Safe Way To Be Paid For Car?

[Boone60]

I'm planning on selling my '94 Corvette Convertible, and leaning towards listing it on E-bay. I don't want to be caught up in any scam, and have been thinking about how I'll accept being paid if it does sell. So far I'm thinking about requiring a $1000 Paypal non-refundable deposit, and the remainder in cash (with a testing pen for verification) or wire transfer to a bank account dedicated solely for this sale--withdrawing immediately afterwards, payment within 7 days or lose the deposit.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Kathy R]

Sounds good.

 

When I sold my Z4 last year I took cash only.

[Reddog900]

I bought a vehicle on Ebay located out of state. In discussion with seller and after speaking with his bank officer, we agreed that I would wire transfer the money into an escrow account to hold the car based upon my inspection on a specified date and approx time. ONce I was satisfied with the condition, I would contact the bank officer to release the funds to the seller who confirmed with seller that funds were released and title/paperwork was transfered at that time.

This worked great but it was due to upfront communication with seller and obtaining their committment that this would work. Car value was $20K so as the buyer I was concerned as well about the condition of the vehicle, etc... The seller facilitated a conversation with his service garage so I could get a confirmation of the condition of the vehicle. ALL worked out great, it just takes communication and your desire to calm or reduce BUYER REMORSE

[Lets_Play_Two]

I'm planning on selling my '94 Corvette Convertible, and leaning towards listing it on E-bay. I don't want to be caught up in any scam, and have been thinking about how I'll accept being paid if it does sell. So far I'm thinking about requiring a $1000 Paypal non-refundable deposit, and the remainder in cash (with a testing pen for verification) or wire transfer to a bank account dedicated solely for this sale--withdrawing immediately afterwards, payment within 7 days or lose the deposit.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

I've sold two motorcycles on eBay with a Paypal deposit and the balance by wire transfer. I see no reason to have to set up an account solely for the purpose of the wire transfer. This is a bank to bank deal and no way the buyer should have access. He gives you his bank info and you give it to your bank for wire purposes.

[Ken H.]

Doesn't eBay still offer/use escrow.com as a third party?

[Lets_Play_Two]

Doesn't eBay still offer/use escrow.com as a third party?

 

I don't know the answer to that. I never had a need to use escrow services. Both cases, I got cash-->buyer got title.

[VinnyR11]

I'm planning on selling my '94 Corvette Convertible, and leaning towards listing it on E-bay. I don't want to be caught up in any scam, and have been thinking about how I'll accept being paid if it does sell. So far I'm thinking about requiring a $1000 Paypal non-refundable deposit, and the remainder in cash (with a testing pen for verification) or wire transfer to a bank account dedicated solely for this sale--withdrawing immediately afterwards, payment within 7 days or lose the deposit.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

For what it's worth, I would never pay a non-refundable deposit if I hadn't seen and inspected the car first. You may scare away buyers with that.

 

[Aluminum_Butt]

Paypal is not perfect. The sender can come back within a period of time (30 days?) and file a dispute. Paypal will remove the funds from your account, or attempt to charge your CC or other Paypal funding mechanisms if the funds are no longer there. They will freeze your PP account if they can't recover the funds immediately. You may ultimately win the dispute, but it could suck while it's in the resolution phase. You have to have at least one funding source on your account, but I would consider removing my bank and/or debit accounts before doing this. I got burned this way a couple of years ago when I sold $600 worth of speakers. Ultimately, the resolution worked in my favor, but it left a bad taste for me.

 

Wire transfer has some of the same issues, I think. I know I once had proceeds from a home sale wired to my bank, and the bank wouldn't let me touch it for 2 or 3 days because the funds can be retracted. Check with your bank.

 

The key for me would be to actually talk to the buyer and establish a rapport. As Vette owner/buyer you should have some things in common.

 

 

[Smoky]

I bought my 'vette in LA, and because it was international, a wire transfer had a long delay, 7 to 14 days.

 

So I went down with >$20,000 in US travelers cheques. I got to answer 'yes' to the over $10,000 question by US customs.

 

His bank happily accepted them, but I had to do a lot of signing!

 

My Credit Union had lots of $1000 travelers cheques for just this purpose, our dollar was high then, and lots of Canadians were going south for vehicles and other big ticket items.

[Boone60]

Thanks for the ideas.

[Green RT]

Sounds like you got a lot of suggestions but just a comment on your thought about setting up a special bank account just for this transaction, then withdrawing the money right after the buyer deposits it. The bank probably won't let you withdraw the money until they have had time to confirm the deposit (and time to collect interest on the float).