When you sell your used car on Cars and Bids, you probably want to get paid. That’s not as easy as it sounds. There haven’t been many great ways for sellers to get paid for their car—on Cars and Bids or elsewhere—until PrivateAuto Pay.

While Cars and Bids lets you auction your car, it doesn’t do much to help you get the deal done.

We made PrivateAuto Pay to protect you against the fraudsters that abound on Cars and Bids and other auction sites—and to make vehicle transactions smooth, convenient, and fast.

Cars and Bids gets eyes on your car, but it doesn’t have any transactional infrastructure.

Online auction sites, such as Cars and Bids and Hemmings, function as “meetingplaces” to connect a potential buyer to a seller—and then leave them in the lurch to negotiate issues such as payments, document signing, and the rest.

Cars and Bids doesn't provide payment support. They leave you and the prospective buyer to navigate payment on your own. Here are your options:


Then there’s PrivateAuto Pay. It’s so easy and intuitive, you’ll wonder where it’s been all your life.

Bank wire transfers are a frustrating and cumbersome way to get paid.

1. Potentially risky. Exposing your bank account details opens the door to fraud.
2. Inconvenient. You and the buyer need to have multiple back-and-forth exchanges to orchestrate the transaction. You’ve got better things to do with your time and attention.
3. Slow. Transfers can take days to fully process due to low account limits. If you’re smart, you won’t hand over the title until you’ve received the funds into your account. This forces the buyer to pay you, then wait—an act of faith on their part. It also turns what could be a quick transaction into a drawn-out affair.

PrivateAuto Pay enables instant transfers with no limits or transfer fees, any time of day, every day of the year. Encrypted data keeps your information secure. You get escrow-like safeguards in the palm of your hand, and the PrivateAuto dealflow keeps both you and the buyer protected.

Credit card payments have processing fees and are a potential fraud risk.

Peer-to-peer payment apps like PayPal seem convenient, but they’re awful for a private-party car transaction.


PrivateAuto Pay is like Venmo for high-dollar transactions.

Physical cash is a bit sketchy, especially where large sums are involved.

Here are some drawbacks to receiving a physical cash payment:


PrivateAuto Pay allows you to pay cash—digitally. All the benefits of physical cash, none of the drawbacks.

If you're smart, you won't even think of accepting a personal check unless you wait for it to clear—and who wants to deal with that delay?

While cashier’s checks are more trustworthy, even they can be forged. The only way for you to be certain a cashier’s check is good: meet the buyer at their bank and have the bank verify the funds.

If you want to skip the inconvenience (and the limited banker’s hours), welcome to PrivateAuto Pay.

PrivateAuto Pay is our banking integration that allows for instantaneous, unlimited fund transfers, any time of day, any day of the week. No transfer fees. No hassle. Just pure convenience.

PrivateAuto Pay is great for users of PrivateAuto, but what about someone selling their car on Cars and Bids? We’re glad you asked.

We’ve created a bridge product that allows you to start a deal anywhere and finish it on PrivateAuto with PrivateAuto Pay for payments. We call it DealNow.

Here’s how DealNow works:

1. Invite the buyer to DealNow via a custom link.
2. Enjoy identity verification, in-app messaging, and a test drive scheduling feature (none of which require you to exchange contact info).
3. Meet the buyer and let the buyer drive your car.
4. You and the buyer go together through a step-by-step transaction process in which you each confirm relevant details right in the PrivateAuto mobile app. From mileage to the VIN to the condition of the vehicle, we help you both prevent any errors.
5. You and the buyer each electronically sign an official bill of sale. This is stored in your PrivateAuto account as a legal record you can refer to down the road.
6. The buyer is prompted to initiate payment.
7. You get a notification of funds received and confirm receipt of payment.
8. You sign over the car title and hand over the keys.

DealNow is so smooth, so safe, and so fast that you’ll never want to sell a car without it. No matter where you find your buyer—from Cars and Bids to Craigslist to the friend of a friend—DealNow will help you get the deal done and get paid, right now.