• Transaction features: eBay Motors is an auction site, first and foremost. It doesn’t have transactional infrastructure. PrivateAuto has transactional tools to facilitate every step of the sale.
• Payment options: eBay Motors doesn’t handle payments. Payments are made through the same legacy payment methods other sites use: credit, debit, check, cash, PayPal, etc. All of these options have limitations: they’re risky, slow, inconvenient, or have fees associated with them.
• PrivateAuto’s integrated payment technology, PrivateAuto Pay, allows you to instantly and securely transfer up to $1M without transaction fees, any time of day, any day of the year.
• Cost: both platforms charge a fee to sellers. eBay Motors takes a 2.8% cut of the buyer’s deposit as a “deposit processing fee”; PrivateAuto is totally free to the buyer.
• Escrow: eBay Motors has no integrated escrow service; they recommend Escrow.com for those who want the security of escrow. PrivateAuto Pay offers escrow-like safeguards at no additional cost and is instantaneous and intuitive.
• Scheduling: when buying a car through eBay Motors, the buyer and seller can use eBay’s built-in messenger feature to communicate about logistical issues such as the test drive meetup. This requires some back-and-forth. PrivateAuto has a built-in messaging and scheduling feature: the seller enters their desired location and availability, and the buyer selects a time. Both show up without ever needing to message one another.
• Negotiation: eBay Motors’ auction format pits buyers in a bidding war with other buyers. The site’s “Buy it Now” feature does not allow for any negotiation. PrivateAuto streamlines the negotiation process, which may help buyers get a better deal or may help sellers get more for their vehicle. The PrivateAuto app has an easy offer feature that lets would-be buyers offer less than a seller’s asking price. The seller can then accept, reject, or counter the offer. Sellers manage all offers in one convenient dashboard.

eBay Motors Review

Like Facebook Marketplace, eBay Motors provides a platform facilitating peer-to-peer car sales without the need for physical dealerships. The platform has great adoption; if you’re selling a car, there are a lot of potential buyers on the platform; if you’re buying a car, you can browse a large selection of makes and models for sale.

eBay Motors Features for Sellers

eBay Motors offers you three listing options:

1. Basic plan: $19
2. Plus plan: $49
3. Premium plan: $79

These plans allow you to list your car for 7–10 days, after which the listing expires (if the car doesn’t sell, you’re out your listing fee).

Even with those options, the platform’s lack of transactionality results in some points of friction:

• Buyer funds are not verified, leaving you to deal with eBay scammers.
• The lack of a scheduling feature leads to tension with setting up the test drive meeting.
• Lack of electronic docu-signing means more paperwork and hassle.
• Since there is no integrated payment processing, you don’t have a good way to get paid for your car.

eBay Motors Features for Buyers

eBay Motors gives you a wide range of vehicles for sale. You can filter searches by make, model, year, mileage, and location. The interface is a bit clunky, with banner ads taking up large portions of the screen and distracting from listings.

A lot of people mistakenly believe that buying a car from a dealer saves money. The opposite is true. That is why they get surprised when they realize eBay Motors combines private and dealer inventory. Most buyers choose platforms like eBay to avoid dealer fees and shop private-party cars exclusively.

eBay Motors also lacks transactional features that lubricate the private sale:

• No test drive scheduler means you must go back and forth with sellers to set a time to meet.
• Cannot make offers—negotiating a lower price is awkward and clumsy via messaging.
• No vehicle history reports leave you blind to any hidden issues or accidents.
• No e-signing of the bill of sale.
• No integrated payment system leaves you to muddle through unwieldy payment options outside of the eBay platform. Cash, bank transfers, PayPal, checks, and other external options introduce inconvenience, risk, delays, or all three.
• Difficult to complete the purchase in one go—multiple meetings are often required to exchange paperwork, check the vehicle history, and handle payment.

eBay Motors Pros

• More buyers
• More cars for sale

eBay Motors Cons

• No in-app features for closing the deal
• No way to verify buyer funds
• Limited fraud protection
• Vehicle history reports are only available for vehicles listed by dealers with AutoCheck
• Bidding wars mean you could pay more than the listed price of the car
• No secure messaging or scheduling feature for test drives
• Identity verification only happens if a buyer or seller is repeatedly reported to eBay for fraud
• No integrated financing option
• No fraud prevention system
• Can’t instantly pay for the car you want to purchase
• “Deposit processing fee”: 2.8% of the buyer’s deposit
• Fees and hassle related to expensive and unwieldy payment options
• Users who choose to use Escrow.com will pay additional fees
• Listings expire after a short time and sellers lose their listing fees

PrivateAuto Review

PrivateAuto provides you with a seamless, end-to-end dealflow powered by advanced technology. It includes a full suite of features to facilitate transactions: listings, identity and fund verification, messaging, scheduling, payments, and paperwork signing.

Sellers pay a listing fee. They can choose between paying $99 at the time of listing or $150 when they sell their car. If they choose the latter, they only pay if the car sells. There are no fees for buyers.

PrivateAuto empowers peer-to-peer car transactions with the following:

• Instant, secure payments of up to $1M with zero transfer fees.
• Voluntary identity and fund verification make it easy to identify trustworthy parties who can afford your vehicle.
• Scheduling features make planning a test drive easy for both parties.
• Offer feature facilitates fast, easy negotiations without any awkward messaging back and forth.
• E-signing of the bill of sale protects both parties and provides a legally binding record of the terms of the transaction.
• Private-party cars only; no dealer inventory.

Which is better for sellers?

PrivateAuto Features for Sellers

PrivateAuto removes tension from the private car sale. Self-serve technology solves the problem of trust between complete strangers, keeps your personal information private, and gets you paid instantaneously.

• Avoid scammers by choosing to deal with verified buyers only.
• Avoid wasting your time on tire kickers by choosing to deal with buyers who have verified funds.
• Manage all offers in one convenient dashboard. Accept, reject, or counteroffer buyer offers without having to juggle multiple conversations.
• Set meetup location and availability with an in-app scheduler; buyers choose a time slot and the test drive is scheduled with no back-and-forth.
• In-app docu-signing is convenient and reassures the buyer that they can send payment since you’re legally bound to deliver the vehicle.
• Instantly receive up to $1M from the buyer with PrivateAuto Pay. This allows you to get the deal done when you meet up for the test drive.
• Avoid costly and inconvenient escrow services with the escrow-like safeguards of PrivateAuto Pay. Buyers can even purchase a car remotely via an inspector intermediary and get the deal done on the spot.

Which is better for buyers?

PrivateAuto Features for Buyers

PrivateAuto makes it easy for you to make offers, schedule test drives, make payments, and get your car. PrivateAuto’s end-to-end transactionality gets the deal done in the following ways:

1. Complete the entire process, from initial contact through sending payment, without revealing any sensitive information or contact details.
2. Easily schedule test drives in-app without having to ask sellers about their availability.
3. Make your offers with our built-in offer feature. No more awkward convos along the lines of “Would you accept $600 less?”
4. Access vehicle history reports.
5. Apply for financing within the PrivateAuto app. If approved, our FDIC-insured lending partner will fund your PrivateAuto Pay account.
6. Both parties sign the bill of sale in the PrivateAuto mobile app before you send the payment. The seller is legally bound to follow through by signing over the title and delivering the vehicle.
7. Send a fee-free payment of up to $1M that the seller will receive instantly, enabling you to get the deal done on the spot.
8. Encrypted data protects you from hackers.
9. Self-service safeguards eliminate the need for an escrow service.
10. You can even sell or buy a car remotely with our escrow-like protections.

You get your car and the seller gets paid. It all happens quickly, in one session, with an intuitive step-by-step guided process that reassures each of you at every step along the way.

PrivateAuto Pros

• No buyer fees
• Easy offers and negotiations with no communication needed
• Easy test drive scheduling with no communication needed
• Apply for financing, get approved, and get funded without leaving the PrivateAuto ecosystem—no coordinating between multiple parties
• Vehicle history reports
• Identity verification for security
• In-app messaging protects your privacy
• Endpoint-to-endpoint transactionality
• Very low fraud/scam risk
• Guided documentation signing
• Instant and secure payments

PrivateAuto Cons

There are no cons to PrivateAuto. We intentionally designed it that way.

Which has more reach?

eBay Motors vs. PrivateAuto: Listing Reach

eBay is what we call a “meetingplace”: it is great at connecting buyers and sellers, but that’s about it. It lacks all of the basic transactional functionality that makes PrivateAuto so nice to use.

But that’s completely fine. You can still use eBay to find your buyer (or to find a car for sale) and then use PrivateAuto to close the deal. Best of both worlds, and we’ll show you how it’s done.

You can list it on PrivateAuto, share it on eBay Motors, and get the best of both worlds! We’ll give you a URL and a QR code that you can share on other platforms, allowing people to get to your listing however they like.

Which has better pricing?

eBay Motors vs. PrivateAuto: Fees and Pricing

eBay Motors doesn’t charge a buyer fee, but they take a 2.8% cut out of your deposit. Their listing fee ranges from $19 to $79 and lasts for 7 to 10 days. If the car doesn’t get sold in those 10 days you will have to pay for the listing again. At PrivateAuto we don’t do that.

PrivateAuto is free to buyers. Sellers have two payment options: upfront when they list the car or when the car sells. If you pay upfront, it’s $90 to list the car. It’s $150 if you choose to pay later—and you only pay if the car sells via PrivateAuto. PrivateAuto also allows you to share your listing on other websites at no additional cost.

Which has better transactionality?

eBay Motors vs. PrivateAuto: Transaction Features

PrivateAuto is the winner when it comes to features that make it easier for sellers and buyers to transact. Aside from our built-in messaging app, and escrow service, eBay doesn’t offer much transactionality; it’s pretty much your standard old-school classifieds platform—nothing fancy.

PrivateAuto offers the following transactional features:

1. Instant, fee-free funds transfer up to $1M, works 24/7/365
2. Verified buyer funds
3. Messaging and test-drive scheduling
4. Accept and reject offers, or make counteroffers
5. E-signing the bill of sale

Funds Verification

Buyers can choose to verify their funds before making an offer, boosting the trust sellers have in them. Sellers can choose to deal exclusively with buyers who have verified their funds.

eBay doesn’t verify funds, and sellers have no way to weed out tire-kickers and scammers (there are a surprising amount of scams on eBay Motors).

Messaging

eBay’s messaging feels like something out of the 90s, and many sellers will want to migrate communication to text or email, forcing both parties to give out their personal information.

PrivateAuto offers both parties easy, fast negotiations. Buyers can choose to accept a seller’s asking price or offer less. Sellers can accept, reject, or counteroffer with the click of a button.

Negotiation

eBay Motors doesn’t facilitate negotiations. Buyers and sellers can negotiate the old-fashioned way: messaging back and forth. This introduces friction and delays.

PrivateAuto builds negotiation into the workflow, allowing buyers to make offers and sellers to accept, reject, and counteroffer at the push of a button.

Test-Drive Scheduling

With eBay, all you have is unstructured communication and a lot of back and forth.

But on PrivateAuto, test drives can be conveniently scheduled in-app with no communication required.

E-Signing

PrivateAuto lets you sign the bill of sale right within the app. This can happen on the spot once both parties come to an agreement.

eBay Motors lacks electronic docu-signing and the trust that is built between buyer and seller when both have signed a legally binding document and each counterparty’s signature is confirmed to the other party.

Which has better payment options?

eBay Motors vs. PrivateAuto: Payment Features

You can quickly process transactions up to $1 million with PrivateAuto Pay. You can also apply for financing without leaving the app. There isn’t really a way to top that. Everything happens securely, with no need to exchange sensitive financial information. This provides much-needed speed and protection compared to traditional methods.

eBay Motors offers four payment options for buyers and sellers and each of those methods has serious drawbacks. Don’t test your luck with eBay payment methods, use PrivateAuto Pay.

eBay Motors vs. PrivateAuto: Other Services

eBay Motors doesn’t offer much beyond a “meetingplace” for buyers and sellers to find one another. PrivateAuto integrates insurance, car transport, financing, inspection services, and much more. Buyers don’t need to coordinate between multiple parties; PrivateAuto orchestrates the necessary logistics for them.

Which has better fraud prevention?

eBay Motors vs. PrivateAuto: Fraud Detection and Prevention

PrivateAuto wins in the area of fraud prevention. eBay doesn’t verify identity, and it exposes users’ personal contact information to strangers.

On PrivateAuto, both the seller and buyer verify their identities via selfies and driver’s license information. Sellers can choose to sell only to verified buyers, and vice versa.

The verification process is quick and simple, and PrivateAuto does not use your information for any purpose other than to verify your identity and make the vehicle-selling process safer for everyone—unlike eBay Motors.

Which has better services?

PrivateAuto vs eBay Motors: the Verdict

PrivateAuto is the best place to buy or sell a used car online. It outperforms other platforms like eBay across every metric of speed, security, and convenience.

Don’t get us wrong, we don’t hate eBay Motors and other “meetingplaces”; we understand that you might benefit from their widespread adoption and large reach.

That’s why DealNow was created: you can start a deal on eBay or some other site, then move it to DealNow to fast-track the transaction and process the payment.

DealNow gives you identity verification, payment processing, digital paperwork signing, and other transactional features in a fast, intuitive dealflow.

Want to try it? Whether you’re a buyer or seller, start a DealNow, now. You’ll create your own private deal room, invite the other party, and enjoy the smoothest transaction of your life.