View Full Version : GM goes eBay!
Agamemnon
08-10-2009, 08:29 PM
Today, bankrupt-but-bailed-out automobile company General Motors announced it will be attempting to sell cars on eBay in a move to reach out to new customers and possibly reclaim some market share.
Beginning tomorrow, approximately 225 California Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, and GMC dealerships will put some 20,000 cars up on a new dedicated portal (gm.ebay.com) with "buy it now" prices which are negotiable.
The slogan: "Our Best Cars, Your Best Offer."
GM's choice to use eBay to help re-vitalize the American car business is just too perfect. The former mother of all online auction sites has turned into e-commerce's equivalent of the dirt mall after a slow decline that has spanned more than five years.
No longer the premier site for trading rare and treasured goods, eBay is now a place where you can buy on the cheap. CEO John Donahoe said earlier this year that the site was beginning to concentrate more on "secondary market" goods, (i.e., liquidation and overstock merchandise) as PayPal becomes the main revenue driver for the company and Skype gets spun off.
Mark LaNeve, GM vice president of US sales, said today, "Together with eBay Motors, GM and our dealers are reinventing the car-buying experience for our California customers...As the dealer showroom expands from the parking lot to the laptop, this makes it easier for a customer to browse available new-car inventory, make an offer, buy it now, or send a message asking for more information from a dealer -- all at the customer's convenience."
eBay Motors | GM Program Our best cars. Your Best Offer. (http://gm.ebay.com/)
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This may be a great way to get some awesome cars. I wonder how much the G8 GXP will go for? May try for a Solstice/Sky redline.
enkei2k
08-10-2009, 08:50 PM
i hope they got a good price on a camaro...that's all.
adam s
08-10-2009, 09:05 PM
Today, bankrupt-but-bailed-out automobile company General Motors
This.
It angers me.
dealerships
This.
It angers me more.
ronmcdon
08-10-2009, 10:40 PM
That's just retarded.
Customers are still dealing directly with dealerships.
Only this time around, Ebay has to get involved.
It's no different than using Autotrader.com
(other than Autotrader arguably being a better resource, as it's designed specifically for car sales).
If the dealership's website was organized (shows comprehensive inventory, online chat with sales-man, etc),
there would be no need at all for getting Ebay involved.
What I'd really hope for, is the complete elimination of dealerships period.
Have GM sell to the consumer directly.
eliminate the middle-man, & pass the savings to the consumer.
It's probably some marketing gimmick for the dumbasses who somehow think Ebay must be somehow more fashionable and/or 'Hi-Tech'.
GM is clueless as usual, it seems.
BustedS13
08-10-2009, 10:50 PM
wait... ebay isn't the number one auction site? what is?
HyperTek
08-11-2009, 12:23 AM
GM needs to throw in the towel... the market is saturated with tons of options for the consumer as far as car manufacturers and options... If GM starts to come back up, then everyone else is gonna start to try to step up their marketing sales.. then we are gonna have a shit ton of car commercials pushed upon use average consumers who aint even in the market for a car etc lol
Vision Garage
08-11-2009, 12:24 AM
yahoo jap? :)
ronmcdon
08-11-2009, 12:38 AM
GM needs to throw in the towel... the market is saturated with tons of options for the consumer as far as car manufacturers and options... If GM starts to come back up, then everyone else is gonna start to try to step up their marketing sales.. then we are gonna have a shit ton of car commercials pushed upon use average consumers who aint even in the market for a car etc lol
I think you're giving GM way too much credit.
GM is making an unprecedented effort of making a mockery of themselves.
Nobody needs to 'step-up their game'.
They'll just point & laugh.
What GM does, will be considered the benchmark of 'What NOT to do".
First we got that lousy commercial about 'Yes we screwed up, but we're stronger than ever' on some prime time commercial spot.
Now this corny E-bay gimmick.
It's just more offensive drivel that proves GM has no clue how to market their products.
Wonderful example of tax-payer's $$$ at work!
RiversideS13
08-11-2009, 01:35 AM
lol they are still not understanding quality of engineer is more important than those stupid "outside of the box marketing idea".
in my book
1. did not give SAAB R&D money and killed it = fail
2. parts manufacture in china = fail
3. use ebay as marketing tool = fail
honestly GM should replace all of those stupid board of directors and not waste our tax money
GM needs to throw in the towel... the market is saturated with tons of options for the consumer as far as car manufacturers and options... If GM starts to come back up, then everyone else is gonna start to try to step up their marketing sales.. then we are gonna have a shit ton of car commercials pushed upon use average consumers who aint even in the market for a car etc lol
you should be CEO of GM.
zenki.life
08-11-2009, 02:25 AM
why use ebay as a middle man. makes absolutely no sense.
98s14inaz
08-11-2009, 09:08 AM
Another "brilliant" /sarcasm move on GM's part. I'd never buy one of their cars, ever. The only way I'd remotely consider it is at an auction where I buy an older camero, pull it's guts out, and cram them into my s chasis. Fuck GM.
Before it was
GM -> Dealership -> Bank -> Consumer
Now its
GM -> Dealership -> Bank -> eBay -> PayPal -> Consumer
lol
Future240
08-11-2009, 10:13 AM
wait... ebay isn't the number one auction site? what is?
Did some searchin, it is still the top site, but not for rare and exclusive stuff, its a hell of a lot more general now.
axiomatik
08-11-2009, 10:19 AM
I think it's a fine idea. Having to work with dealerships sucks balls with their bs, 'well, how much a month can you afford?', and 'I'll have to check with my manager' crap. If you know what you want to buy, you can now buy it without dealing with all the douchebaggery.
Future240
08-11-2009, 10:38 AM
I think it's a fine idea. Having to work with dealerships sucks balls with their bs, 'well, how much a month can you afford?', and 'I'll have to check with my manager' crap. If you know what you want to buy, you can now buy it without dealing with all the douchebaggery.
Agreed, I don't see what the fuss is about, they are using ebay to sell some cars online, simple as that. Ebay gets some of the profits, GM gets to move cars. Money going to American Companies, I am trying to find the problem here.
exitspeed
08-11-2009, 10:42 AM
I think it's a fine idea. Having to work with dealerships sucks balls with their bs, 'well, how much a month can you afford?', and 'I'll have to check with my manager' crap. If you know what you want to buy, you can now buy it without dealing with all the douchebaggery.
Bingo. This is where I stand on the issue also.
Selling vehicles without the stealership interaction is a damn good idea.
My next car I'll be paying cash for. Fuck the dealer, I'm going to e-bay.
ronmcdon
08-11-2009, 06:14 PM
Agreed, I don't see what the fuss is about, they are using ebay to sell some cars online, simple as that. Ebay gets some of the profits, GM gets to move cars. Money going to American Companies, I am trying to find the problem here.
The thing is, you are STILL working with the dealerships.
The customer just has to go through an additional step (if not also expense)
If the dealership is incompetent, it's not like there's a guarantee that Ebay will magically remedy everything.
And if you have to somehow use Ebay as a means of keeping your dealerships in line, that's not saying anything good.
Why should Ebay "gets some of the profits"?
The dealership is already making a good amount of money off the customer.
That's like adding another unnecessary middle-man to the equation.
Not to mention if the swindlers at Paypal has to get involved, then that's another 2% on top of the existing price.
The only reason I can see how Ebay would make sense, is if the dealership is trying to auction off some super-rare classic, or a more limited edition car like the ZR-1.
Ppl would actually bid on something like that.
It's unlikely there will be some bidding fervor on some POS cobalt or ho-hum malibu.
Hell, ppl don't even bid 370z's, M3's and other great cars.
Besides, select dealerships have been using Ebay for quite some time now.
It's nothing revolutionary at all.
I really doubt Ebay will somehow be the savior of GM.
Agamemnon
08-11-2009, 07:02 PM
The thing is, you are STILL working with the dealerships.
The customer just has to go through an additional step (if not also expense)
If the dealership is incompetent, it's not like there's a guarantee that Ebay will magically remedy everything.
And if you have to somehow use Ebay as a means of keeping your dealerships in line, that's not saying anything good.
Why should Ebay "gets some of the profits"?
The dealership is already making a good amount of money off the customer.
That's like adding another unnecessary middle-man to the equation.
Not to mention if the swindlers at Paypal has to get involved, then that's another 2% on top of the existing price.
The only reason I can see how Ebay would make sense, is if the dealership is trying to auction off some super-rare classic, or a more limited edition car like the ZR-1.
Ppl would actually bid on something like that.
It's unlikely there will be some bidding fervor on some POS cobalt or ho-hum malibu.
Hell, ppl don't even bid 370z's, M3's and other great cars.
Besides, select dealerships have been using Ebay for quite some time now.
It's nothing revolutionary at all.
I really doubt Ebay will somehow be the savior of GM.
I dont think you're quite grasping the concept of this. Really, ebay and paypal have nothing to do with the sale of the car. If you're in Cali, bid on a car of your choosing, do a "buy it now" (which is still negotiable. They're being extremely flexable here), arrange financing through dealership. Done and done.
I can see this being a very viable way to purchase cars in the future if this method pans out.
ronmcdon
08-11-2009, 09:52 PM
I dont think you're quite grasping the concept of this. Really, ebay and paypal have nothing to do with the sale of the car. If you're in Cali, bid on a car of your choosing, do a "buy it now" (which is still negotiable. They're being extremely flexable here), arrange financing through dealership. Done and done.
I can see this being a very viable way to purchase cars in the future if this method pans out.
I just don't see how anything done via Ebay, couldn't be done directly through the dealer.
The whole dealership experience is pretty much about giving them your offer.
I can see how it's a different way of haggling, but that's about it.
It all depends on how the details of the purchasing experience are executed though.
Maybe you have a link to an article that further elaborates this process?
Couldn't open the link you provided on Firefox, Chrome, or Explorer
eBay Motors | GM Program Our best cars. Your Best Offer. (http://gm.ebay.com/)
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