I've spent the last hour trying to find the thread here about why not to sell a car via paypal but can't find it.

A coworker is selling his truck on craigslist and an out of town buyer has offered him asking price sight unseen. The "buyer" wants to pay by paypal and have the vehicle shipped. I'm trying to convince my buddy that this is 95% likely to be a scam but he still thinks paypal is safe. Can somebody please point me to some good stories about A) how he can/will get ripped off by this B) how he should handle an out of town buyer.

I've never sold a car to a shipper, but I've sold engines and each time the buyer paid the shipping company and the guy picking it up gave me cash or certified check, does it work this way for a car too?

Just "google" paypal scams.. Plenty of info out there if you look.

Especially Craigslist sales done in Person...

The primary reason PayPal doesn't work is because they SIGNIFICANTLY support the buyer over the seller, almost every time. I mean, to the point where they, IMO, facilitate crimes by the "buyers". You can claim anything and they'll give the money back, then you're effed.

Bank check plus 3-4 weeks to verify authenticity, ACH transfer, or cash. Otherwise, no sale.

We're looking for an 08-14 Cayenne S ourselves, & I want to use my Visa to rack up airline points for future use with a purchase that size, & my PayPal where it is linked would be my back-up plan since the card is linked there.

However, as buyer protection, I'd do the transaction at a AAA office in person with the seller (or at dealer), which is what AAA recommends to avoid scams & get your title & registration in hand & properly transferred ten & there.

I don't know if AAA can do something like that with the parties at different offices, but it's worth your coworker checking. I assume the AZ-AAA also has DMV services, as we do in CA.

PayPal is basically a quasi-bank, but you still need to verify that funds clear any bank/etc. & that the check doesn't bounce so to speak - before signing over title.

Good Luck!
Tom
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To me that's false economy CC's have fees, it's big money on a big purchase. Offer to pay by CC but then ask how much cash, e-transfer or cheque, often the price drops by 5%, way more that what the points are worth.

The Paypal fees on the end of the receiver would probably be significant.

If the person is offering to buy via Paypal sight unseen, and pay for the fees, I'd say go for it as long as there is a 90 day waiting period between the purchase and vehicle pickup.

Also to note, PayPal doesn't listen to disputes if the purchased item is an automobile or real estate. I've sold a few cars via paypal before. At least the deposits were PayPal.

The way most of these scams work is by taking advantage of the time between a wire "posting" and "clearing". The buyer transfers the money and it shows up in the seller's account, so they think all is well and release the merchandise. The problem is that the bank won't officially "clear" the transaction until several days later. When the bank goes to reconcile the transaction, they find that the funds aren't available and then they "claw back" the money from the seller's account. Look at the fine print and you'll see that they're entitled to do that. I had a lawyer that got taken for 6 figures on a scam like that. Needless to say, he's not my lawyer anymore!

Just tell your co-worker to use escrow.com and have peace of mind.

Not sure about the details of your friends deal.
The scams that are being tried on me (Selling a few Piano's) are for the shipping fees.

Buyers offer full price. They will also pay for shipping, only for me to pay their shipper on their behalf. Shipper needs to be paid in cash, or Western Union etc.

In my case they act as shipper, and receive the shipping fees (approx. $900). The piano (or car in your case) will never be picked up. It is just about the so-called shipping fees.

This is their way of cashing in on stolen CC-account numbers.

Tell tales are:
Buyer is not asking educated and detailed questions.
They offer full price or more, only for you to pay a shipping company.
Method of payment is done remotely (instead they could walk into a branch of your bank to make direct deposit in your account).

Caveat venditor

I'm looking for a 996 crank, got an email looks legit, except the seller says:



Ummm.... no.

Told him to ship me the crank I'll have it magnafluxed and spec then I'll give him the moneygram or return the crank.
So far crickets.

I think this one is a scam, but does escrow.com do smaller items?

Even if the buyer is someone to trust, PayPal charges someone for their services. 2.9% of the total amount transferred plus 30 cents will be paid by either the seller or the buyer depending on how the transaction is set up. I have no idea what's up with the 30 cents.

For auto purchase at a distance.....Bank to bank wire transfer, clean, simple, only way to go. Best, Mark

I did buy my 914 'unseen' with a bank-to-bank wire, but that would take like a week (international banking) so... the seller wanted a paypall payment of 500$ so he knew I was serious and he was not waiting for a wire that was maybe not coming. So I paypalled him, showed him I was a real buyer and then got the bankwire details and from there all was serious. This was his choice to arrange it this way, paypall was new to me at that moment, but it worked for us.

Way to many scammers out there. No way I would allow PayPal to get into this mix. I do wire transfers; if the buyer can't meet me at his bank (branch) and wire transfer funds to my bank while I am standing there dealing with the bank employee, something is wrong. All of those Western Union, MoneyGram, etc, are just vehicles for theft.

If a wire transfer is not something you want to do, then go with an escrow company. I work to hard for my money to chance some asshat stealing it. Just my opinion.

I did not consider using visa....
good idea, points are good.

rich

Thanks Teeners! This thread and its abundant replies was enough to convince him. Long story short, after reading this, he messaged the guy back and uncovered the scam.

Paypal is good for deposits, not for full payment. If the guy gets the car and doesn't like something, or just wants some money back he can file a dispute and the money gets locked up, until you resolve it. That's fine if it's a $500 deposit, not if a $10,000 payment. And the percentage they take out can add up too.

Just say no, like Nancy said.

My favorite CL scam is when a "buyer" sends me a cashiers check, by FedX, for the big dramatic reveal, that includes shipping ... BUT I have pay cash to shipper who arrives to remove item. So, for poop and giggles I scan said check and send it to the mid west bank to verify. They proclaim it is the best "fake" they have seen!

Escrow.com has a bunch of different options. The one that would work best in the example you mentioned is "milestone", where you put the full amount into escrow and the funds are released to the seller only after you verify that the item is good. Great service (no affiliation).

Good to know, thanks.