Escrow

accadacca

Hi all, I'm wanting to buy a new motorcycle but its located in the highlands of scotland. I have spoken with the seller who seems a nice genuine bloke and the condition of the bike seem perfect. I have found a courier who will pick up and deliver the bike at a reasonable price but how do I pay for it? I cant see it in person and pay cash, its just too far away, he obviously wont send it without first being paid so I was wondering about an escrow service but there seem to be so many scams going around. Has anyone had a good (or bad) experience with any particular companies? I dont want to lose £9k.
Thanks.

cb1979

At 9K I would make the trip up there, As its a new bike its from a Dealer I take it? Will he not take a debit card then or a bank transfer,
Or get a lift up there and ride it back, you might have to wait a few weeks for it to warm up a bit though,or get a lift up and do a one way van hire to bring it back yourself

System

what I've done before in a situation like this (although only a 2.5k car) was to get a deposit of half the money, then send the v5 document to the buyer, then get the other half of the money and sent the car away - not sure if that's a good way to do it, but it worked for me!
Also, money was paid via direct bank transfer - although with 9k I would definitely want to have a good look at it in person before handing it over/transferring it!

Lum

As soon as someone mentions the word escrow, people are going to run a mile assuming it's a scam, hell I came to this thread expecting that you were going to be buying a cheap VW transporter from a bloke who just moved to Spain!

If you can afford to spend 9 grand on a bike, surely you can afford to spend 50 quid on a train ticket and ride it home?

happybiker

Why is it too far?

There will always be another bike available closer to you if you look hard enough and wait long enough. 9 grand is a lot of money to spend sight unseen.

If it is a dealer, talk to your bank about paying for it by credit card to get some protection, if private, go up and see the bike first. Forget escrow, if the bike isn't suitable, who pays for return to seller, what happens if seller says not returned in condition sent? If a new bike, what about the first service and following guarantee work?
Take a few days holiday, go up, collect the bike and ride it round the highlands for a couple of days, get service done and ride it back. If you are carefull, that shouldn't cost you much more than a courier would charge

Too many potential problems. Either train up and ride back, hire a trailer and drive up, or, walk away

I agree with Lum

Aretnap

I agree with Lum, and would add that if you're buying a nice bike, riding it back through the Scottish Highlands would be the ideal way to christen it! Just try and pick a sunny weekend...

accadacca

Thanks for the replies. The bike is not at a dealers its a private sale. Its an 8 hour ride home and picking a sunny weekend in scotland is like picking a winning lottery ticket!
Its the right bike at the right price and they dont come up for sale too often, The guy needs to sell as he is moving and I cant get up there to pick it up for another week or so but he's not available that weekend. This is a right dilemma, he seems 100% genuine but I'm worried about putting 9k into someones bank who I dont know from Adam.

happybiker

accadacca wrote: »

Its the right bike at the right price and they dont come up for sale too often, The guy needs to sell as he is moving and I cant get up there to pick it up for another week or so but he's not available that weekend.

This shouts SCAM at me. I would walk away. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
If 9 grand in cash was coming my way, I would make myself available, as I would if I was desperate to sell.

It STINKS

cb1979

happybiker wrote: »

This shouts SCAM at me. I would walk away. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
If 9 grand in cash was coming my way, I would make myself available, as I would if I was desperate to sell.

It STINKS

My thoughts exactly, if I was the seller I would meet the buyer halfway or deliver it, cant be that many buyers around for a £9000 used bike

KaiserBill

happybiker wrote: »

This shouts SCAM at me. I would walk away. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
If 9 grand in cash was coming my way, I would make myself available, as I would if I was desperate to sell.

It STINKS

^^^^^^^^^


What he says !

System

could easily be genuine imo - doesn't shout scam that someone living in the highlands can't be there on a specific day in the middle of preparing to move!
Only saying that as I've been on the recieving end of accusations like that the last time I was selling a car but it was down to pure logistics

op, could you not take a day (or two) off work to view at a time that suits both of you?
and then at least if you made that offer and they still couldn't find time to show you it you could walk away!