Is this auctioneer crazy?
I have looked at two different websites to look for cars within a reasonable price and distance, but there is one site, the mother of all sites, that I hadn't looked yet. EBay is one of the biggest sites that helps you to get what you need cheap, but you must fight for it. Today I was given the task to look up auctions for Bonnevilles on EBay that were already over and look the deal that was given up on kbb.com. As I got onto EBay my stepdad showed me that the best way to search is to go to Ebay Motors (a link in the left column) and search the make and model. Then once that comes up you can go to a little special, advanced search in the bottom left corner. This helps you specify the type of auction and how far away the car is. In my case, I specified it to completed listings, so I could see what had already sold, instead of what was being sold then and there. Once I specified my search and got my results, I found 11 cars that were in good condition and looked up the price they were purchased for on kbb.com and found some pretty interesting conclusions. I am not going to share all 11 cars, but I will share a few good deals and some not-so-good deals.
First I found a 1994 Bonneville SSEi that had 103,000 miles on it and was sold as a Buy It Now for $1,500. When I looked up this car I found that this was a really good deal! The Trade-in value was $1,825, private property was $3,085, and retail value was $4,840. This car was sold for half its value and there was no negotiation or need to fight. With Buy It Now you, well, do just that! You can buy it before the auction ends and get it before you auction up to a more outrageous price. That is one thing about EBay, you can't really negotiate with the seller and you could have to bid up to a higher, unworthy price, but as long as you pay attention to the highest price that would still make it profitable and not go over, you will be just fine. Being able to stop bidding is the equivanlent of walking away from a deal in this case.
Although that car was a deal I found a '94 Bonneville with 142,000 miles that was sold for $2,425. The Trade-in value was $1,075, private property was $2,040, and retail value was $3,510. This car was sold for $400 over the private property value, so I know this seller made a profit off this Bonne. You just have to be able to look at the value and know when you are bidding too much, because the more you bid, the less profit you will gain from buying the car. Some cars also have a method of delivery, or sellers have downpayment requests, you must take these into account also with the price, because if you buy to get the car delivered then that is an added, maybe even uneccesary, cost. Just one more thing to consider on EBay.
Here's another deal I was surprised with! A 1996 Bonneville SSE with 200,000 miles and was sold for $1,200 from Buy It Now. I imagined that the mileage might make this a fair deal, or not a great deal, but indeed it was quite the deal! The Trade-in value was $1,610, private propety was $3,000, and the suggested retail value was $4,780. That means that this car sold for less than half its worth. Its just little opportunities such as this that can make you benefit with a great profit.
Another not so good deal I found was a 2001 Bonneville SE with 83,100 miles on it and it was sold for $8,995. Now it is fairly new, so I felt a little naive about this one. I wasn't sure if it was worth it or not and eager to find out. The Trade-in value was $4,745, private property value was $6,925, and the retail value was $9,610. This car was sold for about $2,000 over its true sell value! If you shop smart, you could also make this great a profit, but this also shows how you should be careful not to be the one who got jipped the two grand.
These were the two main good and the two main not-so-good deals I found. All others were profitable endeavors, but only by a few hundred. A few hundred is great, but these two great deals I listed were the ones with the most profit attainable. Two of the unlisted deals were cars that had a bit of body damage, but were priced around $700 or a little over and could still be profitable. Searching for deals using different methods and different sites, as we've shown, is a great way to look and find the deal of a lifetime! You can just make some fast, easy cash by buying these cars for cheap and selling them for their true value. With EBay you do not want to sell your cars there, but it is a wonderful site to find deals that are fairly close to you and very profitable. You just have to be able to find the true value before bidding and make sure that you do bid as tactfully as possible.
First I found a 1994 Bonneville SSEi that had 103,000 miles on it and was sold as a Buy It Now for $1,500. When I looked up this car I found that this was a really good deal! The Trade-in value was $1,825, private property was $3,085, and retail value was $4,840. This car was sold for half its value and there was no negotiation or need to fight. With Buy It Now you, well, do just that! You can buy it before the auction ends and get it before you auction up to a more outrageous price. That is one thing about EBay, you can't really negotiate with the seller and you could have to bid up to a higher, unworthy price, but as long as you pay attention to the highest price that would still make it profitable and not go over, you will be just fine. Being able to stop bidding is the equivanlent of walking away from a deal in this case.
Although that car was a deal I found a '94 Bonneville with 142,000 miles that was sold for $2,425. The Trade-in value was $1,075, private property was $2,040, and retail value was $3,510. This car was sold for $400 over the private property value, so I know this seller made a profit off this Bonne. You just have to be able to look at the value and know when you are bidding too much, because the more you bid, the less profit you will gain from buying the car. Some cars also have a method of delivery, or sellers have downpayment requests, you must take these into account also with the price, because if you buy to get the car delivered then that is an added, maybe even uneccesary, cost. Just one more thing to consider on EBay.
Here's another deal I was surprised with! A 1996 Bonneville SSE with 200,000 miles and was sold for $1,200 from Buy It Now. I imagined that the mileage might make this a fair deal, or not a great deal, but indeed it was quite the deal! The Trade-in value was $1,610, private propety was $3,000, and the suggested retail value was $4,780. That means that this car sold for less than half its worth. Its just little opportunities such as this that can make you benefit with a great profit.
Another not so good deal I found was a 2001 Bonneville SE with 83,100 miles on it and it was sold for $8,995. Now it is fairly new, so I felt a little naive about this one. I wasn't sure if it was worth it or not and eager to find out. The Trade-in value was $4,745, private property value was $6,925, and the retail value was $9,610. This car was sold for about $2,000 over its true sell value! If you shop smart, you could also make this great a profit, but this also shows how you should be careful not to be the one who got jipped the two grand.
These were the two main good and the two main not-so-good deals I found. All others were profitable endeavors, but only by a few hundred. A few hundred is great, but these two great deals I listed were the ones with the most profit attainable. Two of the unlisted deals were cars that had a bit of body damage, but were priced around $700 or a little over and could still be profitable. Searching for deals using different methods and different sites, as we've shown, is a great way to look and find the deal of a lifetime! You can just make some fast, easy cash by buying these cars for cheap and selling them for their true value. With EBay you do not want to sell your cars there, but it is a wonderful site to find deals that are fairly close to you and very profitable. You just have to be able to find the true value before bidding and make sure that you do bid as tactfully as possible.
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