Does anyone know how the car selling process works. If I ask for a $500 deposit and the deal falls through (for example, upon delivery they don't like what they see,) is that deposit non-refundable by default, or do I have to explicitly mention non-refundable? Is it even legal to do this?

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depends. if you misrepresent what youre selling, intentionally or not, then you would have to refund it. disclose that its non refundable in the auction. make sure that above all else, you get enough of a deposit to cover your auction fees so if they dont show, youre not actually losing money

You MUST state that a deposit is non-refundable.

If i plan on it selling for $1500-1800, is $500 too much to ask? Should I lower it to $250? I really don't know what standards are as I never sold a car on eBay before.

I usually ask for a 25%-30% deposit on the purchase price. But it all depends on what YOU want to set as a deposit.

Probably the best thing to do is look at a bunch of auctions that are on already. Look for those that are being sold by dealers. They have spent a good amount of time in making sure that the auction is worded properly to protect themselves. Don't get too specific about the quality of the car components. You can answer specific questions as they come in. Make comments like recommend you see in person before bidding, to the best of my knowledge, in my opinion, non-refundable deposit due within 48hrs, balance within 5 business days, vehicle sold as is and without warranty, serious bidders only... and so on. The easiest way to do it would be to open up MS Word and cut and paste what you like, then arrange in a way the looks good. Also, make sure you check for misspellings and that it is well written. If you write like a 6 year old, it will have a big effect on how well your auction goes.

When writing the auction, start with the good stuff, mix in a little of the bad, re emphasis the positives, make a note that it is not a show car but has the potential and would be worth putting the time and effort into it if to be one- this is true of most any car, let the bidder decide what that means in their mind. If it's a good daily driver, mention that also towards the top. Seems like a lot of people care about making sure that it has new(er) tires, take the time to have the oil changed so you can mention that it is ready to go with fresh oil and all fluids toped off. This shows that you care about the car and probably have done so while you owned it.

Don't start putting your auction together before checking a bunch of other out first. You'll feel under pressure to "come up with something" and won't like how it turns out. You will have an opportunity to change things after it's posted (which takes hours to show up), but only until someone bids on it. Then you'll only be able to make extra notes. If you want me to help put it together, let me know. Here's the one I put together for my Fiero, it's probably not the greatest, but it doesn't look half bad IMO.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymot...0082293537&rd=1&rd=1

Thanks for the words of wisdom. Unfortunately I put the auction up before I read your post, so I'll have to keep them in mind in the future.

Make sure to notice that eBay raised their fees for selling cars. They charge you $40 to list it and once the first bid is placed that meets any reserve they charge you another $50. It used to be only $40.

As said above, if you want a non-refundable deposit say so in the description. Unless you misrepresent the car and they file with eBay, you get to keep the deposit and don't have to give it back if they just change their mind. Some sellers on here have gone through with this when buyers tried to back out after they drove a long way to meet them.

The amount of the deposit is also up to you. State it all in the description and if they don't like your terms they shouldn't bid. I asked for a $1000 non-refundable deposit on my car, of course I had it offered at $6500.

You'll also need to state things like AS-IS, buyer responsible for shipping, etc. Don't assume that anything is understood. Put it in writing and CYA.

Here is a link to my recent auction if you want to look at some of the stuff I put in at the bottom of the ad.

Edit - You posted again while I was posting this... You can revise your auction as long as there are no bids on it so if anything was said here that made you want to change it, it is easy. There is a link at the top of your auction that says 'Revise this auction.". The only thing that I see that needs added is AS-IS and no warranty.

[This message has been edited by Songman (edited 03-03-2007).]

Ditto on what everyone else has said.....as long as you held up your end of the bargain (by fairly and honestly describing the car) and you clearly state that the deposit is non-refundable then you are entitled to keep the deposit should the buyer renig or back out for any reason.

This happened to me a couple of years ago when I had a brand new (114 mile) '88 Formula on eBay (it was a friends car, not mine). I stated a $1000 non-refundable deposit was required within 24 hours of the auctions closing. Someone used the "buy-it-now" and sent the deposit......the next day he backed out because the wife was not pleased with his purchase (note to self.....never get married! ). I kept the $1000 and relisted the car, which sold the next day.

The amount of the deposit should reflect the value of the car, but shouldn't be very high, especially if it is going to be non-refundable. My personal cap is $1000 if it is non-refundable......I think it is unreasonable to ask for more than this as being non-refundable. That doesn't mean I wouldn't ask for a higher deposit on an expensive car, only that the first $1000 is non-refundable.

Thanks for the input guys. I set the deposit at $400... about (or actually a little under) 25% of the price I am expecting to get.

quote Originally posted by mrfiero: This happened to me a couple of years ago when I had a brand new (114 mile) '88 Formula on eBay (it was a friends car, not mine). I stated a $1000 non-refundable deposit was required within 24 hours of the auctions closing. Someone used the "buy-it-now" and sent the deposit......the next day he backed out because the wife was not pleased with his purchase (note to self.....never get married! ). I kept the $1000 and relisted the car, which sold the next day.

That is exactly why I put this line in red in my ad!
Please do not bid on this car if you can't pay for it. Check with your bank or your wife before bidding so there won't be any problems after the fact.