toystwo

Pricing based on asking prices on Autotrader and EBAY are next to worthless. The asking prices on those cars are far beyond what the vast majority will sell for. You have to price your car more realistically in order to generate calls/interest from Autotrader or EBAY adds. I've just sold a car through these avenues (not a Porsche) and have bought several over the past couple of years – all at prices substantially below those asking prices.

I’ve posted this here before, but you should look at Ended & Sold auctions on EBAY. You will see that only 2% to 3% of 911’s actually sell but more importantly you will see what they actually sell for. EBAY only leaves this info up for two weeks so you have to check over a period of time to get a feel for the market value. I haven’t seen any 07 S coupes, but two low mile 07 S cabs sold for $68.3K and $60.6K (6K and 9K miles, respectively) and a couple of 06 S coupes sold at $52K and $56K with 6K miles and 8K miles, respectively (both highly optioned). Some of these sales were several months ago so they may be on the high side (as early as Feb 09).

I think your pricing is definitely too high but you can always drop it over time. If you list on AutoTrader I would guess you would get no interest at that price.

A couple of stories to illustrate my points:

I just sold an immaculate 2002 Mustang GT with 12K miles – listed on EBAY, Autotrader and Craigslist. I started at $15,500 which was slightly below all advertised comparable cars (I was fairly certain I wouldn’t get it). Each week I dropped the price, first to $14,900, then $14,400 and finally $13,900. It generated virtually no interest (and zero serious interest) for three weeks until it hit $13,900, then several calls, e-mails, etc. rolled in and I sold the car for $13,500 within a few days of the price drop (I probably could have got the full $13,900 or at least $13,700 with some additional hold time). The car sold for $2.5K to $5K+ less than all comparable cars “asking prices” on Autotrader (remember even at $14,400 this car would have been well below all other similar mileage/vintage cars posted on the aforementioned sites).

I paid $13,700 for the car when it had 8K miles 1.5 years ago. Of course I bought it for thousands less than all of the “at the time” asking prices which were unrealistic. I got a good deal on the car but it was not a “steal” and the selling prices at both periods of time lined up roughly with closed auctions on EBAY (I did probably buy on the low side and sold on the high side).

I’ve bought about 5 cars in the past couple of years, all (unless they were somewhat unique without a “normal” market) for thousands less than the average AutoTrader asking prices (this is not because I’m some great wheeler dealer, it’s because those asking prices are way above market). I generally don’t call on cars that are priced thousands above true market because it’s too much work to determine if it’s the right car without knowing whether the seller actually has a realistic idea of value and you can’t effectively negotiate price concessions unless you’re ready to buy (chicken and the egg). I would say this is true for most buyers.

One more story and I’ll quit:

I had a local guy who wouldn’t sell me his M Roadster for a comparable price to a Buy-it-Now M Roadster on EBAY (which was 800 miles away from me) because his car was priced slightly under the other comps on AutoTrader. Unfortunately, his car was still too high by about $3K. The car on EBAY had the same very low miles and excellent condition but came with a hardtop which his did not have. I offered a premium (but not $3K) because of the cars location; he wouldn’t bite, although he conceded the EBAY car was equal to his in condition. I bid on the EBAY car and won it for slightly less than the Buy-it-Now. So this car set on EBAY for a week with a Buy-it-Now $4K to $7K less than AutoTrader “asking price comps” and no one clicked Buy-it-Now. Again, I didn’t get a screaming deal, I paid roughly market. The local car had been for sale for a while before I called and several months latter it was still for sale. Note that I would never have even called this guy (based on his asking price) if he hadn't been so much closer to me.

Also remember that dealers can and do receive a premium vs. private seller transaction prices. If someone is going to get those higher prices it’s definitely going to be the dealer. Most people feel much more comfortable buying from a dealer and financing, etc. is simplified. You can always get lucky, particularly if you have something unique (color, etc.) but generally that just isn’t going to happen and pricing a car too high means you’re going to sit on it.

charlesj

I fully understand where you are coming from. When I say I researched ebay, autotrader, and porsche pre owned, I did the following:

Ebay: Looked at completed listings that actually sold (listed in green), as well as the highest bids on ones that did not. Ebay to me represents the "now"market and for anything that is not wildly desirable and rare, usually means the low end of the price scale

Autotrader: Looked at all S models with under 10k miles and priced below equivalents. I do not consider autos or cabs equivalent, nor ones that are not well optioned. Th range I saw was around what I am asking up to the mid 70s

Porsche pre-owned: Really more of a reference as the asking prices for these will likely be far from the actual sales price in addition to them being worth a bit more being CPO and coming from a dealer. All equivalents I found were over 70k, sometimes by a lot.

I have received a number of calls from autotrader, at least one of which is still interested. I know if it needed to be sold quick, it would go out the door tomorrow for 60-62, but I am not trying to do so. Nor do I have the option to sell it for that. Well the final decision on lowest price is not up to me, I would say 65 give or take a tiny bit is probably where it is. That is almost 40k off the MSRP for a 2 year old car with 3k miles

toystwo

Sounds like you’ve got the process down. The only thing I would add is you can adjust pricing of non-S’s and Cab’s so that you have more comps. Both Cab’s and S are about a $10K premium new. Apply whatever discount or residual you believe is reasonable -- say 40% to 50% and you have a comp to your car. The residual values differ by only a point or two between models. Because there are so few cars sold on EBAY this helps increase your comps greatly. Same for cars within a year of your model year and equipment level differences. If you just look at sold auctions for something very close to your car you can’t come up with a sufficient volume of comps.

I just did my bi-weekly scan of closed EBAY auctions. Out of 260 closed auctions there were 6 that sold or 2.5%. Most were not good comp’s to your car but a 7K mile 2006 S (full leather but no other options listed) described as immaculate, sold for $51.1K.

Another comp I failed to mention previously was a non S 2007 which sold in the low 60’s in May.

Good luck with the sale.

Trader220

Since you can get at least 20 grand off a brand new one and yours is basically 4 years old now you have to consider that. Also no one paid list price for the car even back in 2006 so I know we all like to quote in terms of dollars off sticker but thats not a good yard stick for pre owneds. I have a client who piad 23k off sticker for a 2008 leftover in March and now wants to trade up and he's miffed that the car has lost so much value and comes at me with his car is a 100k car thats a year old. Yea but he paid something like 77 for it a few months ago and you can buy a brand new one for 5 k more than that. We sold 2 07 highly optioned coupes in July with PCCB brakes for something like 60k with CPO.

SeanInLA

Is this car listed on ebay? What is the highest "real" offer you have had? (did you try carmax?)

pval

Trader, I'm in the market for a new Boxster. Which dealership do you work with? Thanks,pval

charlesj

It's not on ebay, and I don't think it will be going there either. I have had numerous sight unseen hard offers for 60-61, soft offers in the low 60's, and some interest in the in 60s. I have not tried carmax, but based on the fact that any dealer would have to make a profit, I do not believe that is really an option.

Anyways, as mentioned, there is no rush, and it really is a great car with great options. For the right buyer, I think it will be worth it, but at the moment I am not in a position to lower the price beyond mid 60s. One thing I could do is lower the price to something like 65 firm (which I actually prefer), but not sure if that would be more suitable that the current 67500 neg.

Trader220

The markets telling you what its worth

bave

Not to mention the fact that while the car is in good shape, so are almost all low mile 911's. Its pretty rare to find a car with 3-10k miles that is beat, let alone a mark at all on it.

Also, while the car has options, alot of people will be outright turned off by the interior color, some people love it, some people will never consider it. Personally, it ranks up there with an automatic, so I wouldn't even consider the car.

Just my .02.

daddyscar

+1

I'd hold out for $65k for the right buyer especially if you're in no rush. Whenever I sell my cars it's always the same thing. You find 2-3 people that will take it for a couple thousand below your 'bottom' price. If time is constraint than I just let it go. But usually just the right buyer comes along 2-4 weeks later.

boolala

What is the residual for a 3 year old car with MSRP of 100 K? I would think probably no more than 55% right now. Do the math.

charlesj

I would have totally agreed with you before experiencing it. Never would have considered a brown interior in a million years before seeing this. It does not photograph well, but the interior color is actually quite stunning in person IMO. Its a very dark brown...darker than the pictures show. Goes really well with the exterior. But yes, it is a polarizing factor.

Anyways, appreciate the opinions/advice from everyone. I put the price at 65k (firmish) on autotrader, and will edit this to say the same. For miles/year/options, that's the cheapest listed on the site I believe.

gota911

If it did not have the Cocoa interior, I would, most likely, already be driving this car.

Good luck with the sale.

Para82

I saw a white 997 Turbo in Kuwait with the Cocoa interior and it looked gorgeous. It's true the pictures don't do that interior justice.

Para82

I think 65,000 is a fair price for this car.