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Lemon Law News
Buyer Beware -- What to Expect When You Buy a Car on Ebay
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The first thing you might notice when you go to  is how comprehensive it appears--on the surface, it seems to have all the bells and whistles of many car buying sites on the internet. For example, on the home page, there is a vehicle finder, icons for financing as well as assurances for the security and safety of transactions. In addition, there is a listing of categories that includes just about anything that has a motor and wheels.
Sharks in the Internet Pool
So what’s the problem? Although auction websites, like Ebay proactively take steps to verify buyer and seller identities, these measures are far from flawless. Internet fraud often succeeds because of a lack of real world accountability for online transactions. For example, a sophisticated website for a non-existent business can be created within days, and often the only contact information available is a free or web-based email address.
“If You Believe That Then I Have a Bridge to Sell You”
What happens when Joe Smith posts a 2001 BMW with a starting bid of $500? Even a relatively inexperienced user of auction and trader sites would naturally be suspicious of this type of posting for a car that typically averages about 70 to 80 times more than that. But can you hold websites like Ebay and Auto Trader accountable for postings like those of the disreputable Mr. Smith? Consider the following statistics from the Internet Crime Complaint Center (ICCC) survey on the FBI, Internet Fraud web site: Internet auction fraud was by far the most reported offense, comprising 62.7% of referred complaints. Non-delivered merchandise and/or payment accounted for 15.7% of complaints. Credit/debit card fraud made up 6.8% of complaints. Check fraud, investment fraud, computer fraud and confidence fraud round out the top seven categories of complaints referred to law enforcement during the year.
The bottom line is if you visit an auction site like Ebay assuming you’re going to get the same awesome deal for a car that you got on a vintage Star Wars poster, you may be in for a real disappointment. The wisest course of action is to educate yourself to recognize the danger signs of a dud deal.
Danger Will Robinson
The following are some things to be wary of when visiting auto auction or trader sites:
- An unusually low bidding price for a normally high-priced vehicle
- Photos that don’t provide any real indication of the quality of the car
- Buyer’s feedback--blatantly bad or “too good to be true”
- Requests for information like driver’s license or social security information
- Unusual payment method stipulations (e.g., Western Union only)
- Lack of S&H (shipping and handling) information as well as insurance/warranty for bad parts or damage during delivery of the vehicle
- Deals outside the U.S.--there is no way for you to seek recourse if the deal goes bad
- Inability to contact the seller or business. Typically, if you can contact the seller via email, their intentions and level of reputability come through loud and clear.
Simply put, don’t make rash decisions when completing business transactions over the internet (particularly for significant purchases like an automobile)--use common sense and trust your instincts if the deal doesn’t seem legitimate.
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