ARI and Donlen announced that they have partnered with eBay Motors and OnLane Inc. to remarket out-of-service fleet vehicles via the Web. “Donlen Corp. customers can now sell select vehicles to the general public, realizing higher returns than most traditional fleet channels,” said Layne Weber, vice president - vehicle remarketing for Donlen. According to Bob Graham, remarketing manager for ARI, the pilot program started with nine eBay Motors’ dealers in the Atlanta, Ft. Lauderdale, Philadelphia, Chicago, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, Houston, and Los Angeles markets. “The eBay dealer picks up each vehicle and performs a complete inspection and takes digital pictures of the vehicle,” said Graham. “This same information and images are sent to ARI. The OnLane system also provides ARI with a direct link to each vehicle’s eBay listing for easy access. The advantage to the eBay dealer is that they get a 21-day exclusive from ARI to retail the vehicle,” added Graham. Both Donlen and ARI set a wholesale floor price on each vehicle. The eBay dealer and the fleet management company share the amount above the floor price when the vehicle is sold. “This gives the eBay dealer the freedom to make decisions and sell vehicles at ‘wholetail,’ in which prices are at the low end of retail and just above the higher end of wholesale. This provides the financial incentive for eBay dealers to push for ‘retail’ on all vehicles they think it makes sense,” said Graham. Weber added that since the inception of the program in early November, Donlen secured buyers for over 90 percent of the units offered on eBay. “Donlen has validated that eBay can be a viable option for remarketing off-lease fleet vehicles to the general consumer market,” he said.