General Motors Now Selling Cars on Ebay

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tayb

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If only GM made a single car I was even remotely interested in buying. These tax payer gifts working well for Government Motors.
 

Aoster87

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I hope this doesn't succeed because dealerships will take an even bigger blow. I'm all for the small-town dealerships and if the ebay strategy works my good friends at Four Seasons Auto Plaza may be out of a job. Woo.
 

krazynutz

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[citation][nom]aoster87[/nom]I hope this doesn't succeed because dealerships will take an even bigger blow. I'm all for the small-town dealerships and if the ebay strategy works my good friends at Four Seasons Auto Plaza may be out of a job. Woo.[/citation]
Not true. They'll need salespeople doing the negotiating with the ebayers. It'll probably be like buying a car through the local dealer's website. I bought my Jetta that way. Found it new online, dealt with the dealer online, then on the phone, and finally in person. Plus people may be better negotiators online rather than in person. Could provide more sales, ultimately. I gotta say I'm curious myself. Now if only GM had better designers...
 

MrHorspwer

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To restate what the article already says: dealerships, not General Motors, are conducting the sales. As a matter of fact, most states have franchise laws preventing automakers from selling directly to the public, forcing automakers to sell through a franchised dealers. GM is partnering with eBay in effort to provide their dealers with another avenue to sell cars. Why not? GM and their dealers need to move metal and eBay is looking for new opportunities given their recent decline.

I can almost see this as an evolution of the Saturn "no-haggle pricing" model. If you've already decided what you'd like to buy, why not turn to eBay and shop dealers for the best price? While this may not serve the dealer's best interest, competing against a multitude of others online, it's certainly a plus for prospective buyers. It simply provides a more convenient way of doing what customers already do: price shop.
 

Aoster87

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@ krazynutz

My point was that dealerships would have to split profits with ebay, but I understand what you are saying.

Personally I think GM designers are doing a very good job considering what their vehicles looked like 7 years ago. 2004 marked a new era in terms of looks and quality of GM vehicles in my opinion.
 

ubernoobie

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cool does the cars come in packages like they do if it's from newegg?I hope it doesn't come in a UPS truck or i'll be pissed to see a car in a ups truck and gets damaged :(
 

krazynutz

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@ aoster87:

I'll give you that. Their designs have definitely improved but they're still sub-par to most imports. What really plagues a lot of American cars are their interiors. A lot of them, even on pricier models, still feel cheap. They've gotten better though.
 

Aoster87

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@ Krazynutz

The interiors are still in need for improvement.

I am a proud owner of a 2004 Malibu and I couldn't be happier with it. I will however be honest and say that imports, particularly BMW, Nissan, and of course Mercedes-Benz are usually better than their domestic competitor, if it exists.
 

frozenlead

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Lots of people say that my 98 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP's interior is cheap, but I couldn't be happier with it. I don't like how hard and simple today's cars interiors are. The Grand Prix just has everything where I expect it to be, and it's wired and put together just how I would expect it to. Makes upgrading and working on it a breeze.
 

Aoster87

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@ Krazynutz

I am sure you are thinking of the '09, it is the new model year for the Malibu. I wish I had one, they are slick cars indeed.

But back to the article. Mr. Horsepower said that the dealerships themselves will be the ones conducting sales. I understand that the dealership salesmen will be the ones negotiating sales like krazynutz said, but profits must be shared between the dealership and ebay. This could be a good thing IF car sales increase to the point that the split income between dealership and ebay will exceed what the dealership would typically make monthly or quarterly. I don't really care about ebay and am taking the side of the dealership here. Per sale the dealership will see less profit. The dealership will have to sell more cars (I doubt that will happen any time soon) to make the same profits that it would selling a few less vehicles. The point in this is that in the long run, assuming car sales stay relatively the same, dealerships will take a hit and more employees will lose jobs, as if dealerships haven't been hit hard enough.
 

macer1

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LOL everyone here is out to lunch.


car dealers don't make much, if ANYTHING on the sale of one car .

They make their money by hitting sales quota's set out by the car manufacture.

Also , don't you think GM would have already negotiated with Ebay on what their cut would be. Cause i would place my years salary that its a set amount per model of car.
 

anamaniac

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Whatever happened to the days you could buy a car directly off the production line and pay a hell of a lot less?

Both a sister in law and a neighbor payed twice as much as their vehicles were worth from slimy dealers...
 

Grims

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[citation][nom]anamaniac[/nom]Whatever happened to the days you could buy a car directly off the production line and pay a hell of a lot less?Both a sister in law and a neighbor payed twice as much as their vehicles were worth from slimy dealers...[/citation]


Actually dealer makes anywhere from nothing...to 5-6 thousand on a car, depending how bad they need it gone. For example, the price you see on the sticker is MSRP, the dealer gets the car at invoice. I have bought all my new cars at invoice, or just under when a dealer has excess inventory that is a model year behind and needs to get rid of it fast.

On average though a dealer probably makes between 7-8% on a new car sale.
 

zak_mckraken

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[citation][nom]macer1[/nom]car dealers don't make much, if ANYTHING on the sale of one car .[/citation]

Car salesmen don't make much on the sale of a new car. It can go from as little as $200 to $600-700 depending on the options he manages to sell. However, when he sells a used car, the commission can easily rise around $3000.

I don't know this trial will turns out for GM but I hope they get back on track. It's good to see they're finally catching up with the rest of the world and trying out new alternatives. If it works, it will take some time to balance and distribute the sales and profits between the virtual and physical sales, but it could work. I don't like their cars much, but it's always good to have competition and to keep our money here.
 

scook9

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you cannot compare the interior of a Chevy to a BMW or Mercedes....they are whole different classes of vehicles, if you need a GM offering to compare, compare a Cadillac to a BMW or Mercedes, in America those are luxury brands exclusively

I also noticed that Cadillac gets no ebay loving?
 
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