SHOULD YOU TAKE PAYPAL PAYMENT FOR YOUR CAR?

- KL Nichols

A friend called me to say that he had sold his 63 Corvair Spyder. That in itself was nothing new, I hear from a lot of car sellers both before and after the sale. I am involved in the collector vehicle market.

What was different is that he told me that the guy who bought the car paid him by PayPal. Again not to unusual, but in this case he received the full $16k payment by PayPal. Not good!

First, PayPal charges for their service, a hefty charge, as much as 6%, on $16k and that is close to $100.

Second, PayPal protects the buyer, not the seller, at least they protect the buyer a lot more than the seller. What does that mean? PayPal will refund that $16k to the buyer at the drop of a hat, and leave the seller holding the bag! Once the money is refunded, the seller will probably play hell getting his car and title back!! Especially if it is in Alaska (another story for another time), Rhode Island, Hawaii or outside of the US. At best case scenario you will be stuck for return transportation and in this day of high fuel prices, that can be 10% or more of your vehicles worth!

Before I say anything else, I want to say that I love PayPal, but it has it's place. If you need to use PayPal to get an Earnest Deposit, that isn't bad, but be prepared to lose the entire amount if your sale goes south.

PayPal ain't God, but they do sit at his far left hand side, at least where your money is concerned and they are not easy to talk with. I have seen grown men brought to tears with frustration when trying to find an actual person to talk to at PayPal! It has been said that, "God is easier to talk to than eBay or PayPal!".

Did I mention that eBay owns PayPal? So it might follow, that if you piss off one, you may have scored a twofer! Something that might happen if you have spent the money you received thru PayPal for the sale of your vehicle and PayPal wants it back to refund it to the buyer. If that happens, I see lawyers and court time in your future! PayPal has no sense of humor where money is concerned. The reason is that they refund the money to the buyer and then expect the seller pay them back.

Copyright K & L Enterprises 2008