It looks like buying and selling cars on eBay Motors should now be a little easier. The e-commerce company announced in a press release that they acquired Caramel, an end-to-end online automotive transaction solution provider.
So, what is Caramel?
Well, to you and I, caramel is a confectionery product made by heating a range of sugars. But to eBay, Caramel is a platform that handles all the behind-the-scenes work of vehicle sales, including identity verification, paperwork, ownership transfer, financing, transportation, and more.
Caramel’s platform brings it all into one simple, seamless process: title and identity verification, insurance, financing – even shipping the car to the buyer after purchase,” said Chris Prill, General Manager of eBay Motors. “With Caramel and eBay combining forces, both buyers and sellers will be able to complete vehicle transactions on eBay with greater peace of mind, and Caramel can further establish itself across a myriad of platforms.”
Caramel promo graphic
Caramel
As prior to eBay’s acquisition, Caramel will still partner with independent dealerships or marketplaces.
“Caramel set out to make buying or selling a vehicle online as simple and convenient as buying or selling anything else online, minimizing fraud and risk, and all with just a few clicks or taps. Joining with eBay will enable us to continue bringing our seamless, safe solution to our current customers and new customers alike,” said Craig Nehamen, CEO and co-founder of Caramel.
A few safety measures should make online car buying safer
There are a few noteworthy points in Caramel’s overview roadmap that should instill more confidence in buying an entire car from a stranger online.
After signing all the papers, Caramel becomes the middleman owner of the car and sells it to the buyer. This should reportedly give the seller “the peace of mind” that they’ll actually get paid, and the buyer can rest assured that they’ll actually get the car.
The seller also receives the payment in two steps: once when they send the title and then when the buyer receives the car. This ensures that sellers don’t receive the money without sending a car and that buyers get what they paid for.
eBay Motors Auto Parts Show
eBay Motors
eBay has competition
Besides the dedicated automotive marketplaces like Bring a Trailer and Autotrader, Amazon Autos recently threw its hat into the ring with Amazon Autos. The global online e-commerce site partnered with Hyundai to sell cars in a number of cities throughout the U.S.
Amazon expressed a desire to expand this service in the future to more cities and more automakers.
Final thoughts
As customers and new automakers push toward an increasingly online vehicle sales model, it’s hopefully only a matter of time before lawmakers give in and finally allow new car transactions to happen entirely on the Internet.
Amazon Autos Promo
Amazon
Lobbying for dealerships to be the only way to buy a new car solely because of the profits that states make from them is incredibly anti-consumer, to say the least.
Combine that with the ever-higher prices of new cars, the relief of not dealing with salespeople, and new technologies like eBay’s Caramel, and there is an argument to be made that used car sales could take the crown as the preferred way to get on four wheels.
