They are just places to get an idea of possible worth... OK we all get it, Were do you suggest doing a realistic pricing check on car values ??... In some earlier threads about E-Scam pricing & sales on the web, you praised E-Scam for being the end all, be all, for non-mortor business sales... I personally don't buy or sell anything off E-Scam, I perfer to keep the extra 23% in my pocket....
The plain and simple truth is that any car is worth, not one penny more or less, exactly what someone is willing to pay you for it.
And that amount varies greatly depending on economic conditions, availability of buyers, vehicle condition, etc. Auto dealers realized this years ago, and set up Kelly Blue Book as a means for them to back up their prices. Most folks I talk to think KBB has always been an independent pricing service, but they aren't.
Also, owners are always over-valueing their cars because they look at many faults as no big deal because they've learned to live with them, while buyers look at them as a big deal because they're going to need to fix them. When I was selling cars for Ford, I was always hearing people say "I checked by KBB value and it was a lot higher than what you're telling me", and it was always the same deal... they had used the value for excellent or very good, when their vehicle was actually poor. When I would point this out to them, they would challenge me on all the issues with their car I pointed out by saying "that's nothing", or "that's no big deal", and I would say "if you were buying this car, you would demand I fix these wouldn't you?", and they would get the point.
Over the past year, I've talked to dozens of owners of 73/74 Roadrunners who's cars ranged from great to basket cases, and all of them were basing the price of their cars on what they saw cars listed at on eBay, Auto Trader, Hemmings, or similar venues, and I would point out what they saw was what a vehicle was listed for, not what it sold for. Between reserve prices, pulled bids, and deadbeat bidders, it's hard to gauge what prices are on eBay, and the other sources only indicate asking price, not selling price.
The guy I bought my latest car from had every reason to list his car at $4,500, and he had talked to lots of tire kickers, but no one had pulled the trigger. He pointed out how nice the body was, how the drivetrain was great, how it had lots of new parts; and I pointed out how it needed a new interior, bumpers, paint, and a host of other issues. I offered $2,000, and he decided $2,000 was a better deal than spending more of his time waiting for someone to show up with $4,500 and a willingness to pay his price, even though he had seen "lots of cars in worse shape sell for more on eBay!"
So, what's the best way to price your car? I would suggest looking at asking prices for similar cars, then reducing that price by 30%, and use that as your starting price. That'll get your car sold when the other guys are still holding out for their extra 30%
What I said about eBay before is it's better than CL, IBid, or other avenues for selling your parts, and I stand by that. Case in point, I bought the 150 MPH Rallye dash I mentioned in my post, for the rediculously cheap price of $50, and replaced the uncut dash in the Roadrunner with it. I took the uncut dash, put it on ebay, and it sold within a week for over $300, which is all going towards paying for a rechromed bumper and wheel well trim. And once my old bumper is off, it'll go up on eBay; and I expect it to sell for about $75 or $100, which will offset the cost of something else. Had the guy I bought my dash from used eBay, he would have sold his dash for about $150, which minus the 23% you hate, would still come out to $115 and change, or double what he made off CL.
And he wouldn't have had to wait close to three months to find a buyer.
