Learn how seller and buyer verification works on Sell My Project, plus safe payment guidance, anti-scam tips, and what the platform does and does not handle in a vehicle transaction.
Trust & Safety
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New here? Here's how seller and buyer verification works, how we keep listings honest, and what SMP does — and does not — provide when buyers and sellers connect on Sell My Project.
Staged verification. Structured listings.
Sell My Project is built specifically for project cars and unfinished builds. Sellers must verify phone and email during signup before they can list. There is no seller fee, ever ($0). Buyers must confirm phone and email and put a card on file before they can say I'll take it — a card on file is what makes it real. If a sale closes through the site, the buyer pays 5% of the confirmed number when the seller Accepts, maximum $5,000. A driveway handshake is $0. Listings include structured details — year, make, model, project status, build sheet — so you know what you're looking at.
Public questions. Report a concern.
Ask the seller is a public conversation on each listing, so every buyer can read the answers. Contact details are screened, and suspected off-site payment arrangements go to review. Use Suggest a price privately for a different number. Private sale chat and contact details open after the seller Accepts and the buyer fee is paid. You pay the seller directly; SMP does not hold the purchase money. Use Report this build if something looks wrong. Reports go to our review queue.
Safe-transaction guidance Stay smart.
- Verify the title and VIN before you pay.
- Confirm the seller's identity matches the listing and Garage profile.
- Ask about condition and the work remaining in Ask the seller on the listing before you commit.
- If paying by bank wire, only do so after inspecting the vehicle in person and verifying the title.
- Consider a third-party escrow service for higher-value deals.
- Never send money before you have seen the vehicle and verified the title. Sell My Project does not hold funds and cannot recover money sent directly to a seller.
Buyers put a card on file. Private until you Accept.
- Sellers verify phone and email during signup
- Buyers confirm phone and email before they can say I'll take it
- Card on file before a buyer can say I'll take it
- Buyer and seller contact details remain private until the seller Accepts and the buyer fee is paid — ask questions in the public listing thread before then