How to Buy Land on EBay & Avoid Scams

Purchasing property or a home through an eBay auction is a jarring concept to some. Many people still think of the super-popular auction site as a place to unload their used CD collection or get a good deal on a used electric guitar. And who can blame them? The idea of making a major, life-changing purchase on the same website you used to complete your collection of Pokemon cards seems downright weird when.

But buying and selling land on eBay is pretty similar to buying and selling anything else on eBay. The seller starts an auction or sets a Buy-it-Now price, and anybody with an eBay account is free to bid. But when the auction ends and you're the winning bidder, you'll receive a land contract in the mail instead of a box of vintage Louis L'Amour novels, used shoes, or whatever else it is that you usually use eBay for.

Obviously, there are going to be some important differences. A major one is that many land auctions will be for the down payment price, instead of the properties actually selling price. For example, a seller might set the price of a two-acre plot at $10,000 and then hold an eBay auction for the down payment. If the winning bid is $500, the buyer still owes $9,500. If the winning bid is $20, the buyer still owes $9,980. Unlike other eBay auctions, the amount of the winning bid doesn't actually affect the final price of the item.

In these sorts of cases, it's important to read the auction fully and completely before bidding. If you start clicking away without understanding the full details of the purchase, you might end up "winning" an acre of unlivable desert for $200, and not realize that you still owe $4,800 before you actually own it.

But many other land auctions are run as traditional auctions, with the winning bid being the full price of the land.