Curious - do you think there is a best time of the year to list a car on eBay? Wonder how many of us have nothing to do over the next two weeks and will kill time checking out the listings on eBay or do you think most of us have better things to do? Is there a best time of the year to list a car? How about the best end day for an auction to end, i.e. like a Saturday or Sunday?

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Len
'59 220S Cabriolet-SOLD and living happily in Malta
'83 240D 351,500 miles original owner-SOLD
'88 560SL 41,000 miles - totaled and parted out
https://sites.google.com/site/mercedesstuff/home
'99 E300 turbo 227,500 miles
'03 SLK320 40,000 miles - gave to my daughter
'14 Smart electric coupe 28,500 miles
'14 Smart electric cabriolet 28,500 miles
'15 Smart electric coupe 28,000 miles

I like selling cars around tax refund time....when people have the illusion that they have more money than they actually do!

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Sounds like good advice.

Winter time usually is somewhat slow where it comes to people buying cars. But you could still list it for a fixed price, maybe with best offer and see how it goes.
Make sure to include a lot of shiny pictures.

BTW cars listed near large metropolitan areas go for more than cars listed elsewhere. If you have a way of selling the car from near like New York that'll help with the price.

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General George - 1967 Land Rover 2a SWB 1983 OM617 Turbo

It also depends on the car. Sporty ones go for higher prices in summer. AWD and 4WD demand a premium in the winter.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

What the others said.

NEVER sell a car, if you can help it, unless you have weather/seasonal conditions to take above average photos. Take LOTS of photos. Pick a nice setting (I mean like a pleasant park, not the foreclosed mansions some of the curbsiders park their cars in front of).

Detail it like your life depends on it before you do the pics.

Ask for a non-refundable certified cheque or money order deposit in your hand within 72 hours via FedEx envelope. Even if it is only $250, it will help to weed out the idiots. If you accept a deposit via PayPal, it can be clawed back/disputed.

That said, I heard at one time that only 40 percent of eBay auto transactions actually closed. Be prepared for dying grandmas, unconsulted wives, etc. etc.

Sadly, also, if the car may generate interest from Canadians, make sure they understand the measures required to bring a car back here -- and the transport costs. Decide whether you are in the mood to loan your plate to a Canuck to drive back home on. Many people do this, but the nagging question in those cases is whether the drive is insured and by whom. I have been greatly embarrassed by the idiocy of a number of Canadians with respect to buying cars and/or parts in the USA and then finding out after about taxes, etc., then posting rants blaming the vendor or the world in general for their lack of foresight.

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

Ditto on tax refund season - shoot for anywhere between 1/15 and 3/15 for optimal financial idiocy by buyers.

eBay can be good, but know the fees before you get into it, and yes, there is a lot of BS when the "buyer" has to come up with the "money"....

You will get requests to do the deal off ebay. Just part of it. I respond to them all by saying, "sure, face to face and cash for the title". It's worked, sometimes.

and also, craigslist is a very good place to sell diesel cars. Most of us compression-ignition-affected souls troll it religiously.

Good luck!

End the auction Sunday night between 5-7pm Pacific Time. That's when the most activity happens. There is a guy named Adam Ginsberg that is a titanium seller. He wrote a book that is really helpful, if not just entertaining. I wouldn't want to be his friend, but he is a genius of eBay. Self made guy that just fit.

Do not let eBay catch you arranging a transaction without them, but through their auction. Get the person to write out their email and phone number and don't discuss it through those eBay emails. There's a reason they exist.

Even then, eBay has people doing recon and the person requesting may be an employee.

I use eBay a lot, so I don't take the risk. I don't want to loose it.

You can always invite the potential buyer to view the vehicle in person and have the conversation then. A lot of car dealers seem to be doing it that way, they allow you to make a best offer, never accept or reject it but ask you to come over.

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General George - 1967 Land Rover 2a SWB 1983 OM617 Turbo

Yep. And the guy could be from eBay. My theory is, if you are gonna be shady, rob Fort Knox. Go big or go home.

Both cars I've sold on eBay were listed in the winter months (November and then January). Both cars sold for a lot more than I was expecting them too and were getting a ton of interest.

IMO, there isn't a "best" time to sell a car on eBay. Have something that stands out and is worth putting on there and you'll get what you want out of it. If you put a run of the mill car on there, you're going to be disappointed. Run of the mill belongs on Craigslist - you're going to get shafted with the fee's from eBay if you sell your car for less than you were hoping for.

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Allen Kroliczek
Oak Grove Autosport | Oak Grove Autosport
01 G500, 82 300TD, quite a few more.....

I know my sales on eBay are down the Christmas...people have other things to do I suppose.

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RenaissanceMan Labs: where the future is being made today.

Garage:

2017 Chevy Colorado Diesel (nanny state emissions)
2005 Volvo S40 T5 AWD, 77k
1987 Mercedes-Benz 300D turbodiesel, 4 sp auto, 156k - 28.7 mpg
1996 Tracker 4x4, 2 door, 16v, 3 sp auto. 113k - 28.6 mpg

WARNING: this post may contain dangerous free thinking.

Thanks guys - lots of good info.

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Len
'59 220S Cabriolet-SOLD and living happily in Malta
'83 240D 351,500 miles original owner-SOLD
'88 560SL 41,000 miles - totaled and parted out
https://sites.google.com/site/mercedesstuff/home
'99 E300 turbo 227,500 miles
'03 SLK320 40,000 miles - gave to my daughter
'14 Smart electric coupe 28,500 miles
'14 Smart electric cabriolet 28,500 miles
'15 Smart electric coupe 28,000 miles

When to e-Bay a car? .... my short answer is...

After you have tried everything else.

Put it on your local Craig's List and the one for the nearest large metro area.

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Greg
2012 S350 BlueTEC 4Matic
2007 ML 320 CDI
2007 Leisure Travel Serenity
2006 Sprinter 432k
2005 E320 CDI
1998 SLK230 (teal)
1998 SLK230 (silver)
1996 E300D 99k, 30k on WVO
Previous:
1983 240D, on WVO
1982 300D, on WVO
1983 300CD, on WVO
1986 300SDL 237k, 25k on WVO (Deerslayer)
1991 350SDL 249k, 56k on WVO - Retired to a car spa in Phoenix
1983 380 SEC w/603 diesel, 8k on WVO
1996 E300D 351k, 177k on WVO

Winter here is a good time to check for wet carpets and fogging heater cores. Don't forget to verify the AC works or the car will be almost worthless during our central valley summers.

Ditto on tax time, spring is a time for new found love. When you are married you have resort to more banal joys.

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42