Al - Regarding your e-bay experience?

[Staci Matheis]

Al -



I see where your boat sold for $5,400 on e-bay.

You were originally asking $6,100 O.B.O.

You had 5581 vistors to the auction!

(I hear 5532 were NTOWS Members!)



Were you satified with the amount?

Did you get a lot of e-mails with questions?

How have things gone after the close of bidding?

Have you delivered the boat yet?

Overall satisfied?



me?







Here's a link to his auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...&rd=1&item=2481519636&sspagename=STRK:MESE:IT

 

[Al Greco]

Staci, I think what I got for the boat was a good price. I kept my boat in very good condition and expected anywhere from $5,000 - $5,800. I received about 30 emails asking all kinds of questions with about 10 of them wanting to see the boat in person. I responded back with my cell phone number and an invite to not only inspect it but to go to the lake and water test it. No one ended up coming to see the boat. They guy who won the auction is coming Monday or Tuesday to pick up the boat from NJ. I will take him to the lake and show him how everything works before he makes the long drive home. I'm expecting the cashiers check today so payment shouldn't be an issue. Selling on ebay isn't new to me so I new what to expect as far as ebay and/or PayPal fees. Selling something for that much without someone seeing it in person kind of shocks me but I guess it's no big deal for someone to drop thousands of dollars on an item without inspecting it in person. I spoke with the buyer and know my boat will be going to a good home. All in all a pretty smooth transaction so far. The only pain is I couldn't find the title to the trailer so I have to go to the DMV and get a duplicate made. I think it was worth putting on ebay (I used the Featured ITEM option ($20 more)which made a huge difference in the number of hits I received compared to the folks who didn't use the fature. Most of the other boats received 2-3 thousand hits where mine recieved well over 5 thousand. There is also some new enhancements on ebay for the seller, it now shows you how many watchers have added your item to thier "watch list", I think there were 82 watchers just before the auction ended. I'm glad I used ebay instead of the local paper or boat trader.

 

[Michael Snow]

Al, what were the "total fees" for selling the boat? It seems like Ebay has a new fee for most everything and that's made me shy away from them for vehicle sales.

 

[Staci Matheis]

Thanks for ther insight!



As a footnote..... When I sold used over-the-road trucks, we would regularly sell a truck worth $20,000 to $75,000 sight-unseen. We would take a substantial deposit by way of Fed-Exed cashier's check and then the buyer would have ther right of rejection when he got there. For the buyer, it was a matter of knowing the company they were dealing with and having trust in the description given them by the salesperson.

 

[Al Greco]

Mike, The insertion fee was $40 with one picture and .15 for additional pictures. I spent another $19.99 for the Featured Item option and of course Ebay gets a % for the final value of the item when it sells. I think the % I paid was around 1% but is much higher if it is not listed in their Ebay Motor auctions. The regular auctions inseertion fee is based on the starting price but the final fee percentage is much higher. All the specifics on ebay fees can be found from the help menu once you log onto ebay. They are making a fortune for their servce....Al.