Not Sure If This Is OK Here, But Here Goes


I'm selling a pair of Magnepans on Audiogon and as usual, have had no response. Yesterday, a guy from Argentina (allegedly) contacts me and says he'd like the speakers and gave me an address and phone number of a guy in Miami to ship them to and he'll forward them on to the end buyer.

At first glance, this doesn't pass the smell test. However, he did give me a phone number, which I may call later today. The other issue I have is that I have little to no experience with PayPal. How hard is it to defraud PayPal and leave me without my  money and the lose of my speakers?

jasonduke2

paypal did absolutely nothing for me when I paid for something and it never arrived. 

You are on your own. But if you get paid in advance, you are safe.

 

i've always wondered about transactions using paypal f@f. why do they let you do that-they make no money!

Friends and Family is intended for what it says. If you use it for buying/selling things then you are violating the terms you agreed to when you signed up and  basically cheating them out of what you owe them. Otherwise known as fraud. Sometimes called stealing.  I know many will rationalize why that isn't wrong, but it is wrong

signed,

goody 2 shoes

This an export transaction in which you are the "exporter of record" you have obligations to both the US and the importing country.  There are required documents, as an example a Commercial Invoice and perhaps other documents.  These documents are required for both the export and import side of the transaction.  Some foreign buyers use a "Forwarding Agent" to manage all these requirements as well as arranging the actual shipment of the goods.  The company  you have been pointed to may be such a company or individual with both knowledge and authority to handle the transaction.

Now there is payment, the safest and simplest traction would be to sell the item to the guy in Miami have him pay you thru PayPal and let him deal with the process of getting it to the end buyer.  You are paid and out of the loop.  You don't own it anymore and you are not exporting it.  He is. Take your money and forget about the rest.

Now, you may be asked to ship the goods to this guy in Florida with the promise that you will he paid by the end buyer.  Problem here, is that you don't know what is going to trigger you getting paid.  You also don't know who is going to pay the freight, handling and duty on the shipment, that could add up to some dollars you don't want to pay.

I have sold lots of stuff on Ebay with a few export sales.  Every time it was an export I just "wrote it off" maybe I would get paid and maybe not.  And maybe I would get a call from customs enforcement.  I got lucky and never had a problem, but finally decided I would not do it anymore and excluded export sales from my listings.

You may just want to wait for a domestic buyer and not get dragged into this mess.

 

If there's a question- there's no question. The fact you felt the need to reach out should be enough for you to "move on" what model Maggie"s ?