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Part Car Listings
Feb 15, 2007 01:04 PM
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Hi everyone,
I want to apologize for taking so long to get back with you all on your comments about my post on parts cars last month. Everyone on the Motors team has had their hands tied preparing for NADA. Rather than give a hurried and incomplete response we wanted to take the time to review your comments and respond thoroughly. Unfortunately, my first post is no longer on the board, so I’ll have to cover some old ground again.
Let me start by reintroducing myself. I work for Motors and I have several areas of responsibility, including Trust and Safety and support for the Motors business team. Occasionally I get involved in legal and government affairs, and as you can see from my email address, I also work with PayPal on Trust and Safety issues. I came to Motors nearly three years ago. I’ve been working in the auto industry since 2000. I signed up as a “Pink” so that every now and then I could jump in and shed some light on important and sometimes controversial issues. My feedback score is 70 at 100%, I recently sold my DVD of Easy Rider for $1.00 and most recently bought a pair of tennis shoes. I drive a 1996 Honda Civic, which I’m sure will find its way on to eBay Motors this year. Ok enough of me, lets talk about parts cars.
1. What is a “parts car”?
Going back to my first post, let me recap our policy for listing a parts car. First, a parts car is a vehicle that cannot be driven and will be broken down into components and used to repair or modify other vehicles. Parts cars cannot be used for transportation. If a vehicle can be driven or if it can be repaired, rebuilt, or restored it cannot be listed in the Parts Car category.
Recently, sellers started referring to their road-worthy cars and their repairable cars as “parts cars” and listing them in the Parts Car category. As these vehicles can be used for transportation, for Trust and Safety and buyer protection reasons, we are obligated to end these of listings and ask sellers to relist in the Cars & Trucks category.
2. Why can’t I describe the title in my parts car listing?
See our Government ID policy: http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/government-ids-licenses.html. Sellers can only describe title, or other comparable ownership documents, if they are listing a functional vehicle. Because functional vehicles aren’t allowed in the Parts Car category, sellers cannot describe title in their parts car listings. In the Parts Car category we restrict discussion of title to protect buyers and sellers. The Cars & Trucks category is the appropriate category to describe title. For those sellers who think that a description of title is important information for bidders, they should list their cars in the Cars & Trucks category. Motors shoppers who are looking for transportation deserve and expect the protection that we offer in the Cars & Trucks category. These protections include Vehicle Purchase Protection and listing formats that insure the accuracy of title, vehicle description, and VIN data. Sellers also benefit, for instance recently a dealer in Tennessee was unknowingly trying to sell a car that was flooded during Katrina, our VIN check alerted us, and in turn we were able to warn the seller before he sold the car.
3. If the high bid my car is only going to be a couple hundred dollars, can’t I just call it a “parts car” and save on the Motors flat fees?
Unfortunately, no. I know that the costs and complexities of listing a vehicle in the Cars & Trucks category might not meet the needs of every vehicle seller, but barring the unusual, the value of any vehicle listed in the Cars & Trucks category will greatly benefit from enhanced bidder confidence and a greater search exposure, than a vehicle listed in another category.
Thanks everyone, and sorry for such a long post, but I wanted to touch on everyone’s comments and concerns. I look forward to hearing from you.
Regards,
McB
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(24 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 16, 2007 12:38 PM
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Every time I work out on one stretch of the coast I drive by a place that has an old Chevy frame stuck out front with a sign on it. Since it is possible to build a running vehicle out of it then shouldn't that be listed in the car cat too? Or is it a part? I mean a part can be put on other parts to make a running car. Geez, I'm glad I was only doing parts before. There was no doubt that a tank isn't a vehicle.

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(25 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 16, 2007 02:18 PM
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MCB Thank you for responding. I am well aware fee circumvision happens in every category. My only concern is what is rampant on EBM and the parts car category.
It seems the scammers are taking over and the auction listing fee circumvision violations are page after page Not only is this costing Ebay lost income, but legitimate sellers who pay their fees.
So are you saying, it is OK for a listing to show a whole vehicle, with the verbage along the lines of " Email us or call for a specific part needed we have thousands of Mercedes, BMW, Chevy,Ford Parts"?

A fool and his money are soon parted , when basic common sense is lacking
God works even better than duct tape
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(26 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 16, 2007 03:22 PM
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j-ainc – I asked the moderator why my earlier posts were deleted and they said that they were cleaning up the board and removing old posts, I guess mine got caught up in the cleaning frenzy.
**eBay Street Faire!** Share-Your-Wares - Summer White Sale! Aug.4th
1 of 2 things going on here;
either ebay considers the board members STUPID -or-
somebody at ebay is STUPID.
cleaning up the board huh? a useless post from aug. 4th, 2003 was not removed but mcb's first fairly important post about parts car category was removed.
IMO, typical ebay style. must have been a high level mgt. person doing the cleaning.
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(27 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 16, 2007 03:29 PM
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btw, there are several pink posts from 2004, 2005 still on the message board and mcb's 1st post about parts cars was a month old or less and was caught up in the cleaning frenzy.
an excuse like that is not good coming from a member of the trust and safety team.
should change the team name to the lead the lambs to slaughter team
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(29 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 16, 2007 05:14 PM
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I agree with meow with enough money n time about any vehicle can be made road ready.As far as stating if you have a title or not i think you should be able to state that you have a title heck i wouldn't want to buy one without a title even if it is a parts car only.The buyer needs proof that the vehicle is his or hers if the cops was to check it out sitting in your yard or shop.In Tennessee sometimes when you send in for a title at the state office they want a copy of the title to the parts car that the parts came off.If you don't have proof you will be in big trouble.If you cannot mention that you have a title come up with a section to where if the vehicle is in need of repairs have a red light system and have it to where you can mention that you have a title.Make the listing fee half of what it cost in the regular cars section.
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(30 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 16, 2007 05:39 PM
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karjockey, I agree, but that's too easy. Red Light section, 25 to list, 25 when it sells. Yea, I like it, Where do I sign up? < p/> Old and Grouchy
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(31 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 17, 2007 06:59 AM
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(32 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 21, 2007 10:58 AM
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Hi Everyone, hope you had a great holiday weekend. Several of you have asked about a live chat session. Tomorrow Bill Cobb is hosting a Town Hall 4:00 to 5:30 PM PT. I encourage you to participate or to submit questions in writing before hand. For more information see http://pages.ebay.com/townhall/. Salez4u I understand your concern over fee circumvention, but I want the topic of our conversation in this post to remain focused on issues that are specific to the parts car category. But certainly, if someone included a telephone or email address in their listing with an invitation to contact the seller directly if they need a specific part, we would consider that a listing violation. See http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-circumventing.html. I want to thank everyone for their input and comments in this post. I look forward to working on other topics and hearing from you. McB
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(33 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 21, 2007 12:37 PM
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OP: If a vehicle can be driven or if it can be repaired, rebuilt, or restored it cannot be listed in the Parts Car category.
Based upon that statement in the OP, NO vehicles should be listed under parts cars, because ANY parts car can be rebuilt or restored. If that is the official position of eBay (and I assume it is, since a pink wrote it), then eBay, to be consistent, should eliminate the parts car category immediately.
On the other hand, if someone has what a normal person would call a parts car, correctly listed in "vehicles" and not "parts cars" according to the criteria listed in the OP, that sells for $100 or $200, yet has to pay $90 to list it, why bother?
I haven't listed anything since last June. In the last three weeks, a buddy and I have sent the following to the crusher because they were technically restorable but worth only a couple hundred at most: 64 Mercury Marauder, 62 Tempest, 52 Studebaker 2 dr, 53 Packard Patrician, 57 Pontiac 2 dr hdtp, 74 Buick Regal, 71 340 Duster. We have more to send.
Several years ago on eBay, I sold a 51 Ford parts car, a 53 Mercury parts car, a 36 Ford 2 dr sedan body. There were no titles and they were rough, but all of them COULD have been restored with enough time, money, and parts. If they can't be listed as parts cars because they could potentially be rebuilt, then why bother to have a parts category at all???
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(34 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 21, 2007 02:51 PM
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Exactly. There is *NO* point to having a "parts car" category if that's going to be the crtieria for determining what is and is not a parts car. Anything can be put back on the road with enough welding rods and Jack Daniels. It's like having two categories for Laptop Computers. One category with a flat $25 rate to sell running laptops, and another category based on percentages to sell "parts" laptops. Now a laptop can be revived just like anything else, unless it's been melted down and is smoldering in a used paint can. I understand the whole "eBay doesn't have a dealer's license" bit. So here's *MY* proposal. Require vehicles listed in the Cars & Trucks category to be attached to a state-issued dealer's retail license. AutoTrader can do this for their dealers, so why not eBay Motors? Then if an individual wants to sell their vehicle on eBay, require them to take it to one of these "eBay Motors" licensed dealers on consignment. This would allow you to go back to a percentage-based commission because ONLY licensed dealers would be selling on here. And then these dealers would finally be able to sell their wholesale inventory on eBay instead of trucking them all down to ADESA or whatever, since they would no longer worry about selling a $300 car and losing $90-$100 in profit (or lose money altogether) on the listing fees. Now here's the strange part. In some states, you're legally allowed to sell x number of cars per year. In Texas it's 5. So if I were to try and sell five cars on eBay, it would cost me $450+ in listing fees, regardless of whether or not they are $500 cars or $5000 cars or $50,000 cars! Makes me think, gee, Auto Trader is sounding VERY good right now. But if I can take them to a dealership who will consign the vehicle for me on eBay, and pay maybe 2% plus a paperwork fee or something to that effect, then I'd feel better about the cheaper vehicles. If the document fee is say, $50, like the current listing fee, then the break-even point versus a $90 EBM listing is now pretty much fixed at the $2000 price point. And more vehicles sell for OVER that than under. So eBay would make MORE money this way, but those of us with $300 cars to sell would only have to spend $56 to sell each one instead of $90.
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(35 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 21, 2007 04:05 PM
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No dealer where I live would mess with consignment for a measly 2% if that's what you mean by "pay maybe 2% plus a paperwork fee". I assume you mean charge 2% to the person consigning the car. Consignment is a different bag of tricks, legalities and paperwork. I can't imagine a real dealership even being intrigued at 2%.
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(36 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 21, 2007 04:23 PM
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Sure, I could see Ebay getting rid of the parts car category. Just create another for cars that need work or don't run. Oh, my bad, I thought that's what a parts car is considered as,(needs work, doesn't run). At least that's what most people consider them as. Is it half full, or half empty? Six of one, half a dozen of another. Fix the scams, now that is broken. Leave the parts car section alone, it isn't broken.  < p/> Old and Grouchy
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(37 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 21, 2007 04:52 PM
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Granparkie! Dang it!
You BEST give me a holler before you run another 340 car to the crusher. Good Lord, man, what were you thinking?
Sheesh. "When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic" - Benjamin Franklin

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(38 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 21, 2007 05:39 PM
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On eBay and at most auctions there is a type of buyer that will buy ANYTHING running or not, if it's cheap enough.
The guy that drives past the shiny NEW units when he pulls in at a new car store and heads straight for the cheap wholesale sleds on the back row. The non-running stuff you have to pull out with an old rope or chain.
I have explained this a half a dozen times....
This is the way it was explained to me... It makes perfect sense, but it's a little hard to explain.
eBay does NOT hold a dealers license or salesmen's license in any state, nor do they want to!
Since eBay draws a commission or a percentage of the final price of the sale of a parts car. Many see that "AS IF" eBay would be an employee or a commissioned salesman. To sell vehicles this way they would have to be licensed, which they are not and have no desire to be.
This is a law in many states and will never change.
These ole cars seem to also sell a little cheaper than most and a lot of sellers just won't pay the flat rate fees that eBay charges in their regular vehicles section.
I feel like eBay needs to have a $5000 or under section that a dealer or individual can just list any old kind of car.
No category other than it being $5000 or under.
A respectable FLAT RATE listing fee and FLAT RATE final value fee would of course be in order.
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(39 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 21, 2007 05:57 PM
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Bill cobs town hall is not acceptable we want our own town hall dedicated to jsut us. many feel that those questions are filterd and only the onse that show ebay in a good light or the ones that mr cobb want to address are answered answeres given are often canned felling with no further clarification or dialouge we want and deserve it Anything said by me is Parody and not to be taken seriously. No statements of fact made are to be deemed factual. ©
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(40 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 21, 2007 06:17 PM
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Meow he is not going to stand up in front of this board and get beat up. WOULD YOU?
Closest we are going to get is YOU in one of those shirts you bought off him last year.
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(41 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 21, 2007 06:42 PM
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Dog u have been thinkin' That is a great idea for a section for vehicles under 5000 and charge a flat fee for listing. Everybody who thinks thats a great idea STAND UP AND TESIFY
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(42 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 21, 2007 06:59 PM
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The problem is when a seller lists a 2007 Mercedes in there for a $4999 starting bid, no reserve, and it sells for $65K and eBay gets the smaller fees. It would work FINE for fixed price listings...
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(43 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 21, 2007 07:09 PM
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No windsor_ranger, NOTHING OVER $5000
It would cap out there....
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(44 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 21, 2007 07:16 PM
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Why don't they work on bigger things? Always picking/fixing/tweeking little things...sigh... 

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(45 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 21, 2007 07:28 PM
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"a section for vehicles under 5000 and charge a flat fee for listing" Are you saying this about JUST parts cars? And! "Require vehicles listed in the Cars & Trucks category to be attached to a state-issued dealer's retail license" Are you serious or am I not seeing something here? I want to list a car, I have to have a license? And! "NOTHING OVER $5000 It would cap out there" What good is an auction? I must be reading this all wrong. Or, "Everybody who thinks thats a great idea STAND UP AND TESIFY" Not I!
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(46 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 21, 2007 07:36 PM
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wandrn, No that would be for ANY KIND of METAL you wanted to list. Junk or not.... But at least you could advertise and deliver title....
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(47 of 139)
Part Car Listings
Feb 21, 2007 07:43 PM
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And people would follow that rule? How would you cap it? If it reached 5K, automatically end the listing? 

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