Selling a Car on eBay: Do You Need Extra Features

When searching for items on eBay.com, you will see that listings look different. Some are featured at the top of the page, others appear in bold print, some have pictures next to the headline, and so forth. These are listing upgrades. For most average eBay items, they are nothing more than a waste of money. However, if you are selling a car on eBay, some are a wise investment.

As previously stated, listing upgrades are usually a waste of money for small-ticket items, but a wise investment for big-ticket items. As for why they are an investment and not just an added expense, because you should see a return on your money. You increase your listings exposure, ensuring more views. The more that interested buyers view your for sale listing, the better the chances are of a sale.

In terms of eBay listing upgrades, which additional features are worth the added expense and which ones are not?

The ability to start and end your auction at a specific time. This feature enables you create like an alarm clock. The start of your eBay Motors auction influences its end date. Most sellers see success ending their auction on the weekend. Instead of paying an extra fee, just be available during that time. Do you want your seven-day auction to end at 10pm on Saturday? If so, be available at that same time the week before. Don?t pay extra for this service, just temporarily rearrange your schedule instead.

The ability to have your listing appear on the homepage of eBay. In this aspect, your listing will appear on eBay.com. This is good, but a waste of money for some. Your listing is not guaranteed to appear on the homepage for a set time. Meaning it can appear and be gone in minutes. It may also appear at three in the morning, when few people are visiting the website. For this feature, it is best to save your money.

The ability to have your listing appear at the top of search results. There are two types of listings to choose from. They are featured plus and featured listings. These appear at the top of the page in relevant searches. For example, if a buyer searches for a Dodge Ram, your vehicle and the link to the sales page will appear towards the top. Unless others have paid for the same service, it should be the first listed. For most buyers, this is a wise investment.

The ability to highlight your eBay listing headline. This extra feature is cheaper than the ones mentioned above. As for how your auction is highlighted, it is done with a light colored band. Perform a search on eBay Motors to see an example. As to whether this is a wise investment for you, it depends on your own personal preferences. Some claim the listing isn?t highlighted enough to warranty an extra fee.

The ability to bold your eBay auction headline. In this aspect, the title will appear darker and a tiny bit larger. For most eBay Motors sellers, this is a good investment. This listing upgrade is relatively cheap and gets noticed.

The ability to have a picture displayed next to your headline. This listing upgrade is one of the best available and important when selling a car. When searching or browsing eBay, buyers see your headline first. This is one line describing the car. We all know that one line isn?t enough, so a picture is needed. A gallery photograph increases your clicks and can influence your sales.

The above mentioned eBay listing upgrades are just a few of the many available. Before paying extra for these upgrades, use your best judgment. Consider the exposure you gain, but the added expensive. The more expensive the upgrade, the more it cuts into your profits.

PPPPP

Word Count 636

The Pros and Cons of Selling a Car on eBay

If you have a car to sell, you may turn to the internet to research your selling options. What is the best way to sell a car? You have many successful choices, but one choice is rapidly increasing in popularity. That choice is eBay. If you didn?t already know, it is possible to sell a car on eBay.

Although eBay, the popular online auction website, does allow the buying and selling of cars, is it a good idea? Is it the best way for you to sell your car? To determine if so, you should examine the pros and cons. What are they?

The Pros of Selling a Car on eBay

You reach a wide audience. As previously stated, eBay is a popular online auction website. Around one million internet users visit the website each day! This is an amazing figure. With newspaper readership decreasing at an alarming rate, there isn?t an easier way to get your for sale car listing seen. Just post a good listing on eBay and your listing will get viewed. Not only that, a sale is more than likely.

It is easy to list your car for sale on eBay. If you already have an eBay.com account, you are ready to get started. If not, you must register for a free account first. After that, you click on the ?Sell,? link. Next, you follow the step-by-step guide to create an auction listing. This is where you describe the car for sale, such as the year, make, and model, write a detailed product description, post your pictures, list your selling price, and outline your pickup options. Just follow the step-by-step guide and you will be done in minutes.

You have a number of tools readily available. Since eBay is a popular online auction website, many people use it. There are an increased number of for sale car listings on eBay. You want to make yours standout. Aside from writing a good description and including pictures, you can use eBay?s extra features. These features do cost money, but are worth it for more vehicle listings. You can have your picture appear right next to your heading on the search page, you can have your heading be bolded, or you can pay for a feature listing.

You can market your eBay auctions online. Having your car listed on eBay.com is enough to get it exposure. With that said, you can do more. Advertise your eBay auction online. A good approach is to find automobile message boards. Many have buy, sell, and trade sections. Write a detailed description of your car, post one picture, and provide a link to your eBay auction. Do the same on local message boards, as buyers like to buy cars local.

The Cons of Selling a Car on eBay

There are many scams that surround eBay. Ebay is a great website that has a nice setup. It allows internet users to buy and sell goods. Both buyers and sellers set their own prices. This user-based setup is nice, but is attracts scammers. You need to watch out for phishing scams, where frauds send you an email link containing a fake login screen. They do this to gain access to your account. You need to watch for those who pay with fake money orders and checks, and so forth. Although this is a big disadvantage to selling your car on eBay, you should be okay if you use your best judgment.

You are charged fees. If you have sold on eBay before, you know that eBay charges an insertion fee and a final value fee. It is a little different for eBay Motors. When selling a car on eBay, you can create a listing for free four times in a twelve-month period. After that, you are charged %20 for each additional listing. No matter what, you are charged a successful listing fee when your vehicle sells. As of January 2009, this fee was %125 for cars, trucks, vans, motorcycles, and other similar vehicles.

In short, selling a car on eBay does have its pros and cons. Since it is easy to get started and you are only charged if you car sells, why not give it a shot. You have nothing to lose.

PPPPP

Word Count 708

Before Listing Your Car for Sale on eBay

If you have a car you want to sell on eBay, you may head right on over to eBay.com. This okay, but wait. There are some things you want to do first. What? Continue reading on to find out.

Know the current market. The state of the economy and the auto industry will have an impact on your vehicle?s ability to sell. Right now, the economy is in poor shape. People are losing their jobs, getting pay cuts, and so forth. For that reason, consumers are looking to buy used cars. Do you have a good quality used car that you are selling for a fair price? If so, it will likely sell. On the other hand, if you are trying to sell a car you bought new four months ago for the same amount you paid, it likely won?t sell. Right now, consumers are looking for the best deals. If your for sale car is one of those, you are luck.

Make your price competitive. Of course, you want to profit from the sale of your car, but do not go overboard. To get started, visit the online website for the Kelley Blue Book. There, you can enter in your car?s information and condition. The website will tell you how much the car sells for on average. You can choose this as your selling price. You can also visit eBay.com. Log into your account and search completed listings. Look for cars just like yours. What cars sold and which ones did not sell because the price was too high? This can give you a good competitive price.

Clean your car. When selling a vehicle, many sellers do not clean their cars. This is a very costly mistake. No one wants to buy a dirty car. In fact, a clean car can up your selling price, as it has appeal. To get started, remove all garbage and personal items from your car. Clean the dashboard, wipe down all doors, vacuum the car, and wipe the interior windows. For the outside of the car, run it through the automatic car wash once or twice. You may be surprised how much of a difference a clean care makes come selling time.

Take pictures of your car. Since you are selling a car on eBay, your buyer is likely unable to inspect the car beforehand. Some buyers fly to pick up their cars. For that reason, you want to convince them that you have a good, quality vehicle for sale. One of the best ways to do this is with pictures. Take many pictures with a digital camera. Upload the pictures to your computer and then the eBay auction listing. This is easy, just follow eBay?s step-by-step guide. When taking pictures, get the entire exterior of the car, the dashboard, mileage, front seats, back seats, and the inside of the trunk.

Write a detailed description about the car. Pictures are important, but so are detailed and accurate descriptions. Make notes when taking pictures. You may notice things about your car you didn?t before, like a small scratch on the driver?s side door. Aside from that, highlight the car?s maintenance history, any upgrades or repairs you have recently made, optional add-ons, safety features, and so forth. Most importantly, get the vehicle?s VIN number and know the car?s make, model, sub model, and year.

Decide on pickup ahead of time. Buying a selling a car online is tricky. You will encounter different buyers who have different wants. Some will want to arrange towing to get the vehicle, while others will want to travel and pickup the vehicle themselves. Whatever approach you accept, state the buyer is response for all travel, towing, or handling fees.

Advertise your car for sale. Listing your car for sale on eBay is good enough to get a sale, but you can do more. You can draw attention to your eBay listing. Find car websites with message boards. Many have buy, trade, and sell sections. Post a link to your eBay auction. You generate interest and additional traffic.

Finally, be prepared to handle complications. Selling a vehicle isn?t always easy. You may have a buyer on eBay who pulls out of the auction at the last minute, is disappointed when they see the car, or someone who tries to scam you. Always use your best judgment. Avoid scammers. If a buyer wants to pull out because you misrepresented the car, you should let them, as it was who you was in the wrong.

PPPPP

Word Count 752

Selling Your Car on eBay: Picture Taking Tips

If you want to sell your car on eBay, you not only need to write a detailed description of the vehicle, but you need to have pictures. Pictures of the for sale car gives interested buyers comfort and peace of mind. They know the car exists and what it looks like. A for sale listing on eBay with pictures not only increases the chances of making a sale, but it may increase the sale price. So, if you have yet to take pictures of your for sale car, do it now.

You now know the importance of having pictures in your eBay for sale auction listing. That is great, but what type of pictures do you need? How should you take those pictures? What pictures are the best? If you have these questions, please continue reading on for helping picture-taking tips.

Use a quality digital camera. Avoid using a camera phone or a camcorder with picture-taking capabilities. They tend to have lesser quality. If you already have a digital camera that you use for family photographs, use that camera. If not, you have two options. You can buy a new camera or borrow one. Buying a quality digital camera is a lot easier than before. Many good cameras are regularly on sale for %50 to %75. Consider it an investment that you can later use. If you borrow a digital camera, get the USB cable. This enables you to upload the pictures to your computer, which you must do to get them on eBay.com.

Take many pictures. In fact, the more pictures you take the better. Also, take duplicate shots. For example, take at least three pictures of the car?s dashboard. After getting your pictures to the computer, you can view each picture. With the duplicates, choose the photograph with the best quality and delete the others. Your pictures should be bright, clear, easy to see, and not blurry.

Crop your pictures to eliminate background. This is very important if you have your home or other identifying landmarks in the background. Your auction listing will include your city and state. You don?t want anyone looking at your listing online to know where you live. Other than that, do not edit the pictures. You may later be accused of enhancing the photographs to make the car look better. To crop photographs, use your computer?s photo editing program or download a free copy of Kodak Easy Share.

Take pictures of the car interior. This is one of the most important parts. A car can look beautiful from the outside, but be a mess on the inside. If you have owned the car for years, do a quick clean before taking pictures. As for what you should photograph, get a close-up of the vehicle?s mileage. Then, focus on the dashboard, front seats, back seats, and inside of the trunk. If you have any additional add-on features, such as a navigation system or entertainment center, take pictures of these.

Take pictures of the car?s exterior. Once again, clean the car before taking pictures. Run it through the car wash once. You will be surprised how much it improves the vehicle?s appearance. As for taking pictures, focus on the front, back, right, and left sides of the car. Also, take a picture as the car as a whole. This enables interested buyers to see how many doors it has, the overall body style, and so forth. If you just replaced the car tires or tinted the windows, take pictures of these.

Take a picture of the car?s engine. Not all car sellers on eBay post pictures of their vehicle?s engines, but you can benefit from doing so. When buying a car in person, the engine is something a buyer inspects. They cannot do this when buying a car online. Lift the hood and snap a few photographs. Let all interested buyers see it is neat and clean inside.

In short, pictures speak a thousand words, especially when selling a car online. If you have yet to list your car for sale on eBay, be sure to take and add pictures. If your listing is currently online, but without pictures add them right now.

PPPPP

Word Count 698