eBay/Craigslist My Ebay Tractor Selling Experience

[Oleozz]

Ebay has gotten its share of bad publicity lately in the large equipment section, and rightly so, there are intelligent scammers out there ready to steal your money. I gave a lot of thought about listing my tractor on ebay before I did it but knew of not many other ways to target such a large audience.
I checked locally with dealers to see what they would give me for my tractor and they also gave me the blue book prices, I checked on the internet tractor sites to see what they were selling for. I took some good digital pics of my JD from different angles and then was ready to write my ebay ad. This part took a long time, you want to be descriptive and honest and tell the good and the bad. I did not put a Buy It Now Price, I had seen to many tractors that weren't sold because of a high Buy It Now price. I had my reserve set at what I considered was the lowest I would like to get for my tractor.
I started the ad in the evening and in four days my reserve was met, the man who had met the reserve emailed and asked if I would close the auction since he had met the reserve. We negotiated a bit more, he met my price and I closed the auction. (Which is perfectly legal to do). I had requested a cashiers check and he sent me all the info on the check so I was able to call the bank and have verified everything he had told me. A week later he arrived, handed me the check, examined the tractor and drove it, loaded it up and headed home.
All in all a good experience, one thing that really surprised me was all the "behind the scenes" manuevering that goes on when you are selling. I had people wanting a Buy It Now price, others requesting my reserve price, others wanting to trade equipment for my tractor. I was fortunate to have an honest man with an excellent ebay rating buy the tractor, you have to be on your toes and not be lured into something that seems to good to be true, both as a buyer and a seller. Hope this helps anyone else who is considering selling their tractor on ebay.

 

[HEC]

Thanks for the info and glad everything worked out good for you , I have used ebay several times with no problems either.It is like you have said," be careful and use common sense".
Herb,

 

[IslandTractor]

Very helpful post. Thanks.

 

[dullpain]

What did Ebay charge to sell? What price range was tractor. Have been considering selling some myself on Ebay but can't figure out their commision.
thanks

 

[Oleozz]

They charge a listing fee and that can be as fancy or plain as you want, mine cost $28 and $5 was refunded when I sold the tractor (the reserve fee). You then pay 1% of the total selling price of the tractor which for me was about $100. They have a maximum of $250 commission, I believe, for very expensive tractors. My total bill came to $123. If you don't sell it you get a second chance to list with no additional listing costs.

 

[ctc1111]

I sold a drag car on ebay and then the guy who bought it paid me a 400 dollar deposit and then dissapeared for 2 months. So I contacted ebay and they said theres nothign they can do and charged me another 100 bucks to list it for a second time. Luckly this time it sold and the guy came and picked up and gave me cash. But it ended up costing me over 200 dollars to sell the thing. Good thing the first guy gave me 400 for no reason so I still made 200 off him backing out of the deal.

 

[Nissan197]

I have also done some buying and selling on ebay. Luckily, I have had no problems with it, but there are a lot of scammers out there. Like previously mentioned, always use common sense. It is always best to buy or sell to someone with a good rating and always remember if it is too good to be true chances are it is.

 

[MotorSeven]

Oleozz,

I too have had good luck on Ebay(knock on wood/head). The exposure is what makes it worth the risk. I have a couple of questions, why close the auction when the reserve was met? You had nothing to lose at that point and any future bids were more $ in your pocket. Was it because you felt confident in the buyer that you chose not to attempt more profit at the risk of a bad buyer?
I recently sold a Jeep top, and the ending bid was way over my reserve. Just curious......

RD

 

[Oleozz]

MotorSeven---I was concerned that a "deadbeat" would win the auction and be a nopay. I had confidence in the buyer with his excellent rating from ebay and he did give me more than the reserve. As you know the ebay game is a bit like playing poker, some bluffing and posturing but in the end you have to play the hand you've been dealt.

 

[MotorSeven]

Oleozz,

I never thought of it that way, but your right. I sold(ebay) an air boat engine years ago, and ended up geting a price that was more than i was wanting for the boat motor and trailer together. I was pleased with the results, but the shipping price/carrier debaucle almost made me go blind. Recentlly though, shippers have stepped up, and the experience is much easier. The ebay thing is definatly changing the way business is being done, and it's impact will be felt for years to come.

RD

 

[SHIFTY]

Overall I have had a good selling experiance selling on Ebay, Yes there are those occasional dead beats which waste alot of time as fas as non paying bidders and I get a bunch of spam email from scammers, No reserve auctions while riskey bring out the best prices most of the time, I run very few auctions @ no reserve because im not a big gambler, It usually is not in my favor but I thought id give it another shot with a new Woods Backhoe to see how it goes,check back in 10 days to see if It was a winner or a looser NO RESERVE BACKHOE ON EBAY 3.08.06

 

[SHIFTY]

So much for that auction listing,Ebay did not like the way I worded it and pulled the listing,Oh well try this again,check back to this link in 10 days to see where it is at Click here to see if I won,Lost or broke even selling this idem

 

[nyBarTender]

l've bought quite a few items and sold almost as much on Ebay . My question is why would someone make their bidders l.D. private ? l've always avoided those type auctions , thinking this allowed sellers to have a "shill" aka having a friend or friends bid up the price of an item leaving no way of tracking that type of history . No disrespect intended , only curious as it may help me with my sales .

 

[SHIFTY]

I have had my bidders showing as private for over a year now,The problem is the scamers will contact every bidder to solicite them when they are visible to the general public. As far as shill bidding, Yes the public doesnt see who is bidding but ebay does, Im shure they record cookies and basics like patterns and locations, Ive been selling on Ebay since 1999 And I got closed down for 30 days way back for not playing fair, So I dont take any chances any more, Ebay is a valuable selling tool for me

 

[IslandTractor]

Just a comment on your pricing strategy. I looked at your ebay store. Most of your "auctions" are priced just a percent or so below the buy it now price. That is not much incentive for somone to place a bid. I know that I tend to not bid on things like that because I assume it will always be available for a few bucks more (buy it now price) and therefore I move on in search of better hunting grounds. As you pointed out, no reserve auctions are risky but you could at least start the auction somewhere closer to your cost in order to attact bidders and hope a bidding war starts. Buy it now pricing is not that enticing on big ticket items unless it is really deeply discounted from what someone would get as a retail quote from a dealer.