Economics of auction sales are compelling – be it for the buyers or the sellers. No need to extol the virtues of auction sales process – everyone is aware. Otherwise many companies wouldn’t have taken the plunge into auction sales. Even individuals have done that successfully. If you are a follower of Berkshire Hathaway (A : Overview and Research" target="_blank" href="/symbol/BRK.A">NYSE:BRK.A)’s Warren Buffet then you could also be following the annual auction at eBay for a dinner seat with the legendary investor. Selling dinner ticket or even second hand items including cars on eBay - many have been doing that for years – but nobody knows if ever a car maker thought of selling new machines on eBay.
These days Motors Liquidation Company (Other OTC:MTLQQ) is in no ordinary situation. For record, Motors Liquidation Company is none but the reincarnation of old General Motors. The company in the first place came into existence as the old General Motors became bankrupt primarily due to an unstoppable fall in sales. No matter whichever book of tricks the erstwhile GM used there was no respite to falling sales.
If you can’t beat the opposition then either change the game or change the format of the game. GM management knows this hare and tortoise trilogy pretty well. Unable to prop up the sales at traditional dealer format, General Motors launched sales on an alternative platform i.e., online auction.
Beginning Tuesday, General Motors dealers in California can begin listing their inventories of some Buick, Chevrolet, GMC or Pontiac vehicles in three places on eBay's site: on a special co-branded GM and eBay Motors micro site (www.gm.ebay.com); on eBayMotors.com, where many dealers already list their new-car inventories; and on eBay.com, which lists all kinds of items well beyond cars. General Motors is careful enough to dub its latest venture with eBay as a move aimed at simplifying the car-shopping process.
Consumers will be able to browse hundreds of California dealer online showrooms, ask questions, negotiate prices, and arrange financing and payment to purchase a new 2008, 2009 or select 2010 car, crossover or truck online. With more than 225 GM dealers in California participating, shoppers can at any given time expect to see a wide selection of up to 20,000 new GM vehicles at very competitive prices.
Vehicles will be offered through eBay Motors' traditional formats such as "Buy It Now" (where shoppers agree to pay the advertised price) and eBay's innovative "Best Offer" option (where buyers indicate the price they are willing to pay and can negotiate online with the dealer for the vehicle).
