eBay Motors adds parts and accessories shopping to app

eBay’s latest enhancement to its automotive marketplace partially automates the process of finding the right parts and accessories.

eBay Motors now enables customers to upload their vehicle’s make and model to an interface called “My Garage” to discover corresponding parts and accessories. A corresponding feature called “Fitment Finder” helps ensure that the listing works for a specific vehicle.

Shoppers can also use the app’s existing Community feature to chat with other users, ask questions, and get more information. Chat functionality facilitates conversations among buyers, sellers and the eBay Motors app community. A seller chat feature allows potential buyers to connect with sellers directly via the app to ask questions about a listing.

Seller chat also provides buyers with pre-written conversation starter sentences that facilitate interaction and direct online negotiation. Meanwhile, a community chat offering enables auto enthusiasts to comment on current listings using text and/or emojis.

All automotive parts and accessories listed on the eBay online marketplace will now be available for purchase in the eBay Motors app. Once users add a car, make, model and trim to My Garage, the app will only surface items that fit the vehicle. Customers can add multiple vehicles to My Garage, then select the one they need parts for in a drop-down menu. App users will know parts saved in My Garage actually fit their vehicle via a green “Fit” check mark symbol on the listing.

Previously a dedicated section of its main e-commerce site, eBay launched the eBay Motors marketplace as a separate mobile app in December 2019. Features include a personalized homepage, streamlined listing capabilities, and improved search filters. 

Shoppers can instantly access eBay Motors’ selection of vehicle inventory, while sellers can list their vehicles to eBay’s buyers. The app uses vehicle license plates to automatically populate key details such as make and model, year, and vehicle identification number (VIN). Sellers can also upload images and a video of the vehicle. 

When listing or viewing a vehicle on the eBay Motors app, images of the vehicle are automatically organized by artificial intelligence (AI) to provide a professional-quality listing. Buyers can perform featured searches to filter results by attributes such as type of vehicle, cars from favorite movies, or vintage cars that were popular in years past, and also save search results with a “favorites” feature. 

In July 2020, eBay initially expanded the functionality of the eBay Motors app by teaming up with Escrow.com to enable secure mobile and online transactions. Escrow.com will ensure funds of prospective buyers are protected until the vehicle has been inspected and accepted, and that sellers can more safely reach and transact with buyers over long distances.

“eBay Motors is the premier destination for auto enthusiasts and general car buyers looking for great value and selection, and it was our mission to distill those offerings into a functionality-packed app made by car-lovers for car-lovers,” said Ron Jaiven, GM of eBay Vehicles, at the time the eBay Motors app was initially launched. “We’re serving an elevated experience that is unrivaled in the market for buyers and sellers alike, and is a game-changer in the way users buy and sell cars.”