Take Precautions Before You Buy A Car On Ebay

Shopping online is one of the great advantages of having an Internet connection. However, if you are buying a car online precautions are necessary to avoid possible online scams and fraud, especially from auction sites like eBay.

More than 10 million shoppers visit eBay every day and a car is sold every 60 seconds. Most transactions are completed without any problem but horror stories do happen. Most of the time fraudulent cases arise when the buyer or seller does not follow the official procedures. For a Connecticut woman this was a $9,500 mistake. She found a car she liked, placed a bid and was then contacted by the seller. He cunningly suggested to skip the payment through eBay and offered her the car if she sent a check directly to him for the $9,500 she had bid on it. To her great surprise, the check was cashed and the car never came.

In Texas, a man purchased a “certified” car on eBay following all the required steps and his car broke down only six hours after he picked it up from the dealership. After taking it to a mechanic, he was told that his “certified” car needed a new clutch and transmission, a major repair that should be normally done only after driving a car tens of thousands of miles. The dealership and eBay turned their backs on him and now he’s pushing legal action against them.

These are only two stories from hundreds of yearly online scam or fraud cases. Online auction frauds make up 9% of complaints received by the Federal Trade Commission. BuyingAdvice.com has a few tips and suggestions to reduce the chance of being spoofed by eBay sellers:

• Be on guard – Ask for the VIN, find vehicle history reports and request maintenance records. Once you see the car, make sure its VIN matches the information you were given. You can also request a copy of the title.


• Don’t pay cash – With most credit cards you can stop payment if you suspect fraud or are not satisfied with the service. Don’t send checks, money orders, wires or deposits.


• Don’t trust eBay’s seller feedback blindly, the man in our Texas story did! Also, visit eBay’s customer review forum to investigate possible fraud activity by the seller you are interested in buying from.


• Check the vehicle in person and take it to a mechanic – Most cars on eBay are sold “as is,” including problems and mechanical defects. If you’re too far from the dealership, pay a mechanic in that area to check if for you.


• If you suspect fraud, report it at [email protected]

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