How to check a car buyer is a licensed dealer (including us)

Ask the buyer for its legal name, motor dealer licence number and ABN, then look each one up yourself. Check the licence on the register of the state that issued it, such as Verify NSW for NSW dealers, and the ABN on ABN Lookup. The licence should be current, and the licence, the ABN record and your paperwork should all name the same business.

The online searches are free and take a few minutes. Below is where to look in each state, what a licence does and doesn’t protect you from, and the warning signs in “company” buyers on Gumtree or Marketplace. We use our own details as the worked example, so you can check us the way you’d check anyone.

Why does it matter whether a car buyer is licensed?

A licence means a regulator knows who the business is and can act against it. A buyer with a logo but no licence is much harder to hold to account. A licence also changes the rules around the sale:

• Payment. In Victoria, a licensed motor car trader (LMCT) must pay you before trying to sell your car.
• A compensation fund. NSW-licensed dealers are covered by the NSW Motor Dealers and Repairers Compensation Fund, a last-resort fund explained further down.
• Your paperwork. In NSW, the notice of disposal asks for the dealer’s licence number and registered business name in place of a buyer’s driver licence.
• Accountability. A licence can be suspended or cancelled. Queensland’s official licence extracts, for example, record whether a licence is current, expired, refused, cancelled or suspended.

None of this applies to a buyer who only says they’re a company. If they aren’t licensed anywhere, you’re in a private sale with a stranger.

What details should a business buyer give you?

Ask for these before you send photos, a copy of your licence or your bank details. A genuine dealer will give them without fuss.

Service NSW says a dealer’s registered business name “may differ from its trading name”, so a different name on the ads isn’t a red flag on its own. A legal name that doesn’t match the licence is.

How do you check a NSW dealer licence on Verify NSW?

Verify NSW is the NSW Government’s online licence lookup, and Service NSW points sellers there to find a motor dealer’s details.

1. Open the motor industry search on Verify NSW.
2. Search using the details the buyer gave you, such as the licence number.
3. Check that the licence holder’s name matches the legal name you were given.
4. Check that the licence is current and that it’s a motor dealer licence.
5. Screenshot the result and keep it with your sale records.

Step 4 matters because NSW Fair Trading lists motor dealers, recyclers, repairers and tradespeople under the same lookup. A repairer’s or recycler’s licence isn’t a dealer licence.

If the licence was issued in another state, Verify NSW won’t show it, so check that state’s register instead. An interstate licence changes a NSW seller’s paperwork too: Service NSW says you can’t lodge the notice of disposal online if the buyer is an interstate motor dealer without a NSW motor dealer licence number. You use the paper form instead, in person at a service centre or by post.

How do you check a Victorian LMCT or a dealer in another state?

Each state and territory licenses its own dealers. Check with the one that issued the licence, which isn’t always where you live.

A few details from the official pages:

• Victoria. Consumer Affairs Victoria says you “should always confirm the trader you are dealing with is licensed”. Search its public register of motor car traders by licence number, or by name, suburb or postcode. To look up a trader whose licence is no longer current, untick the box that limits results to current licences.
• Queensland. The Office of Fair Trading’s motor licence register covers licensed motor dealers, salespeople and corporations. The free search shows the licence number, the holder’s name and the type of licence. It’s for your information only, and for a formal record you can pay for an official extract.
• Western Australia. Consumer Protection says any person or company in the business of buying or selling certain vehicles must hold a dealer’s licence. A dealer selling your car on consignment also needs consignment sales (category E) added to its licence, so check the licence covers what the dealer is doing for you.

What does an ABN tell you, and what doesn’t it?

ABN Lookup is the free public record of Australian Business Numbers. Enter the 11 digits and you’ll see the entity’s legal name, whether the ABN is active or cancelled, the entity type, whether it’s registered for GST and the state of its main business location.

Use it to answer three questions:

1. Is the ABN active? A cancelled ABN on a business that says it’s trading is a reason to stop.
2. Does the entity name match the licence holder? It should be the same business.
3. Does the entity type fit the story? If they told you they’re a Pty Ltd company, the record should show a private company, not an individual.

What an ABN can’t tell you is whether the business is allowed to deal in cars. You don’t need a dealer licence to get an ABN, so an ABN on its own proves very little.

What must a licensed dealer do when they buy your car?

That depends on the state that licensed the dealer. In Victoria, Consumer Affairs Victoria is direct: an LMCT “must pay you for your car (or provide a trade) before they try to sell it”. It also tells sellers not to sign any document that transfers ownership until they’ve been paid. The payment rule binds Victorian-licensed traders. It isn’t a national law.

The NSW Government gives sellers the same advice on signing: don’t sign anything that transfers ownership until you’ve been paid.

Other states set their own rules. If your buyer is licensed in one of them, ask that state’s regulator what applies, and ask the dealer to put the payment steps in writing. A clear answer says when any deposit is paid, when and how the balance is paid, and whether the car is collected before or after the money clears.

Check whether the dealer is buying your car outright or selling it for you on consignment. On consignment you’re paid only after it sells, so the contract terms matter much more.

Whatever the law in the dealer’s state, you control the order. Don’t sign over ownership, hand over the keys or let the car be collected until the full amount has cleared in your own account.

What is the NSW Motor Dealers and Repairers Compensation Fund?

It’s a last-resort fund managed by NSW Fair Trading. The NSW Government says you can lodge a claim if you’ve “incurred a loss when buying or selling a vehicle through a licensed dealer”.

The key points on the official page, as at October 2026, are these.

• Listed losses include a dealer failing to repay or return a deposit, or failing to pass on the proceeds of a car sold on your behalf (a consignment sale). Others relate to buying from a dealer, such as a car sold with money owing on it, and to repair work.
• Maximum payment: $100,000.
• Deadline: within 18 months after the loss, or within 12 months of getting a judgment, order or other decision of a court or tribunal about it.
• Last resort: you must take all reasonable steps to recover the loss from the dealer before you claim.
• Closed businesses: claims can be made against a dealer that is no longer trading.
• Who can’t claim: trade owners, such as dealers, wholesalers, financiers and repairers.

Two cautions. Most listed losses relate to buying from a dealer or selling through one on consignment. Whether a loss from an outright sale qualifies, or whether a seller outside NSW can claim, is for NSW Fair Trading to decide, so call 13 32 20 if it matters to you. And the official page describes claims about licensed dealers and repairers, so don’t count on the fund if your buyer isn’t licensed.

Treat the fund as a safety net. The better protection is a sale in which you can’t lose the car before you’re paid.

How do you check us?

The same way you’d check anyone else. Here’s what you should find.

Our about page lists the same registered details. If someone contacts you saying they’re from Sell Your Car Australia and you’re not sure, call 1800 73 55 73 and ask.

Our licence number also goes on your paperwork: a NSW seller lists it on the notice of disposal in place of a buyer’s licence. We’ll make sure your notice of disposal is done correctly, wherever you live, and tell you if your state needs a paper form for an interstate buyer.

What are the red flags in “company” buyers on Gumtree and Marketplace?

Some genuine dealers do message private sellers. So do scammers posing as businesses, and a licence check won’t catch one who copies a real dealer’s name and licence number into a message. It proves the business is real, not that the person messaging you works there. So contact the business yourself, on a phone number from its own website, and ask whether that person is one of theirs.

Walk away if you see any of these:

• They won’t give a licence number or ABN, or the register and ABN Lookup show a different business, a cancelled ABN or an individual when they said they were a company.
• They give only a first name and a mobile number, with no street address.
• They want a photo of your driver licence before making an offer, or ask for your banking password, PIN, a one-time code or your card number. Our guide to giving a car buyer your licence and bank details covers what’s safe to share.
• You get an email “from PayID” saying the payment is pending until you pay an “upgrade” fee. That’s the PayID scam aimed at car sellers.
• The payment comes from an account in a different name from the business you checked.
• They pay more than the agreed price and ask you to refund the difference. Scamwatch lists overpayments as a warning sign.
• They want you to sign transfer papers, or want to send a truck for the car, before the money has cleared.

If something doesn’t add up, stop replying and report the profile to the platform. If you’ve already shared details or lost money, our guide on what to do if you’re scammed selling your car sets out the next steps.

So who should you sell to?

A licence check tells you who you’re dealing with, not whether the offer is fair. Run it before you send personal details, then compare offers on price and on the order things happen.

If you sell to us, the order never changes. We make a genuine offer by phone, and a deposit is often paid the same day. The inspection happens after you accept, at a time and place that suits you. The balance goes into your bank account, and we arrange collection anywhere in Australia only after you confirm the funds have cleared. No fees come out of the offer. As Spiros put it: “I was paid before Autohaus took possession of my car, which from my experience normally doesn’t happen.” You can read more on our reviews page.

We buy cars, utes, SUVs and 4WDs 2021 or newer with 100,000 km or less. If yours is older or has more kilometres, send it through anyway and we’ll tell you straight away if we can help. Check our licence first, then ask for a free valuation or call 1800 73 55 73.