eBay Reimburses Buyer, Giving a New York Construction Worker a New Start

SAN JOSE, CA  – eBay Motors (www.ebaymotors.com) announced that its three millionth passenger vehicle has sold in the U.S.

The milestone vehicle is a 2002 Ford F-250 pickup truck purchased by Patricia Weidler of Otego, N.Y., to help her husband, Dan, start his own construction business. The couple bought the pickup from 8-year eBay veteran David Pelis, of Pelis Auto Sales in Northampton, Mass. In celebration of the purchase, eBay Motors reimbursed the Weidlers, plus provided $3,000 in parts and accessories to help get their construction company started. For more details, visit www.ebaymotors.com/3millionsold.  

Dan, a long-time construction worker and volunteer for the New York Steel Union following the 9/11 tragedy, became sick with Lyme disease a year ago and struggled to maintain his three-hour work commute to the city each day. The Weidlers began planning to start a local construction business that would allow Dan to work closer to home with more flexibility. To get started, Dan needed a truck of his own.

“I knew having his own business would help him feel better,” Patricia said. “I found the perfect truck on eBay Motors, bought it for almost half the list price and was thrilled!”

“We’re happy we were able to help empower the Weidlers to get a new start,” said Rob Chesney, vice president of eBay Motors. “With our wide selection, user-friendly features and competitive prices, eBay Motors empowers our community to have the best car-buying experience possible.”

Patricia said her options were limited shopping for a car in their rural town. She went to eBay Motors to search outside the immediate area and feels she saved more than $5,000 by shopping on the site, purchasing the truck for only $8,886.

As more people recognize the opportunity to save time and money while choosing from a comprehensive selection, eBay Motors has become the most trusted and visited destination for researching and buying vehicles online.* A passenger vehicle sells on the site every 56 seconds.  

“Recent enhanced search capabilities and other vehicle research tools have simplified the purchase process for buyers, helping propel us to this milestone,” said Chesney.

Since it launched as a formal category in 2000, eBay Motors has constantly worked to improve the online automotive experience.  Recently, a number of changes launched based on user feedback, including the enhanced eBay Motors Local Market feature that allows users to search for vehicle listings within their zip code and a Kelley Blue Book tool that helps users gauge the value of the vehicle directly on the site. Additionally, users can shop with the new side-by-side comparison feature to view multiple listings all on one page.

About eBay Inc.
Founded in 1995, eBay Inc. connects hundreds of millions of people around the world every day, empowering them to explore new opportunities and innovate together. eBay Inc. does this by providing the Internet platforms of choice for global commerce, payments and communications. Since its inception, eBay Inc. has expanded to include some of the strongest brands in the world, including eBay, PayPal, Skype, StubHub, Shopping.com, and others. eBay Inc. is headquartered in San Jose, California.

About eBay Motors
eBay Motors (www.eBayMotors.com), a part of eBay Inc., is the Internet’s largest marketplace for buying and selling all things automotive.  The site offers everyday cars for everyday drivers, as well as collector cars, motorcycles, auto parts and accessories. eBay Motors is consistently ranked the No. 1 automotive site on the Web by Nielsen//NetRatings.

* According to Nielsen//NetRatings, eBay Motors is consistently ranked the No. 1 automotive site on the Web with 34% of all online automotive minutes spent on the site and more than 11 million unique visitors per month. (December ‘07).