I have a car I want to sell on ebay and wondered if anyone here has done it? I've been an ebay member since January 1999 and 95% of my activity is selling so I'm no stranger to listing stuff, I've just never auctioned a car before.

My question is how do you accept payment and not get burned. I get most of my payments through Paypal but what is to keep someone from "paying", picking up the car and then 45 days later disputing it through Paypal? At that point, they have the car and potentially the money.

I want to sell it on ebay as I think I'll get a little more for it and selling on craigslist seems so sketchy these days. The car I'm wanting to sell is a 1970's exact "splash" of a Meyers Manx with an aftermarket tube frame. Titled in my name for the last 30 years and through a California certificate of sequence, currently non-oped.

Any insight? TIA

Require small deposit via PayPal (state non-refundable) with remainder of payment via money order, cash, certified check...and hold the title until payments are final.

I bought my 914 on eBay. I had the seller send me the title before I made the final payment with a certified check. FYI. Good luck with the sale.

biggest problem with ebay is you have a riskless silent partner. car does not sell, still owe significant listing fee. car does sell, you owe significant listing fee and final value fee. paypal also takes their 4pts. in the end with a sale it works out to about 20% give or take. that cost should be part of your equation.

Thanks for the fast reply. I've seen auctions that required a deposit that was non-refundable but does that hold up with Paypal? In other words, if I state in the auction that the deposit is non-refundable would paypal deny a claim based on that?

Actually, they are telling me I can list up to six cars a year right now with no listing fees........... Promo! Trust me, I track what I'm paying and your right. For the smaller stuff, I'm losing 15-20% on ebay and Paypal. I know I'll take a hit on the final value.

That I don't know, I've sold two cars on ebay with no problems.

So did you just state in the auction that it was non-refundable or is there and ebay or Paypal "setting" for that? Thanks again.

EDIT: I am going to fully disclose the issues with the car so as long as the buyer isn't a dirtbag it should be all legit

I’ve done a couple ebay car sales. The listing fees are small. I take a Paypal deposit and then a wire or cash at pickup. I just did a $25k sale to a buyer in France. He wired money. Car and paperwork got picked up on Monday. The ebay fees were like $75.

But most of my sales are not ebay and buyer either wires money or shows up with cash. When I buy for myself I either send Paypal, bank check or pay cash in person. My purchases are usually $1-3k. My boss sends me with $25-50k cash, all the time, to buy cars. So far so good.

I certainly would have never done that as a seller...

Ebay is different than decades past - I have bought and sold a few cars over that span of time and everything has always gone well. Ask for the funds to be either wire or certified check - do NOT send the title before receiving payment in full + clearing. Most transactions of any large nature end up completing outside the realm and reach of ebay - which is preferred.

T

I sold a car to a dealer in England. It was a buy it now with best offer type of auction.

He wired the whole amount and bank fees were $25.

As for eBay, they charged a flat selling fee of maybe $125. Listing fees were $2-3, you don't need to go all out on listing options.

Buyer arranged for shipping and I just had to drop the car off to a local transport company.

I think that being clear on selling terms helps a lot to have a smooth transaction.

Good luck with the sale.

I've sold 100's of Porsches on eBay and have it down to a pretty tight strategy.
1. Be very honest in your description.
2. Take all 24 pictures, show the good and the bad.
3. Answer all questions, even the dumb ones.
4. Deposit by Paypal in 48 hours, full payment by bank wire in 7 days.

Deposits are non-refundable, though I've never had to enforce this.

Do not handle shipping, that is up to the buyer. This way if it gets damaged in shipping, it between him and his shipper, not you, him, and your shipper.

I do load the cars myself to make sure they are loaded properly, truckers can be rough.

Ebay fee's for cars are very fair, not like selling a part and paying a hefty final value fee.

Also, set your ebay requirements to anyone with more than 2 strikes for non-paying is blocked from bidding. This weeds out the deadbeats.

Good luck.

I’ve had good experiences with escrow.com. Great to have a bonded third party eliminate all doubt about funds for the transaction and the fees are really reasonable.

Try bringatrailer.com. A friend here just sold an Aston Martin on BAT and had a very good experience. Just a forewarning- be prepared to spend an hour or more just looking through the various cars!!

I'm familiar with BAT and your right, I could spend days,.... or stay married! Thanks to everyone who gave advice. I'm going to sell it and update this thread once I do. Once I sell the cars I need to I will hopefully get back to the 914!

I'd recommend joining the Porsche Club of America and listing the car in their online magazine. It's worth the nominal initiation fee. The buyers are standup people that know Porsches and they won't be scam artists. I have had two very good experiences selling Porsches this way.
Good luck,
Dan

Same, PayPal down payment....then wired bank to bank transfer. Best, Mark

Sorry but just about everything injunmort said is way wrong. I've sold several cars on eBay.
There is no final value fee for cars. If the car sells for under $2k it's a flat $60 fee. If it sells over $2k it's a flat $125 fee.
Do a $500 deposit with PayPal, and you pay the 3% PayPal fee on that, which comes to $15.
So for a car over $2k, you pay $140. That's all.

And if the car doesn't sell, there is NO FEE whatsoever.

The remainder of the transaction is handled outside of eBay (wire transfer, cash in person, etc).

Also, if you're a high volume seller, there's actually no listing fee at all. Just a $50 insertion fee regardless of what the car sells for. So if you're high volume on eBay, you'd pay even less.

I've sold a few cars on eBay, bought others, generally pretty smooth. Take deposit via PayPal then cash or certified funds. I have never sent a title prior to full payment.

When buying you can often find a forum member willing to check out the vehicle. My 914 came from Nevada. A member of the Amphicar forum, very Porsche knowledgeable, gave it a better inspection than I would have myself as he knew what to look for.

UShip has worked really well for me. Just be patient and wait for the right transporter at the right price.

Dan. It's a fiberglass buggy so I think the PCA crowd would laugh at me! Otherwise, I think that is a great idea

Yea when I get busy on ebay I usually sell 35-50 items at a time. Ebay sent me a message saying I could list up to 6 cars with no insertion fee so I'm guessing I'm high enough volume for them at least. I like to consistently sell on ebay and did it full time for 6 years but I have a day job and am working 15-20 hours a week of overtime. When I sell high volume on ebay I usually work 6-8 hours a night after the day job. I have four kids as well so I'm kinda extra busy.

One thing that complicates this sale is that I have the glass buggy on a VW pan but it comes with a Dave Barrett tube frame that will also have to be transported so the buyer may be looking at transport costs on 2 vehicles since the frame takes up as much space as the buggy.

Not to hi-jack my own thread but has anybody sold on craigslist? I'm leery of that since I've heard so many horror stories. It's a great buggy with a lot going for it, especially for a California buyer. Maybe I'll toss up some pix and ask for your advice.

I’ve done a couple cars on Craigslist but I’m selling for my shop so there are always a bunch of us there and it’s the shop address, not my home. Good for low price stuff. If I’m not at the shop when money trades hands, I just meet at my bank. Easiest and safest place for me to trade cash, titles and get a notery signature If I need it.

When I do use eBay it’s because it’s giving me more back than I can do for myself. So listing fees, PayPal fees, ect are a cost of doing business that I happily pay. It’s gets me in front of buyers quickly and easily and usually gets me more than the free sites. Sure, I’m gong to sell 2.0 Fuchs on world. But a 1980 Campagnolo aluminum freewheel, that’s an eBay item for me. It’s just using the right (online) tool for the right market.

I usually list a car in as many places as possible.
Craigslist, an appropriate forum (914world, TheSamba, etc), and eBay. Get the thing in front of as many eyeballs as possible for the best chance of a sale.
Just please delete your ad after the car sells! There's nothing more annoying than finding THAT car you were looking for, only to contact the seller and find out it's already sold.

I've never had a problem selling on Craigslist, but if you're concerned about weirdos just ask them to meet in front of your local Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-Mart, etc during a busy time of day. Anyone truly interested in the car won't say no.
I was asked to do that as a buyer last year when I was looking for a Ghia. Honestly I'd rather do that than drive out to some house in the middle of nowhere with a wad of cash and the theme song to Deliverance playing in my head!

Avoid U-Ship or at least be very very careful if using them. it is truly the wild west. A few years ago I sold a C Coupe to a guy, he didn't want to use my trucker, he saved $100 on U-Ship. The "trucker" that showed up was a dude with a converted motorhome which happened to be full of furniture. He unloaded the furniture, loaded the Porsche, and re-loaded the furniture, on top of the car! He had double-booked.