Selling a car overseas-HELP!!!

I was wondering what is the proper way of dealing with a person from outside this country who is interested in buying my car.

I have my car listed for sale and have, what seems to be, an interested buyer in Germany.
First he said he'd send me the $ next week and needs my name,address and phone for shipper,then needs my bank and acct for what he calls a "wiring money order".

I told him under no circumstances will I give out any acct #'s of info, that he should do it through PayPal.
He says it would cost him too much through PayPal and would send me $500 deposit through them but wants to "wire money order" the rest.

When I tell him i'm worried about scams, he agrees to pay the PayPal fee of 500 Euro he says they will charge since he likes my car so much,but wants me to send him a copy of my title,address and #, plus a bill of sale for $8000.00 so he can save money on taxes in Germany.

I've never done this before and I find it hard to believe someone is going to wire me $12k on good faith.

Can someone help with this

 

If your not comfortable with the deal don't do it. Trust your instincts. If he wants it that bad he will do it the way you want it done. It sounds like a scam to me but that is solely an opinion. I have no experience in selling overseas.

 

Go to your bank and sit down with someone there and open a new account and ask them about a bank transfer,,it is the absolutely safest way for you to receive payment.and cost very little,,probably less than 40 bucks.the guy buying from you is taking all the chances.

I would never get paypal involved,,it will end up costing you both! HRP

 

Man us folks from outside of the US have to do this all the time when we buy cars or parts from outside of the USA, I see so many posts on here about sellers being worried it makes me laugh, sure there are scams but most of them are pretty easy to spot and I know of more people on the buying end who have been scammed then the otherway around.
He will want to see a title copy to make sure he can export and import it, knowing europe they will want to tax the hell out of him for daring to import and register on old car hense he is looking for a lower value o nthe bill of sale. For you there are two options to go ahead, either have your bank open an account just for this transaction or go with paypal. The other thing you can do is talk to him about his shipper and call and talk to them in the US chances are they may have delt with him before too.
Man good faith is all most of us can go on........

 

Great advice,thank you.

I was also wondering if sending him a copy of the title and bill of sale for the $8000.00 he requested would put me in harms way at all

Just skeptcle of sending a copy of the title.

 

I bought my model A off ebay, sent the money by PayPal, it's often the only way to do it when you live in Europe, you have to trust the seller!
If this guy is willing to send the money by paypal and pay the fees what have you got to loose?

 

I sold a 67 Harley shovelhead to a guy in australia. I gave him him my bank account info, he wired the full amount into my bank. two days later a shipper arrived at my house to pick the bike up and bring it to los angeles to be put on a boat. no problems whatsoever. one year later I sold a 69 harley shovelhead to the same guy. same process. no problems.

 

I've done it without a hitch, but check the currency exchange rate when it is wired, as it can change quickly and cost you (or gain you) money, ask me how I know.

 

well thats a scam bud, paypal doesnt under any circumstance charge the buyer for anything!

 

I sold a car that went to Japan,,a copy of the title on a copier is no big deal and working with your bank it's easy,,they most likely have done it in the past. HRP

 

i sold a steal 34 , overseas , and i did just as hotrod primer stated above , the wire came thru , my paper work went out and his shipper came and picked up the car , as smooth as glass , the wire fee was a little higher as the charge a out of country charge , and my bank there wire fee but only 20 higher than as stated

 

I don't think you need to even open a new account. Or disclose an account number. Go in and talk to your banker in the bank that you use and explain what you want to do. That banker should be able to come up with a perfectly safe way to receive the money without any hassles. I don't get to see my favorite bank manager too often as the bank she works at is in the wrong direction now but I can pretty well say that she could make it work without any issues.

 

sold a car to a guy in Germany that does this all the time. Set up a separate (as HRP has stipulated) let the two banks handle the wire transfer. I think they need a copy of the title on their end for legal purposes - no big deal. My buyer had a local guy pick up the car (I tossed in a few trinkets/t-shirt for the buyer, along with the build-book for the vehicle). It really is painless once you are sure it's not a scam.

 

Where is your car listed for sale ?

How did the interested Buyer contact you ?

If its' here on the HAMB and both of you
are Alliance Members - then you should have no problems ...

If its' on ebay - ebay offers you some protection if it is purchased
thru an ebay transaction ...



Jim

 

Paypal will cost you both more money than it's worth...A bank transfer is really safe and easy. As for giving him your account number, you do it every time you write a check, it's printed on the bottom of every check you hand out. If it makes you feel better, you can open another account just for the transaction, but it's not really neccessary.

 

I sent over $40,000 to a man in the U.S.....the risk was all mine.Regarding your bank details, they can only be used to pay money in...you cannot take money out.The buyer has to provide his bank details to your bank.....the title copy is to verify that the car exists and HE is not being scammed.....he will require your address to get a shipping quote for the car to be picked up and transported to the nearest docks......it is VERY stressful at this end believe me.I also use all the address and name to search on the Internet to try and get as much info on the buyer as possible and even GoogleEarth the address and try to find out if he is in any local car clubs or the V8 club.One thing that I insist on is a telephone number to actually speak with the vender and try and get an idea of who I am dealing with.

I understand your concerns, but Bank transfers are about as safe as you can get.....a cash buyer is probably going to chip you on the price anyhow, at least this way you get your price.

The only scamming I came across was by my bank.....they gave me a ridiculously low exchange rate and charged me a fee for the transaction on top..it cost me a few hundred pounds over what I had costed for.

 

for the title aspekt us container company need to declare what is in the container and will not send out a emty container to a loadig area before the have a copy of a title.so the can check for stolen cars im told.
when i buy cars i send money to shipper and he payes when he collect the car not all shipper do this and i can only buy from area in his state

 

Thanks for all the information guys. I'm feeling much better now,lol.

 

Bank transfer is the most common way to sell overseas. he is probably talking about a bank transfer when he says wire money order.

This is good advice from HRP.

 

Voices of reason crying in the wilderness:
48 Chev (post 12)
reefer (post 16)

Just require that the buyer wire the funds in US dollars.

 

bank transfer is a safe way; wait till you`ve recieved the money, than you can give the car free for pick up by a shipping company......
A copy of the title is needed by the shipping company too. Without title you can`t get a car outside the States.....
The taxes in Europe are horrible.....

 

I would never use paypal for a car transaction...he can simply file a dispute...or dispute it with his credit card and you will be screwed twice..one because the car will be in Germany by then...and two you will lose the money. It would be fraud on his part...but he is in Germany...what the hell can you do about it then?

It doesnt cost the sender of money ANYTHING to use Paypal...his inclination to wire you the money is good news....just use precautions listed above.

I have sold cars to Australia where they need a copy of the title to get in import permit...there may be legitimate reason why he wants it...

The bottom line is never use Paypal to get paid for a car deal....much less if international

 

Sent you a PM about this ,call me.

 

When i bought my truck i phoned the guy i was buying from in Mn and we had a long conversation, and really put his mind at rest as he was not sure about me as i bought it from Craigslist. He then setup a bank account just for me to pay in to and everything worked out great.

 

I just helped an old lady sell her mustang to a guy in Germany. I spoke to him over the phone and asked that he send a cashiers check or money order certified thru the mail. And once the check showed up, we cashed it at the bank and the lady got cash in hand. Then I requested he wait 2 weeks before picking up the car just in case the bank called for any reason. He was hesitant at first but did so and everything went smooth. Last had cash in hand from her bank. Then 2 weeks later a service picked up the car.
I wouldn't do it ANY other way!

 

I am not sure why he wants a copy of your car title and a bill of sale before the deal is done. get cash give a recipt and title. then help him with the shipper.

 

I work with a shipping company, deal with this every day.
You're wise to be wary, but for what it's worth it sounds legit to me. If you give him your bank details (as someone pointed out previously, you do that everytime you write a check) he can only put money in, not take it out. No harm in opening another account if it makes you feel better.
Can't see how a scammer could use a copy of the title to their advantage, but it is something a legit buyer is wise to ask for.
Make the BOS out for the amount of the wire if you're not comfortable with the $8,000, but he's the one with the most to lose if the Government where he is finds out he 'cheated' them out of some tax revenue.
As for the address & number, of course he'll need that to get the car picked up. Doesn't have to be the address where you live, you can arrange to have the car picked up from your work or other location if you don't want some 'unkown foreigner' knowing where you live.

 

I just sold an OT car to a guy in Sweden. Go with the wire transfer, anything else either costs too much in fees or has the potential for fraud. No way would I take a check or money order of any kind. I've seen them "clear" the bank and then several weeks later end up being bogus. By then you have no money and no car. Wire transfer is perfectly safe.

 

It's a shame how many people don't know how to conduct business with a foreign buyer.

 

Dirt T,
Think of it this way, when you go to check a car out, you check to make sure the owner has a clean title, with the right VIN, name & maybe the same address right?
As for the BOS, I think (based on experience with similar deals) he's just checking that the seller will help him pay less tax before he commits so he knows what to budget.
I've also worked helping o/seas buyers deal with wary sellers that will only accept cash. Creates it's own set of hurdles & trust issues for the buyer if he has no one over here to act on his behalf.
For buyers & sellers google is your best friend - check names for reveiws, e-mails addresses or phrases will come up if they've been used in past scams. If a deal seems to good to be true and the 'dealership' address is just a dirt lot on google earth....