1:04 pm, December 21, 2011
CAR dealers can play it totally ‘Safe’ with payments thanks to the online used car trading network Autotrade-mail.
The UK’s leading online used car trading network has introduced ‘Trade Safe’, a peace-of-mind payment scheme available to its 5,000 members that is recommended by the Metropolitan Police and safeguards the interests of both buyers and sellers alike over a vehicle transaction.
Authorised and regulated through the FSA, the facility can be selected by either the party buying or selling a car once they have agreed terms via the usual Autotrade-mail system.
The buyer is then able to lodge funds securely in a special client account protected under the Payment Services Regulations 2009 Act, and is under no obligation to release them until they are completely satisfied that the vehicle they are purchasing is as advertised. For the first time, the seller can also enjoy the reassurance that they will be paid in full before their vehicle is handed over.
‘Car dealers want total peace-of-mind when transacting across the UK with sizeable sums of money and Trade Safe provides this and offers some reassurance when establishing new supply lines,’ explained Kevin Watson, Autotrade-mail’s operations director.
‘Nothing quite like it exists and although there are products such as Paypal, these require monies to be placed in accounts and released without prior inspection of the product.
‘With an ever growing business like ours which caters for considerable movements of high value items, we recognise the need to expand our service offering with the most up-to-date tested products available and we’re confident that Trade Safe will prove hugely beneficial and popular amongst our members.’
Enhancing the value of the initiative is its cost, which Autotrade-mail has set at just £25 plus VAT per transaction. And in the unlikely event that there should be any dispute, the company will step in and mediate at no cost to either party – saving both the expense and aggravation of a legal battle.
‘We are keen to keep the price as low as possible in these difficult trading conditions, for maximum benefit for our members,’ Watson added. ‘Indeed if more industries could develop this kind of product, protecting buyers and ensuring full payment to sellers, it would certainly reduce the amount of upset and loss that innocent businesses continue to suffer – especially during tough economic times.’
