FOREIGN BUYER WANTS TO USE PAYPAL
Discussion
French guy wants to buy my Chimaera. I've spoken to him on the phone, seems genuine, and I told him I will not be parting with my bank details under any circumstances. Assuming he confirms his flight from Paris I will meet him off the plane tomorrow evening. Says he will pay by Paypal and expects to take the car away as soon as the money shows in my Paypal account. I'm very nervous about all this. Can anybody see any problems?
- Hijacked paypal account - money will show fine, but give it a few days when the rightful owner of the account notices, and you get hit with a chargeback. No money and no car.
- Stolen credit card attached to genuine paypal account - as above.
- Buyer starts a dispute with paypal over the condition, funds are held pending the return of the vehicle which will never happen.
And the small matter of 3.5% transaction fee.
Do not believe the hype - Paypal is NOT safe for transactions like this!!!
Bank transfer is far safer - give him the BIC and IBAN number from the bottom of any bank statemnet and he can make the transfer. better still, because he initiates the transfer, once it is in your account there is no way without lots of legal action can it be reversed.
- Stolen credit card attached to genuine paypal account - as above.
- Buyer starts a dispute with paypal over the condition, funds are held pending the return of the vehicle which will never happen.
And the small matter of 3.5% transaction fee.
Do not believe the hype - Paypal is NOT safe for transactions like this!!!
Bank transfer is far safer - give him the BIC and IBAN number from the bottom of any bank statemnet and he can make the transfer. better still, because he initiates the transfer, once it is in your account there is no way without lots of legal action can it be reversed.
For anything over £0, I would not accept Paypal. Too many buyer scams thanks to Paypal. Wait. You have a Paypal account? 
The only form of payment I accept these days are suitcases of used notes and bank transfer either over the net or in a bank. I won't even accept banker's drafts presented to bank counter staff as they can't identify fakes. You can pay someone with a draft (fake or otherwise) at a counter as a bank transfer but it will show up as a banker's draft payment in your online account statement so you will know that something's different about the transfer, if someone said they were going to make a standard bank transfer but instead make a bank transfer using a fake banker's draft. Hope that makes sense.
The only form of payment I accept these days are suitcases of used notes and bank transfer either over the net or in a bank. I won't even accept banker's drafts presented to bank counter staff as they can't identify fakes. You can pay someone with a draft (fake or otherwise) at a counter as a bank transfer but it will show up as a banker's draft payment in your online account statement so you will know that something's different about the transfer, if someone said they were going to make a standard bank transfer but instead make a bank transfer using a fake banker's draft. Hope that makes sense.
Paypal is for the buyer the easiest and fastest way to pay for a good bought abroad. A money transfer from France to the UK will take almost 2 weeks, and getting several thousands of pounds in banknotes will take 2 or 3 days, plus the danger of carrying so much cash.
Anyway, seen from the seller's side, cash is most probably the safest bet.
Anyway, seen from the seller's side, cash is most probably the safest bet.
BIC and IBAN are the best to use.
I bought my Cerb from a chap in UK and I'm in Belgium. I had him talk to his bank first about what BIC/IBAN are and the fact that he could confirm with them it was completely safe and 1 way (money in!).
If this French chap won't do it, tell him no thanks. Seemples.
I bought my Cerb from a chap in UK and I'm in Belgium. I had him talk to his bank first about what BIC/IBAN are and the fact that he could confirm with them it was completely safe and 1 way (money in!).
If this French chap won't do it, tell him no thanks. Seemples.
Gowka said:
BIC and IBAN are the best to use.
BIC and IBAN (ie bank transfer) mean that- You have to wait for almost 2 weeks before the money shows up on the seller's account. Usually both the seller and the buyer want to complete the transaction as soon as possible, so this is not satisfying.
- The buyer has to send thousands of pounds to a person he doesn't know in a foreign country, without getting in return anything else than a promise. Quite often the buyer won't even have seen the car "in the flesh" yet. Not a satisfying situation either...
So far, as a Frenchman enjoying British cars, I haven't found anything better than carrying cash in my pockets over the channel. And I'd love to find a more modern, easier and safer way of paying!
Motik said:
Gowka said:
BIC and IBAN are the best to use.
BIC and IBAN (ie bank transfer) mean that- You have to wait for almost 2 weeks before the money shows up on the seller's account. Usually both the seller and the buyer want to complete the transaction as soon as possible, so this is not satisfying.
- The buyer has to send thousands of pounds to a person he doesn't know in a foreign country, without getting in return anything else than a promise. Quite often the buyer won't even have seen the car "in the flesh" yet. Not a satisfying situation either...
So far, as a Frenchman enjoying British cars, I haven't found anything better than carrying cash in my pockets over the channel. And I'd love to find a more modern, easier and safer way of paying!
If you buy a car without looking at it first, well it's tough s
t if it then goes wrong.If you hand over the keys without money (however it is handed over) being in your account, then it's tough s
t if it then goes wrong.If both buyer and sellar agree a deal and agree how the deal will work, then if each have to wait a couple of weeks or more, then what is the issue.
The gfuy may well be genuine if he is he will arrange for cash/bank transfer he could put a complaint into paypal & money will be snatched back DO NOT DO IT.My Son had this with a phone he sold on ebay he took the money out of his account when they found it was a dodgy transaction(their protection is worth sod all) he had sent the phone & they have persued my son for 5 years with debt collectors have a look at Paypalsucks.com & forget it
Ian
Ian
Gowka said:
Motik said:
Gowka said:
BIC and IBAN are the best to use.
BIC and IBAN (ie bank transfer) mean that- You have to wait for almost 2 weeks before the money shows up on the seller's account. Usually both the seller and the buyer want to complete the transaction as soon as possible, so this is not satisfying.
- The buyer has to send thousands of pounds to a person he doesn't know in a foreign country, without getting in return anything else than a promise. Quite often the buyer won't even have seen the car "in the flesh" yet. Not a satisfying situation either...
So far, as a Frenchman enjoying British cars, I haven't found anything better than carrying cash in my pockets over the channel. And I'd love to find a more modern, easier and safer way of paying!
If you buy a car without looking at it first, well it's tough s
t if it then goes wrong.If you hand over the keys without money (however it is handed over) being in your account, then it's tough s
t if it then goes wrong.If both buyer and sellar agree a deal and agree how the deal will work, then if each have to wait a couple of weeks or more, then what is the issue.
If you made the transfer before going to see the car, what would have happened if the car wasn't as described, or had been sold to somebody else, or had been destroyed after you sent the money? That would have been tough s
t for you.As I said before I haven't found so far anything more satisfactory to both seller and buyer than cash, but I'd love to be proved wrong
Sold my Griff to a french chap
- He turns up to inspect. I take him out for a test drive (me driving). He liked and gave me a €1000 deposit in cash (non refundable)
- He then transfers the money which I move to another account as soon as it lands (it only took a matter of a few days to a week or so)
- I then sort a few things out on the car for him (tax, waxoyl,private plate etc) to which he again transferred the money via the bank.
- He turns up and collect the car (some time later I might add) and takes it away.
All went a treat. The whole risk was his as I had his money and the/his car.
Nice bloke - we still keep in touch (texts usually during the 6 Nations rugby)
cheers
- He turns up to inspect. I take him out for a test drive (me driving). He liked and gave me a €1000 deposit in cash (non refundable)
- He then transfers the money which I move to another account as soon as it lands (it only took a matter of a few days to a week or so)
- I then sort a few things out on the car for him (tax, waxoyl,private plate etc) to which he again transferred the money via the bank.
- He turns up and collect the car (some time later I might add) and takes it away.
All went a treat. The whole risk was his as I had his money and the/his car.
Nice bloke - we still keep in touch (texts usually during the 6 Nations rugby)
cheers
Cash is the safest option but this can also work.
SWIFT Transfer
Costs a few quid though. Used it to pay for a set of wheels from Germany.
SWIFT Transfer
Costs a few quid though. Used it to pay for a set of wheels from Germany.
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