How to complete transaction for parts sold across the world.

[Howard Jones]

I will have a Renault R21 transaxle with all the upgrades as well as the rest of the parts to install it on a SBF in the next few months. My question is how do I fairly sell these parts to someone in Europe so that we both feel confortable with exchanging money and sending parts to somerone both of us really dont know? This will not a small transaction afterall. In the past I have simpy just told people to send me the money when you recieve my shipment for small things and have never been mistreated by anybody on this forum. I just will not be able to send thousands of dollars worth of goods like that this time.

How do I do this and feel that I have not only protected myyelf but treated the buyer with respect?

 

[Lee Patterson]

Like most transactions, the buyer pays and then the seller ships. If you use PayPal and formally send the buyer an invoice and they then pay you and you then ship the product, I am not sure what the problem is. But people cheap out and pretend the money is for "friends and family" and then get stiffed. As the seller you hold all the cards. I would never ship anything like that prior to payment. I have purchased full sets of wheels from Europe - I was always required to pay first. Now there are some that don't use PayPal. Secondarily a bank wire into your account is best. Once it clears FULLY, then you ship.

Other than an ocean, Europe makes little difference. If you did this in the US and you stiffed the buyer, I guess they can get in a car and drive 3000 miles to track you down, but most people don't actually go do that.

Another option is to find an impartial 3rd party handler that takes the money and product but you are going to pay a big price for somebody to do that.

 

[Ken Roberts]

Last year I sold my Graziano transaxle to a GT40 builder in Australia. I did a bit of research on him. He built a kit plane in the past and documented it. He also had a long time friend visit me to make sure I was legitimate. He then felt comfortable sending me a bank transfer. Toughest job was crating it all up. It was transferred by truck to the west coast and left by ship for Australia. It was great that the buyer handled all the shipping and fees.

 

[JP Verweij]

If I buy overseas or outside the Netherlands, I only use Paypal, I even willing to pay the buyers protection fee.
If the (private) seller don't accept Paypal, Ill don't buy.
I don't do friends / family transfer either as it has no protection for me as a buyer. Yes Ive been scammed and learned my lesson.

Paypal is easy money transfer worldwide and offers buyers protection. There's a fee but you just calculate that into the price.

 

[Lee Patterson]

To add to Ken's comment, have the buyer arrange all the shipping. Then they have complete control of that end of the deal.

 

[Howard Jones]

I guess the best way to do this is ebay. Would it be a good idea to post it for sale on GT40s.com for a week or two befor it goes on ebay. I really think that the best venue for selling what I will have is here. Then if someone really wants my stuff they can simply buy it off ebay with having a early heads up.

Lets say I get a buyer here on GT40s and we agree on a price and the shipping particulars etc, Can I then post it on ebay for that price "buy it now" and select my GT40s.com buyer as the buyer I want to sell it to?

I'm not that familar with ebay rules.

 

[Ken Roberts]

You have a long standing history on this site. I would definitely try to sell it on here first. The risk is less when you are selling something. Once the funds are transferred to your bank account I would wait a few days to make sure the transaction wasn’t fraudulent. Letting the buyer handle the shipping process/fees helps to keep you out of the loop if the shipment goes missing.

 

[Lee Patterson]

I thought you already had a buyer.? If you do, just post it on eBay and tell them it's live and they purchase it. Set it at a higher price on eBay with OR BEST OFFER and then you select your guy as the offer you take. Same outcome. He pays you, you ship. Yes, eBay protects both buyer and seller but so does PayPal. I don't know the difference in fees charged.

If you have the buyer, not sure the point of posting it here.

 

[Malcolm]

don't forget to consider the ebay commission. Why not agree a deal here and go straight to Paypal? Raise a Paypal invoice which gets paid and then both sides protected as I see it.

 

[Lee Patterson]

If you use eBay, the buyer still has to pay you which more than likely will be through PayPal. PayPal is cheaper overall I believe.

 

[BenL]

I haven't used them, but there are escrow businesses that will accept the payment from the buyer, but they won't release the money to the seller until the purchaser says they've received the item (some use tracking information). Until I searched, I didn't realize that eBay and PayPal can do that. Transpact is the first escrow company I spotted online, I know nothing about them.

When using an escrow company, don't accept URL for the company from the buyer. Use Google to research the company name and use the suggested URL from Google. Some scammers will create a fake escrow site that looks like a real oen.

 

[Neil]

I haven't used them, but there are escrow businesses that will accept the payment from the buyer, but they won't release the money to the seller until the purchaser says they've received the item (some use tracking information). Until I searched, I didn't realize that eBay and PayPal can do that. Transpact is the first escrow company I spotted online, I know nothing about them.

When using an escrow company, don't accept URL for the company from the buyer. Use Google to research the company name and use the suggested URL from Google. Some scammers will create a fake escrow site that looks like a real oen.

eBay and PayPal are now linked. I do NOT recommend PayPal for any transactions like this. They are very arbitrary and difficult to deal with. PayPal still owes me $500 for their "insurance" on an expensive tape recorder that arrived at the buyer's address in severely damaged condition.

 

[Lee Patterson]

Yes they are linked but still you are using them. Why would PayPal owe for shipping damage? That is the responsibility of the shipping company assuming one had properly valued the shipment.

 

[Neil]

I purchased their insurance.

 

[Lee Patterson]

I would pursue the shipper.

 

[Julian]

PayPal was spun off by eBay and is in fact no longer their preferred payment method. In my experience both entities are a nightmare to deal with if anything goes wrong. I will not link a bank account to PayPal as they'll just debit your account upon a dispute. Upon payment I immediately move money from my PayPal account.