Buying and Selling Cars on EBay

 EBay can be a great place to buy or sell a car. Today there are both Dealers and Private Party sellers on EBay. The exposure on EBay is tremendous. If you are looking to buy a used car on an EBay Auction, be cautious. I would recommend you get familiar with the whole EBay process if you aren’t already. I would also recommend that you try to keep your search for a vehicle close to your area, unless you are trying to find a collectible or rare vehicle. When you do an EBay search you can choose the amount of miles you want to search from your zip code. When you find a car that you want to bid on, make sure you consider the conditions that are written in the sellers conditions. Such as deposit after bid, pick-up time, and so on. When looking at the listing see if there is a vehicle history report. Sellers can post a report for you to see, or get your own report. All the information to run a history report is available in the auction information. You can communicate back and forth with the seller through EBay format for any questions you may have.

Should you win a bid, I recommend you use PayPal for a deposit on the vehicle. PayPal is a great resource and they will stand behind you if there are any issues. I have been buying and selling cars and other items on EBay with PayPal for years. I have not had a single problem. When you win the bid and put down a deposit, you will then have to go get the car or have it shipped. When you go to pick-up the car and it is not as described on the EBay Auction, you are not required to buy the vehicle. If everything is as described then you can pay the balance when you receive the vehicle and the title. This is a good way to protect yourself when buying a car on EBay.

A word of caution if you have been bidding on a car on EBay: I have had bidders email through EBay saying that I sent them an email with a second chance offer that says I will sell the car to them at half my reserve price. The email will ask them to call or send an email somewhere outside of EBay. Then someone tells then to Western Union the money. The buyer is all excited that they are getting the car so cheaply they go ahead and send the money. The problem, there is no car. They sent the money to a scammer. Since the transaction was actually done outside of the EBay system, EBay cannot do anything about the scam.

  Another scam that has been happening with purchases, it is one where the buyer will give you a deposit with a credit card (since you are a private party you can’t run their Credit Card) and they tell you they will bring a Cashiers Check or Bank Certified Check for the full amount. The check they bring looks great, only it is no good. You won’t find this out until after you deposited the check and the bank calls you in a few days.

Good Luck, Be Careful

Joe Slick