New to buying a car on eBay Motors

What to know before your first bid, and how VibeSifter fits in.

How eBay Motors listings work

Buy It Now is a fixed price. Auction listings end at a set time and the high bid wins. Some auctions have a reserve, a minimum the seller will accept, and some accept a Best Offer.
The card on VibeSifter shows the price and whether it is a Buy It Now or an auction. Everything else lives on eBay: photos, the seller's description, the title status, the seller's feedback, shipping terms.
Prices on VibeSifter are the price at the moment of the sift. Listings change and end. Always open the live listing.

Read the whole listing. The description, the title status, and the seller's terms. Clean, salvage, rebuilt and bonded titles mean very different things.
Ask for the VIN and run a history report before you bid.
Get a pre-purchase inspection from an independent mechanic near the car. For a classic, find a shop that knows the marque.
Know how the car gets to you. Shipping a car across the country is normal and costs real money. Get a quote first.
Pay through eBay. eBay has vehicle purchase protection programs; read their terms. Never wire money to a seller outside the platform.
Trust your eye, then verify. A listing that resonates with your phrase is still a listing. VibeSifter has not inspected, appraised or certified anything.

Set a price floor. The single best move. A pool with no floor is full of parts cars and projects. A floor of a few thousand dollars changes everything.
Choose an era. Classics is 25 years back and older. Modern is newer than that. Year range lets you box it in.
Sift a phrase, not a model. Try "first car," "daily driver," "kept," "sorted." Read the first row as a group before you read any one card.
Save the ones that stop you. The plus on each card keeps it in your saved hunt. From there you can export a case-file, a zip with the photos and the listing details, to send to a friend or a mechanic.
Sift Next 500 Listings when the first row feels thin. The pool is often thousands deep.

Used is eBay's condition for nearly every vehicle. It is not a judgment.
Restomod means a classic body with modern mechanicals. Survivor means largely original and unrestored.
Lit or high resonance match on a card means the car sits squarely on your phrase. It is about the match, not the car's condition.