Selling on OSO internationally
 

Aside from requesting cash in the mail is there an idiot proof way of getting paid?
Bank transfers are not final. They can be reversed. I use PayPal on Ebay and have
not had any trouble. However I always follow their Seller Protection rules. This European
buyer wants to arrange the shipping so that rules out the normal PayPal transaction.
Has anyone used the "family and friends" money transfer option? Is it reversible?
I sold my labbed prop to someone using Western Union. The buyer wanted it that way so
I had no trouble doing it with the onus of responsibility falling on me to deal honestly.
So as I see it there are only three ways to protect myself in this transaction. Can I get
burned using PayPal family and friends?

Once the funds are in your account a wire transfer cannot be reversed. I've sold many things to international buyers and all were wire transfers.

Paypal is not a bank and are not regulated at all so if they think the transaction is suspicious they can lock the funds up while they "investigate" I'll only use paypal for transaction that are less than a grand or two. YMMV

And don't send cash in the mail, especially internationally that is not a good idea.

Sold a boat to a guy in New Zealand. Wire Transfer, no issues.

Just have him scan the hundred dollar bills and then email the pictures to you. When you hit print choose double sided. All thats left is to trim to size with a good pair of scissors....


:party-smiley-004:

But if you choose to do this the Government requires that you be honest and only print the actual amount and no extra. lol!

My bank's manager said money orders, bank checks, and wire transfers can be stopped or reversed
at any time for any reason up to about 1 year. Hence the reason I am asking about the PayPal
family and friends option. Several people on here have lost money buying things this way but I have
not heard of anyone losing money when selling something using this option.

I have sold several high dollar automotive parts overseas and have safely used wire transfers. Occasionally they will have a ~30 to 60 minute "processing" or "scheduling" window in which they may be reversed, but that's it. Most banks will have a 3-5 business day hold on the funds, but the transaction is no longer reversible at that point. Up to one year is insane and if that's truly the case with your bank, I would seriously consider moving my accounts elsewhere.

If you are truly not comfortable with it, open a separate account for your wire transfers. Most banks require a very small minimum deposit, and you could use that account solely for the wire transfer; move the money into that account, wait for it to clear, remove the money from the account either in cash or an AHC transfer to your primary account, and then ship the items. Just explain to the buyer that the wire transfer process is going to take a couple days on your end, and you'll ship after its cleared.

He is wrong, I suggest you use another bank. Good luck.

No he's not you can put a stop on a certified check fact!

I have a "sacrificial account" at my bank. It's just a regular checking account, in my name. I keep $100 bucks exactly in it, and it's tied to my PayPal account too. It has no overdraft coverage, and not tied to my other accounts. When I make a PayPal purchase, I move the money into it manually to cover. AND whenever I do a transaction that is a wire in, or out, or anything 'maybe a little sketchy', I do it from that account. Once incoming money lands, I move it out of that account immediately.
I've done some international buying and selling, and that's usually the method that I use; and no issues.

if something goes wrong on a friends and family ( no fee's ) Paypal will not support you on that transaction......the above ^^^^^^^ is a safe way to do things just make sure it is a stand alone account and not linked to another....and dont leave monies in your paypal account transfer it out so charge backs cant occur

A check can only be stopped prior to funds settlement. Would you ship valuable items before you know the funds are settled? this is why people fall for scams they aren't educated on banking matters.

Cash in person or bank wire transfer only.

This isn't the forum to cover every nuance of transferring funds, the OP asked what is the safest way to accept money for his boat from out of the country and the answer is international bank wire transfer.

And OP, when the buyer makes the transfer call your bank and verify it was an actual wire transfer through SWIFT and not a check that was overnighted. Settled wire transfers are a done deal, scammers overnight checks to make it look like a wire transfer and it can takes weeks before the bank finds out the check was bogus.

Maybe so but Chase bank refused to do a huge wire transfer 1/4 of a million in Florida go figure?

Interesting.... Must be a Florida law. Indiana Chase, last month wired 4 times that and was in account next morning.

Banks have lots of rules they use to determine whether or not they will accept business, sometimes it makes no sense but there are plenty of stories online about people having accounts closed and other stupid stuff like that.

If the bank won't accept a wire transfer you might have to find another bank or if you are 100% certain the deal is legit then I'm sure it is safe to accept a check, if the check is from a closing company handling a house sale for instance.

When dealing with strangers it is cash or wire transfer only.

Wire Transfer is your best option. I recently sold a truck for $20k through wire transfer. Once the payment processed into my account I released the truck to the shipping company and off they went...

My bank is in Covid-19 lock down. Drive thru business only. Any thing else must be done
with an appointment. The first opening is in 4 days. What a clusterf*ck.
I guess it will be Western Union.

A friend got scammed on a supposed PayPal transaction for a few jet skis he bought out of state. Seller sent him a PayPal “escrow” link of some kind, and he sent the money, turns out it was a fake PayPal site they had built to scam people, with a very similar web address and some masking of some kind. Be wary of any links that are sent to you.

Chase in Florida Accepted a large sum through a wire transfer from my Credit Union Years Back from NY. Interesting

Still no word from captain chaos.

Another scenario,what course of action could you take if you did a wire transfer to another country example USA for a boat and the seller didnt release the goods to the shipper.

All the scammers use wire transfer or western Union, I would imagine because once it`s done it cannot be reversed.Learn from them :-)
Family and friends paypal you have ZERO protection.

Your options are limited in this scenario, while the seller not releasing the goods is illegal if you are in another country it is difficult if not impossible to solve that problem. This is why it is imperative that all due diligence is done prior to money being sent.

You would be ****ed.

To the poster whose bank said they can reverse a wire up to a year later, your bank is wrong. Once it hits an account it’s done, unless you can prove fraud and have the FBI put a hold on the account. Usually by the time you realize it didn’t show up where it should have or realize you have been scammed, it has been wired from that us account to an account in another country and it’s done and gone.

So buying from a company/business would be safer than buying from a private seller ,the company should be easier to trace

Maybe, maybe not. It depends. Some businesses are nothing more than a quick online incorporation by one person; which they can happily go bankrupt and walk away from.

My son just purchased a car from an out of town dealership. Most of the conversation was done on the Salesperson cell phone, which is common today. He emailed us wiring instructions. To make certain it was legit, I called into the dealership, asked for the F&I Manager, and then asked him what the wiring instructions were for his dealership. I also asked him some specific questions about the dealership/wire transfer. The sales guy could have had us wiring the money into his own account which would have been a real surprise when attempting to pick up the car. The key is that I called into the dealerships published number, I did not ask the salesguy to have an F&I person call me. After tat exercise, I felt good about wiring the funds.

A couple of years ago, one of our banks had us sign a form that cleared them of any problem with any wire, including if it was their fault. We no longer use that bank for wires. After that, it was interesting to see how many banks had different wire rules.