'Prime, Ebay, NSX's...jeez

[Osiris_x11]

Ebay and dealing w/ the sales of NSX's on it is becoming nothing less than a joke- as of late. The true essence of the concept of an auction is virtually nonexistent w/ the use of 'reserve price' etc. And of-course, 2 identical car VINs yet different ads doesn't merit credence to the site...! Not to mention the ads of people's cars w/o their knowledge. I dunno man, I am on the prowl for my future car- and the search is far from easy... And the phenomenon known as Ebay is no help, but rather a hindrance in frankness. There is an art to business- buying as a consumer and selling as merchant. It shouldn't be a game.

 

[RyRy210]

Ebay and dealing w/ the sales of NSX's on it is becoming nothing less than a joke- as of late. The true essence of the concept of an auction is virtually nonexistent w/ the use of 'reserve price' etc. And of-course, 2 identical car VINs yet different ads doesn't merit credence to the site...! Not to mention the ads of people's cars w/o their knowledge. I dunno man, I am on the prowl for my future car- and the search is far from easy... And the phenomenon known as Ebay is no help, but rather a hindrance in frankness. There is an art to business- buying as a consumer and selling as merchant. It shouldn't be a game.

I agree that there are alot of fraudulent transactions happening on ebay, and its for all items, not just cars or NSXs. We just know of the NSX ones because of prime. However, the use of a reserve price is common in all types of auctions, not just on ebay. Online transactions as a whole is much more risky than buying in person. Those who actually buy NSXs on ebay before inspecting in person are brave, very very brave.

 

[Big_nate]

Re: Re: 'Prime, Ebay, NSX's...jeez

" However, the use of a reserve price is common in all types of auctions, not just on ebay. "

Don't know if you guys have seen the new 'enhanced' version of reserve prices on Ebaymotors but it seems like a scam to me. Now when you enter your maximum bid, if its below the reserve Ebay will automatically take you up to that bid. So now instead of just bidding against other potential buyers, you are 'bidding' against the sellers reserve. Any seller would just have to put an unrealistic reserve on his car and then remove it right before the end of the auction to boost his price to a level it might not normally have been bid to. Shows you who ebay is catering to, if there was ever a question.

Nate

 

[RyRy210]

Re: Re: Re: 'Prime, Ebay, NSX's...jeez

Don't know if you guys have seen the new 'enhanced' version of reserve prices on Ebaymotors but it seems like a scam to me. Now when you enter your maximum bid, if its below the reserve Ebay will automatically take you up to that bid. So now instead of just bidding against other potential buyers, you are 'bidding' against the sellers reserve. Any seller would just have to put an unrealistic reserve on his car and then remove it right before the end of the auction to boost his price to a level it might not normally have been bid to. Shows you who ebay is catering to, if there was ever a question.

Nate

For some reason I thought it was always like that for a reserve auction.

In a real life auction you don't even get the opportunity to do something like that. Every bid you make in a real life auction is your max bid until you make another.

A reserve auction on ebay costs extra and gives the seller that extra peace of mind that it can back out of the auction if the end price is not to his satisfaction. If I do bid on ebay, I almost always bid at the very last minute before the auction ends. I never place a max bid and wait 7 days to see if I win the auction. The seller can even have a friend bid for him to raise the price.

There are ALOT of scams on ebay. But having a reserve auction, IMHO, is not one of them.

Shows you who ebay is catering to, if there was ever a question.

Agreed. Ebay gets money from the seller when he places an item for auction, and when the auction ends.

 

[Doug]

"Agreed. Ebay gets money from the seller when he places an item for auction, and when the auction ends."

Not with autos. They have a fee of about $40 to list a car.

 

[kgb_agent]

Re: Re: Re: 'Prime, Ebay, NSX's...jeez

" However, the use of a reserve price is common in all types of auctions, not just on ebay. "

Don't know if you guys have seen the new 'enhanced' version of reserve prices on Ebaymotors but it seems like a scam to me. Now when you enter your maximum bid, if its below the reserve Ebay will automatically take you up to that bid. So now instead of just bidding against other potential buyers, you are 'bidding' against the sellers reserve. Any seller would just have to put an unrealistic reserve on his car and then remove it right before the end of the auction to boost his price to a level it might not normally have been bid to. Shows you who ebay is catering to, if there was ever a question.

Nate

I think you are talking about proxy bidding. Ebay makes it too easy to enter a proxy bid vs a normal, old-fashioned, non-automated bid. Gotta be careful out there.

 

[RyRy210]

"Agreed. Ebay gets money from the seller when he places an item for auction, and when the auction ends."

Not with autos. They have a fee of about $40 to list a car.

Isn't that what I said? Ebay gets money from the seller? The person who lists the car is the seller you know...

 

[4AU4LIFE]

I don't even bother with Ebay anymore. I have been lucky in the 10-15 things I have bought off there have been as described. Although it's been probably a year since I have.
On the other hand, my wife has been burned 3xs in a row off there. She has also written off buying anything.
It is sad because it used to be an honest way of buying things but I guess it has gotten so big that things have changed.

 

[Doug]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Doug
"Agreed. Ebay gets money from the seller when he places an item for auction, and when the auction ends."

Not with autos. They have a fee of about $40 to list a car.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



"Isn't that what I said? Ebay gets money from the seller? The person who lists the car is the seller you know..."

...Yes, I know. However, they don't collect from the seller again at the end of the auction on vehicles. They only get the $40+- at the beginning.

 

[RP-Motorsports]

I would take the risk for a $50 NSX model on ebay but thats about it. Leave the car buying to dedicated sites such as Autotrader, Cars.com etc. Or even right here on Prime! Buying a car as special as the NSX, you should not have to feel like you are in a dark smokey basement to play poker for the first time like it feels like on Ebay.

 

[MikeP]

I agree Bell turbo. With all the crap and scams I have been reading about lately I wouldn't touch a car coming from e-bay. Especially an NSX. Although, I am a little biased since I'm trying to sell my 97 NSX. I think it makes it tough for the person who is legitimately trying to sell a clean car. Unfortunately, what will probably happen is I will end up trading the NSX to a damn dealer and the NSX lover who was too afraid of being scammed will miss out on a great car. They will end up paying some insane dealer mark up. Everybody gets screwed. Except the dealer of course. Sorry. I'll get off the soap box now.

 

[JAYS NSX]

***I have no vested interest in the Ebay Company***

Everybody is getting down on Ebay, but they are just a vehicle by which people can buy/sell items, nothing more and nothing less.
Ebay is not the enemy. People who mislead others about their auctions, or those who are misinformed about what they are selling are really to blame.


The process of buying a car online, especially site unseen at an online auction, is risky at best. The best thing you can do is to use Ebay as an advertising tool, giving you leads to cars that are for sale. Bid on an NSX through an auction? Not I! Taking a car that I found for auction to a dealer for a comprehensive check and test-drive, of course.

Jay
91 silver/ivory
89 accord
73 roadrunner

 

[nkb]

While I agree that the unscrupulous sellers are the true problem, one of the main beefs most people have with Ebay is that they really don't seem to care if a scam (even an obvious one) is going on.
At best, they will cancel the auction. There seems to be no interest on their part to shut scumbags down permanently.

I don't know what the legal ramifications are, but to restore a lot of people's confidence in Ebay, they would need to show that they are serious about turning dishonest sellers (and buyers) over to proper authorities.
Once that message is out there, scammers would think twice about going to Ebay to steal money.

George

 

[Osiris_x11]

concurrence. . .

EGGACTLY 'nkb'... the schemers and frauds are at fault first and foremost in dealing w/ 'net autions & merchant sites. But, w/o a doubt Ebay can show some vigilence and prowess or even intiative to restore customer confidence. Indeed it's a great mode of trade/sale/etc but it is inevitably losing the confidence of the masses. There def' needs to be some trouble-shooters or Ebay-nanny to deal w/. So much time is wasted otherwise, especially when dealing w/ such a high-end capital investment (namely cars)...travel costs, arranging inspections, and so forth

 

[nsxtasy]

I am on the prowl for my future car- and the search is far from easy... And the phenomenon known as Ebay is no help, but rather a hindrance in frankness.

I think your frustration probably arises from your disappointment at not being able to trust the "bargain price" you might get on eBay. Anyone who is willing to pay a fair market price can go out and find the NSX he wants easily on other websites.

Originally posted by Big_nate
Don't know if you guys have seen the new 'enhanced' version of reserve prices on Ebaymotors but it seems like a scam to me. Now when you enter your maximum bid, if its below the reserve Ebay will automatically take you up to that bid.

There is no scam in doing that. First, though, just to clarify - eBay will NOT take you higher than your maximum bid (although your ambiguous wording makes it sound like they will). However, they WILL make your bid equal to the reserve price if your bid is higher than that. That makes eminent sense, to raise your bid up to the level where it will be accepted for the auction. Hardly a scam... (and this, too, is the way reserve price auctions have worked for many years, before the internet came along).

 

[Big_nate]

Originally posted by nsxtasy First, though, just to clarify - eBay will NOT take you higher than your maximum bid (although your ambiguous wording makes it sound like they will). However, they WILL make your bid equal to the reserve price if your bid is higher than that. That makes eminent sense, to raise your bid up to the level where it will be accepted for the auction. Hardly a scam... (and this, too, is the way reserve price auctions have worked for many years, before the internet came along). [/B]

No I said it will take you up to the maximum of that bid not to the reserve price, I fail to see the ambiguity. And no this is not how reserve auctions have always worked. The purpose of entering a 'maximum bid' on Ebay is so that if someone comes along and bids more than your current winning bid you can automatically or 'proxy bid' up to your maximum, if necessary. This allows you to stay in the auction without sitting in front of your computer for seven days. What is unfair if you give some thought to it, is that Ebay now proxy bids you up to your maximum if your maximum is below the reserve. This should only happen when you are bidding and competing against other real bidders. The seller should not be able to 'force' you up to your max bid with a possibly unrealistic reserve.

For example, a seller lists a car with a FMV of ~$10000 and a reserve of $15000
I really like this car and am willing to pay a little more than FMV, say $10500, which I enter as my max bid
Ebay automatically puts my bid as $10500
Seller then resets his reserve lower than my bid and I've won the auction.

Yes I'm not paying more than I was willing to, but I am paying more than I had to, and the seller is always guaranteed of getting the highest possible bid from his winner. NOT COMMON AUCTION PRACTICE AND A SCAM. jmo

Nate

Actually just looked into it again on Ebay. If the seller lowers his reserve price below the current high bid, that bidders bid will be lowered $1 below the reserve. That way he/she has a chance to confirm their interest in the car. So SCAM is not accurate, but still unfair, in my opinion, as it reveals the maximum the bidder is willing to pay.

 

[Osiris_x11]

nsxtasy stated...
I think your frustration probably arises from your disappointment at not being able to trust the "bargain price" you might get on eBay. Anyone who is willing to pay a fair market price can go out and find the NSX he wants easily on other websites.

indeed ken, you're correct. the key dilemma for myself has been dealing w/ distances. great nsx's out there- but due to their rarity, one has to be able to travel. *sigh* such is life... but, of-course you do get what you pay for.