Deposit on a second hand car

klsh-79
Community Member

I would like to make a deposit of $500.00 into Ebay for a deposit on a second hand car. How do I make this transition safely .

The car is in Victoria and the owner has contacted Ebay and made arrangements for this to go ahead.

Please advise.

Message 1 of 6
Latest reply
5 REPLIES 5

Re: Deposit on a second hand car

lyndal1838
Honored Contributor

Ebay does not get involved in financial transactions......run  mile from this SCAM.

Message 2 of 6
Latest reply

Re: Deposit on a second hand car

First up this is not ebay ...this is a memebers forum so no one from ebay reads this.

Second - ebay do NOT take part payments for cars.They dont take full payment for cars - its nothing to do with ebay! 

 

If your seller is saying ebay do then be prepared to lose your money.

 

If you want to do a deposit and payments you have to work it out with the seller. 

I suggest you get to know ebay better before buying anything of value as its full of scammers - lots of good sellers but plenty of shonky sellers too! 

 

 

 

 

 

Message 3 of 6
Latest reply

Re: Deposit on a second hand car


@klsh-79 wrote:

I would like to make a deposit of $500.00 into Ebay for a deposit on a second hand car. How do I make this transition safely .

 


With a great deal of difficulty, enough to make it an unwise option even if the seller is on the level. 

 

ebay won't accept partial payments via their checkout, and there is no PayPal buyer protection on cars, so even if you paid them directly via PayPal, if anything were to go wrong, you could have a hard fight to get your deposit back.

 

I agree it sounds like there's a huge potential for a scam here, especially if the owner is saying they've contacted eBay to make arrangements - there is no such facility on eBay at all, so I would cease all communication with the seller now. 

Message 4 of 6
Latest reply

Re: Deposit on a second hand car

The only way to buy a car on eBay is to go and inspect it first.

If it's interstate or too far, FORGET IT OR LOSE YOUR MONEY.

image host
Message 5 of 6
Latest reply

Re: Deposit on a second hand car

@klsh-79,

 

This is a classic scam.

 

As has been said, eBay are not involved and do not guarantee anything in this sort of purchase.

 

Quite apart from the very high possibility that this is indeed a scam, you would not be wise at all to purchase a car sight unseen. Remember that used cars do not have a warranty unless one is specifically spelled out in the contract. It's very much caveat emptor; if you buy a lemon, there's no recourse.

 

You say this car is in Victoria; you've just joined eBay and have no experience in buying on eBay. That puts you very much at risk if your first intended purchase is a car. Are you in the same state? Can you look at the car before handing over any money? If not, if the seller is saying something about escrow and his own courier delivering the car to you and so on, then it's a confirmed scam.

 

  • Don't buy a car before looking at it personally.
  • If the deal seems too good to be true, it IS too good to be true.
  • Don't buy a used car without having the RACV (or similar in your state) inspect it. The RACV link is here.
  • Don't hand over a deposit before seeing the vehicle.
  • Don't buy quickly. No deal is so good that you have to buy RIGHT NOW.

 

Being hurried into a purchase or concluding a deal is a classic scammer technique, designed to get you on the back foot and feeling too eager and anxious to think carefully and consider before handing over money.

 

 

Message 6 of 6
Latest reply