selling a car -paypal

The usual method is to have them leave a solid down payment, maybe $500 or so on paypal then pay the rest to you when picking up the vehicle. I would only take cash at that point, money orders can be faked! If the party cannot pay in cash, then have them pay you in whatever form they wish, but wait at least a week before letting them take the vehicle, that will give the check or whatever time to clear. Paypal's fees on a big purchase will KILL you! If the other party insists, tell them OK but they have to pay the fees.
 
Everything Eagle said, I will not except anything but cash if you intend to leave with the item...hell even cash can be fake:)

Paypal is safe way to make transactions and is great for most items but when that item gets pricey like the sale of a car Paypal will eat you alive in fees. So it is best as Eagle has already stated, take the down payment that way and the rest in cash or the purchaser does not go home with your property until method of payment has cleared your bank.

Still alive in snowy WV

dusty
 
Check with your bank and see if he can transfer the money directly into your account. Veryify with your bank that the money cannot be taken back out. Open a separate account for this transaction and close it after the transaction is complete.


Charlie Stephens
 
I once sold something for $750, and was payed in PayPal. PayPal refused to send me a check, it was a huge run around. I`ve never done it again.
 
Mike V., if it is 2.9% then a $10,000 car would be $290.30. If so, I'd do as Eagle suggests, have them pay the fees. Fast transfer. They can take the vehicle and the title when I get the okay from the bank.

Now for those who can think like a thief, is there any way the safety of my bank account can be compromised by using PayPal with someone who I do not know?
 
Be very careful with someone that wants to pay for the entire car with PayPal. It could be a scam.

Be very careful about wire transfers.

Be very careful with bank cashiers checks; many are forgeries.

Do not let the car out of your possession until enough time has passed for the funds to have fully cleared the bank. This can take WEEKS with an out of town check.
 
dean from bozeman said:
Now for those who can think like a thief, is there any way the safety of my bank account can be compromised by using PayPal with someone who I do not know?
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Directly no, but indirectly, yes. The biggest risk with PayPal is someone compromising your account, using your password, and sending money to themselves with it. If you do business with someone, once they get your account name, if they can guess your password, they are in.

You need to make your password very long, very cryptic, and mix numbers, letters, upper- and lower-case all in there. Make it impossible for them to guess.

I recommend "pass phrases" where you take the first letter of each word in a common phrase or sentence that you will remember.

For example:

"We moved to New York when I was 16!" makes your pass phrase

WmtNYwIw16!

Easy to remember, hard to guess.
 
Charlie Stephens said:
Check with your bank and see if he can transfer the money directly into your account. Veryify with your bank that the money cannot be taken back out. Open a separate account for this transaction and close it after the transaction is complete.


Charlie Stephens
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X2

A wire transfer to your NEW bank account is about the safest way to do larger money transfers.
 
dean from bozeman said:
Mike V., if it is 2.9% then a $10,000 car would be $290.30. If so, I'd do as Eagle suggests, have them pay the fees. Fast transfer. They can take the vehicle and the title when I get the okay from the bank.

Now for those who can think like a thief, is there any way the safety of my bank account can be compromised by using PayPal with someone who I do not know?
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There are two kinds of paypal users, verified and unverified. Verified users have a bank account attached to the account so paypal can attempt to filter out frauds using stolen cards. Unverified have only a Credit card.

Waiting for such a large amount can only be a good thing.
 
PayPal is fine for the deposit but if you take the whole payment in PayPal other then the fees you have to remember they act like a credit card company and if the buyer complains about anything they will freeze the fund untill they (paypal) are happy the buyer did not get screwed.
 
Could be the "buyer" is trying to rack up a bunch of air miles running it through his c/c via paypal. Personally I agree with most of the above warnings, plus even cash is risky with the number of "good" counterfeit bills in the world. The bank transfer, while not completely riskless, is the least risky unless you're equipped to proof each and every cash bill.
 
I would have loved to get all those airline miles when I bought my PU. I just paid $500 PayPal and the balance with a bank transfer. Instead of airline miles, I got to shell out $20 to the bank for the privelige.
 
My paypal account only allows withdrawals of $500 per month. That could be a pain in the rectum if a large amount of money enters your account.
 
My bank manager said a wire transfer is the only safe way to sell a car. I sold a '32 Ford to a guy in Switzerland and demanded a wire transfer. It worked fast and was safe. The problem is for the buyer as he has to trust you that he will get his car. Once the transfer is done between the two banks he can't get it back (like a stopped check). I sold two Model A's in the states this way too. Ironically, I'm typing this from Germany not too far away from the first guy.
 
Roger V said:
My bank manager said a wire transfer is the only safe way to sell a car. I sold a '32 Ford to a guy in Switzerland and demanded a wire transfer. It worked fast and was safe. The problem is for the buyer as he has to trust you that he will get his car. Once the transfer is done between the two banks he can't get it back (like a stopped check). I sold two Model A's in the states this way too. Ironically, I'm typing this from Germany not too far away from the first guy.
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I also sold a car to someone from Switzerland. He was here and wired the money to my bank account. Went flawlessly. With a wire transfer the buyer has to exhibit more trust than the seller.
 
barnstuf said:
My paypal account only allows withdrawals of $500 per month. That could be a pain in the rectum if a large amount of money enters your account.
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That's because you're "Unverified". You can have the limit lifted by "Verifying" your account with PayPal.

I'd avoid accepting payment for a large purchase via PayPal simply due to the fees. Cash or direct deposit would be the way I'd do it.

Now, if I were purchasing a car, I probably wouldn't hesitate to use PayPal and rack-up mega credit-card rewards points in the process. ;)
 
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