Is E-bay an meaningful measure of the car’s demand and price?
It is probably the most meaningful measure out there. If a car sells at a certain price, that is where “Supply” meets “Demand”. Economics 101 at is finest!
The most reliable is to look at sold items.
All those 2011 5-Series and no bidders! I wonder why???
Look at “completed listings” to see what items actually sold recently and for how much.
Many ebay motors cars don’t sell and are relisted. Therefore the bids and “buy it now” prices aren’t as close to real market value as sold items that you can view in completed listing.
Most of the listings I am looking at nowadays only have a buy it now option. Not much different that a regular car ad.
I agree, the ‘completed listings’ are the first things I look at when somebody asks what a specific used car is ‘worth’. You’ll find lots of no-sales, especially on cars the owners THINK are valuable. The market proves otherwise…
Many of the listings are from dealers, and most of their listings have no bids. What does one concluded about the dealers’ listings? Would one conclusion be that they are desperate to move new inventory?
Very true. Apparently many people think their cherry Geo Metro is worth upwards of $7,000.
Either the asking price is too high, or someone buying a new car values dealer service and a warranty over saving a few bucks on ebay and getting a car sight unseen?
Don’t look at asking price or reserve price, look at completed sales.
One reason so many cars have no bids is that the sellers put unrealistically high starting bids on the cars. I never understand that. Why not put a low starting bid to get things going, with a REALISTIC reserve price to let it sell? I just don’t get it…
How does one evaluate completed sales on E-bay?
When looking at ‘completed listings’ I use both the completed sales and the maximum bid reached for unsuccessful sales as indicators of what that type of car is worth. I ignore ‘buy it now’ prices and all starting bid prices where no bids were made.
Craigslist car ads are good measures of the market. Look at listings in major metro areas near you. Edmunds.com and KBB.com will also give you good estimates of used car valuations.
In order to see the “completed listings” in eBay’s advanced search section you must be a registered E-bay member…
There, you will discover just how many dreamers there are out there…People seem to think their “stuff” is worth about twice what it really is…
If you really want to sell something on eBay, start the bidding at $1 and NR, no reserve. If, during the last few minutes, (that’s when the real auction begins) your item is in danger of being “stolen” at a price you can not live with, have a shill submit a rescue bid to pull your cookies out of the fire…
Trying to sell a mundane car on eBay is a waste of time unless you get lucky…Craigslist works much better for a quick local sale of a run-of-the-mill vehicle. Two rules for craigslist: Deal DIRECTLY (face to face) with the buyer, CASH ONLY…No problems that way. Avoid any “shipping agents” bearing “Cashiers Checks” or anything other than an eyeball to eyeball cash deal.
So all those new BMW listings on E-bay with no bids are…
Dealerships trying to get the word out most likely. Any way they can to get a sale.
So, they are desperate to move out those new vehicles?
I doubt it, the new 5 series is not likely to get as much of a discount as existing lines.
In your experience, what is a good discount?