Sell cars on eBay

From Edmunds.com

The Liggans netted about $28,000 last year on eBay auctions. Liggan buys the vehicles at auction, has them inspected and repaired, and keeps them on his front lawn. According to him, eBay auctions are revolutionary because they eliminate the part of the car-buying experience many people dislike: the in-person haggling over price with a salesman.

Liggan is something of a hybrid between the "for sale by owner" sellers and storefront auto dealers, each of which account for about 50 percent of the eBay Motors listings. Liggan has a dealer's license but lower overhead than most dealers. He doesn't need to move as many cars as the usual dealer, either. All eBay sellers, whether a dealer or neighbor Ned selling the old Buick, pay the same amount to move a vehicle. The fee is $40 at the time of posting and another $40 at the time of sale. The fee was raised from $25 and $25 earlier this year.

The eBay system is good for buyers as long as they can get a car for $2,000 less than they would pay from a local source, Liggan said. Without the savings, it's not worth the gamble of buying a car sight unseen and traveling to get it, he continued.

"You gambled roughly $500 vs. $2,000 in savings and a rust-free car, and that's a good gamble," he said. "Why would you take a chance on making a trip if you're not saving anything?"

As we were about to leave with the Volvo, Charlie handed Judy $40 through the window to buy an extra key for the car. We tried to give it back, but he waved us away.

"You can't take it with you. I ain't never seen a Brinks truck following a hearse," he said as we rolled out the driveway and headed 966 miles home.

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