Selling a car on ebay - good idea or avoid?

Jonx999

I've sold plenty of stuff on ebay, but never a car.  We have an old car (2006 Nissan Note) which I'd like to sell, so wondered if ebay is a sensible option or a bit risky.  For example, will I be inundated with dodgy characters and scammers?  What happens if I use the auction format and the winning buyer turns up and then tries to haggle the price?  How do buyers normally pay?

Does anyone have any experience of selling a car privately on ebay (or similar sites like Facebook Marketplace)?   

DE_612183

what about guntree?

FlorayG

Lots of people will ask questions. The winning bid pays by PayPal before collecting usually, or you can insist on cash on collection. If they try to haggle on collection just tell them no and inform Ebay they never collected the item. Be careful with PayPal. make sure you have photographs of them collecting the car and get a signed receipt and also a picture of the numberplate of the car they come in, because some scammers will pick up the car and then say that you gave it to somebody else and they haven't got it

subjecttocontract

I sold a 2 year old Fiesta on EBay a few years ago. Cash on collection was required, buyer paid cash. It went very smoothly. Perhaps I was lucky.

caprikid1

Ebay is no more risky than any other platform to be honest, honest description, get ID when they collect and make sure cash or cleared funds. Probably more worried buyers than sellers !.

born_again

Make sure you update V5 online once sold, do it before they leave & get confirmation email. That way no unwanted tickets, from someone giving wrong details or saying they will deal with updating DVLA & never do.

https://www.gov.uk/sold-bought-vehicle

Nobbie1967

FlorayG said:

Lots of people will ask questions. The winning bid pays by PayPal before collecting usually, or you can insist on cash on collection. If they try to haggle on collection just tell them no and inform Ebay they never collected the item. Be careful with PayPal. make sure you have photographs of them collecting the car and get a signed receipt and also a picture of the numberplate of the car they come in, because some scammers will pick up the car and then say that you gave it to somebody else and they haven't got it

EBay gives you a collection code which is scanned when the item is collected to prevent this sort of collection fraud. Just take pictures of everything and note all faults to avoid problems on collection.

marcia_

 I've sold two cars on ebay cash on delivery and not had a problem 

Jonx999

born_again said:

Make sure you update V5 online once sold, do it before they leave & get confirmation email. That way no unwanted tickets, from someone giving wrong details or saying they will deal with updating DVLA & never do.

https://www.gov.uk/sold-bought-vehicle

Thanks, that's a great tip, I didn't realise it was possible to update the V5 online.

Jonx999

marcia_ said:

 I've sold two cars on ebay cash on delivery and not had a problem 

That's encouraging.  Did you use a fixed price or auction?

knightstyle

We have sold our last two cars on Ebay, just be ready for the scams and time wasters but we did get a few serious enquiries.  Made sure they paid by bank transfer from an account in their name, did not let them drive because of insurance and never let the keys leave my hand or pocket.