Tried to Sell the 911 on Ebay

"Joe6pack" (joe6pack)
08/28/2016 at 08:11 • Filed to: None

A couple of weeks ago, I made what I consider to be a monumental decision. I decided to sell my beloved 1987 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet on Ebay. These days there are many options when it comes to selling a car, but I ultimately chose Ebay as I have sold cars there before and had just in the past week sold my 1978 Fiat using the online auction service.

I spent the better part of a weekend writing up a nice ad detailing the car’s history and my ownership. I washed it and took many detailed photographs in full sunlight. All in all, it looked pretty good. I decided to price it a little lower than competing cars with no reserve figuring that is about what I would be willing to pay for a 911 in similar condition. If I didn’t get any bids, I could always relist at a lower starting price - or just keep the car.

That’s where the fun began. I listed it late on a Sunday night and went to bed. And, by the time I woke up the next morning, I had a bid from an Ebay user with the username geovit12. While he had 100% positive feedback, it was on only 35 transactions. What really bothered me, though, was that this user was in the Russian Federation. Now, I don’t want to disparage an entire country, but the Russian Federation is not exactly known for its honest business practices (or for its honest participation in sports for that matter). Still, I have sold cars overseas before. I sold both a 1965 Mustang and a 1973 Pantera both to Sweden. Both of those transactions went off without a hitch. Nonetheless, I was still hoping someone in North America might decide to bid. Throughout the week, I continued to rack up pageviews and watchers, but no more bids. Then, around Thursday, I got a second bid. This time it was from username vakhtinanatalie. Unfortunately, this user had 0 feedback. What’s more, guess where they were located – you guessed it – the Russian Federation. I could really smell a rat at this point.

The week wore on and not to be outdone by his comrade, on Saturday geovit12 jumped back into the fray with a high bid. I was sort of hopeful that geovit12 might be legit as he did seem to have an interest in Porsches based on his Ebay profile and did have 35 transactions with the aforementioned 100% positive feedback. But, alas vakhtinanatalie would have none of it and on Sunday at 5:43 p.m. geovit12 was outbid. This is where the auction ended at 10:02 p.m. eastern time.

I went through the motion of sending an email to vakhtinanatalie asking about payment and delivery knowing that I would hear nothing back.

What really puzzles me is why someone would go through the trouble of bidding on something knowing full well that they have no intention of following through. I have read that this is sometimes done to drive up the bid and tie up the car to eliminate the competition. They need two accounts to actually drive the bid up to discourage further bidding by legitimate bidders. But honestly, with whom in Russia am I competing. I think it’s just someone acting like an asshole.

BTW, the winning bidders name is allegedly Natalie Vakhtina. Just for grins, I Googled Natalie Vakhtina and this is what I found. From what I gather, she does actually live in Russia, but I suspect she didn’t actually bid on my car. In fact, she may not actually own the Ebay account attached to her name.

At any rate, if anyone has any clue what possesses these people please enlighten me.

DISCUSSION (11)

The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123 > Joe6pack
08/28/2016 at 08:32

I think a lot of people like to reference Ebay as a way to put a value on what they have. You’ll notice lots of items with huge BIN prices that never actually sell. And when somebody else lets an auction run its course on the same item, it sells for much less. For example I bought a period correct showroom plate for my Cutlass. At the time there were one or two with BIN prices over $200. The BIN thing makes people think they’re getting a deal when bidding, or that the one they’re trying to sell is worth 200. I bid on mine and got it for $56. Maybe somebody selling a similare Porsche is using bogus Russian accounts to drive up the price of yours to use a reference or make theirs look like the better deal.

E92M3 > Joe6pack
08/28/2016 at 09:10

I don’t get it either, but it has happened to me a lot. So much that I only use BIN with immediate payment required now. If someone has zero feedback, you can bet it’s a fake account. At this point I’m using eBay from an advertising point of view only. I’ve never had a serious buyer actually do the transaction thru eBay. A serious buyer ALWAYS wants to see it in person, or have it inspected by a 3rd party first.

Joe6pack > E92M3
08/28/2016 at 09:37

Yeah, I decided to let it play out anyway to see what would happen. I did have a couple of people contact me asking about PPI’s, etc. but none followed through.

In looking at completed listings for classic Porsches, I noticed a lot of auctions that ended with the winning bidder having only one or 0 feedback, so I guess this is the game. I also noticed that many auctions ended with a Buy-It-Now only to be relisted a few days later. If someone wants to ruin your auction, a Buy-It-Now probably won’t stop them. I also noticed that some auctions have private bidding. I need to figure out how that works.

N51fanatic > Joe6pack
08/28/2016 at 09:45

Sell it on BaT

E92M3 > Joe6pack
08/28/2016 at 10:33

If you choose the “require immediate payment” option, they have to checkout via paypal for the item to actually end. I got tired of having to relist everytime some joker used BIN, and wasting 2 days in between to see if they would communicate or pay. I don’t understand how so many people have nothing better to do. Make sure you report them as a non-paying bidder. After a couple reports their account will be terminated, and eBay has made it harder for them to setup a new account. They’d have to use a different email, different paypal, linked to a different bank account. If any of those are the same as a terminated account, they won’t be able to create a new user.

Steve in Manhattan > Joe6pack
08/28/2016 at 10:56

Sold a Nikon digital body (DX1, I think?) to a Russian buyer. Payment received, then withdrawn, but the package was undeliverable at the address provided, and the camera was sent back to me. I will NEVER use ebay or PayPal again.

Joe6pack > N51fanatic
08/28/2016 at 11:44

Thought about BaT. Actually, I tried to list the Fiat there, but they wouldn’t take it - said it didn’t meet their standards. They will reject you if they don’t like the car, your reserve or whatever. With Ebay, you can set it up how you want, so I figured I’d give it a try first.

N51fanatic > Joe6pack
08/28/2016 at 11:46

There is a New Porsche on bat auctions everyday, the only way they'd pass is if your reserve is too high

Joe6pack > N51fanatic
08/28/2016 at 11:52

If I decide to list it again, I will probably give BaT a shot. I do like having the ability to respond to questions in real time.

Joe6pack > Steve in Manhattan
08/28/2016 at 11:54

If I try Ebay again, I will automatically reject any bids from Russia. Just not worth it.

DrScientist > N51fanatic
09/03/2016 at 18:36

but they probably get lots and lots of porsche submissions as everyone tries to cash in on the p-wave.

there’s never more than 3-4 porsches total among their auctions at any time. and they’re usually one 911, a 930, a 996 and something a bit more interesting like a 928 or 914.