Saddam Hussein’s Rolls Royce for sale on eBay UK
July 23, 2008
The Telegraph reports that Saddam Hussein’s Rolls Royce Corniche is up for sale on eBay UK Motors. According to the seller, the car comes with paperwork confirming its ownership by the former Iraqi President, and it will arrive in the UK from its current location in Baghdad in the next four weeks.
For the £185,000 price tag, you’ll get a brand new stereo “as the USA Army … stole the stereos from most cars” they found in the basement of Saddam’s former palace. Steven Brown, owner of the car dealership Autocontinental, told reporters that the car was bought at an Iraqi government auction by an Iraqi friend who’s resident in the UK, along with eleven other cars from Saddam’s collection, including “one Maybach new with solid 24 carat gold fittings specially made for him but not delivered … car was only ready for him two days before he left Baghdad in a hurry”.
And apparently, amongst interested buyers is an American colonel who wants to put SADDAM numberplates on the car. Talk about asking for trouble.
eBay Motors parts and accessories CLD 22nd - 24th July
July 22, 2008
eBay US Motors are capping insertion fees at 20c for listings in some categories, from 22nd to 24th July. Listings for tires, wheels, rims, hubcaps and some other ‘pimp my ride’ categories are eligible for the reduced fees, which apply to both auction and BIN listings. Please check the categories included before you list. All other normal fees apply.
eBay have hinted several times recently that they’re looking at more category-specific fee structures; it’s interesting to watch the cheap listing days as they test this out.
eBay Canada holds free listing week for motors
July 5, 2008
Between 6th and 12th July, you can list your car for free on eBay.ca Motors. The normal insertion fee of CA$4.25 is being waived, though other fees still apply. The offer is good for Canadian residents only.
Ireland Motors’ classified fees increased
June 4, 2008
eBay Ireland have just announced that the fee for Motors’ classified ads is to increase from €9 to €20. Classified ads last for 28 days. The new fees will be in effect from next Tuesday, 10th June, so we predict a busy weekend on the Irish Motors’ site.
eBay Motors UK holds cheap listing weekend
May 6, 2008
eBay Motors UK have just announced that this weekend, listing fees will be halved. Cars and other vehicles can be listed for £4 instead of the usual £8 insertion fee on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th May. The offer applies to BIN and auction listings, but not to classified ads. Other normal selling fees will apply.
eBay Motors Australia hooks up with drive.com.au
April 29, 2008
eBay Motors in Australia are partnering with Drive.com.au in a deal which will see eBay Motors listings appear on drive.com.au and vice versa.
Working with dealers to list their entire inventory on eBay is nothing new, the GM partnered with eBay in an agreement to list their entire inventory of used motors on eBay. This is the first time I’m aware of that eBay Motors has partnered with a classified site in a deal to share listings. I’m trying to imagine what eBay Motors UK would look like if they were to do a similar deal with Auto Trader - I imagine motors traders would be quite vocal about the influx of listings, although exposure on another site would be a bonus.
At the end of the day anything that increases exposure of the eBay brand, and of eBay listings has to be good news - partnering with classified sites is an interesting development.
To support the deal eBay Motors Australia are about to launch a revamped site which is currently in beta.
eBay Motors sells 3 millionth vehicle
April 18, 2008
eBay Motors have just sold their three millionth vehicle, according to VP Rob Chesney. The landmark motor is a green 2002 Ford F-250 pickup bought by Patricia Weidler from New York state for her husband Dan, who is starting his own construction business. The seller was David Pelis of Pelis Auto Sales in Massachusetts”,, who has been selling on Motors since April 2000. As part of the celebrations, eBay refunded the Weidlers not only the cost of the vehicle, but also added $3000 worth of parts and accessories.
Earlier this year, eBay announced a partnership with General Motors to include the entire inventory of their 3,900 used vehicle dealers at no cost to the dealerships. With eBay Motors consistently ranked the number one automotive sales site on the internet, I’m betting it won’t be that long before we see the celebrations for their 4 millionth sale.
$60k winning bid refused by seller
March 24, 2008
When an eBayer, going by the online tag of dooma350, saw a brand new 2008 M3 BMW for sale on eBay at $60k no reserve he decided that although the colour wasn’t his first choice, that he “was willing to live with it at a 60K price point”. Having placed a $61k bid he ended up winning the auction at the start price as there were no other bidders.
That’s where his problems began, according to his own account on M3post.com the BMW dealership that listed the car welched on the deal saying it was a mistake even though the auction title read “08 M3 LOWEST PRICE ON EBAY“.
This opens the perennial question - is an eBay auction a binding contract? eBay insist that “each bid you place enters you into a binding contract” and it’s generally accepted that if you win an auction you should pay and the sellers should supply.
What happens when the seller refuses though? Well when it’s a BMW M3 worth more than the $60k winning bid the dealer appears to hide behind the excuse of an honest mistake. With reports of the story spreading across the Internet, whether they’re right or wrong, the bad publicity has to be doing more damage than swallowing the loss and supplying the car at the price the auction achieved.
Motors CLD reveals shape of things to come
February 9, 2008
It looks like a great deal: list your vehicle on .com Motors this weekend for just a dollar. But scroll down the page a bit further, because this promotion has a sting in the tail: a 22% increase in the cost of a successful sale.
Though insertion fees have been slashed to nearly nothing, eBay have increased the transaction services fee (the Motors’ equivalent of FVFs) for this promotion, so that the total cost of a successful car sale is $110 instead of $90:
| Normal Pricing | Promo Pricing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle | IF | TSF | Total | IF | TSF | Total |
| Motorcycles | $30 | $40 | $70 | $1 | $89 | $90 |
| Cars & Trucks | $40 | $50 | $90 | $1 | $109 | $110 |
If you’re just an average joe with a car to sell this weekend, this is probably great news: with the promotional price structure, you’ve nothing to lose by listing on eBay; if it doesn’t sell, it’s only cost you a dollar, and if it does sell, what’s an extra twenty bucks anyway. For the majority of people, who have just one car to sell, the higher fee is outweighed by the advantage of the lower risk.
The people you’d expect to be hit by this are the professional dealers, who have a lot of inventory to list and a pretty high sell-through rate. But there are signs that, for some of them at least, this won’t be an issue:
On Friday, GM announced a deal with online auction site eBay Inc. that includes entire GM Certified Used Vehicles on eBay Motors at no cost to its more than 3,900 certified used U.S. dealers. The companies also plan to work together to boost sales.
Though the specifics of the deal haven’t been revealed, what is becoming increasingly obvious is that in the brave new world of JD’s eBay, the famous level playing field is a thing of the past.
Recent Comments
- Whirly: #3 you don’t deserve one after having a 1p listing festival you jammy blighter.
- Chris Dawson: #1 I didn’t get a voucher either
If anyone has one and wants to spend it with me... - northumbrian: the only fault with that bling thing is if anything it makes the item look to good
- faculty-x: us techies are honoured at the mo from ebay or the ones that have dropped off ebay the most, us...
- faculty-x: bling looks excellent, must get a copy. been messing around with coral for years, should save ages. so...
- Whirly: No voucher for me which is a pain as I need some stuff I know a buyer who will get one, he likes...
- Whirly: #2 If you build the fee’s into your sale price I think it’s a justifiable expense, we regularly...
- Trish Connolly: I need to dissagree with part of your statement. You say, “I’ve met many buyers who are more...
- J R: if we sell something for £500 there is no way we would be willing to give ebay £50 plus Paypal fees, there...
- Whirly: lmao
