GM, eBay Extend Promotion; Edmunds.com Advises Consumers Make an Offer
By Michelle Krebs September 2, 2009General Motors and eBay Motors announced Tuesday they were extending their 
promotion that allows consumers to shop and start the buying process for Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Pontiac vehicles voluntarily listed by the automaker's California dealers. The promotion, launched Aug. 11, was to expire Sept. 8 but has been extended through Sept. 30. It could eventually be rolled out nationally.
Meantime, Edmunds.com, parent of AutoObserver.com, has analyzed pricing of GM vehicles on eBay and is advising consumers to avoid the "Buy It Now" pricing option. Instead, consumers should choose the "Make an Offer" option. Otherwise, they are apt to pay too much.
Edmunds.com analysts looked at the "Buy it Now" price on GM eBay and found the average to be 2 percent higher than Edmunds.com's True Market Value (TMV), a price that reflects what shoppers are actually paying for vehicles. On a $25,000 car, that amounts to about $500.
Edmunds.com encourages GM eBay shoppers to instead select "Make an Offer." But the online car shopping site also is suggesting if consumers want to speed up their purchase, their offer should be realistic, based on Edmunds.com's TMV, so that that is likely to be accepted quickly.
"So far, the program has inadvertently encouraged lowball offers and resulted in frustration on the part of consumers and dealers," said Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl. "In our continuing efforts to empower the automotive consumer, we are listing realistic discounts that shoppers can expect to get so that the purchase process is smoother, simpler and faster for them."
Edmunds.com has posted specific vehicle pricing recommendations to consumers on its site.
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