Used Cars For Sale On eBay

There are thousands of used cars for sale on eBay everysingle day.  In fact, eBay Motors is the most profitablesales division on eBay and naturally there are manyentrepreneurs who are interested in jumping into thismarket. For instance, eBay claims it sells an SUV every nineseconds and is the biggest online car dealer in America,exceeding the traditional car companies. In fact, there are15 million cars sold over the Internet each year - andgrowing.

The recent rapid growth of the consignment business modelhas made the used car market even more enticing. Manysellers are able to sell cars they have never even seen andwith no more risk than the cost of the auction listing. Somenegotiators even persuade the car owner to pay for the ad,thereby risking no more than their time.

The biggest single issue for this business model is thetrust of prospective buyers. After all, paying thousands ortens of thousands of dollars for a car sight unseen is anawesome leap of faith. Even buying for a plane ticket to gosee a car before paying causes buyers to be uncomfortable.

The best way sellers can overcome this fear is to use anescrow service. The one chosen by eBay is Escrow.com, whichhandles eBay auctions in the US and Canada.

An escrow service acts as a neutral third party. In anexchange of merchandise, the buyer sends his money toEscrow.com and the seller ships the product to the buyer.The buyer usually has two days to inspect his purchase, andif he is happy, he notifies the excrow company who releasesthe money to the seller, minus its fee. If the buyer isdissatisfied, he returns the undamaged merchandise to theseller, and after the seller receives his merchandise back(in satisfactory condition), the escrow company returns thebuyer's money. Thus both sides in the transaction areprotected.  The buyer almost always pays the fees for this,although sometimes buyer and seller split the cost.

Escrow.com has created its "Vehicle Services Division"specifically for dealing with the used cars, trucks, SUVsand almost anything else with wheels and a motor. The buyercan have a 160 point inspection performed before agreeing tothe purchase. This is an inexpensive service and certainlywill save the buyer any headaches.

* The buyer pays a $125 fee that is non-refundable* The seller is contacted and the inspection is carried out* The buyer receives a report* The buyer chooses to go ahead with the purchase - or not

Another choice for the buyer is to deposit his payment withEscrow.com and then take delivery of the vehicle.  Theseller ships the car after he knows the money is secure withthe escrow company. The seller must provide trackinginformation, which is verified by Escrow.com.

The buyer has between one and 30 days to thoroughly inspecthis new purchase (the period is negotiated between the twoparties ahead of time).  If this time expires and the escrowcompany has not heard from the buyer, it assumes he is happyand gives the purchase price to the seller.

The buyer may return his vehicle if he isn't happy andsometimes buyers and sellers work out partial paymentagreements, the buyer being satisfied with some parts of thetransaction, but not with others. If a dispute arises, it issettled by the American Arbitration Association.

The fee for this service is:

* $0 - $7,500 = value of vehicle: $125* $7,500.01 to $15,000: $170* $15,000.01 to $30,000: $200* $30,000.01 to $50,000: $275* $50,000+ = 6% of the value

Once both parties have agreed, the title transfer processbegins and Escrow.com will guarantee this too, for a fee of$95. Title transfers are handled by Centerpoint DiversifiedServices which works in all 50 states. The fee, naturally,doesn't include any transfer costs - it is only insurancethat the title will be expedited to the satisfaction of bothparties.

Escrow.com also offers a service that will ship cars almostanywhere in the world and will gather an auto history reportto inform sellers if their new chariot has been salvaged orstolen, suffered flood or hail damage, been in a fire oraccident, has had an odometer rollback or has been used as apolice car, a rental or a taxi.

Anyone considering offering used cars for sale on eBay wouldbe well advised to thoroughly learn the services availablethrough Escrow.com and offer those to prospective buyers.The trust factor will skyrocket and your chances ofcompleting sales will dramatically increase.