If you aren’t familiar with eBay Motors, it’s the section of the famous ecommerce auctioning site eBay that’s dedicated solely to used vehicles, plus car parts. While many vehicles on the site are listed by individuals looking to sell their own car, it’s also a platform that dealers can list on – and should utilize whenever possible. 

Like other online ecommerce platforms, you’ll benefit by gaining traffic and sales from visitors to eBay’s already busy website, rather than having to foster your own audience. But how can you get started as a dealer if you’ve never sold on eBay motors before? In this guide, we’ll explore how to list your inventory, set up your account, promote your listings, and more. 

Why Dealers Should Sell on eBay Motors

eBay Motors offers the opportunity to tap into a national-level customer base, feeding off the 11 million unique buyers that the eBay Motors website sees every month. This is a potentially exponential increase on the traffic you see stepping foot in your dealership, or even visiting your business website, as eBay Motors sees a sale on its website every 60 seconds. The potential to reach customers across state lines offers dealers the chance to take their business to the next level, after all, 75% of all vehicles sold on the platform are sold to out-of-state customers.¹ 

How to Set Up Your eBay Motors Dealership Account

To become a seller of any kind on eBay, you have to create an account, which is a quick and seamless process. To create an account as a dealer, you’ll need to then register as an eBay Motors seller with your dealer license information – including details on the individual from your business who will be in charge of the Motors account. 

As a dealer, this process can take a couple of days to get approved, but once you’ve completed this step, you’ll be asked to create an “About” page where customers can learn more about the business. This will include information like your business bio, any memberships in organizations, awards and recognitions, and your terms of sale covering how to pay for and ship vehicles.² 

Creating an Effective Vehicle Listing on eBay Motors

eBay outlines that there are three key elements to creating a successful listing: describing your vehicle, pricing it accurately, and setting the correct terms of sale. Let’s dive into each of these: 

Create a Compelling Vehicle Description

Before creating your description, first fill out the checklist for selling a vehicle. That checklist will feed information into your listing, including the VIN. Within your listing, be sure to include the following:

• Make, model, sub-model, and year 
• Engine type and transmission
• Detailed description of the condition of the interior, exterior, and engine 
• Details that came with your package options, including wheel features, leather interiors, traction control, sunroof, etc. 
• Comfort features 
• Any additions or modifications that have been made to the vehicle 
• The ownership history and number of owners and years
• All maintenance records
• Recent service performed
• Warranty coverage³ 

Choose the Right Selling Technique 

What’s notable about eBay, is of course, that it’s an auction model. So, it’s essential to implement a strategy that meets your goals. To achieve the best sales, you’ll want to place a low bidding price to attract buyers and drive excitement for the vehicle. But keep in mind eBay has four listing pricing types:

1. Reserve price listing: Where you can set a minimum price you are willing to accept (best for newer models and higher priced vehicles).
2. No reserve price listing: Any bid above your starting price wins the auction (best for older or lower-priced vehicles, or when you are trying to sell in a hurry).
3. Buy it now listing: Where you can specify a fixed sale price (ideal for faster sales and immediate purchases for buyers). 
4. Best offer listing: Where buyers offer what they are willing to pay and you accept an offer (best for lower priced, older vehicles).This is the newest option and is a strategy that is helping dealers close deals quickly without having to wait for the listing to end. 

Keep these options and strategies in mind when you put together your pricing strategy for each individual vehicle listing. 

Set Your Terms of Sale

Buyers need to understand the terms of the sale from the listing, including payment requirements, deposit requirements, balance payoff amounts, and any financing options, as well as shipping and pickup arrangements. For dealers, it’s important to set your selling radius to match what your business can handle. 

For example, if you want to avoid the hassle of shipping and transportation, consider the “Local Pick-Up Only” setting. And for payment, consider settings like a $500 deposit due within 24-hours of listing close, an immediate deposit due with “Buy It Now,” and a full payment due within 3-days of listing close as best practices. In general, make it clear what you can offer so you give customers the best possible experience. 

What Fees Do Dealers Pay When Selling on eBay Motors?

Unlike other product types on eBay, the fees are correlated with the listing package you choose, either Basic, Premium, or Plus. Each package includes different levels of features and, of course, separate fee structures. That said, there is no final value fee when your vehicle sells, so the fees you pay will be at the listing stage. You can easily reference eBay’s package pricing guide for an in-depth view, but to give an overview, the packages include the following: 

• Basic ($19): Up to 7-day auction, 20 photos, vehicle price up to $10,000
• Plus ($49): Up to 7-day auction, 30 photos, reserve price up tot $20,000
• Premium ($79): Up to 10-day auction, 40 photos, unlimited reserve price, ‘Buy It Now’ option available.⁶

Tips For Managing Your eBay Motors Listing & Working With Buyers

Once your  listing is live, it will be a matter of communicating with interested buyers, just like when you’re selling vehicles on your lot or your own website. Make sure you are available and accessible to buyers – respond to questions and inquiries and foster a positive customer experience. Manage your listings to see activity and bids in the “My eBay” tab and lower your prices or accept bids where applicable. 

As a dealer, you’re likely to be aware of changes in the market and may find reasons to change pricing while listings are live if you aren’t seeing the sales performance you’re hoping for.⁷ Finally, maintain positive customer ratings as you do in your dealership. The eBay Motors Seller Feedback section will reflect a rating based on customer experience and you will want to keep that as high as possible to keep your account performing well. 

Partner with ACV Auctions to Buy & Sell Used Car Inventory

Selling vehicles is the name of the game when you run a dealership. And, expanding your sales to online channels like eBay is more important than ever when looking to meet consumer expectations. To sell quality vehicles you need the best possible inventory. Having the right cars sets you up for success with your customers and therefore, success with your sales numbers. To obtain high-quality inventory, work with us at ACV Auctions. Our online auctioning platform gives you all the information you need on the car so there are no surprises via our industry leading condition reports. Reach out to us to learn more and get started today.

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Sources

1. eBay Motors. “Expand Your Customer Base – Exponentially.” eBay Motors. Retrieved August 16, 2024. https://pages.ebay.com/motors/services/difference/expanding_demand.html 
2. eBay Motors. “Registering as an eBay Motors Dealer.” eBay Motors. Retrieved August 16, 2024. https://pages.ebay.com/motors/services/getting_started/registering.html   
3. eBay. “Create your listing: Describe the vehicle.” eBay. Retrieved August 9, 2024. https://pages.motors.ebay.com/sell/howto/listing-describe.html 
4. eBay. “Create your listing: Price your vehicle.” eBay. Retrieved August 9, 2024. https://pages.motors.ebay.com/sell/howto/listing-price.html 
5. eBay. “Create your listing: Set terms of sale.” eBay. Retrieved August 9, 2024. https://pages.motors.ebay.com/sell/howto/listing-terms.html 
6. eBay Customer Service. “Fees for selling vehicles on eBay Motors.” eBay Customer Service. Retrieved August 16, 2024. https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/motors-fees?id=4127 
7. eBay. “eBay Motors.” eBay. Retrieved August 9, 2024. https://www.ebay.com/b/Auto-Parts-and-Vehicles/6000/bn_1865334?v=1