By:
Sydney Johnston
There are thousands of used cars
for sale on eBay every single day. In fact,
eBay Motors is the most profitable sales division
on eBay and naturally there are many entrepreneurs
who are interested in jumping into this market.
For instance, eBay claims it sells an SUV every
nine seconds and is the biggest online car dealer
in America, exceeding the traditional car companies.
In fact, there are 15 million cars sold over
the Internet each year - and growing.
The recent rapid growth of the
consignment business model has made the used
car market even more enticing. Many sellers
are able to sell cars they have never even seen
and with no more risk than the cost of the auction
listing. Some negotiators 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 the trust of
prospective buyers. After all, paying thousands
or tens of thousands of dollars for a car sight
unseen is an awesome leap of faith. Even buying
for a plane ticket to go see a car before paying
causes buyers to be uncomfortable.
The best way sellers can overcome
this fear is to use an escrow service. The one
chosen by eBay is Escrow.com,
which handles eBay auctions in the US and Canada.
An escrow service acts as a neutral third party.
In an exchange of merchandise, the buyer sends
his money to Escrow.com and the seller ships
the product to the buyer. The buyer usually
has two days to inspect his purchase, and if
he is happy, he notifies the excrow company
who releases the money to the seller, minus
its fee. If the buyer is dissatisfied, he returns
the undamaged merchandise to the seller, and
after the seller receives his merchandise back
(in satisfactory condition), the escrow company
returns the buyer's money. Thus both sides in
the transaction are protected. 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, SUVs and almost
anything else with wheels and a motor. The buyer
can have a 160 point inspection performed before
agreeing to the purchase. This is an inexpensive
service and certainly will save the buyer any
headaches.
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