GM taking a large step onto eBay

12 02 2008

GM taking a large step onto eBay

Posted by: in Marketing and Advertising

Filed under: Deals, eBay (EBAY), General Motors (GM), Marketing and advertising

There’s a lot of chatter around the blogosphere discussing a formally announced agreement between eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) and General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM). I picked up on the official GM press release at Autoblog.

Here’s what I make of it: GM will be placing all of its available GM certified, used automobile inventory from 3,900 dealers on eBay in the classified ad format. I believe this means that people won’t actually be bidding for the cars on eBay, but they’ll be able to look at them there, and then they will be referred to the dealership that has the vehicle they want. It might be similar to the way Craigslist operates. You know, Craigslist . . . an eBay company.

The GM press release states: “The eBay Motors agreement means that GM Certified dealers will have millions more eyeballs looking at their inventory, and more traffic drives sales,” said Mark Mathews, director, GM Used Automobile Activities. “Teaming with eBay Motors provides shoppers with convenient access to all GM Certified inventory and continues GM Certified’s commitment to interactive marketing. We now offer our dealers the most comprehensive program in the industry, listing their inventory on more than 300 websites.”

Comments made on Autoblog indicate less than great enthusiasm for the idea. At ideal, Autoblog readers find it interesting. The fact of the matter is that GM already gives its dealers big exposure on the web, not withstanding each dealer’s individual world wide web advertising efforts. The one thing I don’t like is that it appears GM dealers won’t be paying for their exposure on eBay. Where do I sign up for a deal like that?

While I kind of like the whole idea and think that if it’s well executed, it could work out nicely, there’s something else inside me that feels just a bit queasy when thinking about it. Even though I think the concept might be accepted with the same level of discomfort, only time will tell if it’s a good move that’ll pay off. I honestly hope it works out nicely for all celebrations involved, but honestly, I’m not holding my breath.