European auto brokers

[JTH74]

I have been contacted by a auto/motorcycle broker in Ireland about my bike, he claims he has a client interested, but I have some questions.
1. How do you check these people out to see if they are legit.
2. What is the best policy in handling the transcation with a overseas party.

Any help anyone can provide will be greatly appreciated! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif[/img]

[MrsBillyBobcat]

All I can say is that you cannot be too careful! Make sure that the check clears your bank before releasing the bike. Keep in mind that it can take up to 17 days for an international check to clear. A couple months ago, my husband and I posted a car for sale on the Internet. We were contacted immediately by a gentleman from South Africa. He said that he wanted the car, that he had an agent in the states to take care of the shipping, and then asked for our address to send the check. I was suspicious right away [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]. He did not ask any questions about the car, nor did he try to negotiate the price. So I sent him back a reply stating that ìI would not release the car until the check clears our bankî. Guess what? I never heard back from him! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif[/img]

After that happened, I ran across a ìNigerian Scamî article on the net. I guess these "Nigerians" are not even after your car, they want your MONEY! They claim to be from Nigeria, Israel, or even places like London, England. They send you too much money and try to get you to send the overpayment back before you realize that their check is no good. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

Hope this is not the case with your bike, but like I said, you cannot be too careful.

Good luck!

Rita [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[JTH74]

Same scenario here, I read about the same scam you are talking about, I was really suspicious about it when they emailed, and I filed a complaint with the FTC so they can follow up on his email and the origin of it,and there was another guy that emailed me with kind of the same story but from a different location, I will post his email name if you want so others can be on the lookout too, thanks for the reply. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

[Jeff Murphy]

I sent you an email reply, but thought I should post for the greater good, too.

The easiest thing to do as a Seller is request a US$ Wire Transfer direct to your account. Once the money is there, it's there.

Check with your bank for the necessary Swift, Sort/ABA and account codes you'll need to supply the buyer (and you'll also want to know your bank's funds availability rules for when the money gets there).

You make the buyer deal with the exchange rate issue by demanding inbound US$ funds equal to the amount agreed for the sale.

And obviously you're not in the business of making change for people -- you will only accept funds equal to the agreed upon amount for the sale.

I can't imagine a scenario in which the dough wouldn't be with you before the bike leaves.

Don't take a chance on a check, certified or otherwise, especially if it is from an international bank.

If these brokers are legit, they should have no problem.

I did things this way for both of my COPO purchases. And I think the sellers were/are happy about it.

Happy selling...

[NEW]

HI

I am situated in Norway, and can from time to time be considered as a broker!

I buy stuff from the US, cars, parts etc. you name it!!

I always do SWIFT transfer(wire), and the seller provides me with the Account an Routing #, and of course the total amount is always agreed upon to begin with.

As soon as the seller has received the money we procced with the shipping, or arranging the pick up..

Make em do a SWIFT transfer,(wire)

NEW

[Chevy454]

Excellent information, fellas! This thread should be a must read for anyone considering doing any international transactions (or any transaction in general).

[Jeff Murphy]

The board and its members do a good job of policing things and trying to keep people out of trouble. All transactions eventually come down to the people involved. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

[MrsBillyBobcat]

[ QUOTE ]
Excellent information, fellas! This thread should be a must read for anyone considering doing any international transactions (or any transaction in general).

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Since most of the cars that my husband an I have sold (which has not been many) have went to people we know, we did not have much experience with this. I have to admit that I was so shocked [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] to get that email from someone in South Africa, that it did not even occur to me to ask for a wire transfer! Next time I will know what to do.

Thanks guys! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worship.gif[/img]

Rita

[jfkheat]

The way the Nigerian Scam works is they send you cashiers check for a few $1000 over your selling price. They tell you to send the extra $ to someone else to take care of the shipping. Most people don't think twice about depositing the cashiers check in their account and sending the extra money to the address the scam artist supplied. A couple weeks later your back tells you the cashiers check is a fake. You are out the money that you sent to the third person. No one ever shows up to pick up your car. A guy on another site I go to just posted something about this scam yesterday. He has a motorcycle for sell for $800 and they offered to send him $3800 with the $3000 extra to cover shipping.
James

[55chevy]

About 6 or so months ago I read about this same scam going on. All I can say is be carefull guys! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/scholar.gif[/img]