Hi Areebb, just to quantify my statements here, I was a medical trader exporting to the USA for 9 years before I "retired" and now do this part time for a living. GONKA has said it best above with this quote: Use escrow, ask for a credit check on the company, call BBB on the company. Ask for reference. There are many ways to check on a company's record or credibility. If you are not too far, visit the company in person. Basically if you do all three above then I am sure there will be no problem at all. In nearly 10 years in the business with over 60 US based customers I never got stung, and we just stuck to references and the odd D&B check (dunn and bradstreet). The whole LoC thing is serious overkill to be honest, a LoC for $8k is just not worth the rigmarole to be honest. We only ever used letters of credit if the deal was in the high 6 figures or one million plus area, and even then it was only very infrequent and only if there was a serious trust issue. If you can reach them on the phone and it sounds like an office, and it seems genuine then it is probably ok, but for your PEACE OF MIND, I recommend using escrow.com If you want any further help or recommendations let me know by PM and I will help all I can. good luck, MOG ps. the whole "theres no recourse when using a wire transfer" thing is also wrong, theres plenty of recourse as long as you have an invoice from a legitimate company, pay the invoice and the goods are not delivered. PPS. +rep to Gonka for the best advice in this thread IMO
His reply is badly written, its got scam written all over it if he doesnt even have an address listed. You mention his site looks legit. Go to the buy/sell forum here in DP and you'll get a great, legit looking site for $200. Pocket change compared to what he's about to scam. The deal clearly stinks. I would tell him you will use escrow and pay the fees. At this point, dont expect to hear from him again.
it sounds like a scam You should look up 419 scammers and see samples of scams especialy involing wire transfer
Hey just use Western Union Money Transfer that is more safe and easy so your friend will get the money and you will be protected by Low...
Wow guys I'm really surprised at the interest in this topic! Anyways, he agreed to use Paypal.com. He's a verified member. I believe Paypal will protect me right? I know the WHOIS record looks bogus, but many times I personally put bogus information on WHOIS just to avoid spam and junk mail. So I won't slash him just for that. It seems like a one man show he's running, but hey what do I care long as I get the machine for a good price ($8000 is a pretty good price). I'm about to pay him, unless someone can convince me otherwise real fast.
I have a magic hamster for sale for $7000 dollars buy that instread! If you get scammed after all this you deserve to loose it!
Ok correct me if I'm wrong but I believe PayPal protects your transactions. That's what I've heard from a lotta people. So how can I get scammed? Oh and the guy has provided me with a Canadian doctor as a reference, who bought a $30,000 system off him. I've looked up the doctor and he's registered for the winnipeg foot clinic. I'm yet to call him, but I doubt he'd provide a reference if the guy wouldn't root for him. And I'm keeping MOG's suggestions in mind when I decided not to go the L/C route if he wasn't up for the idea. Do I NEED to go the escrow.com route to be completely safe, if neither of us have an account with that website, or is Paypal sufficiently safe? I have a feeling my inhibitions of this being a scam are wrong, but I'm still open to other suggestions.
Try to check 1st if his PayPal is Old or new account. Alot of new PayPal accounts are just verified using VCC. Still be careful. If his account is atleast 3months old then maybe his not using VCC to verify his VCC. and ti make sure use credit card when Paying. Just incase you can charge back.
How do I verify how old his PayPal account is? And aren't you more secure if you use your bank account instead of a credit card with Paypal? I believe they say that you have more protection with a bank account.
Its a lot lot of money. Don't do it in haste. Take your time to consider this carefully before doing anything.
Paypal arent going to cover you. You need to do a credit card payment via paypal. If you don't recieve it, then your bank will cover you.
PayPal is only able to cover you when the money is in the other persons account, and if this person is indeed about to scam you they put the money straight to their bank account where PayPal can't touch it. Bank will cover you if you do a credit card payment via paypal like Vic said. Buyers can get screwed if they don't watch who they send their money to.