[ROVERNET - UK] Re: Rover On Ebay

[Geoff Kirkpatrick]

Stephen JC Beer wrote:

> This lister has wasted his listing fees because he has not played eBay 
> correctly.

Not necessarily. I don't know the details of vehicle selling on eBay, 
but my guess is that he has cheaply advertised the car, located a number 
of potential buyers, and will sell it in a private sale at a good price 
and avoid all eBay final value fees. The listing fees are nothing 
compared to the final value fees, and he's advertised it all over the 
world with photos. I don't know if this was his intention or not, but I 
think he's done quite well for himself.

Glen

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Actually the fee structure is different for automobiles than for other
kinds of auctions.  The listing fee is a flat $40 and the final value fee
is another flat $40.  I believe this is regardless of the price - it's the
same for a $1000 car as a $100,000 car.  I agree that if his intent was to
generate interest and not necessarily sell the car on Ebay, he has
probably succeeded.  But if you really want to generate an Ebay sale,
putting a high starting bid is not a good strategy.

It's a nice looking car but the price is high.  Considering what I've
spent on my P5 Coupe to get it into the condition it's in though, if I
were to do it again I would seriously consider paying $8K for a P5 that's
already in excellent shape.  It is absolutely true that restoring a car
will always cost more than buying one that's already in top condition, and
especially so with cars like our Rovers which have a limited market and
relatively low monetary value.  

I can say that I've put this into practice a few times in the past few
years, and am glad I did.  My Citroen SM and Jensen Interceptor were
priced medium-high when I bought them a couple of years ago, but they are
in terrific condition and I've been able to just drive and enjoy them. 
Barring the episode where the Citroen stub axle came detached from the
transaxle and chewed up the engine compartment to the tune of $3500, but
that's another story...

One of my ambitions before I die is to do a true show-quality restoration
of a car at least once.  But I want to do it on a car that will have
significant value once I'm done, and which I can enjoy driving.  So I'm
leaning toward something like a 57-59 Chrysler 300.  A basket case is $20K
these days, but it's an easy $60K car when restored ($100K if it's a
convertible) so there's lots of spending room before one gets
over-invested.  A full-on restoration of a P5 could easily end up costing
the same, and result in a car worth maybe $12-15K tops.

Geoff



"This is the final test of a gentleman: his respect for those who can be of no possible service to him."
- William Lyon Phelps

Geoff Kirkpatrick, 382 Riverside Avenue, Ben Lomond, CA 95005, USA

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