The internet has revolutionized practically every market, but it’s taken a while for the car market to catch up. This is partly because it’s hard to ship cars, but it’s also because buying a car is something that is much more sensible to do in person. You want to be able to look closely at the car for any problems, and of course, you want to be able to take it for a test drive. When shopping for cars in online car auctions, you simply don’t get to do these things.

Advantages of online car auctions

However, even though you miss out on something when using online car auctions, there are also advantages. For example, you may be looking for a specific kind of car, and maybe no one in your area is selling one. Or maybe there are only a couple for sale, but they have more mileage than you would like, or there could be any number of other things wrong with them.

On the internet, things are different. Not only do you have thousands of cars to browse through, but you actually have certain other things working in your favor. For example, there are many sites that perform online car auctions, which makes it a very competitive field. Thus, these businesses can’t get away with being dishonest. If they do try to swindle somebody, that person will inevitably go online and raise a fuss. And no business in this day and age wants that.

Disadvantages of online car auctions

In addition to the impersonal quality of using online car auctions, there are a few other disadvantages. For one thing, you have to pay shipping costs, and cars aren’t cheap to ship. If you live in a major metropolitan area, you might get lucky and find a car in your area, or you can at least find one in your region. But if the perfect car for you is thousands of miles away, you’re going to end up paying a pretty penny to get it to you.

Also, whenever you use online car auctions, you can never be completely sure that everything is  on the up and up. There are some auction companies that have been caught putting in fake bids on their own cars in order to raise the prices. And of course, there’s always the risk that everything will not be as described. That’s why it’s important only to use reputable companies.

Sick of dealing with the dishonest tactics of many car sellers? It may be time for you to start looking into alternatives. For example, did you know that the government is in the business of selling cars? And yes, while the government is not exactly known for its honesty, they tend to do people right when it comes to selling seized goods, and that includes car sales. Buying seized cars through government auto auctions is easy, and the risk of getting a lemon is very low.

Finding online car auctions

All you have to do is go onto Google and find the car auction website for your local or national government. Be careful, though, as many non-government websites that do online car auctions like to try to pass themselves off as government entities in order to look more legitimate. So look for the .gov at the end of U.S. government sites, or .ca for Canadian sites. Also, non-government sites tend to be a little bit more flamboyant with their marketing language.

Where do these cars come from?

And how does the government get these cars that it sells in its auto auctions? The less you know, the better. In many cases these cars are seized from criminals or people who failed to pay their bills. Or in other cases, they may come from deceased people who had no heirs to leave their cars to. But when shopping online car auctions, there’s no need for you to worry about this. If you don’t buy the car, someone else will, so you might as well take advantage of the opportunity.

Government auctions=good deals

With government auto auctions, you will get the best deal. Sure, other online car auctions tend to have pretty low prices, but these companies are still seeking to make a profit, so you will end up paying slightly higher rates. Governments, on the other hand, may be interested in making money, but since there are no individuals profiting from the business, they’re not so adamant about it. That’s why they tend to be cheaper.

But it’s not just the price that matters. It’s also the fact that government auto auctions are not going to try to trick you into thinking that a car is in better condition than it is. There’s no reason for a government organization to try to do that. They’ll be straight with you, so you can be more confident buying based on a picture and a description.

If you’ve done any shopping with online car auctions, you may be well aware of the issues that come with buying cars online. For one thing, you pretty much have to buy the car on faith that the seller is telling you the truth about it. And let’s face it: people on the internet can sometimes be untrustworthy.

But with repossessed cars for sale online, the story is a little bit different. In many cases, these are cars whose owners simply couldn’t keep them for financial reasons. Thus, often they’re still in great condition and may even have very low mileage.

Plus, the other advantage is that the sellers aren’t necessarily seeking a profit. Often, they’re local governments or law enforcement agencies that are just looking to unload the vehicles. And for you and other buyers, this means low prices.

In general, cars bought through online car auctions are cheaper than the ones you can get from a car dealer’s lot, but the disadvantages of buying cars online tend to balance out the cost advantages. Sometimes, it’s doubtful whether buying online is a good thing at all. But when it comes to repossessed cars online, the extra low prices put the equation squarely in favor of buying online.

What this means for you is that participating in online car auctions for repossessed cars for sale is that you can usually get cars at below the market rate. If you play your cards right, you can end up with a really nice car that you can potentially sell for hundreds or even thousands more than what you bought it for.

I’m not saying that you should go online and buy all the repossessed cars for sale that you can find. Sure, if you wanted to try to turn this into a business, you could do it. But in most cases, it’s probably not worth all the time and effort it requires to work with online car auctions. And then there are other complications—for example, a certain percentage of the cars for sale online are going to have problems that the seller either doesn’t know about or doesn’t care to share. So all in all, this probably isn’t the best business to get into.

But if you’re just looking for a car for yourself, repossessed cars may be just what you need. Just remember that what you see is what you get, which can be either good or bad.

It’s no secret that General Motors has recently been going through one of the lowest points in the company’s great history. While it’s going to be a while before they can truly reestablish their business as a strong 21st-century presence, the bosses of the company are currently looking at ways to spark sales with a new strategy. Specifically, they’re looking at performing online car sales with the auction site eBay.

Of course, by now the car industry is one of the last consumer sectors to be without a strong online presence. Everything else has been selling through the web for at least a decade now, but for some reasons the car industry has barely even tried to get into online car sales. But this recent economic crisis has everyone thinking more creatively.

With eBay, GM plans to use online car auctions to allow shoppers to browse through the listings of about 20,000 vehicles that are sitting on lots of GM dealerships across North America. If you see a car you like, you can either bid on it or choose the “buy now” option to start going through the buying process.

In 2008, the GM online car sales program began a pilot program limited to the state of California, but it wasn’t long before they started branching out into other areas of the market.

And what does this mean for you? For one thing, it’s now easier than ever to buy a GM car. With online car auctions, you may not be able to test drive the car, but since you’re going directly through the company, you can rest assured that they’re not using the type of scam techniques that are common throughout non-professional internet sales.

And the process is more than just clicking “buy.” GM and eBay plan to make the business similar to buying a car in person. There’s a negotiation process, during which you communicate back and forth with the company about your needs and preferred price, and finally you get approval from a GM employee, and the car is shipped to you.

Will online car sales save GM? Only time will tell. Now that this type of sale has started, there’s no doubt that other car companies will get on board, which likely means more innovative ways of car sales, plus increased competition, which can only be good for the average car buyer.