Wire transfer is the standard above a few thousand
It settles in a day, it is traceable, and it carries no processing cost on a five-figure sum. Cards are common for deposits and rare for balances, because the processing fee on a 40,000 dollar car is roughly a thousand dollars that somebody has to absorb.
Send the receipt every time
Wires arrive as a name and a reference number that frequently match neither the buyer nor the lot. Emailing the confirmation with the invoice number is what prevents a paid balance from sitting unmatched while a deadline runs down.
The scam to know about
Payment redirection is the most expensive fraud in this industry. A buyer receives an email that looks exactly like the one from the house, with a different account number, and wires the money to a criminal. The money is usually gone within hours.
- Bank details never change by email. If they appear to, stop.
- Call the house on a number from their website, not from the email.
- Verify the first wire to a new account with a small test where possible.
- Treat urgency as a warning sign — it is the standard pressure tactic.
Escrow has its place
For a private deal or an unfamiliar counterparty, a genuine escrow service is worth its fee. Verify the escrow company independently: fake escrow sites are themselves a common fraud.
From the auction floor
See how this works on a real lot.
Every listing carries its inspection report, its full specification and its bid history. Read one before you decide what it is worth to you.