Though in the past, discount jewelry, half-price furniture and bargain tech gear is what comes to mind when consumers turn to eBay, AutoNation and eBay Motors have teamed up to offer a special vehicle promotion. 

As part of its nationwide launch, AutoNation Direct, the online sales site for dealer group AutoNation, will be selling more than 25 vehicles for half price through eBay Motors.

The vehicles that will be offered 50 percent off MSRP include units from Ford, General Motors and Nissan within the 2011–2013 model year range. And these vehicles will be available through this Friday, March 30.

“A total of 29 Buy It Now vehicle listings are scheduled to appear on eBay Motors at half price over the course of the offer period, including a 2012 Chevrolet Corvette,” officials shared.

“The variety of vehicles available during the special offer period reflects the wide selection of new vehicles available to customers on eBay Motors at great prices every day,” they added.

So, how does it work?

After starting this past Friday, on each of the first seven days of the special offer period, four new vehicles per day will be listed at http://stores.ebay.com/autonationdirect, the company explained. These will  show up on the site at various times throughout the day on a first-come, first-serve basis.

“If the most recent listing(s) have closed, customers are encouraged to check back on the site as new half price vehicle listings will be posted throughout the duration of the offer period,” officials stressed.

And the two companies will be closing out the promotion with a bang. On Friday, a 2012 Chevrolet Corvette will be listed at half price at a random time during the day.

A Growing Trend

And this isn’t the first time a dealership group has taken advantage of eBay’s popularity with consumers.

This past summer, eBay’s Daily Deal website featured more than the normal electronics, home goods and accessories one might expect to find. Deal hunters browsing the site were exposed to deeply discounted vehicles, as well.

Trying something new, Group 1 Automotive had listed 28 vehicles on the site, including a Chevrolet Corvette offered for $60,305, a price which landed 15 percent below the vehicle’s sticker price.

And how did the promotion turn out?

Well, one of the listed Corvettes boasted 11,000 hits within the first two hours it was posted and 46,000 hits by the end of that very same day.

At the time of the promotion, Auto Remarketing spoke with Famous Rhodes, senior director of eBay Motors, and he noted that the aforementioned numbers illustrate the inventory marketing possibilities for dealers.

This was also only the second time eBay had offered vehicles on its Daily Deal site, at the time. In 2009, Wayne Ussery, Internet marketing director for Jim Ellis Auto, was approached by eBay representatives about piloting the Daily Deal promotion for new vehicles.

“I work personally with a lot of manufacturers, such as Kelley Blue Book, Carfax and eBay. eBay approached us knowing we were forward thinkers in the market, and this was something they hadn’t tried before. So, we were delving into it with them to see how it works, how a car would sell compared remote hard drive or flat screen TV,” said Ussery in an interview with Auto Remarketing. 

Jim Ellis Auto dealerships listed 20 Saabs — some of which were discounted by as much as 40 percent — and 20 Volkswagens. Out of these vehicles, the dealership group sold 11 Saabs, but no VWs.

But Ussery noted when Jim Ellis Auto participated in the promotion; parameters were that all the vehicles had to be new.

“With pre-owned vehicles you might have some more room to work with price, but with new cars, it’s the manufacturer retail price; that’s what you have to work with,” Ussery concluded.

When asked whether or not eBay would consider offering pre-owned vehicles on the site, Rhodes said at the time of the interview, “Currently the promotion is designed for new vehicles. The most important factor is the right inventory at the right price to provide value to both consumers and dealers.”

For more information, see the Auto Remarketing story here.