How many folks bid high teens or more for auction cars without calling?

[oldcarnut]

Just curious as I have my 69 Coronet R/T on Ebay and its up to almost 18K and yet I have had no questions or even a phone call for info. other than someone wanting to sell it for me or my car plus cash for theirs and mostly guys wanting to trade their Harley  .  For myself I wouldn't be bidding that much on something, even testing the reserve, without calling, looking at the car, or at least have someone else check it out for me.  How do the rest of you that buy/bid cars from ebay base your bidding?

[440]

I'd have to see or test something before I bought it, or at least have a good trustworthy friend look at it. Even then I'd still want to talk to the guy over the phone to get an idea of his demeanor.

Some people probably end up with gems doing it this way but I think more end up with lemons and polished turds.

I flew interstate to look at the charger I bought and wasn't really sure about buying it as better cars sell for less, but because the pickings were so slim here I ended up buying it anyways.

[Old Moparz]

Seems like people do it all the time, but not me, I wouldn't buy a parts car for $500 without seeing it in person. Look at the members here that have paid somewhere in the teens, or more, to just end up with a halpag special that costs them triple to redo the car in the end. Buying old, used, cars online must give a false sense of trust to some people. It's not the same as buying new items from an online catalog from a place like Summit or Year One. Even if the buyer protection plans & policies work, who needs that hassle?

There are lots of honest people, but the internet simply makes it easier for dishonest sellers to hide things if a buyer won't come look, or at least ask about something. When I sold my Barracuda a couple of years ago, I stated that I prefer the buyer come to see it, or at least have someone come look so there were no differences of opinion regarding condition. That's exactly what happened, too, & I felt good about it. The buyer was from Delaware, & a friend come & took pics. A few days later he was here with cash & took the car home.

[RallyeMike]

I would never. I'm surprised at what people buy without checking things out first. I can see why scammers exist. Some people make it so easy for them (as evidenced by a few depressing threads on this site).

I expected lots of questions and calls when I sold my Rallye. It bid up to near the reserve without a single question. Eventually a guy called an made me an offer I could not refuse to end the auction, and sight unseen he wired the entire amount that day, offline, and entirely outside of eBay protections.

Earlier this year when I picked up my 500 off Craiglist, I drove 1200 miles and handed the guy the cash AFTER spending an hour or so vefying the car.