Selling a Car to USA buyer
Discussion
Why does no-one over here want the LR?
What's the benefit to you apparently selling to the USA?
I've sold a car to Norway but it was after a very lengthy dialogue by email and various checks and balances applied to make me believe he was 100% legit
I met the buyer at the port and he handed over cash (However he paid a deposit via paypal that covered my expenses to get to Newcastle and back - just in case he didn't turn up)
I'd want to be 100% sure before I used Paypal for anything more than 500 quid - but then anything over 500 is a lot of money to me - to others it might be beer money
What's the benefit to you apparently selling to the USA?
I've sold a car to Norway but it was after a very lengthy dialogue by email and various checks and balances applied to make me believe he was 100% legit
I met the buyer at the port and he handed over cash (However he paid a deposit via paypal that covered my expenses to get to Newcastle and back - just in case he didn't turn up)
I'd want to be 100% sure before I used Paypal for anything more than 500 quid - but then anything over 500 is a lot of money to me - to others it might be beer money
Autolycus said:
Thanks to all for the replies. The potential buyer looks to be as good as you could hope to find: a gentle google comes up well. I am not too worried about a "not as described" chargeback - Paypal's terms are clear enough on that for vehicles - and I think that fraudulent account use is also unlikely, given the fairly relaxed timescales in this case.
My biggest concern is therefore Paypal's strangely impenetrable process for increasing account receiving and withdrawing limits: I'm getting nowhere with it at the moment. I gather others feel the same, and I don't fancy spending the next few years either buying 2p headphones off ebay to get through the balance, or fighting Paypal.
It's difficult to compare costs of transferring the funds - though the buyer would pay, regardless. As well as the headline percentage, there's the question of what exchange rate is on offer to the buyer. I believe some international transfer companies - Transferwise, Currency Direct, HiFX, Travelex, and others - offer decent rates and are FCA authorised. Anyone used one of them? Especially to receive money? I'd be quite happy with SWIFT.
The Landy itself is not a worry: it's within a few months of being old enough to be imported to the USA, and, as unsprung says, there'll always be another buyer.
Thanks for the advice: I'll make sure I don't accept an extra £2000 to pay the shipper via Western Union. As for who sets the terms: many years ago I was involved in some tense negotiations over a big technology licensing contract, when the man from across the pond threw down his draft contract saying "Buyer sets the terms, seller sets the price - but you lot want to set both". And we did, too.
It's simply not worth the risk with PayPal.My biggest concern is therefore Paypal's strangely impenetrable process for increasing account receiving and withdrawing limits: I'm getting nowhere with it at the moment. I gather others feel the same, and I don't fancy spending the next few years either buying 2p headphones off ebay to get through the balance, or fighting Paypal.
It's difficult to compare costs of transferring the funds - though the buyer would pay, regardless. As well as the headline percentage, there's the question of what exchange rate is on offer to the buyer. I believe some international transfer companies - Transferwise, Currency Direct, HiFX, Travelex, and others - offer decent rates and are FCA authorised. Anyone used one of them? Especially to receive money? I'd be quite happy with SWIFT.
The Landy itself is not a worry: it's within a few months of being old enough to be imported to the USA, and, as unsprung says, there'll always be another buyer.
Thanks for the advice: I'll make sure I don't accept an extra £2000 to pay the shipper via Western Union. As for who sets the terms: many years ago I was involved in some tense negotiations over a big technology licensing contract, when the man from across the pond threw down his draft contract saying "Buyer sets the terms, seller sets the price - but you lot want to set both". And we did, too.
We use HiFx for our currency transfers to China on almost a weekly basis. Close to 8 digits each year goes through them with us, never had any issues.
An update, from the OP.
"Buyer" viewed the car, we agreed a price, I said "Not Paypal", he appeared to try to set up an online payment via his phone. Said he'd call round the next day, and did. Said he was going to arrange a series of transfers to my local Western Union agent, and drove off to collect the first tranche of cash. Phoned an hour later to say he'd found WU doesn't work like that. Said he'd try another method. Emailed today to say the deal was off.
At least I've still got the car, and haven't paid the shipper in used notes behind the pipes, third cubicle along.
Why sell abroad? Because, despite the hype ("they've stopped making them, so prices will rocket") 25 year old Land Rovers still seem to be more attractive to USA buyers than British.
Caveat auctor.
"Buyer" viewed the car, we agreed a price, I said "Not Paypal", he appeared to try to set up an online payment via his phone. Said he'd call round the next day, and did. Said he was going to arrange a series of transfers to my local Western Union agent, and drove off to collect the first tranche of cash. Phoned an hour later to say he'd found WU doesn't work like that. Said he'd try another method. Emailed today to say the deal was off.
At least I've still got the car, and haven't paid the shipper in used notes behind the pipes, third cubicle along.
Why sell abroad? Because, despite the hype ("they've stopped making them, so prices will rocket") 25 year old Land Rovers still seem to be more attractive to USA buyers than British.
Caveat auctor.
OP did the right thing. (and thanks for the update)
It bears repeating: International bank transfers are childishly easy to do nowadays. And affordable. Americans living in small towns who can't find the UK on a map are doing international payments. It's a no-brainer.
The buyer may indeed have been a bit naive. But if he truly intended to purchase the vehicle, there was no impediment in terms of payments.
I think most Western Union scams involve being asked to send money, rather than toddling along to Asda to collect wodges of cash, but the very name usually seems to produce a Pavlovian response.
I don't think he'll be back to steal it - he didn't quietly take an impression of the garage key with a bar of soap - but if he does, it's insured. Besides, he would have seen all he needed to on the first visit, and could have sized up a load more in the time he spent faffing around here.
None of this whole episode stands up to logical analysis. Nowt so queer as folk.
I don't think he'll be back to steal it - he didn't quietly take an impression of the garage key with a bar of soap - but if he does, it's insured. Besides, he would have seen all he needed to on the first visit, and could have sized up a load more in the time he spent faffing around here.
None of this whole episode stands up to logical analysis. Nowt so queer as folk.
If a human being has been to see the car, it LOOKS like it is probably genuine.
As an aside, I contacted a seller on Gumtree where the ad said they were in West Kingsdown, in Kent. I looked an
hour later and it was now Nottingham. I rang the number twice and after ringing 10 times it disconnected. I then had a text asking me to contact "Amy" via email. So I did. "She" said that she was in Scotland and would deliver it at her cost if I paid by PayPal. I said that as I was having a long running dispute with PayPal, (I wasn't), I would not be dealing with them and if she delivered the car I would pay by bank transfer. Also at this stage the car disappeared off Gumtree and was now on Ebay, along with several other vehicles, including motorhomes, all at about a third of their real value. She then insisted again that I pay via PayPal and that my money was safe via the payback system.
Having sussed out early on that this was a scam I contacted Ebay who took the ads down.
I sent "Amy" an email saying that I would see her/him in court, or better still, prison.
It's now all quite on the Western Front.
As an aside, I contacted a seller on Gumtree where the ad said they were in West Kingsdown, in Kent. I looked an
hour later and it was now Nottingham. I rang the number twice and after ringing 10 times it disconnected. I then had a text asking me to contact "Amy" via email. So I did. "She" said that she was in Scotland and would deliver it at her cost if I paid by PayPal. I said that as I was having a long running dispute with PayPal, (I wasn't), I would not be dealing with them and if she delivered the car I would pay by bank transfer. Also at this stage the car disappeared off Gumtree and was now on Ebay, along with several other vehicles, including motorhomes, all at about a third of their real value. She then insisted again that I pay via PayPal and that my money was safe via the payback system.
Having sussed out early on that this was a scam I contacted Ebay who took the ads down.
I sent "Amy" an email saying that I would see her/him in court, or better still, prison.
It's now all quite on the Western Front.
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