Build an eBay Business Part 8

Using eBay Sales Outlets

eBay.com provides many ways for you to sell your inventory.
This chapter discusses three more sites within the eBay
empire: eBay Motors, Half.com, and Kijiji. eBay Motors
provides a platform for selling motor-driven vehicles and
parts. This includes cars, motorcycles, boats, powersport
vehicles (such as ATVs, go-karts, scooters, and
snowmobiles), and even airplanes and buses. Half.com
provides a venue for selling books, CDs, videos, video
games, and game systems at great discounts. Kijiji allows you
to place ads for items you want to buy or sell in your particular
city or state (similar to Craigslist).

Use eBay Motors

eBay Motors is where you can sell any motorized item, part or accessories. It is
the world’s largest online market, attracting over 11 million viewers a month.
Over 2 million vehicles have been sold to date. Cars, common vehicles—not the
collectible or expensive specialties—make up 70 percent of the cars auctioned.
To list a car on eBay Motors, you must have an eBay account and must register
with eBay Motors.
On the eBay home page, under the eBay header, click Motors.


There are advantages to selling on the Internet:
• There is a huge customer base.
• eBay offers ways to protect both buyers and sellers, making it a safe environment.
• eBay provides links to lenders who can arrange financing for buyers.
• Sellers can expect to get more for a car selling it on eBay than they would get for a
trade-in on a new car.
• Sellers can be a vehicle dealer, a dealer assistant, or a trading assistant selling other people’s cars.
But using eBay Motors has some drawbacks as well. Sellers have to consider
legal issues and a state’s rules and regulations, and deal with problems
associated with higher prices (such as the buyer’s need for escrow and
financing). Buying a car online is complex with regards to inspecting and
verifying the purchase, handling the shipping, and clearing the title process.
Getting ready to sell has two important stages: gathering information and
putting it into eBay Motors.

QUICK FACTS:
RETRACTING A BID OR BEST OFFER
If you have an eBay business, it’s almost a certainty you will need a vehicle to acquire merchandise, go to the post office, meet with clients and suppliers, and everything else that goes with running a business. Why not use your knowledge of eBay to help find yourself a great deal on eBay Motors? Just be careful in your exuberance in that you realize this is not the same type of transaction as buying a used CD on Half.com. We’re talking big money here (at least to us!) and there can be consequences if you get cold feet. Retracting a bid is considered an exception and is generally not permitted.

CONSEQUENCES OF RETRACTING A BID OR BEST OFFER
Retracting bids is a serious matter, and eBay may investigate if a bidder has had several retractions within the last six months, if bids are continuously retracted during the last 24 hours (could be bid shilling, which is an attempt to raise the bid amount), or if a seller has complained. If a buyer is found guilty of misusing the retraction feature, he or she can be suspended and the number of bid retractions over the past 12 months will be displayed with his or her feedback.

TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
• A buyer can retract a bid if there are more than 12 hours until the auction ends. In this case, all bids made by the bidder for the listing are retracted.
• With less than 12 hours in the auction and without the seller’s okay, a buyer cannot retract a bid.
• Within 12 hours of an auction’s end and within one hour of placing a bid, a buyer can retract that bid, but only that bid will be retracted. Other bids made remain in effect.

REASONING CONSIDERATIONS
A bid can be canceled for these reasons:
• The description of the listing has changed so that it is no longer what the buyer wants. It must be a substantial change, however.
• The buyer has entered an incorrect bid amount. The buyer must retract the bid, giving this as a reason, and then reenter the correct bid amount at once.
• The buyer has a question about the item but cannot contact the seller by e-mail or telephone. This is not about the seller not answering the e-mail or phone; this is about the e-mail being returned as undeliverable or the phone number being incorrect.

Organize to Sell Vehicles

To sell vehicles on eBay Motors, you will need to organize your resources.
1. Create both an eBay account and a seller’s account. If you already are registered with
eBay and have an eBay seller’s account, you are good to go. If you do need to create
the seller’s account, you will need to provide credit card and bank account information
so that eBay Motors can verify that you are who you say you are and also determine
how you will pay fees.

2. Organize information about the item(s) to be sold:

• Complete the Sell Your Vehicle Checklist, as seen in Figure 8-2. Get as much
information as you can about the history and condition of the car or vehicle, tires,
and so on. The more information you have, the more comfortable the buyer will feel
about making a purchase from you. Itemize all damages, dents, and dings.


• Have the descriptive and legal information you need, such as the make, model,
year, engine details, standard and optional features, vehicle identification number
(VIN) number for cars after 1981 (and for some cars before 1981), and the mileage.

• Do you have a clear title? Disclose any liens against the vehicle. What are the
requirements in your state for transferring the title to a car? Will you have to pay
taxes or obtain a smog/emissions check before selling the vehicle? Find out your
requirements from the department of motor vehicles for your state.

• Get a vehicle history report for the car that provides a detailed history of the vehicle.
You enter the VIN and pay a fee, depending on whether this is a one-time report or
one for multiple vehicles. eBay offers a history source: AutoCheck Vehicle History
Reports by Experian Automotive. The fee is about $8 for one vehicle report and
about $15 for up to ten reports.

• Is there a manufacturer’s warranty on the vehicle? Does it qualify for comprehensive
warranty protection?

3. Research the prices:

• Use Search in the eBay Motors header to research vehicles similar to the one you
are selling that have recently sold. What was the price range? How did the condition
of the car resemble yours?
• Do research with Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com), Edmunds.com (www.edmunds.
com), or National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Guides (www.nada.com)
to know what buyers will be expecting to pay for a similar car.

4. Determine pricing and strategy for your vehicle:

• What is the lowest price you will accept for the vehicle?
• Will you require a reserve minimum payment, no reserve, fixed price, or best offer?

5. Take photos of the vehicle. Use at least a dozen photos in a listing. Use them to:

• Show various angles of the car, inside and out.
• Show the engine, tires, interior, odometer, and inside the trunk. Let the buyer see
everything he or she would want to look at if inspecting the car in person.
• Highlight defects clearly in the photos so the buyer won’t be surprised.

6. Determine what your terms of sale will be: payment procedure and timing, vehicle
inspection, vehicle pickup or delivery, and title transfer:

• Examine how other dealers handle the terms of sale, and decide what works
for you.
• Will you ship worldwide?
• What is your price? Are state taxes required? Will you charge a “prep fee” to
perform final preparations to the car before shipping? How can payments be made?
Do you require a deposit? How much? How soon must payment be made? Do you
provide financing, or will you help the buyer get financing? What will be your refund
policy if the buyer feels the car is not what he or she expected?
• If the buyer wants a vehicle inspection, how will you help that happen? Will you
suggest eBay’s recommended services by SGS Vehicle Inspections or Pep Boys, as
many buyers prefer?
• What are your options regarding shipping or delivery of the vehicle? Will you get
an auto-shipping specialist like DAS (Dependable Auto Shippers) to deliver the
vehicle? Do you require the buyer to handle shipping?

NOTE:

On the eBay Motors site, we learned that a car is sold
every 52 seconds on eBay Motors; a motorcycle, every
five minutes. More cars are sold before noon than are
sold in a year for an average dealership, with 75 percent
of them sold across state lines.

TIPS:

Your buyers can also get car history reports and use
Kelley blue book pricing. So assume that the buyers will
have much the same information you have.

Reserve-payment listings can reduce a buyer’s interest in
your car if the reserve is too high. So if you choose to sell
with a reserve, make it the lowest price you will accept for
the car. This can be true of a Buy It Now listing as well. If
it is too high, you may not get any bidders.

QUICK FACTS:

PROTECTING THE BUYER
eBay provides several programs for protecting the buyer
and thereby encouraging confidence in bidding for a
vehicle on eBay.

PUBLICIZE THE VEHICLE PURCHASE
PROTECTION (VPP) PROGRAM
eBay offers a free and automatic program to all buyers
for vehicles purchased on eBay Motors. The transaction
is protected for up to $50,000 or the purchase price,
whichever is lower (to include up to $800 in transportation
expenses for the buyer to get to the vehicle). This protects
the buyer against fraud and, for some vehicles, against
misrepresentation by the seller. There is a deductible
ranging from $100 to $500. It is not insurance or a way to
get out of a sale you no longer want.
1. Click Vehicle Purchase Protection
on the eBay Motors home page
under 3. Buyer Protection.

OFFER A CONDITION GUARANTEE
Sellers can also offer a Condition Guarantee to buyers,
guaranteeing that the vehicle will be as they described
and that they will work to solve any disputes and make
right any misrepresentations or misunderstandings.
This reassures buyers that the sellers are reputable
and that they have the buyers’ interests at heart. This
is not a means by which buyer’s remorse can undo a
commitment to buy a vehicle.
To find a description, click Site Map on the home page,
and then click Condition Guarantee By Seller under
Buyer Services & Protection.

Enter Information into eBay Motors

After you have accumulated all the information needed for listing the vehicle,
you enter it into the Sell Your Item form for eBay Motors.
1. From the eBay Motors home page, under Sell on the eBay Motors header, click Sell
Your Item.


2. On the Sell page, click Sell Your Item. You may want to check the reminders about the
listing checklist or the tips about selling a part. You may have to sign in.
3. On the Select Category page, you will specify the category path that someone
will follow to find your item. Click the category your vehicle is in: Cars and Trucks,
Motorcycles, Other Vehicles and Trailers, Powersports, or Parts & Accessories.
4. Continue to select categories until you reach the last possibility, such as seen in
Figure 8-3. Click Save and Continue.
5. On the Sell: Select Your Market and Format page, click whether you want to sell the
vehicle at an online auction or at a fixed price. With an online auction, you may get
more than you expect or less. With a fixed-price format, you only get paid what you
ask, and it must be a competitive price for the car to sell at all.
Click Save and Continue to go from page to page.



6. The subsequent pages will vary, depending on what you’re selling. Enter the detailed
listing information. This is where using the preprinted form will come in handy.
• Enter the VIN for newer vehicles to get pre-filled information about your vehicle.
–Or–
For older vehicles, click Let Me Specify The Details Myself. You can then manually
enter detailed information about the item being sold.
In either case, then enter Title and Description information.
• Set your price requirements: your starting price, reserve price, or Buy It Now price
and auction duration and item location.

• Identify and download photos to be used. Make sure your photos are clear, with adequate
lighting, and of all parts of the car (see Figure 8-4).
• Choose a theme, layout, and upgrades, such as bolding, highlighting, or Featured Plus!, or a
listing icon.
• Enter your payment and shipping requirements and terms. Enter any terms, such as a required deposit, whether you accept only PayPal or checks, and so on. Identify how you
want to communicate with the buyer, who is responsible for the pickup and shipping, and whether you want to block any particular buyers, for example those who live in foreign
countries.
7. Review what you have entered, make any changes if necessary, and then click Submit Listing.

QUICK FACTS:

MAKING THE SELL
While the auction is active, there are some items you
should consider to stimulate interest in bidding:

• Be prepared to remove or lower the reserve if few
are bidding on your vehicle. This will lower the
minimum bid amount as well. If you remove or
lower the reserve, the high bidder will need to bid
again to indicate that they are still interested; they
may have bid on another car when they could not
meet the reserve on your car. If you have a bottom
line below which you are unwilling to sell, keep the
reserve at that amount. Rethink the lowest price
you are willing to sell the vehicle for.

• Consider getting a vehicle inspection performed
by a third party. You can arrange an inspection
through SGS Automotive (www.sgs.com), which is
available nationwide and performs consistent and
thorough inspections. They provide interior
and exterior photos of your car as well.
• Use upgrade features. eBay’s statistics show
that using the $19.95, Featured Plus! will draw 28
percent more people to your auction. Upgrading to
Highlight for $5, Bolding for $4 (increases final sales
price by 25 percent), Border for $4, or Gallery for
free will be worth the money for higher-priced items,
such as motorized vehicles. These upgrades seem
like bargains when you consider the alternative of
running an extended classified ad in the used car
section of your local newspaper. Remember, you
will receive worldwide exposure for your auction.
Use a Listing Designer to make your listing more
professional and creative. To find the most recent
eBay Motors vehicle listing upgrade fees, go to
http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/motorfees.html.
• Considering changing to Buy It Now format.

NOTE:

The more like a bargain you can make your vehicle appear, the more activity you will have. In the collectible field, heavy bidding can draw additional attention. Many buyers are looking for a vehicle as an investment, hoping to resell it at some future date. Heavy bidding will often draw the attention of this type of buyer. Sometimes an item looks better if someone else is about to get it, and a no-reserve auction assures bidders that someone will be successful with this auction. If you must start an auction with a reserve, you can ignite a bidding fire when you reduce it or remove it.

Pay eBay Motors Fees

eBay Motors has three basic fees: an insertion fee, a transaction services fee, and
feature fees:

• Insertion fees depend on the vehicle’s category. The first four listings in a 12 month
timeframe have no insertions fees. As of the fifth sales, the fees are $20 for passenger
vehicles and other vehicles (which includes a large assortment of vehicles, such as
aircraft, commercial trucks, and RVs), $15 for motorcycles and power-sport vehicles.
• Unless your vehicle received no bids or the reserve price was not met, you will be
charged a transaction service fee, whether or not the transaction is finalized. The fee
for passenger vehicles is $125, for motorcycles and power-sports vehicles is $100.
• Feature fees are ways you can emphasize or enhance the basic listing. They include
listing upgrade fees, which vary from $99.95 for listing the vehicle on the eBay Motors
home page to $1 for a Buy It Now listing or for a custom scheduled auction. These
options include fees for placing the listing for exceptional exposure to enhancing the
title and subtitle or the listing itself so that it is more visible in the standard placement.
Vehicle reserve fees allow you to list with a reserve. Picture services fees present
options for various photo features (ranging from $0.15 after the first photo to $2.00 for
Gallery Plus). Fees vary, depending on the item.

Use Half.com

Half.com is where you can sell books, music, movies (DVD or VHS), video
games, and game systems. This market is huge, consisting of thousands of used
items sold at high discounts. As a seller, you can easily list and sell items here.
This is a fixed-price market. Half.com collects the money and deposits it to your
account. A Half.com fee is charged when you make a sale.
From the footer links on the bottom of the eBay home page,
click Half.com.
Or, as the name implies, type half.com in your browser’s
address box and press ENTER.

Research the Price of Items

Before you sell your books, you will want to research the prices currently
offered on the market. If there are not a lot of books already listed, you can
charge rates up to 50 to 60 percent of the publisher’s price for new, unused,
popular books to about 25 to 35 percent for used books. However, if there are
books already listed, you’ll have to follow their guidance to be competitive.

1. From the Half.com home page, click the Search All Categories down arrow, and click
the category you want to search. Click Go to the right of the Search text box.
2. Again, click the Search text box and click how you want to search—for instance, by
Title, Author, or ISBN.
3. In the text box to the left, type the title, author’s name, the ISBN (for books only), or the
UPC (for all other products). Click Go. A list of items matching your search term listed
for sale by all sellers is displayed, as shown in Figure 8-6.
–Or—
To focus a search, click Advanced Search, where you can define a search by Title,
Author, ISBN, and the type of media.

List an Item to Sell

There are several paths to getting to the Sell My Item pages. If you have
previously searched for an item, you can follow these steps. Use the Note
to go directly to how you can sell an individual item without searching for
comparative prices first.
1. To list an item to be sold, from the search results page, click the Sell Your
Stuff link above the title bar in the upper-right area.
2. If this is your first time selling an item through Half.com, you will have to register first.
3. Depending on how you elect to sell your item, you may need to click a category to get
to the Describe Your Item page. (If so, enter the identifying information (ISBN, UPC,
product name) your category requires and click Continue.) You may be already there if
you first searched for the item. On the Sell Your Item | Describe Your Item page:

• Click the Condition down arrow, and choose an option. (See the “Determining
Conditions” QuickFacts.)
• Under Comments, type up to 500 characters describing your item. You may not use this area to advertise or type other information, such as directions to your other items for sale or to your Web site.
• You may also enter an expanded description of the item. Click Preview Your Description to see what it will look like.
• Click Continue.

4. You now set the price for the item and formally list it. On the Sell Your Item | Price And
List Your Item page:

• A Pricing Information table is displayed next to the pricing text box. The Average
Sell Price and Last Sold Price are displayed. Under Your Price, type the price you
want for your book. It should be consistent with the other books being sold.
• Type the quantity you have if it is different from the default of 1.

5. Click List Item. The Congratulations, Your Item Has Been Listed message is displayed.
6. At this point, you can list another item, list multiple items (only used if you are entering
books by ISBN or other items using UPC numbers), manage your inventory, or
continue shopping.

QUICK FACTS:

DETERMINING CONDITIONS
It is important to be accurate and not try to make your
item appear to be in better condition than it is. Your
customers may be dissatisfied and leave negative
feedback otherwise. If an item cannot meet the
“Acceptable” condition, it cannot be sold on Half.com.

DETERMINE CONDITIONS FOR BOOKS
• Brand New: Unread, new, in perfect condition.
• Like New: No missing or damaged pages, no
creases or tears, no underlining or highlighting,
binding undamaged, cover undamaged, dust
jackets not missing for hardcover books.
• Very Good: No blatant damage to the cover,
dust jacket not missing for hardcovers, all pages
undamaged, no underlining or highlighting, no
writing in margins, very minimal wear and tear.
• Good: Very minimal damage to the cover, dust
jacket may be missing, minimal wear to binding,
no highlighting of text, no writing in the margins, no
missing pages and most are undamaged.
• Acceptable: Some damage to the cover and
binding but book still holds together, possible
writing in the margins, may have underlining or
highlighting, no missing pages. The book has wear
but is readable.
DETERMINE CONDITIONS FOR CDS
• Brand New: Unread, unused, unopened, and
undamaged CD, video, or game in perfect
condition.
• Like New: Item still in shrink-wrap or looks as if it
is just taken out of it, all components present, no
missing parts, no damage.
• Very Good: No damage to the case or item cover,
all parts present, no scratching on CDs or DVDs or
fuzzy frames on VHS tapes.
• Good: May have some damage to the case or
cover, instructions still included, no scratches on
a CD or DVD or fuzzy VHS frames, cover art and
liner notes are included.
• Acceptable: May have a tear or hole in the cover
or box, video game instructions

List Multiple Items

If you are listing several books, CDs, or other items and you can identify the
item using an ISBN or UPC number, you can quickly and easily enter several at
a time. If you have material that was produced prior to the use of the UPC or
ISBN, you probably should list them on the eBay site instead of the Half.com site.

1. On the Half.com home page title bar, click Sell Your Stuff.
2. Click Multiple Item Listing; or, on the last page of listing a single item, click List
Multiple Items. The page shown in Figure 8-7 is displayed.
• Type the ISBN or UPC codes.
• Click the Condition down arrow, and click an option.


• Type any comments that go with the item.
• Continue with these steps until all your items are entered.
• Click Continue.

3. Each item will be displayed on the Multiple Item Listing | Price And List Your Item page.
Review your shipping information. Verify that the default price in the Your Price text box
is correct; change it if you want. You can check the current pricing by clicking the ISBN
in the book information.

4. After verifying each item, click List Item. The Congratulations, Your Page Has Been
Listed message is displayed.



Use Kijiji to Post Ads

Kijiji is where you can post an online ad for the city closest to you. It is similar
to Craigslist, and is another way to sell your items. Posting an ad is free, and
there are no fees if you sell or buy an item. You can post up to 25 ads per
day. But if you want to post more than 25 ads, you can contact Kijiji and get
permission. Kijiji is simply a way to exchange information about what is for sale
or available.

Post an Ad

To post an ad for an item:
1. On the eBay home page, on the second links bar at the bottom of the page, click Kijiji.

2. Before posting or viewing an ad for the first time, you will have to select a state on the
map, and select a city or enter a ZIP code (see Figure 8-10). Click a state on the map
and then a city, or click the Select A State down arrow and click your selection, or click
a city link beneath the map.

3. On the Kijiji home page header, click Post Ad.
4. Click a category on the Select A Category page.
5. Complete the form:
• Click whether you are selling or seeking the item.
• Give your item a short title.
• Type the price or click the down arrow, and select another way to offer the item.


• Type a description.
• If you want to add images, click Browse and find and select the file image.
• Type your e-mail address.
• Type the name of a main street close to you, type the city, and ZIP code.

6. Click Post Your Ad when you are ready. You will receive a confirming e-mail.

CAUTION:

There is little redress if a transaction goes badly. If you
feel you are defrauded or cheated, you must handle it
yourself by going to the police. You should contact Kijiji
so they can track and block repeat offenders, but their
actions will be limited since they do not get involved in
any transactions.

TIP:

To improve your hits on your ads, you should include
pictures of the item. Another aid is to offer “Best Offer”
to give some flexibility to your pricing. Your description
and title should be very clear to enable to the reader to
understand exactly what it is you are offering.