Selling my non- running car on eBay. What scams might happen?

Dentoned

I've listed my car on eBay. The cam has gone and I can't justify repairing a 13 year old vehicle. I've listed it on eBay and it's got a lot of watchers over night and I have had a couple of good offers. It's a sought after vehicle (car derived van, Evri drivers dream!) I have stipulated cash only but what scams could I be subject to on sale? What should I be wary of? Any advice appreciated!

soolin

Dentoned said:

I've listed my car on eBay. The cam has gone and I can't justify repairing a 13 year old vehicle. I've listed it on eBay and it's got a lot of watchers over night and I have had a couple of good offers. It's a sought after vehicle (car derived van, Evri drivers dream!) I have stipulated cash only but what scams could I be subject to on sale? What should I be wary of? Any advice appreciated!

Did you list it correctly u def classified? if so you can insist on cash as it is just like selling on any ad type place, viewing , collection etc is between you and the buyer .

If you listed it as a BIN or an auction then you can’t allow any viewings as you can’t share your address unless someone actually buys it , so that might be an issue, you must also accept managed payments if buyer chooses to pay that way and if they do then you will need to ensure you use the QR code system when buyer collects.

Either way the most common scam is that ‘buyer’ will claim they can’t collect and will send a loader and the driver will pay cash. Then just before collection you will be asked to pay a refundable insurance payment into an escrow service , which of course the buyer gets and that’s the last you see of them. 

Alternatively that will claim a payment has been made and you’ll get a fake message from your bank or PayPal saying the money is held safely and will be released to you once courier has collected. 

Dentoned

I'm not sure if i did list it classified actually? It forced me to do it on the desktop version not the app? How can I tell?

Dentoned

Ah- No I haven't. Does listing classified make it safer?

Dentoned

soolin said:

Dentoned said:

I've listed my car on eBay. The cam has gone and I can't justify repairing a 13 year old vehicle. I've listed it on eBay and it's got a lot of watchers over night and I have had a couple of good offers. It's a sought after vehicle (car derived van, Evri drivers dream!) I have stipulated cash only but what scams could I be subject to on sale? What should I be wary of? Any advice appreciated!

Did you list it correctly u def classified? if so you can insist on cash as it is just like selling on any ad type place, viewing , collection etc is between you and the buyer .

If you listed it as a BIN or an auction then you can’t allow any viewings as you can’t share your address unless someone actually buys it , so that might be an issue, you must also accept managed payments if buyer chooses to pay that way and if they do then you will need to ensure you use the QR code system when buyer collects.

Either way the most common scam is that ‘buyer’ will claim they can’t collect and will send a loader and the driver will pay cash. Then just before collection you will be asked to pay a refundable insurance payment into an escrow service , which of course the buyer gets and that’s the last you see of them. 

Alternatively that will claim a payment has been made and you’ll get a fake message from your bank or PayPal saying the money is held safely and will be released to you once courier has collected. 

I've taken listing down after what you've said. I was scammed earlier this year with car insurance and I'm too scared to sell it any way I might get scammed again. 😭

soolin

Dentoned said:

soolin said:

Dentoned said:

I've listed my car on eBay. The cam has gone and I can't justify repairing a 13 year old vehicle. I've listed it on eBay and it's got a lot of watchers over night and I have had a couple of good offers. It's a sought after vehicle (car derived van, Evri drivers dream!) I have stipulated cash only but what scams could I be subject to on sale? What should I be wary of? Any advice appreciated!

Did you list it correctly u def classified? if so you can insist on cash as it is just like selling on any ad type place, viewing , collection etc is between you and the buyer .

If you listed it as a BIN or an auction then you can’t allow any viewings as you can’t share your address unless someone actually buys it , so that might be an issue, you must also accept managed payments if buyer chooses to pay that way and if they do then you will need to ensure you use the QR code system when buyer collects.

Either way the most common scam is that ‘buyer’ will claim they can’t collect and will send a loader and the driver will pay cash. Then just before collection you will be asked to pay a refundable insurance payment into an escrow service , which of course the buyer gets and that’s the last you see of them. 

Alternatively that will claim a payment has been made and you’ll get a fake message from your bank or PayPal saying the money is held safely and will be released to you once courier has collected. 

I've taken listing down after what you've said. I was scammed earlier this year with car insurance and I'm too scared to sell it any way I might get scammed again. 😭

If you use classified it is going to cost you £10 on eBay but then you take full control , if you sold as a BIN or auction you pay FVFs.  Alternatively  sell locally on Facebook or to one of those sites like ‘we buy any car’ , get a few price comparisons , see if it is worth just using a company that does it all or you and whether any drop in what they offer is worth taking rather than stressing out about selling privately. 

If you sell to a company then you at least aren’t goi got get buyers knocking on your door in a few weeks time-moaning that something else has failed, or that they can’t fix it. 

Dentoned

I only got offered £250 by a company. My mechanic said I'd get a lot more going private but I'm really scared of getting scammed as I need the money to buy my next car. 😕

rollingmoon

List it as a classified, auctions seem to attract more potless wasters IME and getting a no show after waiting 7 days is a lot of time to lose. You can put a contact number in classified ads - I use a burner phone for this, for obvious reasons! - and if you get an acceptable offer do not accept it via eBay, because you don't want the advert ending until the sale is completed. Message the buyer saying the offer is acceptable and ask that they contact you on the number listed in the ad.

If the buyer is legit they will send you a deposit (by bank transfer please) and make arrangements to complete the sale. Once I've got the deposit I change the listing heading to 'Deposit taken' and put somewhere at the bottom 'Deposit taken, sold subject to collection'. Hopefully then your buyer will turn up and take the car away, paying you the balance by bank transfer, which you of course will check has reached your account before the vehicle leaves the premises. Alternatively, if the seller jibs on you at this point, you can always 're-activate' the ad later.