While Cars and Bids lets you auction your car, it doesn’t do much to help you get the deal done.
We made PrivateAuto Pay to protect you against the fraudsters that abound on Cars and Bids and other auction sites—and to make vehicle transactions smooth, convenient, and fast.
What are my payment options?
What are the Payout Options on Cars and Bids?
Cars and Bids gets eyes on your car, but it doesn’t have any transactional infrastructure.
Online auction sites, such as Cars and Bids and Hemmings, function as “meetingplaces” to connect a potential buyer to a seller—and then leave them in the lurch to negotiate issues such as payments, document signing, and the rest.
Cars and Bids doesn’t provide payment support. They leave you and the prospective buyer to navigate payment on your own. Here are your options:
- Bank transfer: cumbersome, exposes your banking info to strangers
- Credit cards: processing fees, potential chargebacks, and fraud risk
- PayPal: fees and transfer limits
- Cash: risky and inconvenient
- Checks: slow, inconvenient
Then there’s PrivateAuto Pay. It’s so easy and intuitive, you’ll wonder where it’s been all your life.
Are bank transfer safe?
Are Bank Transfers Any Good?
Bank wire transfers are a frustrating and cumbersome way to get paid.
1. Potentially risky. Exposing your bank account details opens the door to fraud.
2. Inconvenient. You and the buyer need to have multiple back-and-forth exchanges to orchestrate the transaction. You’ve got better things to do with your time and attention.
3. Slow. Transfers can take days to fully process due to low account limits. If you’re smart, you won’t hand over the title until you’ve received the funds into your account. This forces the buyer to pay you, then wait—an act of faith on their part. It also turns what could be a quick transaction into a drawn-out affair.
PrivateAuto Pay enables instant transfers with no limits or transfer fees, any time of day, every day of the year. Encrypted data keeps your information secure. You get escrow-like safeguards in the palm of your hand, and the PrivateAuto dealflow keeps both you and the buyer protected.
Can credit card payments be good?
Are Credit Cards A Good Way to Get Paid?
Credit card payments have processing fees and are a potential fraud risk.
- Credit card processors such as Stripe charge 2–3% or more of the total transaction amount. Say you’re selling a $40K Bronco: that’s $800–$1200 diverted from your pocket.
- There is always the risk of chargebacks or fraudulent transactions when accepting credit cards, especially from strangers. Buyers can initiate disputes and reversals more easily.
Is PayPal any good?
Are Payment Apps a Good Way to Get Paid?
Peer-to-peer payment apps like PayPal seem convenient, but they’re awful for a private-party car transaction.
- Low sending limits are unsuitable for high-dollar payments. PayPal has a $10K limit on personal accounts.
- PayPal’s fees of 2-3% quickly add up on large payments.
- Venmo has a limit of $4,999 per transaction, which is woefully inadequate for most cars.
- PrivateAuto Pay is like Venmo for high-dollar transactions.
Risks of cash payments
Is Cash A Good Idea?
Physical cash is a bit sketchy, especially where large sums are involved.
Here are some drawbacks to receiving a physical cash payment:
- Counterfeit cash: while counterfeiting is rare, do you know for sure that the bills are genuine?
- Physical safety: do you know the person you’re dealing with? How do you know they’re not going to attack you and take back their cash as soon as you’ve transferred the title and handed them the keys?
- Paperwork: do you know how to do the bill of sale and title transfer for your state? Will you have a record of the transaction in case the other party wants to contest it?
- Inconvenience and awkwardness: do you enjoy counting out stacks of bills under the watchful eye of a stranger?
- PrivateAuto Pay allows you to pay cash—digitally. All the benefits of physical cash, none of the drawbacks.
Risks of checks
What About Checks?
If you’re smart, you won’t even think of accepting a personal check unless you wait for it to clear—and who wants to deal with that delay?
While cashier’s checks are more trustworthy, even they can be forged. The only way for you to be certain a cashier’s check is good: meet the buyer at their bank and have the bank verify the funds.
If you want to skip the inconvenience (and the limited banker’s hours), welcome to PrivateAuto Pay.
What is DealNow?
What is PrivateAuto Pay?
PrivateAuto Pay is our banking integration that allows for instantaneous, unlimited fund transfers, any time of day, any day of the week. No transfer fees. No hassle. Just pure convenience.
PrivateAuto Pay is great for users of PrivateAuto, but what about someone selling their car on Cars and Bids? We’re glad you asked.
DealNow is the easiest way to close your own vehicle deal, anytime, no matter where the car is listed. It’s the safe and simple way to avoid fraud, sign documents, and instantly transfer money, all in one app.
DealNow for Sellers on Cars and Bids
1. Invite the buyer to DealNow via a custom link.
2. Enjoy identity verification, in-app messaging, and a test drive scheduling feature (none of which require you to exchange contact info).
3. Meet the buyer and let the buyer drive your car.
4. You and the buyer go together through a step-by-step transaction process in which you each confirm relevant details. From mileage to the VIN to the condition of the vehicle, we help you both prevent any errors.
5. You and the buyer each electronically sign an official bill of sale. This is stored in your DealNow account as a legal record you can refer to down the road.
6. The buyer is prompted to initiate payment.
7. You get a notification of funds received and confirm receipt of payment.
8. You sign over the car title and hand over the keys.
DealNow is so smooth, so safe, and so fast that you’ll never want to sell a car without it. No matter where you find your buyer—from Cars and Bids to Craigslist to the friend of a friend—DealNow will help you get the deal done and get paid, right now.
Cars and Bids FAQ
Does Cars and Bids have an integrated system?
Cars and Bids doesn’t offer an integrated ecosystem. PrivateAuto does.
We’ve partnered with reputable providers for the following services, all of which can be accessed through your PrivateAuto dashboard:
– Car inspection
– Car financing
– Car transport
– Car insurance
– Car warranty
Our integrated payment platform, PrivateAuto Pay, gives you instant payments at any time, in any amount.
Our bridge product, DealNow, allows you to start a deal on any platform and complete it with PrivateAuto.
PrivateAuto is a complete tech stack and solution set for every part of the private-party transaction.
Which vehicles are good for an auction?
The auction format is perfect for unusual or enthusiast cars. These vehicles can’t be easily valued with a vehicle value calculator or a Kelley Blue Book search. The auction format lets you see what the prospective buyers are willing to pay.
Here are some car categories that may do better via an auction than a standard listing:
– Influencer cars
– Custom-built vehicles
– One-off vehicles
– Classic cars
– Celebrity vehicles
– Limited edition vehicles
– Estate sale cars (often required by law to have multiple offers)
If your car is unique in any way, consider auctioning it on PrivateAuto. If your car is a mass-market car, you may be better off listing it in a standard sale.
Are online car auctions safe?
PrivateAuto has created an online auction service that is safe, secure, and convenient. We verify the identity of buyers to weed out fraudsters. We verify funds so that your winning bid isn’t a tire-kicker. And we allow you to get paid securely via PrivateAuto Pay.
Should I auction my car on Cars and Bids?
If you want to wait several days for your listing to be live, and have no way to receive payments safely and conveniently, you might consider auctioning your car on Cars and Bids. If you want to have a successful auction on an intuitive, secure platform that allows you to get the deal done and get paid, you’re going to love PrivateAuto.
How can I protect myself when selling a car privately?
To protect yourself when selling a car privately, we recommend the following practices:
1. Don’t give out your contact information.
2. Verify that the buyer has the funds to purchase the vehicle.
3. Deal with verified buyers only.
4. Receive payment through PrivateAuto Pay.
How much do sellers usually pay in auction fees?
Depending on the auction site, sellers usually pay a listing fee. Many also charge a commission. The latter is typically 4–5% of the car’s listing price. For valuable cars, this can be in the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.
PrivateAuto charges sellers a $25 listing fee and a $150 closing fee when the car sells. We don’t take a commission on the sale.
Do I need an escrow service to auction my car?
When you use a platform like Cars and Bids, it’s smart to use an escrow company because the Cars and Bids platform has few safeguards.
When you use PrivateAuto, we give you escrow-like control and protection. Unlike an escrow service, PrivateAuto Pay is free and instantaneous.
– No more waiting for “regular business hours.”
– No more forking over hundreds or thousands in escrow fees.
– No more coordinating between buyer, seller, and escrow agent.
Does Cars and Bids charge a buyer fee?
Cars and Bids charges the buyer 4.5% of the winning bid amount with a cap of $4,500—PrivateAuto charges only a $150 closing fee.
Additional Resources
Brad Parker
Contributing Author
Brad Parker is the CEO and co-founder of PrivateAuto, where his dynamic entrepreneurial spirit and visionary leadership are driving the transformation of the automotive industry….