E-Bay Scam: Cheque sent later than expected?

Factual Questions
1

I’ve noticed alot of car auctions have things like: 20% of bid is due within 48 hours of auction end. Now suppose I get a cheque via courrier 49 hours after the auction ends. Can I legally cash the cheque and not have to give the vehicle away?

2

Of course not.

3

Depends where you are. In the US, no, you can’t keep the money. After 48 hours your legal purchase limitation also expire. If you accept the deposit late, you are accepting the offer and must complete the transaction. The only way for you to keep the deposit and car would be if the buyer backs out of the deal or does not complete the in your specified amount of time.

4

So if I made it say in really small print: “20% due 48 hours and rest of sum due within 72 hours”, and I don’t receive that money within 72 hours I can legally keep the money?

5

Please give no advice to this wannabe cheat.

6

I’m not a cheat nor do I plan to be. Just trying to explore the legality and see these things before they happen.

If anyone has a problem with this then please say so and we can easily close this thread. I have no problems with that and I’m sorry if anyone thinks I’m using this for illegal purposes but I am most definitely not.

7

Hey, go here if you use paypal regularly:
www.paypalsucks.com
there are things you need to know about it.

8

I doubt it. See, “don’t be a jerk” is also part of American common law. Sometimes they call it “unconscionability”; sometimes courts say that they won’t enforce a private penalty. But it basically boils down to “don’t be a jerk.”

9

In the contracts that I write and help write for work this subject comes up quite frequently. I cannot quote the actual legal principle(s), but my attorneys tell me that setting an “obscene” penalty like that would just end up in court, and we would not only lose, but could be subject to punitive damages in return. We could, however, charge reasonable interest or a reasonable “inconvenience” fee. So we can say “25% of contract value is due within 48 hours of execution of the contract; balance due (75%) is due within 72 hours of the execution of the contract. Interest will be charged at a rate of 15% p.a. plus a 5% carrying charge…” Over such a short time period, the interest would be zilch anyhow, so a 5% charge might fly.