eBay can be a tempting option for someone looking to sell their car. It is a website with a large audience so makes for good advertising when you want to sell your car fast. The benefit of eBay is that they provide a fantastic search function which tailors your car to the people who are looking to buy. However there are many disadvantages to trying to sell your car on eBay. We invited the used car experts from Car Buyer Tom to explain many of the problems that their customers run into when trying to sell their car on eBay.
1. The fees are far too high
eBay charges sellers two types of fee. The first is an ‘insertion’ fee. This is the basic fee to list an item, based on the starting price. The lower the starting price, the lower this fee will be. Inciting sellers to start items far under their actual value. The second fee that eBay charge is a final value fee. If the item sells, you also pay a flat 10% on the final sale price. That seems like a small amount on the surface, but would you pay £100 to sell a £1000 car? For most people the answer would be no.
2. The winning bidder might not pay
There are many time wasters on eBay. Unfortunately the rules seem to have got much softer on people who win auctions and do not pay. The only action you can take is an unpaid item strike which will refund your ‘insertion’ fee. Also a whole host of third-party eBay apps now place automated bids meaning users can now bid on multiple items. This leads to users just paying for the best value item that they win. Having the winner bid on your car and not arrange payment/pick up is a huge waste of time especially if you have already waited through a 7-day auction. Not the most viable option if you are trying to sell your car fast.
3. People misread the information given
If your winning bidder is genuine and seems interested in buying the car then they will probably want to pay cash on pick up. Unfortunately this gives the buyer time to reconsider their purchase. Many eBay car sellers report that the winning bidder has arranged to pick up the car and then seemed disappointed with the condition. Common complaints include, “the body work damage looks worse in real life,” or “the mileage has gone up considerably since the listing.” You may find some winners will try to drive the price down from the price that they won the auction. This can be extremely confrontational and frustrating. It may also prevent you from selling your car fast if it means you have to relist your car.
4. Returns can be tricky
What happens if the auction winner arranges pickup, pays, drives the car away and then something goes wrong with it? Lots of eBay users can get into battles over these instances. Unfortunately there are no black-and-white answer to these types of disputes. It can cause lots of stress if you are trying to sell your car. You can write sold as seen and mark the car as “no return,” however this may also put off potential buyers thinking you are trying to trick them into buying a defunct motor.
If you are trying to sell your car fast then perhaps consider using a service like Car Buyer Tom. We give you a quick quote online and come to inspect the car at a time that suits you. Get in touch if you are looking to sell your car fast.
