Selling a car on Ebay - madness?

[OneOwner]

NC for this. Has anyone had any experience of selling or buying - or trying to - a used car on Ebay? What are the pros and cons for selling? Any tips? Any dos and don't? How do I minimise fees but safely? It can't be test driven but should we allow home viewings? We have an MOT failure car and it needs too much work doing for us to want to take the time and money to put it right. It is a make attractive to enthusiasts and a friend has suggested we auction it on Ebay for spares or repair or for use on private land. It is too good to scrap although having done that before we would get around £300 that way and it would be by far the quickest, easiest and safest option. It would be good to get as much as possible for it though and to think someone would appreciate it. Although it starts it would need to be trailered away not driven or towed as it has no MOT, is now SORN and all wheel drive (like 4x4). I feel cautious because at hundreds of pounds it is a higher value item than I would usually sell - just a very small-scale seller of our preloved items but with 100% feedback over the years - and two re-listings I saw mentioned 'the usual Ebay timewasters' who I assume just didn't turn up to pay after the auctions had ended or then refused to pay despite the condition being fully described and photographed in the listings. Any advice welcome. Thank you.

[uhtredsonofuhtred1]

I've bought and sold cars on eBay. The motor selling area is almost like a different site with different rules. Like I'm sure it's a set fee that eBay charge you to list the vehicle depending on price range. So for example if you sell it for £5000 they charge £25 and that doesn't matter whether it's sell or not or even if you end it early.

I would be totally honest about everything in the description. Take lots of good pictures of all panels and wheels. Make sure you get everything written in the description so you don't have to answer lots and lots of questions repeatedly like the mileage, service history, keys etc. Some people take the piss and want to know the ins and outs of absolutely everything like how much did you spend on brake pads 3 years ago etc

I would title it eg "BMW 318 MOT failure 70k miles"

Put a photo of the mot info too

[Thelnebriati]

If its an MOT failure and you don't want to break it for parts yourself, put something about that in the details asking people not to message for parts.

[PastMyBestBeforeDate]

We've sold a few on eBay. You do get some odd responses that could be scams but you do also get genuine buyers. We definitely got cash for the last one. The buyer was trade so he drove it away on trade plates. As pp says, plenty of pictures and plenty of detail.

[Pyewackect]

Sell it as, "spares or repair". That way you have made it clear what you are offering.

[OneOwner]

Thanks everyone.

[Doris86]

Probably a bit late to help the OP, but in case anyone else finds this thread and is looking for advice.

When selling a car on E bay always use the classified ad option, rather than auction or buy it now. Reason being that cars on eBay attract an unbelievable amount of time wasters. I’ve sold cars on eBay auctions before and then never heard from the winning bidder again. Also had a couple stringing me along who kept promising to pick the car up but never did. Classified ad is much better because the advert remains live until the cash is in your hand and the buyer is driving the car away.