggest red X in classic car auctions is "I'm listing this for a friend". That pretty much means "My car is a piece of crap and I don't want to tell you that". So if you're selling your dad's car don't say it's your dad's (that doesn't really matter anyway), just say "We're selling our car". Or write the description as if your dad is the one listing the car

4. For a reserve price, check out other auctions of similar cars. The only thing about a reserve price is that if it's reached, it guarantees a sale. Some people really don't want to sell their car so they set a really high reserve. They're just trying to see what their car is worth. But if you want to sell your car, set a realistic reserve price. Once it's reached, my experience has been that strengthens the auction because now bidders know the high bid definitely gets the car, and that you're not just some tire-kicker trying to waste peoples' time in order to find out what your car might be worth.

5. You can even go with no reserve. If you are definitely selling your car, and you're confident you'll get the best price from an eBay auction, then selling with no reserve can be a selling point. Again, it lets bidders know you're serious about selling the car.

What kind of car is your dad selling?

Good luck!

Thanks Rodeo! It's a mustang. alot of good info. Damn you sold a car for 70k is that us money? What kind of car was it. I would be nervous too that kind of money.

It was a 1970 Plymouth Superbird:

[img:$uid]http://carsorder.com/images/plymouth-superbird-963.jpg[/img:$uid]

I was REALLY nervous when he pulled out all those hundreds! I thought maybe he and his buddy would leave, then come back later for the money. But they were great guys! No problem. But I sure didn't expect cash!

The really cool thing is the guy drove my car from Houston, Texas all the way to Oklahoma that night.

jaimestarr79 said:

If someone bids on your item on ebay? Are they legal obligated to buy your item. Will ebay go after fake or fraud bids? I would hate to have some young kid clown me on my bids.

Theoretically eBay can, but I don't think they ever do. I say this because I've seen lots of cars come back on eBay with a seller commenting that the previous winner crapped out.

Check with eBay and your bank on wiring instructions. You might be able to do the whole thing through PayPal.

Use PayPal

jaimestarr79 said:

free2bfreeda said:

while un familiar with the process of selling a vehicle on ebay, there is a caution you should remember once a buyer comes forth.

1. be sure to meet in a trafficed area (maybe close to your bank or in the bank parking lot)

2. be sure to either take a friend with you or let a friend know when and where the transaction will be made.

3. ask the buyer for his/her driver license (to view)

4. be sure to take care of all the dmv paper work before the selling (here it's called an sr38 form)

5. it's wise to do the transaction during daylight hours

6. google "requiirements before selling your car on ebay." there's a lot of info.

I hope this helps. good luck, be safe.

Thanks Free!

oh, your welcome.

Bought the car I have on ebay ... no issues went smooth as can be no problems still runs great and Ive had it 8 yrs now..