Need some advice

[village idiot]

I have my 1988 E30 up for sale locally, and have received a number of inquiries. However, the most serious sounding prospect wishes to pay me via paypal. Now I know paypal charges a fee to sellers based on the dollar amount, but it's only 2.9%+.30 or so their website says.

How confident should I be that I won't get shafted here? Has anyone else sold a vehicle using paypal?

The only thing I can think of is that I withhold signing the title and handing the keys over until payment clears.

Thanks for the help,
Tom

[linklaw]

I sold a car using paypal a couple years ago and would only do so if the buyer agreed to pay the paypal fees. He did and the transaction went smoothly. The reason for him wanting to use paypal (and probably your buyer's reason as well) is that the car can be purchased using a credit card. Like any other car sale, I did not hand over the keys or transfer the title until payment cleared. In my case, I transferred the money out of paypal into a bank account before I shipped the car. It's really no different for a seller than taking a check and can benefit the cash strapped buyer or the person who wants to get miles on their credit card. The car I sold was over $20K, so the fees were pretty heavy. The buyer understood this and we just added the paypal fees to the purchase price of the car. John

[village idiot]

Thank you for your response!

Paypal for 20k? yikes! Thankfully, I'm not selling anything even near that price range(2k for me).

I think I'll query him about his desire to use paypal and see if he comes up with an reasonable answer. If not, them no sale. And if so, then I'll do the same as you, no keys/title until the funds clear.

Thanks again,
Tom