eBay Car Listing Article - Interesting

[Bill Pritchard]

I read an article in this morning's edition of the Arizona Republic....

http://www.azcentral.com/business/articl...-questions.html (http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2011/11/12/20111112ebay-car-auction-mistake-questions.html)

The 'Cliff's Notes' version: a Scottsdale AZ luxury car dealer listed a 2008 Bentley convertible for sale on eBay Motors, and mistakenly left a zero off the end of the 'Buy It Now' price...$13,900 instead of $139,000. Someone saw it listed and hit the BIN button, and received an email from eBay stating that he had successfully purchased the vehicle. Dealer finds the mistake shortly afterwards, lots of emails exchanged, and finally eBay rescinded the sale. A quote from the Republic article: "Most eBay auctions -- from antiques to fashion to video games -- are considered to be legally binding contracts, requiring quick payment from the buyer and safe delivery from the seller. Not so for vehicle auctions, which are non-binding and can be canceled by either the buyer or the seller."

Reinforces the feeling I've held for several years now that eBay is a good place to advertise a car, but not to buy or sell one.

[Shevelle]

There's nothing binding about ANY ebay auction... whether it be a car or a pair of socks. I've had numerous auctions where someone hit the buy it now button and never paid or answered messages. Nothing sinister ever happens to a deadbeat bidder. As the seller, you then have to jump through ebay hoops and play their waiting game in order to get the fees back that they charge you BEFORE a transaction is completed with payment. On top of that, the buyer can leave you negative feedback but you can't leave negative for a buyer. I used to think it was fun to sell on eBay...not so much any more. While ebay is still the best place to get your item in front of the most viewers, it can certainly be a PIA!

[Mayhem]

Agreed. I have had nothing but trouble when selling on Epay in the last couple years. Buying has gone ok so far, but I haven't bought anything major or expensive either.

Selling has been a problem though. Has anyone noticed how much UPS shipping has increased lately? It is insane! Also, I have had a couple of people claim they never received their item. Since I quit using UPS and only use USPS for shipping now, I didn't use a tracking or signature option, (again probably due to fees) so the buyers claimed they never received their item.

I can prove I shipped it, USPS cannot prove they delivered, and the buyer cannot prove they didn't get it. I ended up having to fully refund the price for the item, and wondering if the postal worker somewhere took the item home, or the buyer was just lying and got a free item. I am done selling on Epay!

[SuperNovaSS]

Mayhem, Why not just put a tracking number for now on?

Interesting car article. I would think the buyer would have ended up with the car. Interesting.


Jason

[John Brown]

Every item I sell I take to the post office personally, so I have a receipt that proves it was shipped. Delivery confirmation is on every package, and I add on a $0.70 handling charge to cover it. I really believe it helps keep the postman more honest, plus the buyer can only claim that it was delivered to the wrong address or it was stolen after it was delivered. Either way, I'm covered, cause I insured it too. That might sound like a lot of expense, but I'm not into losing money or getting bad feedback.

[SuperNovaSS]

Also, if you ship online, the delivery confirmation is included and there is a shipping discount.


Thanks,


Jason