Buying a bike on ebay

I'll wire you the money John and you can give him cash and take the bike, haha. A little bit of a hike though huh?

 

Me: Hi, I'm located in Philadelphia and interested in the bike. Would you be willing to end the auction for $4000. $1000 immediate paypal deposit and the other $3k in cash when I come down to pick it up. I'd plan on flying down taking the bike back on the auto train from Sanford. It's ready to ride right? No mechanical problems? Reliable?

Him: Ok , let close a deal. but do not send me the money via pay pal . Just send me via pay pal 200 us . You can send me a wire transfer for 1800. And them the day that you pick up. Bring me 2000 cash. I'm will send you copy of the tittle. And a biil of sale. Thnks regards. Simon.

Me:I'm not really comfortable leaving that much of a deposit or wiring through the bank to be honest. I can gift it or give you a few extra bucks for the fees if that would make you feel more comfortable. $1k is a pretty big chunk of money to begin with. You can call me at ***-***-****

Him: I'm not really in a hurry to sell the bike, as you like, you can check my feedback. then you better expect bid runs and then we'll talk. Thanks for your interest, I'm always the order. regards
Simon

Me: I'm not trying to be rude at all. In the listing you only ask for a $400 deposit. I thought $1000 was more than generous and fair under the circumstances.

 

It would work but then you have the issue of the title. If you can get that sorted out, I'd go since it's not too far of a drive. If this were closer to the holiday season, I could possibly arrange for a front door delivery .

 

I thought it would be a cool excuse to go to florida in october, haha

 

Not worth it. Dude can't even spell...

-jim

 

Yea, he uses some weird phrases. Definitely a foreigner of some kind. Hopefully not nigerian, haha. Last thing he said was $400 deposit is fine, but then the price is $4500. Along with some weird phrases and misspellings thrown in...

 

Show me the tittles

 

my advice: DON'T end the auction early and DO pay the deposit via paypal. both ebay and paypal have measures in place to protect you in the event that somebody tries to screw you. unfortunately i've had to use all of the above as both buyer and seller.

- jim

 

Yea, screw it... I'll decide over the weekend how bad I want it. If someone else scoops it then oh well.

 

Good thing you put that space in there.

-jim

 

It's perfect weather to hang out at Frenchy's and Shephard's .

 

Hell yea! I'll be down for spring training 100%. We'll be booking as soon as the schedule comes out. Staying at Shepherds again.

 

...RUN!!!

 

Some of the comments he made and the broken English would be enough to turn me away.

At the very least, I would do everything legit through eBay and Paypal.

Have you talked to the guy on the phone?

 

Yea, same here. I gave him my number. He didn't call...

 

If wire = bank to bank then I don't see a problem. If he's asking you to use Western Union, MoneyGram, etc.....stay clear of him.

I have an app on my phone from Chase that allows me to 'wire transfer' so I don't see it being an issue in these modern times.


Good luck!

 

Ask for his number. Also do NOT wire the money. Go paypal or not at all. Paypal almost always sides with the money giver.

Or just say you will be in Florida the day that the auction ends.

Also I would have him send me a copy of the title and bill of sale and also a picture of the current newspaper next to the VIN number.

But also voice your opinions about it. Tell him your suspicions.

 

I would only do that if it is a credit card. The banks will tell you to go F yourself. Believe me I know. I have to deal with this shit all the time on fraud cases.

 

I had to check out the auction and that is a very nice GS for a pretty damn fair price, especially if you get it for 4 grand. I have travelled all over the country to buy cars and bikes that I really wanted. Done all kinds of payments, but lately the way I've gone is to either give a Paypal deposit like he is asking, take the full amount of cash in person, or the latest is to Paypal the full amount (less deposit if one is put down) while you are standing with the guy. Never had one problem on any transaction.

If I would have seen that GS before I bought my RS this past June, I'd have bought it!

And before I do anything I make sure to have a nice, long conversation on the phone with the person I'm buying from. I can usually tell by the tone of the conversation that things will go smooth; or not.

 

If he's that suspicious, why not post up where the bike is located and ask a forum member who lives nearby for a favor to go give it a look?
Maybe even wire him the money and go pick it up for him?