---
title: "Bill of sale for a car or equipment, signed online · Attest"
description: "Sign a bill of sale for a car, boat or equipment on two phones at the handover, with proof of the price and date, and what the DMV still needs from you."
url: https://attest.datahubz.com/use-cases/bill-of-sale
updated: 2026-10-12
---

[Attest](https://attest.datahubz.com/)/[Use cases](https://attest.datahubz.com/use-cases)

# Bill of sale for a car or equipment, signed online

Buyer and seller can sign a bill of sale online, each on their own phone at the handover, and Attest records the exact document both approved, with its price and date, in a sealed copy each of them keeps and anyone can verify for free. For a car or other titled vehicle, the signed bill of sale is your record of the sale, and ownership moves through the state's title transfer: the seller signs over the certificate of title, with that signature notarized in some states, such as Ohio for a paper title.

By DataHubz · Updated October 12, 2026 · 6 min read

## What a bill of sale records

A bill of sale is the written record of a sale: who sold what to whom, for how much, and when. California's DMV form, for example, records the vehicle's identification number, year and make, the seller's and the buyer's names, the date and the price. A clear bill of sale usually includes:

- the names of the seller and the buyer;
- what was sold: year, make, model and vehicle identification number (VIN) for a vehicle, or make, model and serial number for equipment;
- the price, and how and when it is paid;
- the date of the sale and of the handover;
- for a vehicle, the odometer reading;
- anything else you agreed, such as selling it as is, or what comes with it, like spare keys, attachments or manuals.

Write it in any word processor and save it as a PDF of up to 8 MB. If your state asks for its own bill of sale form, use that form the way the state says.

## Sign it at the handover, on two phones

Attest runs in the web browser, so neither of you needs an app. The seller needs a free account; the buyer needs nothing but an email address.

1. **Before you meet,** the seller goes to attest.datahubz.com/sign, clicks **Start free**, signs in with their email and sets up a signing key once on the **Security** page, with a passkey and a recovery phrase.
2. The seller opens **Documents**, clicks **New agreement**, gives it a **Title** such as "Bill of sale, 2019 trailer" and clicks **Attach the document to be signed**.
3. Under **Signers**, the seller types the buyer's email address and checks **Add me as a signer (sign in-app, no email)**.
4. Under **Verification**, the seller chooses **Private**.
5. The seller clicks **Next: place the fields**, places a signature field and a date signed field for each of them, and clicks **Create and send**.
6. **At the handover,** the buyer opens the email whose subject starts with "Signature requested", taps **Review and sign** and sets up a passkey, which with most passkey providers takes one prompt.
7. Attest emails the seller, who taps **Unlock it for …** (or opens the agreement in Attest), confirms, and approves with their passkey. The seller's browser releases the document to the buyer, never Attest.
8. The buyer taps **Open and start signing**, adopts a signature, and taps **Sign with your passkey**.
9. The seller, who gets no signing email, opens **Action needed** in the dashboard, taps **Sign** on the document's row and approves with their passkey.

A **passkey** is a cryptographic key only the signer controls, unlocked with Face ID, Touch ID, Windows Hello or the device PIN. Once the sale is anchored, each of you opens the signed copy and taps **Download signed copy**: within about 10 minutes when the seller is on the Free plan, the moment it's complete on the Signing plan. Until then, the viewer shows a preliminary copy, marked "anchoring now (preliminary copy)". If you can't meet, the same steps work by email, wherever each of you is.

## Cars and other titled vehicles: what the state still needs

A bill of sale signed with Attest documents the sale between the two of you. Ownership of a titled vehicle passes through the state's own process, which Attest doesn't replace. Check your state's motor vehicle agency for its forms and deadlines. Some examples, from the agencies' own pages:

- **The title.** California's DMV sums up a private sale as "Seller/lienholder signs title. Buyer submits to DMV." Texas lists, among what the seller provides, "A properly signed title, including the date of sale and odometer reading".
- **Notarization in some states.** In Ohio, for a paper title, "The seller must complete the 'assignment of ownership' portion on the back of the title and have their signature(s) notarized." Attest doesn't notarize, so do that step in person or the way your state allows.
- **The mileage.** Under federal rules, "the transferor shall disclose the mileage to the transferee on the physical or electronic title or, except as noted below, on the physical document being used to reassign the title" (49 CFR 580.5(c)). Some vehicles are exempt, for example by weight or age.
- **Deadlines.** California says any change in ownership "must be reported to DMV within 10 days", and its sellers "must also submit a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability (NRL) within 5 days." Texas requires vehicles to be "titled in the buyer's name within 30 days from the date of sale", and Ohio title transfers "must take place within 30 days of the date of sale".

## Equipment and other goods

For a machine, tools, a musical instrument or furniture, the bill of sale is often the main written record of the sale, so make the description specific: model and serial number, condition, and what is included.

US electronic signature law covers these sales. The federal ESIGN Act defines a transaction to include the sale, lease, exchange or other disposition of personal property, including goods (15 U.S.C. 7006(13)), and the comments published with the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) give a private car sale as their example: "If Alice and Bob agree to the sale of Alice's car to Bob for $2000 using an internet auction site, that transaction is fully covered by this Act."

## Why it beats a photo of a signed paper

A photo of a signed page shows a signature, but not which version of the page it was on or when it was signed. An Attest bill of sale answers each of those:

- **The exact document.** Each passkey signs a statement that names the document's **fingerprint** (a SHA-256 hash, a short code calculated from the file's contents) and everything that signer entered, so a changed price or date wouldn't match.
- **Who and when.** Each signature is made by a passkey registered to the signer's email address, the signing time is part of what the passkey signs, and the completed sale is anchored on Horizen, a public blockchain, whose block time shows when.
- **One copy, two holders.** Buyer and seller keep the same sealed PDF, with a "Signed with Attest" stamp on each signature and the evidence, the original document and a verifier attached inside, so neither copy can quietly differ from the other's.

If a question comes up later, from an insurer or a later buyer, anyone can check the copy for free at attest.datahubz.com/verify, with no account. The open-source verifier inside the PDF runs in any browser, even if Attest is gone, and checks each signer's passkey signature, the original document, the pages you see and Attest's anchored record on Horizen.

The bill of sale is end-to-end encrypted: only the two of you can open it, and Attest stores it only as ciphertext it can't read. To keep its certificate, which shows the title and each signer's name and signing time among other details, to the two of you, choose **Private** under Verification when you create it.

## What it costs

Your first 2 documents are free, in total, so a one-off sale costs nothing. The buyer never pays, on any plan. If you sell equipment regularly, the Signing plan is $5 a month for 20 documents, and you can cancel any time.

## Questions people ask

Can a bill of sale be signed electronically?

Electronic signatures are recognized for most agreements in the United States (the ESIGN Act and UETA) and the European Union (eIDAS). Some documents, such as wills or certain notarized deeds, have special rules in many places: check yours. ESIGN's definition of a transaction includes the sale of personal property, including goods, and the comments published with UETA use a private car sale as an example of a covered transaction. A vehicle's title transfer still follows the state's own rules; this is general information, not legal advice.

Does an e-signed bill of sale transfer a car's title?

No. It records the sale between buyer and seller, while the title passes through the state's own process: the seller signs over the certificate of title, and in some states, such as Ohio for a paper title, has that signature notarized. Check your state's motor vehicle agency for its forms and deadlines.

Do we need a notary?

Only for the steps your state says must be notarized: Ohio, for example, requires it for the seller's signature on a paper title. Complete those steps in person or the way the state allows, since Attest provides electronic signatures, not notarization.

Does the buyer need an account or an app?

No. The buyer opens their emailed link in the phone's browser and sets up a passkey, with no account to create, no password and nothing to pay. The seller releases the encrypted bill of sale to the buyer with their passkey.

What does it cost?

Your first 2 documents are free, in total, so a single sale costs nothing. The buyer never pays. If you sell often, the Signing plan is $5 a month for 20 documents.

## Sources

1. [Title transfers and changes](https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/vehicle-registration/titles/title-transfers-and-changes/), California Department of Motor Vehicles, read October 12, 2026
2. [Bill of Sale (REG 135)](https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/file/bill-of-sale-reg-135-pdf/), California Department of Motor Vehicles, read October 12, 2026
3. [Buying or selling a vehicle](https://www.txdmv.gov/motorists/buying-or-selling-a-vehicle), Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, read October 12, 2026
4. [Vehicle titles: how to title](https://www.bmv.ohio.gov/titles-new.aspx), Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, read October 12, 2026
5. [49 CFR Part 580, Odometer disclosure requirements (2024 edition)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2024-title49-vol7/xml/CFR-2024-title49-vol7-part580.xml), U.S. Government Publishing Office, read October 12, 2026
6. [15 U.S.C. Chapter 96, Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce (United States Code, 2023 edition)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title15/html/USCODE-2023-title15-chap96.htm), U.S. Government Publishing Office, read October 12, 2026
7. [Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (1999), final text with comments](https://www.uniformlaws.org/HigherLogic/System/DownloadDocumentFile.ashx?DocumentFileKey=1b1ffc6b-9b6a-35a4-2a83-7b4d5c0f77a7&forceDialog=0), Uniform Law Commission, read October 12, 2026
8. [Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 (eIDAS), consolidated text](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02014R0910-20241018), EUR-Lex, Publications Office of the European Union, read October 11, 2026

## Read next

- [How to sign a PDF on your iPhone, no app needed](https://attest.datahubz.com/how-to/sign-pdf-on-iphone)
Sign a PDF on your iPhone in Safari with Face ID: no app to install, nothing to print, and a signed copy anyone can verify. Step by step.
- [How to get a signature from someone with no account](https://attest.datahubz.com/how-to/get-document-signed-without-account)
Your signer needs no account, password, app or payment: they open their emailed link, set up a passkey and sign. Step by step, for the sender.
- [How to verify that a signed document is genuine](https://attest.datahubz.com/guides/verify-signed-document)
Check who signed, that nothing changed and when. How e-signature services verify documents, and how to check an Attest document free, even without Attest.
- [Document signing](https://attest.datahubz.com/sign)
Electronic signatures with a passkey: no account or password for signers, documents encrypted in the browser, and a signed copy anyone can verify.

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Source: https://attest.datahubz.com/use-cases/bill-of-sale