Foreign buyer for car...

[Old Gregg]

I am selling my DC2 and have today recieved an email from a chap in Germany who wants to come and buy my car. He has asked for lots of pictures, including some of the "problem areas" and he seems genuine; he says he went to Ireland to look at en EK9 with the intent of buying but apparently it wasn't as described in the advert.

So, it seems like he's legit - I've seen plenty of scam threads on here and elsewhere and this appears to be the real deal. Plus I've read on here that people have succesfully sold cars to European buyers with no problem. He even says he's looked into ferries for coming across to Hull this weekend (not far from where I live).


However, he is wanting to pay via Paypal. He says this is due to having lost money on charges for exchanging from one currency to another and back on his Ireland visit, and he doesn't want it potentially happening again if he comes over and for whatever reason doesn't want my car.

I'm sure I've seen posts on here about it's possible for a "buyer" to transfer money into a seller's account and then have it removed, stating some kind of dispute or something - and the buyer ends up with the car and the cash.


So, to cut a long story short (or not ) - what is my safest option here? What should I ask of him? Is Paypal my best bet? What do I need to look out for?

Advice please!

Cheers.

[Wayney]

Mate u for real?? Want to pay via paypal?? WTF??...Accept Cash or Chaps Transfer, ie same day bank transfer & only release the car once the funds has clear in your acc!! Any other payment, u might as well think it's a scam!!

[TomJS]

Tell him you accept euros. But it has to be cash not paypal.

[S1mon.]

Both Germany & Ireland are in the Euro, so no currancy exchange needed.

[Old Gregg]

Wayney said:

Mate u for real?? Want to pay via paypal?? WTF??...Accept Cash or Chaps Transfer, ie same day bank transfer & only release the car once the funds has clear in your acc!! Any other payment, u might as well think it's a scam!!

To be honest, I hadn't thought of bank transfer due to him being from another country. So that is still possible and would work in the same way as UK bank-to-bank?

And I'm aware that it might be a scam, but his emails (3 or 4) since yesterday don't read like the usual scam-type ones. That's not to say he isn't just a very good scammer, of course.

[Old Gregg]

TomJS said:

Tell him you accept euros. But it has to be cash not paypal.

That's one option, thanks.

S1mon. said:

Both Germany & Ireland are in the Euro, so no currancy exchange needed.

Dammit, I just checked his email where he mentioned about that and he actually said Northern Ireland. So that would be pounds and he would indeed need to exchange. My mistake, sorry.

[Sir Bagalot]

So, let me get this right

Potential buyer lives in Germany. Check
Currency of Germany is Euros. Check
Wants to buy your car which is in UK. Check
Currency of UK is Sterling. Check

Buyer points out due to previous let down on advert description he lost money on currency conversion. Check

Previous potential purchase was in Ireland. Check
Current of Ireland is......... Euros!

Now we know why the banks are fked. they charged your buyer to change Euros into Euros!

[Old Gregg]

Sir Bagalot said:

So, let me get this right

Yeah, you got that right. It was me that didn't

So what he's saying about that could actually be true.

[Sir Bagalot]

Ah! Someone else getting Ireland and Northern Ireland mixed up.

Geesus. Just as well you didn't live in Belfast a few years back

[Old Gregg]

Sir Bagalot said:

Ah! Someone else getting Ireland and Northern Ireland mixed up.

Geesus. Just as well you didn't live in Belfast a few years back

Embarassing indeed. I honestly do know the difference!

[Sir Bagalot]

But if he uses Paypal he will have to pay your fees?

Just supply him with loads of pictures and say cash only No paypal as you don't trust the Internet or the Banks

[Old Gregg]

Sir Bagalot said:

But if he uses Paypal he will have to pay your fees?

Just supply him with loads of pictures and say cash only No paypal as you don't trust the Internet or the Banks

I don't really know how the fees thing would work anyway, I've only ever used Paypal for small "gift" transactions.


Realistically, it seems that cash or bank transfer is the only way then.



Does foreign bank to UK bank transfer work in the same way as UK to UK? This is all new to me, as I'm sure is now extremely obvious.

[oldcynic]

I don't follow how the potential buyer managed to lose money on his Ireland visit - did he swap to sterling cash and back again?

Keep well away from Paypal - no seller protection and not insignificant fees for the buyer.

My best guess would be an elaborate scam, but if it's genuine I'm sure the bank can advise the most appropriate way forward with protection for both buyer and seller. If the buyer is genuinely interested then he'll be perfectly happy to work with you.

[Old Gregg]

oldcynic said:

I don't follow how the potential buyer managed to lose money on his Ireland visit - did he swap to sterling cash and back again?

Thanks for the input.

And yes, at least that's the way it reads to me anyway - he got stung for swapping back and forth.

Understood on the whole Paypal thing. I certainly won't be doing that.

I'll tell him cash or bank transfer only. If he has replied positively by the morning then I'll ring the bank and see what they say about safe transferals.

[Matt UK]

I think it's simple enough.

His currency losses / failed purchases are simply not your concern.

You are selling in sterling. If he wants it, tell to arrange payment as you require. He could just be trying the whole sob story to leverage some price movement.But if the deal goes quiet or this becomes a sticking point, alarm bells should ring. If he is seriously interested, he'll sort it.

[Old Gregg]

Matt UK said:

I think it's simple enough.

His currency losses / failed purchases are simply not your concern.

You are selling in sterling. If he wants it, tell to arrange payment as you require. He could just be trying the whole sob story to leverage some price movement.But if the deal goes quiet or this becomes a sticking point, alarm bells should ring. If he is seriously interested, he'll sort it.

Some good points there, especially the last one. If he#s genuinely keen then he'll make it happen.

Cheers.

[TOPTON]

I sold a TVR to a guy from Luxembourg a couple of years ago. He flew to London, got the train up to Stoke and I drove there to meet him(3 hours drive). Only seemed fair as he was going to drive it all the way back that day. He paid cash (£) and set off home at 12.15pm. Phoned me at 21.30pm to say he had arrived home safe and loved it.

My point is...If he wants it that much and it is worth it, then he will do the walking, instead of just the talking. Cash or wire transfer

[Old Gregg]

Well he hs agreed to bank transfer, and all the signs seem good. He knows plenty about the cars, has asked for even more pictures and has researched into ferry and train times to come and see my car.

Thanks for the advice, fingers crossed that all goes well.

[Seek]

I just picked up a car myself last week in Ireland (Republic) and drove back to continent.
Keep in mind that you don't want to make life too difficult.

My experience:
Signed purchase agreement unseen with provision that car was as described. Flew over, test drove and pre-payment. Took home all paperwork. Then organised bank transfer for majority of amount. Flew over, paid remainder and drove home.

The bank transfer was pretty easy and took 2-3 days. But as a buyer I'd always want to keep 10-20% cash to avoid any issues when picking up the car.

Treat a buyer like you'd like to be treated yourself...

[Old Gregg]

Seek said:

I just picked up a car myself last week in Ireland (Republic) and drove back to continent.
Keep in mind that you don't want to make life too difficult.

My experience:
Signed purchase agreement unseen with provision that car was as described. Flew over, test drove and pre-payment. Took home all paperwork. Then organised bank transfer for majority of amount. Flew over, paid remainder and drove home.

The bank transfer was pretty easy and took 2-3 days. But as a buyer I'd always want to keep 10-20% cash to avoid any issues when picking up the car.

Treat a buyer like you'd like to be treated yourself...

Thanks for the input, there's some potentially good pointers in there. What is your reason for wanting to keep 10-20% cash as a buyer?


The chap has suggested using Moneybookers http://g.moneybookers.com/send-money/en/?rid=14151... as the method of transfer - does anyone have experience of using them? It seems they are an intermidiary between the two parties, does this tend to work well?

EDIT: Seek, how did you do the transfer? Which company did you use? Or did you do it bank-to-bank?

Edited by Old Gregg on Tuesday 5th April 23:07