eBay Motors is the granddaddy of them all when it comes to online vehicle buying and selling. With over 7.4 million unique visitors a month and a car or truck selling every 3 minutes, there’s no shortage of eyeballs who can see your vehicle listing on the site.
And true to the law of supply and demand, more eyeballs increase your chance of getting your asking price, especially from high-intent, motivated buyers on eBay Motors compared to other sites.
Outside of the buying audience, what other key factors make eBay Motors the best way to sell your car online? From the shopping experience to vehicle delivery, here are some key differentiators that set them apart:
Feedback Scores
When buying or selling anything online, you’re likely entering into a transaction with a complete stranger or unknown company. While virtually every site has this function today, buyer and seller feedback scores and reviews were pioneered by eBay and have become a cornerstone of trust in e-commerce.
High-ticket items like vehicles are at stake so feedback and reviews become that much more important, especially when dealing with private parties. The system gives you a glimpse into a user’s background — what they often buy or sell, how they respond to questions, and more. It begins to paint a picture of who they are. When combined with other security measures, it gives you greater peace of mind when transacting online.
Escrow Protection
While feedback and ratings are a critical first step in knowing the legitimacy of potential buyers, how can you trust that you’re about to enter into a safe transaction? There’s no shortage of fraudsters online who will gladly take your money — and that’s the value of Escrow.com.
Escrow.com has partnered with eBay Motors to offer escrow services to protect buyers and sellers during their transactions. It’s a third-party financial organization that ensures your transaction on eBay Motors will be processed quickly, safely, and securely.
It works because, as a seller, you’ll receive a payment confirmation with the funds safely in escrow. This gives the buyer a chance to know the car you’re selling is real and as advertised. Once delivery is confirmed, Escrow.com releases funds to you.
Vehicle Inspections
Outside of payment, one of buyers’ biggest hesitations is buying a car online sight unseen. There’s no shortage of horror stories — cars that arrive and look NOTHING like the photos. That’s where WeGoLook comes in.
WeGoLook has partnered with eBay Motors to offer inspections to customers, providing another level of trust and confidence when buying vehicles online. Customers can request a WeGoLook inspection directly from an eBay Motors listing.
Secure Payments
Since vehicles are a high-ticket item, the payment form is key to making the transaction as safe as possible. eBay Motors offers a multitude of options, but it’s recommended that you use PayPal, Bill Me Later, or Escrow.com.
Caution: if a buyer requests to pay via cashier’s check — and wants to give you more than the agreed-upon price, so you can wire the balance to them, run away. Fast. When the original check fails to clear, you as the seller are out the money that you wired back — and perhaps your car.
Transparent Shipping
Did you know that on eBay Motors over 70 percent of buyers are located at least two states away from the seller? In other words, shipping is a key factor in making vehicle purchase transactions work for both parties across state lines.
In fact, car and truck transport is one of the most underestimated aspects of selling one’s car online. By and large, sellers offer Local Pickup Only or leave it to the buyer to handle the logistics. Most buyers don’t know where to begin.
On eBay Motors, through its integration with long-time partner uShip, shipping providers and the shipping rates are shared right up front within every listing. This gives both parties delivery rates BEFORE any transaction is consummated. This expands your market as a seller and informs buyers so they can calculate the shipping cost into their total cost of purchase.
Shipping providers on uShip shown in each eBay Motors listing are feedback rated, almost identical to eBay’s feedback system for rating buyers and sellers mentioned above.
What’s more, if rates provided are not to a buyer’s liking, they can always turn to the uShip open marketplace where they can get auction-style bids or name their own price to see if they can get a lower rate from thousands of other feedback-rated transport companies.
Purchase Protection
eBay Motors provides Vehicle Purchase Protection, but only for transactions that start and are completed on the eBay Motors website. In addition, eBay does NOT hold payments or extend protection for non-eBay conducted transactions.
The only way to buy a vehicle on eBay Motors is by logging into your eBay account with a user ID/email address and password. One of the following needs to be true:
- You were the winning bidder on the auction
- You clicked ‘Buy it now’
- You sent a Best Offer and the seller accepted it
- In these cases, the item will always appear in the purchase history of your eBay account.
Conclusion
There’s no shortage of ways to buy and sell cars online today. But if you want the best, safe, and secure way to do so, eBay Motors is tops when it comes to getting your vehicle in front of the most, high-intent eyeballs and maximizing your asking price.
