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Sold to a stranger, safely.

With a car, a painting, or a piece of equipment, the frightening part of a private sale is the payment. Termn runs the bill of sale so the handover is due only after the money has provably landed, and both sides walk away with the receipt.

Start this bill of sale free What it costs

The buyer can pay by card or bank transfer, or send a wire · The other side never needs an account · Termn is not escrow and never holds the money or the item

Payment first, handover second

A screenshot of a payment app is a claim, not money. The steps below run in that order, and there is no way to run them out of it.

  1. 01

    Sign

    Seller and buyer sign the bill of sale, your own document or your state’s official form. Condition, warranties, and the odometer statement are yours; Termn never drafts them.

  2. 02

    Get paid

    The buyer pays from their own bank, to account details that stay hidden until both have signed. “I sent it” goes in the record as the buyer’s claim; the payment is confirmed only when your own bank shows the money.

  3. 03

    Hand over

    Only now is the item due. A vehicle is proved by the new title or registration record, a painting or ring by the buyer’s signed receipt. The settlement record is the receipt both strangers keep.

No accounts for either side · Termn never holds the money or the item · The first workspace is free

Proof that matches the thing sold

Different assets have different systems of record, and Termn is honest about each one, including when none exists.

What’s soldWhat proves the paymentWhat proves the handover
A titled vehicle: car, boat, trailer The seller’s receiving-bank evidence, confirmed by the seller. The state’s own record: the new title or registration naming the buyer. A handshake never closes a titled asset.
Personal property: art, jewelry, equipment The same bank evidence, the same confirmation. The buyer’s signed delivery receipt identifying the item. No registry exists for a painting, so a signed acknowledgement is the strongest proof there is, and the record says so.

The vocabulary is exact: signed → paid → handed over → settled.

What the buyer sees

A stranger from a classified ad is as worried about you as you are about them. This is everything they are asked to do.

  1. 01

    One email, one link

    An email sent through Termn in your name carries one secure link to the agreement. It opens in the browser: no account to create, no app to install, nothing to pay.

  2. 02

    Sign, then pay from their own bank

    The bill of sale is on the page, ready to sign. Only after both signatures does the page show where to send the payment, and the buyer pays from their own bank. Their “I sent it” is recorded as a claim until your bank shows the money arrived. The handover acknowledgement comes last, when you actually meet.

  3. 03

    Confirmed in writing

    Every act is confirmed by email, to them and to you. If they hesitate, Termn does the reminding for seven days, so the awkward follow-up is never yours.

No account and nothing to install · They never pay Termn anything unless you assign the activation to them · A lost email is re-sent from /my, any time

One workspace, one sale

Your first workspace is free. After that it’s $149 once per workspace, forever. Never a percentage of the price, whether it’s a $3,000 trailer or a $300,000 painting.

Either side can pay it, and paying gives no say over the agreement. See all pricing.

Common questions

Is this escrow?
No. Termn never holds the money or the item. Money moves from the buyer’s bank to the seller’s, and the item changes hands directly. What Termn does is sequence the steps and keep the evidence, so the handover is never due before the payment is confirmed.
How do I know the buyer’s payment is real?
You don’t take their word, or their screenshot. The buyer’s “I sent it” is recorded as a claim; the payment is confirmed only when your own bank’s evidence, a statement or posting in your account, is reviewed and confirmed on your side.
How does the buyer actually pay?
From their own bank, to yours. After both signatures the buyer’s link shows where to send the money: a wire or bank transfer against details that were sealed until then, so your account numbers never travel by text or marketplace chat. For a large one-time sale between strangers, a bank wire is also the payment hardest to reverse.
What about payments that can be reversed later?
Some can, and Termn says which. An ACH transfer can return after it first appears; the record states how the money arrived, and a reversal is recorded in the open, never hidden. Waiting for your own bank to show the money before the handover is the whole point of the order of steps.
I don’t have a bill of sale document. Where do I get one?
Most states publish an official bill of sale for vehicles, usually on the DMV or department of revenue site, and it is the form your tag office already knows. Use that, or one from a lawyer. Termn runs the signing, the payment, and the record; it never drafts the document.
What proves the car actually changed hands?
The state’s own record: the new title or registration naming the buyer. For items with no registry, like art, jewelry, or equipment, the buyer’s signed receipt is the proof, and nothing stronger exists for such items.
Does the other side need an account?
No. The other party gets one secure link that carries them through signing, paying or receiving, and acknowledging the handover. It opens in a browser, and they pay nothing unless you ask them to cover the one-time $149 instead of you.
What do we each keep at the end?
The settlement record: the signed bill of sale, the confirmed payment, and the confirmed handover with its evidence. It is the receipt both sides keep: an evidence trail, not a certification of title or condition.

Before you decide, how this actually works

Plain explanations of the transaction itself, free and open, with the statutes and rules they rest on named and linked.

  1. Which payments can be reversed, and for how long

    Money showing in the account is not the same as money you get to keep.

    4 minute read

Everything else is in the learning center.

Finish what the agreement started

Your first workspace is free: one live workspace, unlimited agreements inside it, no card.

Start this bill of sale free

Rather talk it through first? Contact us at sales@termn.ai.