Almost all of Britons admit to judging a car salesperson on their trustworthiness by the clothes they wear, how smelly their breath is and even the strength of their handshake.

UK customers claim that brunettes are seven times more trustworthy than blondes, and dismiss any car-seller who sports a moustache (92%), gold jewellery (63%), bow-tie (60%), dodgy ringtone (64%) or a blue-tooth headset (38%).

In the research by eBay Motors, one in two (50%) of the 1,400 Brits polled, prefer to bypass car salespeople altogether and buy directly online.

In the offline world, a well-cut suit, clean-shaven appearance and posh accent were all high-scoring traits of perceived honesty. More than half (58%) of Brits think a suit and tie makes a seller more trustworthy, while a third (33%) admitted that Queens English is the speaking tone that denotes honesty and trustworthiness.

A spokesperson from eBay Motors, said: “Trust is key to buyers confidence, and with click to buy market growing buyers are relying on each other to identify who is trustworthy and which sellers are dodgy.

“Peer-to-peer feedback is the future for buyers who want to find out whether a seller - be they private or professional - is trustworthy or not.”

eBay members worldwide have left more than five billion feedback comments for one another regarding their eBay transactions. A high feedback rating is invaluable, often driving up selling price of the item if the seller is considered 100% trustworthy as judged on the previous experiences of other buyers.