General Motors' deal with eBay leads to few sales

The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that "An effort to sell General Motors Co. cars through eBay Inc.'s (NASDAQ: EBAY) online market is generating some leads for participating auto dealers but hasn't yet sparked a spurt in sales, dealers said."

In the program's first week, there were 2,400 offers that led to negotiations, but the companies declined to say how many of those actually culminated in sales -- which is never a good sign. The fact that the GM site on eBay is not a traditional auction site makes it difficult to gauge how many sales it's leading to. People submit offers on the site and then negotiate with individual dealerships to arrive at a sale price.

While GM has received praise for improvements in customer service in recent weeks, the program's feedback rating on eBay tells a different story. Out of a total of four feedback ratings left so far, three were positive -- but two of those were left by the same person. One was negative: "Used 'Buy It Now'. Listed @ 'wrong' price. Dealer refused to sell. GM no help !!"

That only four feedback ratings were left would seem to suggest that the program has not sold very many cars directly so far.

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