Hot Rods anyone had any dealings with overseas buyers?

Hell everyone. I have a general question about overseas buyers. Right now I am in negotiation with a buyer from Finland that has a broker out of Houston. We have negotiated a price for two cars and they have wired me a deposit. It all seems legitimate so far. I do have experience dealing with scams off craigslist (fake money orders and weird stories).

Anyone have experience with something like this. Any red flags I should be looking for I may have missed?

Thank you
Charles

 

I have sold a few cars over seas...but they never had a third party agent. I never had an ounce of trouble with any transaction

 

Did they wire the funds directly to your bank or Western Union? Did they send extra funds for the broker?

If they are legit, they should sends funds to the broker and let him bring cash in my opinion... Isn't that what a broker does?

Sent from my Moto G Play using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I've sold a car to England and Sweden but always had the full amount deposited by wire transfer to my bank before the car left my shop. The fellow from Sweden had an agent who coordinated the shipping but nothing to do with the money. I also FedEx'ed the buyer a copy of the signed title after they paid.

 

I also have sold cars and parts overseas. Both to Europe and Australia. I just sold my roadster to New Zealand. All went smoothly. I either took cash from an agent, or the buyer set up a bank account just for the transaction here. I then cashed his check and deposited the cash in my account. Cash is best, But you end up with a lot of Benjamins for a while.

 

I've sold parts to guys in Germany, Sweden, Australia, and New Zraland over the last couple of years; never had a problem. All but one were guys that I met through the various boards and felt I knew well. The other transaction was through "eBay", and they handled most of the gory details, and it went smoother than I would have expected.

 

I’m on the other side , bought a lot off parts from hambers.
Last thing was a 29 coupe body , i arranged the pickup and shipping myself and paid forward with paypal.
Everything went smooth but i could first relax when i got it over here in the Netherlands, you need some trust when dealing overseas and transfer monney to a unknown person.

 

I have sold to Japan, England some countries on the European Continent and Australia and New Zealand.

Only entre car I sold was to Japan, bank transfer. no broker involved and I arranged the shipping, the buyer paid that part of it as well as the purchase price. Everything was bank transfer. I suggested escrow account so that we were both protected and the buyer said then I would have to ship on my dime and he wasn't comfortable with me using my cash for him to own a '53 Ford. I digress.

Here is some advice from a crusty old crow. Cashiers check is a fantasy, it is no different than a personal check. The overnight electronic thing the bank does just verifies that the money is in the other bank account. Your bank may let you use it but it is not your money until the check physically clears the original bank. Even a cashiers check can be canceled by the buyer (remitter) until it physically clears the bank. That normally takes 5 to 7 business days.

Why am I saying this? Well let me put it this way, I would much rather take a personal check from a HAMBer in Denmark than a cashiers check from an American Broker. There are a few good legitimate brokers out there, but the overwhelming majority of them are fly by nights. Even if I was dealing cash I would check the broker out real well. Every legit business has a digital foot print as does every scammer. Google is a good starting place.

Negative? Yea, you bet. I have lost all of 80 bucks since I joined the HAMB, an that was too a HAMBer in Detroit. I have had opportunity to make countless thousands of dollars in transactions here no problems.

They say good fences make good neighbors, always best to protect what is yours.

 

I have sold to buyers in England/Australia/New Zealand and everything went as smooth as glass...get the money up front...

 

sold a truck to a guy in Germany a couple of years ago,dealt with him direct,he wired me the funds in full. Very smooth and fast transaction.

 

Sold several diesel GM vans and 4x4 Blazer's to a guy from Germany . He wired the money and paid me to take them to the port to be shipped. He had all the paperwork. I just dropped them off.

 

Bank to bank wire is the safest for everyone. Purchaser pays broker and all upfront costs,money in your account and cleared BEFORE anything leaves. NEVER put up any money for someone else.Have sent cars and parts all over the world. Followed these rules and haven't had a problem Yet.

 

I too did a bank to bank wire transfer, to make myself feel a bit better about it I opened a brand new savings account and once the bank confirmed I had the funds, I then switched the money to my regular account in person at my bank.

 

Sold 2 to Australia with no issues. Money was wired to my bank both times.

 

I have dealt with that scam. It was just a wired deposit at this point. The agent is who it is paid thru. all looks good so far. I have warned the bank to watch for anything strange.

 

Thank you,
The Logistics company seems totally legit. and the cars wont leave until the funds are cleared and moved to another account. I have dealt with so much cashiers check crap from internet buyers. ebay and craigslist. easy to smell the bullshit. send you more than you ask and all that. I was just wondering if this was more elaborate. I have the wire for the deposit. and have checked out the agent.

Hal-Mari Internatonal Logistics

Attn; Petteri Kervinen

10077 Wallisville Rd

Houston , TX 77013

Tel 310 291 1710

All seems good so far. Finnish buyers. Finn Logistics. Covering my bases.

Thanks to everyone for the info.

Charles

 

And that is the secret right there! And as P&B mentioned a cashier's check is really no different than a two party out of state lawn service check.

My usual response to "my check is good"? Super, run down to the bank and cash it and bring me the cash. They rarely come back.

 

any transaction with unknown people who have an "agent" scares me. "agents" are big in the scam world.

if they have an agent have them come and give you cash.

 

Last one I bought from the U.S. I sent the deposit via Paypal, the balance straight to the seller's account. Did'nt feel too bad, as I bought it through the HAMB classifieds.
If the agent shows up with payment, be it cheque, gold bars or bottle tops, just wait until you have the funds in YOUR account before it leaves your dirt. If the agent has been around for a while, he should know this drill. "No money- No drivey"

 

I'll 2nd, 3rd, or whatever has already been said....Bank to Bank transfer is the only way to go.

 

Why use a broker? Straight deal or no deal. You don't ship until ALL funds clear your bank and not until then.

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I had a couple guys (two different ones) interested from I think it was finland when my truck was on ebay. I think they watched too many american negotiation shows though, because as soon as I was agreeable to sell overseas, they started talking about how much it was going to cost them to ship and somehow I was responsible for that. Isnt discounting a truck the amount of shipping the same as me paying for shipping? anyway, ultimately they hardballed themselves right out of a truck, it sold local while they were quibbling over $1200.

 

I bought several cars (and parts) via the HAMB marketplace, ebay or other forums without problems over the years and had them shipped over to Germany. For payment the safest and fastest way really is a direct bank to bank wire transfer. The risk in this case lies solely witht he buyer, since he pays the full price for the car or part without having anything in his hand in return often for weeks and he has to trust the seller fully that he really gets what he paid for in the end. The only kind of agent really required is the shipping/logistics company that organizes the transport and export documentation etc... This is something that is very difficult to do on your own as the buyer from overseas, so the local contact to the buyer will in most cases be made by a representative of the shipping company to arrange the pickup of the car...

 

Good point there Helge71 and it is no less hassle for guys on this end unless they have some experience at it.
I'd still think that walking into the bank you do your business with and telling your banker that "this is what I have going on, what's the safest way to make it work?" is the most prudent. The concept of having a special account just for such transactions isn't bad though.

 

Sold both cars and parts to England, Iceland, Netherlands, and Australia without a hitch. The Aussie draft was strange looking with a box to check for hundreds, tens, and ones but it was good as gold.

 

This !


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ALL the risk is with the buyer.....there is no way anyone can scam you.The vendor has the cash first before releasing the car.Ive bought two cars out of the U.S., both by wire transfer.Before I agree to buying I check the local papers via the Internet for any mention of this person,I read his posts( if any ) on various forums, check if he has FB ,check if he has an ebay account and check his feedback and look up his phone number and address on the Internet to see if it matches the number given..finally I use Google Earth to take a look at the house and neighbourhood etc....after speaking in person with the seller and asking him to check out my similar details we get to doing the deal.

The first was a bit of a sleepless night....his small town bank didn't recieve overseas transfers evidently so it had to go via a Bigger bank in New York....having all that money pinging around the ether had me wondering...but in both cases, the deals went fine and both cars as described .

I use a shipper over here who arranges pick up of the car,all paperwork at each end,clears Customs etc,and arranges to have it picked up from the UK docks and delivered to my house.

Just do your homework first.......I once got off the phone and said to my wife, " he sounds a really nice guy to do business with"....she pointed out, " well he would"....so beware ,check each other out first.

 

There's a misunderstanding here: Hal-Mari is no "broker", they are freight forwarders.
However, what is causing funny situations is that some of you US sellers insist in paying in cash.
How the hell you imagine an overseas buyer pay you in cash???
Then we have to hire "a broker" or "an agent", call it what ever you like the best...

Think for a moment on our side:

• we make the decision to buy based on photos, emails and phone call.
• then we send you money without any guarantee on the condition of the car or are YOU scammers
• we pay the freight ahead to a forwarder to pick the car up, haul it to harbour, pack it in container
• normally takes 3 months to get it in import harbour here
• we have to pay the customs & VAT before we get to see the car

if the car is P.o.S. we have no change to recover any of our money...

Sorry, but it's sometimes hard to understand what risk the seller is taking in this game.

 

When the CASH and I mean cold ,hard cash goes in my front pocket then the titles come out of my back pocket . How they get cash to me and not some form of a check is the brokers problem. If they want it they will make it happen.

 

Guess I don’t understand your post ...:

If you have taken a deposit - that means you have entered into a sales contract.

A sales contract should contain all the terms and conditions of the sale BEFORE a deposit is requested and paid - not after.

The “ Negotiations “ have ended .....


Jim