Purchasing from someone on this site

[Don Davis]

Hello, I was wondering if someone with more experience than me can lend some insight into purchasing from someone advertising on this site. There is a little more degree of difficulty in that I’m on the west coast of Canada and I would like to buy from someone on the east coast of the US. I have bought quite a bit of goods/equipment from US retailers and have had very positive experiences so far which I believe is a direst result of free trade. I went to my bank last week and they mentioned that the safest way is to do a bank to bank wire transfer, sounds fairly straightforward, I’ve just never done one before so just curious of others experience, thanks for any input, it’s much appreciated, Don

 

[Ky Grady]

Has said vendor/person been vetted? Is he a real person and not a scam? You need to do due diligence to ensure they are legit. Nowadays scammers are everywhere.

 

[Don Davis]

Well kinda but just curious how to be certain? We have emailed numerous times, we made initial contact as he said he had some items for sale on this site, I did notice he is a relatively new member so not sure of his history. I have his address and phone number, I guess I should just try to call him .

 

[Ky Grady]

Google Earth his address. I've seen empty lots at supposed businesses.

 

[seasick]

It's tricky business. I wouldn't do a wire transfer. They are not 100% secure. In addition, why give out your banking information like account and routing number to a total stranger?

The safest way is to meet the seller in person or have an agent be your representative. You may be able to hire a broker to act on your behalf(for a fee of course).
Ypu may need an agent to handle documentation taxes and import duties. The agent could also handle shipping.

There are too many bad guys out there these days

 

[luckydude]

I bought a construction tractor over the internet. What I did was open an escrow account, any bank can do that, we did it with a local to the seller bank. You put the money in there but it is not released until you are happy with the purchase. Pretty standard way to deal with big purchases (the tractor was around $50K if I remember correctly, Kubota M59, still have it, love it).