Is there a safe way of putting a down payment down on a private sale?

I live in NY and have been looking for a southern 1GT. I've found that the good ones get snatched up in less than a day or two. I feel like my only option is to offer a place holding downpayment (~$500) to prove that I actually intend on purchasing the vehicle, because realistically I can't book a flight and fly down there without it being sold.

Is there a safe way to do this so I don't get scammed?

 

Private sales make this hard for sure. I know you can set up escrow's if you know the right people and all that, but that could cost more than it is worth for you. Hopefully some one here chimes in with something more useful.

 

"Safest way" is to finance the entire thing at your bank or credit union. Otherwise, no. You can open an escrow account, like your would if you were buying a house, or take a bit of risk by deciding whether to trust the seller is, at least, legit. In which case, you and the seller can write and sign a contract that details how much you paid as down payment, how much you'll pay at what intervals, and what percentage you'll pay the seller for allowing you to finance. If you go this route, pay a notary to witness both of your signatures. You'll have civil (lawsuit) recourse if the seller does something bad, but probably no criminal consequences if s/he rips you off.

 

Hire a lawyer in the area to deal with it? I've never done it, but barring the receipt for down payment and a bill of sale, there not a ton you can do. If you're remote, ask for their wire transfer info, or pay the PayPal fee for them and use that? Worst case scenario would be to send them a certified check.

If you had lawyer handle it all for you, you could just likely get invoices for it all. Hope this helps.

 

FOMO is the driver behind SO many scams. And it's hard for a seller to not acceept the bird in the hand, rather than the two in the bush. I wouldn't want the hassle myself as a seller when I know the thing is going to sell easy anyway.

Perhaps another idea is to take a mini vacation in the South? No lawyer fees, no back and forth with escrow, plus you get to size the person up. And if you don't find one, well, you got some good BBQ or Tex Mex at least.

Other idea is to hire a service to purchase one for you. I believe they exist. Of course, it will cost you, people want and need paying for their time. Hence why I suggested a vacation first!

 

If the person is open to it, I’ve done a deposit to hold truck parts via Venmo or PayPal and just used the option of “making a purchase.” If the deal falls apart Venmo and PayPal are easier to get your money back than trying to go by the seller.

 

Maybe PayPal? I've used to send a deposit to do a fly and ride to buy a motorcycle. I've never been scammed and had to test paypal's fraud protection, but they seem to help out in obvious scams. Stay away from Zelle and the like, they have zero protections and say it outright in their fine print. Once you send money it is a done deal. If the buyer would wait a couple of days you could get a bank check with brief detail notes of the transaction in the memo and FedEx it overnight to them.

 

Ooh, yeah did not think of that. Don't really know much about Venmo's protection but Paypal are pretty good about getting the money back if a deal falls through. One thing though they are clamping down on misuse of the 'Friends and Family' free service. I'd definitely treat it as a business transaction and pay the 3-ish percent if I used them for any major purchase.

 

Or like I did last time was pay the deposit using “purchase transaction” and then when we met in person I paid the full amount in cash and the person refunded the deposit on PayPal right there. No fees and I was protected if they tried to scam me. Good luck.