I need to vent...E-bay is B.S.

As a certified car nut (with a little too much time on his hands sometimes), I surf eBay looking at what is available, not just Ferraris, but other cars that I have been interested in. A good portion of them are misrepresented (no rust when you can clearly see it in the pics, etc...).

The good cars are out there, they just aren't on ebay. FML asking prices may be out of line with the actual market, but you're dealing with a more serious seller (or a professional flake).

 

Mario: didn't know you sold the car. If you're looking for a car, best bet is to call up all of the dealerships. They often know of cars you can't find otherwise (people who want to sell, etc). A pain, but worth the effort. If you want some help / shortcuts, let me know.

--Dan

 

I think it all depends. I work at a car dealership a few days a week and put cars on ebay for the dealership. We normally have at least 1 car a week on ebay and have had mixed results. Keep in mind we are selling used/new cars that are less then 6 years old and most are still under factory warranty. But, there are guys on ever auction that try and steal the cars for below book value and others are legit guys just trying to know exactly how much they are going to pay for the car and they like not having a salesperson to deal with. I would buy a few year old "daily driver" from ebay besides that though I wouldn't touch a car.
Erik

 

I'm sorry-you saw the car on ebay, contacted the owner directly to sell it to you outside of ebay, he sold it to the winner of the auction, and he is sleezy? As someone who has sold a car on ebay, I can say that the experience of selling sucks too, when you have numerous people pressuring you to find out the reserve, end it early for their offer, and then attempting to re-negotiate the price after the inspection (as you would have done post PPI). Can you really blame someone who just wants the car gone for going with the high bidder? I got 7K more for my car on ebay than carmax would pay-certainly worth it for me, and the buyer re-sold it on ebay 4 months later for 5K more (so he did OK too).
There are lots of dogs on ebay, but the occasional great car too-more likely the unusual color or model that might have trouble finding a local buyer.

 

Mario (and Jeff) - I just started reading this thread, and after the first post started wondering the same thing Jeff subsequently posted. There is no doubt that Steve is who Jeff thinks he is.

Steve does in fact have Parkinson's, and in fact is undergoing some experimental treatments. I've gotten to know him a bit in the last several months, and in fact have seen him three times in the past ten days (once at my house) for club events. From everything I have seen, I would vouch for his honesty. I don't know anything about his friend in SFO.

The only thing that surprises me is that not once recently has he mentioned that he was trying to sell his 355.

There's a possibility I will see him again this Saturday. Is there anything you'd like me to say to him?

 

Lawdog, I also talked to Steve, he told me the first 72,900 owned the car. I told him it was mine and I would overnite a check. I have a buddy at the Lexus dealer on Sahara, he was going to be my eyes for me. Steve said the car was mine. I then could not reach him for almost a day. He called me today to tell me it was sold. I am not use to this, I did not make him tell me 72,900, I just took him up on it.

 

Move on. Plenty of ferraris out there.

You wouldn't marry a flake or a ***** so why would you want to do business with flaky people. It's all part of life.

 

Lawdog, I called his contact monday morning. He put me in contact with Steve. I told him I had been looking for six months for a red coupe with low miles. I asked him if he would take the car to the Lexus dealer and drop it off. I would have my buddy Vince check it out and do the paperwork. I never bid on the car on ebay, I just talked to Steve. I knew it was to good to be true for 72,900. The contact(Mike) said he had a 430 coming and he wanted to sell his 360 and 355. I was told I owned the car subject to my friend checking it out. I felt no need to bid on it because I had already owned it.... I thought.

 

My first clue of this fellow's lack of integrity would have been when he offered to sell it to you outside of ebay, when there were bidders on ebay making a good faith effort to buy the car "by the rules". That in and of itself is dishonest and should have been a major flag.

Anytime a person is openly willing to screw other people, even if it may be appear to be for my personal benefit, I run.

 

Man, he sold it THREE times..........unreal......


Lawdogg are you talking with Martin at Cavallino Motors? I know he's on the wronmg coast for you but he seems to be able to find the cars.

We spent time with he and his wife at the FFQC...might as well deal with folks ya know, I say....

Watching eBay is unreal...I watched an IVECO sniped out from under my friend and he eventually bought off the high bidder....don't think I'd swim with those sharks, man!

 

If (and I emphasize IF) that were the case, then unfortunately I would have to say it applies to Mario too. In fact, if I followed the story correctly, it was he who brought up the suggestion of going outside EBay, not the seller.

Mario, note my emphasis on the IF. I am absolutely NOT saying you are to blame. I apologize in advance if this offends you.

 

huskerntexas, I did not know it was dishonest to end a auction early. Our ebay auctions say clearly seller has the right to end the auction early, maybe his did not.

 

Sounds like he has a cruel streak in him I had not noticed!!! LOL!

He gave Valeria a great track ride in Car #13......

 

I have in the past purchased 3 vehicles on eBay from dealers.

Each stated in the auction that the vehicle is for sale locally and they have the option to end the auction early.

I would never purchase a vehicle from an individual on eBay. There are too many scam artists that misuse ebay for this reason. You only have their integrity to rely on and relying on a stranger's integrity is a minomer. Not saying all are dishonest but why take the risk?

Ebay is used by alot of dealers as a cheap means of advertising and getting national exposure, hoping that the vehicle would sell there but not really relying on it to sell.

eBay is a great place to shop but you have to be careful. I have purchased over 1100 items there and have only been snagged on a handful of items, so I guess I should consider myself lucky.

Your bad experience is just that. Just be thankful it did not involve a lot of money lost.

There are plenty of ferrari's out there. You will find what you want eventually and will be happy for it.

Lawwdog, just out of curiosity, are you a member of the LawDogs Motorcycle Club?

 

Just because your auction says you have that right doesn't mean that you do: Ebay's rules are quite clear on sales outside of ebay, ending auctions early (and the rationale for doing so, etc.). Taking a car off of auction early because someone has offered you a satisfactory price outside the auction is unethical. Try doing that at Barrett Jackson and see what happens.

People's lack of ethics just amaze me.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Circumventing fees by soliciting sales outside of eBay
The following activities are not permitted: · Using member contact information obtained from eBay or using any eBay feature to offer to sell any listed item outside of eBay · Using member contact information obtained from eBay or using any eBay feature to offer to sell an item outside of eBay to any of your bidders in a Reserve Not Met listing.
Sales Outside of eBay


Listings that attempt to make sales outside of eBay are not permitted and will be ended. The Insertion Fee will be automatically credited for that listing.
Examples:

Using member contact information obtained from eBay or using any eBay feature to offer to sell an item outside of eBay to any of your bidders in a Reserve Not Met listing.

Ending Your Listing Early

Sometimes something goes wrong and you can't complete your listing as planned. If needed, you can choose to end your listing before the scheduled date. If there are bids on your item, you can cancel them.
Reasons for ending listings early include:
Note: Your account will still be charged listing fees (such as the Insertion Fee) if you end your listing early. Consider revising your listing first if there are aspects of it you want to change or improve.
· The item is no longer available for sale.
· There was an error in the starting price or reserve amount.
· There was an error in the listing.
· The item was lost or broken.
Timing Matters
When there are 12 hours or fewer remaining and the item has a winning bid, including a reserve met bid, sellers may not make any changes to the listing, including:
· ending the item early. Sellers may cancel bids, but not end the item
· adding to or changing the item description
· converting the item to pre-approved bidder
Canceling bids or making changes to a listing with bids when there are 12 hours or fewer remaining damages the buyer experience and can undermine trust in the marketplace.

 

I agree completely -- especially the ethics part of it !!