Germany is not some backward third world country where phone calls are made through the operator by appointment.
Its very easy to make a phone call, there are absolutely no restrictions whatsoever on phone calls.
In addition, I certainly did not click on the ‘paypal’ link, all too easy for it to be a scam and you are giving them your log in details, if I every want to log in to paypal, I certainly would not do it via a link someone else provided - I would go by my own stored link.
I got at least one of these when I posted my car for sale. I said I’d start setting up Paypal, but that if his contact was going to want to drive the car, I’d need to borrow a battery ahead of time. (Oh, did his contact live locally here in Nantucket?).
This didn’t seem to affect his desire for the car at all. I intended to have the process drag on a bit, with maybe wheels falling off or people crashing in to it or bits catching fire each time, but after I sold the car I lost interest.
So that’s my recommendation on what to do.
Fourth one today, this one’s a little different angle. But still buying for Dad.
I’ve heard of caveat emptor, let the buyer beware, but clearly the opposite is also true, caveat venditor, let the seller beware. A few years back I would have been naive enough to fall for this, figuring Paypal covered your ass whatever happened. Thanks to the SDMB and other sites I now know that isn’t true and fraud can be lurking beneath even the most seemingly safe transction.
Fortunately these scammers do tend to give themselves away, either by their clunky language or the absurd special conditions by which they want to transact the deal. I’m willing to bet though that they have no shortage of unsuspecting victims.
They’re not interested in the car, the scam isn’t to defraud you of the vehicle. They will eventually ask for money to cover some cost or other bullshit, once you pony up they’re gone.
That is right. A lot of times the purchase of the item is not the scam. Once you are involved with the sale, a third party shipper comes in to make shipping plans with you.
Then after you are invested in the sale of the item, you don’t really pay attention to the $750 shipping charges to the 3rd party.
The whole scam is about getting you far enough into the sale that the shipping or transfer costs are incidental.
The shipment money is the entire goal. The item for sale wasn’t.
I think a mistake some people make is to try to figure out exactly how the scam works and work around it, or figure if the scam isn’t going down the path they expect then it’s safe. When you get weird arrangements and broken English, you can be sure there is a scam, even if you’re not sure which one they’re running.
If you think that the buyer is, or might be, genuine, you can ask them to send cash via Western Union. That’s how scammers work it the other way around. Also make sure that you promptly tell whoever licences vehicles in your part of the world that you have sold the car.
I wouldn’t touch it. Possibly using a stolen credit card, definitely up to no good. I would simply delete the email. But if you feel it necessary to respond, you could say, “This is a local cash transaction, as stated in my ad. If the vehicle is for your father, then get the money to him however you like. I will trade him the vehicle upon receipt of his cash payment.”
Are there Nigerian scammers in Germany?
Sounds like an opportunity for some fun.
"Thank you for your interest in the car I am selling. As to your questions, there are no extra keys. But it’s OK, I pounded a screw driver into the starter lock, and it works fine now, no keys required.
"The original spare tire was damaged in the fire, but I found a riding lawn mower wheel that fits pretty good if you smack it with a hammer a few times.
"My brother-in-law Earl did all the service on this car, he is a handyman who does plumbing and electrical repairs for cash, but he’s good with cars too. He fixed the transmission when it was making noise, he said it will be quiet since he packed it with sawdust.
"There was some rust on the rocker panels and the bottoms of the doors, but that was easy to fix with a can of RustOleum.
“I’m sure you will find this car to be in very good condition, it comes with a lifetime guarantee if anything goes wrong, which it won’t. Rest assured, you are getting the best vehicle your PayPal money can buy.”
What makes you think the scammer is in Germany? Saying you’re in Germany is meaningless.
It is such a flagrant and obvious scam I am surprised that anyone today has to ask.
Now there are three Army folks all posted at the NATO base in Germany who coincidentally want my car.
I also had a real person from New Jersey call to make a cash offer, but I’m asking $13,900 and he offered $9000 so that was a short call.
I have sold cars five times in the past (last time was maybe 10 years ago) and this is the first time it has been this much of a pain in the ass. All the other times I made simple cash sales to legit buyers.
I have an appraisal from CarMax but I figured I could get about a grand more if I sold it myself. Now I’m thinking this isn’t worth the hassle.
Frankly, if you’re getting nothing but the overseas scammer replies, you’re probably asking way too much for the car. It’s sort of a signal-to-noise ratio thing since you’re always going to get the same number of scammers regardless of how you price the car. If your price is a bit high but generally in the ballpark you’ll get the tire-kickers and low-ballers too. If you get ten e-mails in five minutes in your inbox saying “sell it to me nownownownownow, I’ve got CASH!” that means you’ve gone too low.
Hmm, maybe. I priced it at the high end of what Autotrader said was the market value. That is $1000-2000 below what local dealers are asking for them and the mileage on mine is lower. (42,000 on a 2008). For example, one dealer has one at $15,590, same year 56,800 miles. There are a few out there (outside my immediate region) for as high as $18,500.
So I may be high for a private party but I’m not in Fantasyland.
So what did CarMax offer for it?
IME what Craigslist works really well for is if you just want the car sold fast and aren’t too worried about squeezing every penny out of it. I usually shoot for a grand or two over what I’d get trading it in, which still ends up being significantly less than dealer retail. If you price the car attractively enough, it’ll go so fast you won’t even notice the scammers. You certainly can list it for something on the higher end of private party book value and wait for the right buyer to come along, but all the scammers and various other time-wasters make it a chore. If you’re not too worried about time but want to maximize the amount you get for the car, the paid car classified sites or even your local newspaper classifieds tend to work better.
Of course, this also isn’t the best time of year to be selling a convertible.