E Bay Fun Circus

[67BelAir427]

Actually not fun at all......
Listed my car for sale here and had interest but no sale. Listed on E Bay last week and had strong bidding. Then, several bids in a row by a bidder with 72 auctions but no car activity ever and no purchases in two years. He bumps the price up to the point where he was the high bidder, and then continued to bid 10 times , against himself, and of course the high bid does not change. So he clearly is trying to uncover the reserve. He gets outbid, and then two nights ago he does the same thing , uncovers the reserve, and then retracts his bid. I cancel his bid, block him, and report him to E bay.

Then last night a new bidder hits the reserve right off the bat. New user who joined yesterday, no auction history, and has not asked me a single question nor contacted me.
I figure this is the same user who probably is using another new account, with the intent to screw up my auction. I messaged him, told him he is going to own it and to contact me.
Crickets.

My auction now looks like a shill bidding seminar, and if I were a bidder I would not feel
comfortable.

[CamaroNOS]

I think we all know lots of guys that have had issues with E-Bay and some of them quite serious.

Other options are Hemmings, Cars on Line, BAT (and there are also issues with them from what I hear) or bring your car to an auction in the U.S.

Paul

[scuncio]

If you cancel the high bid, I don't see how Ebay could charge you final value fees.

[Too Many Projects]

How do all the sellers that end their auctions early "because the item is no longer available" get by with it ?
We see this all the time. The ad states they reserve the right to end early, as the vehicle is for sale locally. Do you have this disclaimer in your ad, or can you add it now and then end the auction ?

[CC Rider]

I used classiccars.com twice with awesome success. Hemmings provided me with photo collectors and Chevy "critics".

[the427king]

Let the auction run to the end. File a non paying bidder when the time frame for payment has elapsed and get your fees back. The best way to sell your car is to post on websites and ask what its worth and that you are thinking of selling it. , cars have a better chance to sell when they arent advertised for sale, if that makes any sense . A shame you have to play the game, but it works People want to think they are getting something before anyone else gets a chance.

[Crush]

I’ve used Bat several times with the only issues being the peanut gallery. Otherwise no issues with getting the amount I was looking for and Payment not sure what others experiences have been.

[CamaroNOS]

Let the auction run to the end. File a non paying bidder when the time frame for payment has elapsed and get your fees back. The best way to sell your car is to post on websites and ask what its worth and that you are thinking of selling it. , cars have a better chance to sell when they arent advertised for sale, if that makes any sense . A shame you have to play the game, but it works People want to think they are getting something before anyone else gets a chance.

Some very good points Chuck to take into account. That's what I would call a good old fashion "soft sell".

Paul

[TimG]

I used BaT in March and it was a seamless and easy process

[67BelAir427]

How do all the sellers that end their auctions early "because the item is no longer available" get by with it ?
We see this all the time. The ad states they reserve the right to end early, as the vehicle is for sale locally. Do you have this disclaimer in your ad, or can you add it now and then end the auction ?

I just checked with E Bay and if I end the auction early they will charge me 12.9 % of the highest bid !!!

They are separate from Pay Pal now, and things seemed to have changed.

On my third call to the E Bay offshore call centre is was determined that E Bay Motors does not ahve final value fees . Seems they think I was selling model cars ?

[Too Many Projects]

I just checked with E Bay and if I end the auction early they will charge me 12.9 % of the highest bid !!!

They are separate from Pay Pal now, and things seemed to have changed.
Well, that really sucks. I haven't sold anything on stealbay for over 10 yrs because of their BS and I rarely buy anything anymore either. Sorry you have to deal with this crap from people who have nothing better to do than screw up others auctions.

[ChimChim]

Actually not fun at all......
Listed my car for sale here and had interest but no sale. Listed on E Bay last week and had strong bidding. Then, several bids in a row by a bidder with 72 auctions but no car activity ever and no purchases in two years. He bumps the price up to the point where he was the high bidder, and then continued to bid 10 times , against himself, and of course the high bid does not change. So he clearly is trying to uncover the reserve. He gets outbid, and then two nights ago he does the same thing , uncovers the reserve, and then retracts his bid. I cancel his bid, block him, and report him to E bay.

Then last night a new bidder hits the reserve right off the bat. New user who joined yesterday, no auction history, and has not asked me a single question nor contacted me.
I figure this is the same user who probably is using another new account, with the intent to screw up my auction. I messaged him, told him he is going to own it and to contact me.
Crickets.

My auction now looks like a shill bidding seminar, and if I were a bidder I would not feel
comfortable. I am sick of the process and would like to end it, keep the car, but E Bay says that if I do they will charge me auction ending fees of close to $500 based on the last highest legit bid.

Anyone have experience with ending a train wreck like this without paying anything except the listing fee ?

Yup. This happened to me but I was one the bidders. Another bidder kept raising the bid until he found out what the high bid was and ended up with the high bid. Then he won the auction and tried to scam the owner over the phone with a much lower bid.The owner told him to take a hike and reported it to Ebay.
Then I got an email from the owner telling what happened and asked if I wanted the car and I decided not to take it. I chalked it up to ...Was not meant to be.
Sorry this happened to you...I'm sure it's a great car and you will find a truly grateful new owner.
All the best,
C

[67BelAir427]

Well, I blocked a second high bidder today, bid the reserve. Joined E Bay yesterday, Zero auctions and feedback, so as I had filed a report against the first bidder, I figured that it was him again using a new identity. Got an angry message back from him, "why did you cancel my bid, my wife does not understand why, I only joined E Bay to buy your car ..."

So I did not block him , and tonight he is back as the high bidder and met the reserve. Just sent him a message telling him why I cancelled his bid, and now to get ready to own it. I do not think some people realize that having a zero feedback bidder makes the auction look suspect. I explained to him that some serious bidders might pass on the car because it screams "SHILL" . Still not one question about the car from him, and that does not sit well with me.

[Bill Pritchard]

People want to think they are getting something before anyone else gets a chance.

Absolutely.....that's also the reason you see Realtor signs posted in the yard of a house with a hang tag that says "Coming Soon"....same story.

[Formula455SD]

Well, I blocked a second high bidder today, bid the reserve. Joined E Bay yesterday, Zero auctions and feedback, so as I had filed a report against the first bidder, I figured that it was him again using a new identity. Got an angry message back from him, "why did you cancel my bid, my wife does not understand why, I only joined E Bay to buy your car ..."

So I did not block him , and tonight he is back as the high bidder and met the reserve. Just sent him a message telling him why I cancelled his bid, and now to get ready to own it. I do not think some people realize that having a zero feedback bidder makes the auction look suspect. I explained to him that some serious bidders might pass on the car because it screams "SHILL" . Still not one question about the car from him, and that does not sit well with me.

I've sold a few cars to "0" feedback bidders without issue. I have purchased a few cars off ebay without asking a question or even contacting the seller first. I have probably sold 40-50 cars on ebay.. and only had problems on maybe 5 or 6 of them.

[the427king]

Ebay now charges you a final value fee on an item you end early w a reserve that hasnt met reserve.

[Formula455SD]

Ebay now charges you a final value fee on an item you end early w a reserve that hasnt met reserve.

They probably got tired of everybody playing the game and shafting them...

[the427king]

All ebay has to do to get vendors back is to keep a buyers cc and bank info on file. Any no paying bidder gets thier bid charged to thier account. That will put buyer and seller on the same playing field. Ebay thinks the buyers are their golden geese..They are finding out they were wrong

[BLACKLS5]

I sold a '70 Chevelle on ebay last summer and went with the Buy it Now or best offer route. Shoot high with the BIN and you can wade through the offers as they come in. I think it was only around $100.00 for the listing and no final value fees.