Smithers wrote:
Why would someone buy a big ticket item on Ebay? It appears that the
sellers want to sell their product at market pricing and it really isn't an
auction. It seems the Reserve Prices have not been meet on the boats listed
now.

Unless, I was able to buy a boat or car at substantial discount, I would
hesitate to buy any bit ticket item via eBay.

Does anyone have any personal knowledge of people who have purchased cars
and/or boats via Ebay or similar auction service?

In 2000 I bought a 1999 Seadoo XPL PWC on ebay for $4,500. The guy
bought it new and took it out twice with his girlfriend. They found out
it was hard to get back on after being tossed off while out in the
waves. So they wanted a motorcycle and couldn't get a good trade-in
deal so they wanted to sell the ski outright then buy the bike. My
"winning" bid was well below book but he hadn't put on a reserve (and
it was still above what the motorcycle dealer was willing to give him).
I had to drive to New Jersy from Pittsburgh to see it and pay for it
but I was and still am quite happy with the deal and the ski. Last fall
(2004) I bought a boat via ebay. (1995 Sea Pro Citation 1900 Classic
cuddy cabin with a 3.0 liter Mercruiser Alpha 1 for $4,000) The boat
didn't sell because the bids didn't reach the reserve (which was still
well below book), so I contacted the seller and negotiated a final
price below his reserve. This time I had to drive to Cleveland from
Pittsburgh to check out the boat and pay for it. It ran very well this
summer and I am very pleased with the boat and the deal. Only real
problem was the brakes on the trailer need refurbed or replaced.

I have no problem buying via ebay, but only if I can travel to see the
item before payment is due and can physically do the title transfer at
a local notary (especially important as in both of my deals we needed
to go to the bank to complete the transaction as the owners had
outstanding loan balances on them and I wrote payoff checks to the
banks and balances to the owners and the banks sent out the titles).

Dave Hall