The bottom line: eBay Motors lists your car for buyers across the country, not just near you, for a flat $34, or $79 if you list it at over $15,000, and takes no cut of the sale price. It suits a car that would appeal to a particular buyer who may not live near you, if you have time to write the listing and answer buyers yourself.
If the buyer checks out with Secure Purchase, Caramel, eBay’s checkout company, collects the payment and pays you the balance only after it has your title.
The catch is that bids on a car aren’t binding, so eBay can’t make the winning bidder complete the purchase.
If you’d rather have a firm price than wait for a buyer, Sell Car Advisor’s comparison tool gets you several instant offers at once.
eBay Motors lists your car to buyers nationwide
- Listing fee is $34 or $79
- 40 photos with either fee
- No percent fee on sale price
- 2.8% fee on deposits via eBay
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Buyer reach 25% 3/5
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Safety features 25% 4/5
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Listing cost 20% 3/5
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Time to sell 15% 4/5
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Ease of listing 15% 3/5
What We Like
- A car sells on eBay Motors every 60 seconds
- You can pick auction style or fixed price format for your listing
- A free AutoCheck history report on a car or truck built in 1981 or later, with a 17-digit VIN
- Built in messaging system keeps all buyer communication in one place
- Reserve price option lets you set a minimum selling price on auctions
What You Should Know
- You need to answer buyer questions and schedule inspections on your own
- Title paperwork is yours to handle unless the buyer checks out with Secure Purchase
- Some sellers on eBay’s forum report waiting for their money from Caramel after the car had gone, so send Caramel the title as soon as you have its prepaid label
Automated assistant: general info, not legal advice
Answers come from our state paperwork data and published guides. Confirm anything binding with your state DMV.
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How Does eBay Motors Compare to Alternatives?
Where you sell depends on what matters most to you: the highest price, the fastest sale or the least work.
| Platform | Best For | Listing Fee | Time to Sell | Key Advantage | Main Drawback |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| eBay Motors | Buyers beyond your area | $34 or $79 flat fee | Up to 10 days at auction, or 30 at a fixed price | Nationwide buyers, vehicle history tools | Bids are not binding, buyers can back out |
| Cars & Bids | Enthusiast and unique cars | No fees | 3 to 4 weeks (7-day auction) | Community of car fans, listing support | Pushes no reserve auctions, weak buyer checks |
| Facebook Marketplace | Selling to someone nearby | Free | No set time; you wait for a local buyer | Lots of local interest | You sort every message yourself to find a real buyer |
| Craigslist | Local cash deals | $5 | Varies widely | Simple and direct, no commission | Safety concerns, meet at banks |
eBay Motors costs more upfront than Facebook or Craigslist, but it reaches buyers across the country, not just locally, which matters if your car would appeal to a particular buyer who doesn’t live near you.
Facebook is free and gets a lot of views, but you’ll spend time sorting through fake messages. Craigslist is simple but needs more care about safety. Cars & Bids is good for special cars, but it wants you to list without a reserve price.
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Audience match 30% 5/5
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Sale price potential 25% 4/5
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Listing cost / fees 20% 5/5
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Process transparency 15% 5/5
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Time to sell 10% 4/5
- Sellers keep 100% of sale price
- Over 80% sell-through rate
- SafePay handles money and title
- Listing help from the team
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Buyer reach 25% 5/5
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Safety features 25% 3/5
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Listing cost 20% 5/5
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Time to sell 15% 4/5
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Ease of listing 15% 5/5
- Free to list, with no fee on a local sale paid in person
- Sell directly to buyers near you
- Post to a local buy and sell group at the same time
- Buyers see your profile and seller ratings
- You handle the payment and paperwork yourself
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Buyer reach 25% 5/5
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Safety features 25% 1/5
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Listing cost 20% 5/5
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Time to sell 15% 3/5
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Ease of listing 15% 3/5
- $5 to list a car by owner
- Fee paid by card when posting
- Direct cash deals with buyers
To see what different buyers offer for your car, get quotes from several at once:
Compare instant offers before you accept one
How to List Your Car on eBay Motors?
1. Pay the Listing Fee
You pay one listing fee, and your car’s price sets it. It’s $34 if you list the car at $15,000 or less, or $79 above that. On an auction, the price that sets your fee is the highest of your starting bid, reserve or Buy It Now price.
Either fee gets you 40 photos, an auction of up to 10 days or a fixed-price listing of up to 30 days, and an AutoCheck report on a car or truck.
Step1
Step2
Step3
Step4
Step5
Step6
Pay the listing fee
Add photos and video
Add vehicle description
Choose listing format
Select shipping preference
List it
2. Take Good Photos and Write Your Description
Show every angle of your car in the photos, including any dents, scratches or damage, because buyers will find out anyway. Either fee gives you 40 photos, so there’s room for all of it.
Your description should cover the vehicle history, any repairs you’ve done, known problems, special features and the title status. If the car has ever had a salvage, flood or other branded title, eBay requires you to say so, even if the title is clean now.
eBay asks for the VIN or the plate number to build the listing. If its decoder doesn’t recognize your VIN, as with a car built before 1980 or outside North America, you can still list it: put the VIN in the description and say why it wasn’t accepted. Volunteer mentors on eBay’s forum tell sellers to enter 17 zeros in the VIN field to get past the form.
3. Answer Questions From Buyers
Once your listing goes live, expect questions. Serious buyers will ask for more photos, details about certain features, or information about past repairs.
Answer quickly, because eBay tells buyers not to bid on a car whose seller doesn’t answer their questions. Expect a buyer to ask to see the car or to send an inspection service, since eBay tells buyers to do that too. A bid shares the bidder’s contact details with you, so you can reach your bidders directly about the sale.
4. Close the Deal
The buyer pays the deposit you set through eBay’s checkout. If the buyer uses Secure Purchase, Caramel, eBay’s checkout company, collects the rest of the payment, and when Caramel handles the title transfer you mail the title to it with a prepaid label. Mail it as soon as you have the label, because Caramel pays you the rest only once it has the title: if the car is handed over first, you get half until the title arrives. If the buyer doesn’t use Secure Purchase, you arrange any inspection they want, collect the rest of the payment, and sign over the title under your state’s rules.
Shipping is usually the buyer’s job, but you can help by suggesting transport companies.
Heads up: Outside Secure Purchase, never sign over your title until the payment has fully cleared. For cars with loans, contact your lender about payoff procedures before you list.
How Much Can You Get for Your Car?
As much as the highest bidder will pay, as long as it meets your reserve. eBay doesn’t price the car or make an offer, so set the reserve at the lowest figure you’d take: without one, the highest bid wins, whatever it is.
Your final price depends on your photos, how detailed your description is, how fast you answer questions, whether you’re open to shipping the car out of state, and what car you have.
eBay Motors Reviews – What Other Sellers Say?
| Platform | eBay Motors Rating | Good | Bad |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trustpilot (all of eBay) | 1.2 out of 5 stars | One seller had a $109 fee on a listing that didn’t sell refunded on asking. | Few reviews are about vehicles. Sellers who wrote about one report being charged for each edit or relist, and one couldn’t fix a VIN eBay posted wrong. |
Reviews
Expand to see reviews from 2025:
Trustpilot ★ 1.2 · 19,186
Reviews
Reviews
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Common Questions About Selling on eBay Motors
What are the actual fees?
Two: the listing fee and 2.8% of the deposit. eBay takes the 2.8% out of the deposit when the buyer pays it at checkout, so a $500 deposit pays you $486, and selling through Secure Purchase costs you nothing extra.
The listing fee isn’t refunded if the car doesn’t sell or if you end the listing early.
How do I get a higher price?
Get more buyers to see it. Listings with an AutoCheck history report get a boost in eBay’s search results, so check the live listing shows the report the day it goes up: one seller on eBay’s forum found it missing.
How do I avoid non paying buyers?
Set the largest deposit eBay offers for your price. On a listing eligible for Secure Purchase, eBay charges the winning bidder that deposit as soon as the auction ends. Say in the listing what the buyer has to do after the auction, such as the deposit, the paperwork and how the car gets moved, and use eBay’s messaging for all communication so you have a record.
What if the winning bidder backs out?
Relist the car, and the listing fee is charged again. To avoid starting over, list it with Best Offer: you can accept several offers at once, and the car goes to the first buyer who pays the deposit.
Do I have to offer shipping?
No. The buyer arranges and pays for pickup or shipping, and your listing shows them estimated shipping quotes from where the car is, so a buyer far away can see the cost before bidding. A buyer who checks out with Secure Purchase can book transport there.
How do I handle the title and paperwork?
If Caramel is handling the transfer, mail the title to Caramel with its prepaid label, and don’t give it to the buyer or the transporter. Otherwise, hand it to the buyer at pickup, or send it by trackable mail if a transporter collected the car.
Your state may need more than a signed title, so check this guide to find out what paperwork you need for your state.
Can I cancel bids from sketchy buyers?
You can stop them bidding at all: eBay lets you make your listing unavailable to a list of bidders, such as those with low feedback scores. Cancelling bids to avoid selling below the price you wanted isn’t allowed, so set a reserve for that. If the car sells locally while it’s listed, you can cancel all bids and end the listing early.
What if my car doesn’t sell?
Lower the reserve, or add a Buy It Now price, while the auction is still running. eBay emails your bidders that the price changed without saying the new figure, and the high bidder has to bid again at or above it to win.
You can remove the reserve altogether only before anyone has bid.
Is eBay Motors safe to use?
Yes. eBay Motors is part of eBay, which has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, and through Secure Purchase, Caramel holds the buyer’s payment until the car or the title is handed over, so the money is there before you let anything go. Buyers are covered up to $500,000 by eBay’s Vehicle Purchase Protection, and eBay handles their claims, not you.
The scam to know runs off eBay: ads on other sites that say eBay is holding a car and will handle the sale. A sale that isn’t a live listing on ebay.com doesn’t involve eBay.
eBay Motors Review
eBay Motors lists your car for buyers across the country for a flat $34, or $79 over $15,000, with no cut of the sale price. Bids on a car aren't binding, so eBay can't make the winning bidder complete the purchase.
Product Brand: eBay Motors
3.4
Pros
- Reaches buyers nationwide not just in your local area
- Flat listing fee of $34 or $79, set by the car's price, with no percentage taken from your sale
- Choose between auction or fixed price format
- 40 photos with either listing fee
Cons
- Winning bids are not legally binding and buyers can back out
- Through Secure Purchase, you're paid the balance only after Caramel has your title
- Title paperwork is yours unless the buyer checks out with Secure Purchase
Article Update History
eBay Motors' listing packages, deposit processing fee and non-binding bids checked.
Originally posted and shared with our readers.
Sources
"eBay Motors Sell Car" Accessed Jan. 23, 2026
"eBay Motors Reviews" Accessed Jan. 23, 2026
"Expand You Customer Base - Exponentially" Accessed Jan. 23, 2026
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