# Big purchases with far away strangers...



## bikewhorder (Jan 4, 2015)

So I found a bike I really want to buy from a cabe member who's now listed as a "guest" (I'd rather not say who it is at this time) and we've agreed on a price, which is strangely $100 less than I offered.  Its a pretty huge outpouring of cash for me (about 3 weeks take home pay).   I stumbled upon the bike yesterday as an ebay listing from last spring that didn't sell and its one that I'd seen pictures of before and I really really wanted it.  I asked the seller to let me pay through escrow.com but he says he's never heard of it and isn't interested in going that route. He "seems" trustworthy and my gut says it will be fine but I've learned I can't trust my gut at all. The seller has a good ebay feedback but were operating outside of that system.  Should I just take my chances and pay with paypal and hope the buyers protection works if I need it? Any other options I'm missing?


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## barracuda (Jan 4, 2015)

I've made eBay purchases on a person to person basis before, where the seller creates a listing and we both agree on a time at which it will be listed. In that way I can be the first and only person to see the listing at a BIN price.


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## vincev (Jan 4, 2015)

I would use pay pal but not as a gift.


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## catfish (Jan 4, 2015)

Long before e-mail, ebay, and pay pal.  All the deals I did were over the phone, and threw the mail.


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## bikewhorder (Jan 4, 2015)

barracuda said:


> I've made eBay purchases on a person to person basis before, where the seller creates a listing and we both agree on a time at which it will be listed. In that way I can be the first and only person to see the listing at a BIN price.




Yeah I thought of something like that, actually I was thinking of asking him to relist it with a ridiculous BIN or make offer just so no one swipes it on me.  The problem is I'm cheap and the 10% listing fee would add almost $200 to my purchase price.


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## GTs58 (Jan 4, 2015)

barracuda said:


> I've made eBay purchases on a person to person basis before, where the seller creates a listing and we both agree on a time at which it will be listed. In that way I can be the first and only person to see the listing at a BIN price.




For that to work the seller has to agree to list the bike and then take it in the shorts for 9% of the sales price and possibly the shipping fees if listed.

If you use paypal for the transaction, I would have the seller send you an invoice with the exact description of what is being sold and the sales price. Then there will be a record of what you are dumping the money on if there is a problem later.


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## mikey-motorbikey (Jan 4, 2015)

do it all the time,99% of time it leads to good friendships


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## Nickinator (Jan 4, 2015)

mikey-motorbikey said:


> do it all the time,99% of time it leads to good friendships




You have good instincts! 

Darcie


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## abe lugo (Jan 4, 2015)

*Nevermind if he is willing to work with your form of payment..*

I misread, i would try for the private buy it now like some of the posters said, of at least get some references for him.


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## kccomet (Jan 4, 2015)

no guts no glory, as catfish said deals were made long before ebay, paypal and so on. i like to talk to someone on the phone to get a feel for the guy and the deal. go for it, it will work out fine


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## Balloonatic (Jan 4, 2015)

I only do business with people I trust. If you don't trust him, don't do the deal. And if you're not sure, talk to him more on the phone, or see if you know someone in his town who can go look at the bike for you or make the deal for you in person.

As for safe payment, GTs58 has it right, get him to invoice you through Paypal spelling the deal out in straight-forward terms, and either pay with your credit card who will back you up if it goes wonky and pay the fees yourself (it's worth it in some instances -think of it like insurance) or pay by friends/family with no fees to him and hope they back you up. You can also call paypal first and tell them what you're trying to do and see what they say about backing you up. If you're trying to avoid him paying fees to receive the money, or trying to avoid the fees yourself paying from your acct. then ask them how to do it and still be covered. I have found them to be surprisingly helpful if I call and ask before sending the dough. 

Good luck!


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## lamendes (Jan 5, 2015)

For what its worth, A few months ago a bought a bike off of CList without seeing it in person.  It was one of those 'too good to be true' deals for about $1K total.  Paid the guy thru PayPal (not as friends/family).  Turns out the guy was running a scam. Filed a dispute with PayPal and after about a 2 week waiting period, PayPal refunded me the money.


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## HIGGINSFOREVER (Jan 5, 2015)

What country and how long has he been on e-bay.Is there a lot of high dollar sales with good feed back.Are there a lot of sales to the u.s. No matter how you look at it its a 50/50 deal.Good luck


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## spoker (Jan 5, 2015)

i was trin to respond in a helpful manner instead of ofending you,so take what you find helpful and leave the rest on the cutting room floor,i feel iv been in the same spot,i haddent put money away for when a bike came up that i wanted,i would get more stressd out about spending money that i could not afford to spend on a BIKE,it sounds like there are 2 things goin on,buyers remorse before buying,1 maybe a larger purchase than you are used to makin and the comfort factor is not there buying from a stranger,are bouth equal concerns?i no longer make impusle buys unless its a giveaway price,i now put money in a bike fund and if there isnt enaough to buy a particular bike idont buy it,if it was a great deal how come it didnt sell 4?just when i think a bike is the last one i will ever see another one comes along,my bike hobby has bcome way more enjoyable since i do this now,what really helped me was to get some of that medicine called selfadenial,once again this reply was meant to give some relief and are purly sugesstions about what works for me


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## tanksalot (Jan 5, 2015)

Do Pay pal with a invoice as others stated. With a Credit card if possible . If you cant do by CC I believe your still ok as far as pay pal backing you up as long as you pay pal pal fees.  Absolutely DO NOT SEND PAYMENT AS FRIENDS & FAMILY  . Unless you have a warm fuzzy feeling witch you wouldn't be asking if you had that feeling.  *If you do friends & family you will have No Recourse at all*. I hope this helps & good luck .


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## decotriumph (Jan 5, 2015)

If he's selling it to you for $100 less than your offer, I would consider that as a sign of one of these two: 1) it would either spook me away from the deal, or 2) I'd use that $100 to cover the PayPal fees and require him send you a detailed invoice with the description of the bike, including the serial number. $100 is enough to cover a PayPal purchase of $3300. If he won't do that, I'd walk away. PayPal will not cover you if you go "friends & family," so consider the fees as buyer's insurance.


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## bike (Jan 5, 2015)

how bout ask for references if I am making a big deal they probably are known to someone I know...


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## tanksalot (Jan 5, 2015)

bike said:


> how bout ask for references if I am making a big deal they probably are known to someone I know...




That may depend on weather hes a bike guy or not .Theres plenty of Ebay sellers that are not bike guys that happen to find a nice bike.


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## bike (Jan 5, 2015)

*even so*

they may have a well known collector in another hobby you could contact, I have done this in the past. 
Just one option.

I have bought TONS of stuff from strangers with postal money orders- as long as nothing fishy is going on.

I make sure I have contact info and a real address- now easy to check with computer. anywho.com is a good tool for finding names and addresses and reverse phone if not cell


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## bikesnbuses (Jan 5, 2015)

If you look around on the CABE,you might find someone trustworthy on here who can assist possibly?(pick up and ship bike?)..you never know...


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## stoney (Jan 5, 2015)

I think I would go this route. Have him list it with agreed time to BIN. You said he agreed to $100.00 less than you offered him. (You are saving $100) The 10% listing is $200.00 added to your purchase. When you do the $200 xtra minus the $100.00 less that he accepted, you are only $100.00 more. Do it with Paypal, you will be covered. The extra $100.00 for a bike you have WANTED, to me does even come into account. Good luck, hope all goes well for you. Post pics when you get it.


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## catfish (Jan 5, 2015)

bikesnbuses said:


> If you look around on the CABE,you might find someone trustworthy on here who can assist possibly?(pick up and ship bike?)..you never know...




That's a good idea! I've done that for a bunch of people over the years. And I've had people do it for me too.     Catfish


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## bikewhorder (Jan 5, 2015)

Thanks guys Im going to take the advice of contacting PayPal to make sure I have my bases covered.  Im going to avoid getting ebay involved. I dont mind adding 3% but 13% is too much.  The seller countered with $100 discount as as way of saying thanks for not low balling him.


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## petritl (Jan 5, 2015)

Is the bike in the US?

I drive throughout the Southeast with work and if you have the time to wait for my next trip out,  I can help.

I've hauled a couple of bikes in the past while on the roaf


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## Freqman1 (Jan 5, 2015)

bikewhorder said:


> So I found a bike I really want to buy from a cabe member who's now listed as a "guest" (I'd rather not say who it is at this time) and we've agreed on a price, which is strangely $100 less than I offered.  Its a pretty huge outpouring of cash for me (about 3 weeks take home pay).   I stumbled upon the bike yesterday as an ebay listing from last spring that didn't sell and its one that I'd seen pictures of before and I really really wanted it.  I asked the seller to let me pay through escrow.com but he says he's never heard of it and isn't interested in going that route. He "seems" trustworthy and my gut says it will be fine but I've learned I can't trust my gut at all. The seller has a good ebay feedback but were operating outside of that system.  Should I just take my chances and pay with paypal and hope the buyers protection works if I need it? Any other options I'm missing?




My question would be why is this person a "guest" now? Were they banned? If so I might be inclined to pass. V/r Shawn


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## bikewhorder (Jan 5, 2015)

petritl said:


> Is the bike in the US?
> 
> I drive throughout the Southeast with work and if you have the time to wait for my next trip out,  I can help.
> 
> I've hauled a couple of bikes in the past while on the roaf







Thanks that's a very generous offer but he says he comfortable with shipping it.


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## bikewhorder (Jan 5, 2015)

Freqman1 said:


> My question would be why is this person a "guest" now? Were they banned? If so I might be inclined to pass. V/r Shawn






It is a bit foolish but he's got it and I need is so what can I do?  I've talked to pay pal and they said its covered. I asked the seller to send me an invoice.  He's been responsive but somewhat ambivalent about selling it.  I think I'll be ok.  Its an original paint barn fresh bike and I don't know when I'd ever find another one as good, if at all.  I've known of its existence for over a year now and its one of those bikes that pops into my head from time to time and not owning it has bothered me.  Seeing that missed a chance to buy it off ebay last spring had me tearing at my hair but finding out it was still available was exciting.  Thanks for the comments I'll let you know how it all plays out.  Hopefully it has a happy ending.  -Chris


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## bikewhorder (Jan 13, 2015)

Well I'm happy to report the bike is here and there was zero drama.  The seller was an absolute pleasure to deal with and did a fantastic pack job.  I'll stop being coy now about the bike and seller, its this bike that was posted almost exactly a year ago: Post #16 on this thread  http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?52308-Sunday-Show-amp-Tell-1-12-14 .  I don't know if I overpaid or not and I don't really care because this is one of those bikes that just does it for me and I find the deeper I get into this hobby the harder it is to find bikes that I can honestly say that about.


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## Euphman06 (Jan 13, 2015)

Congrats! I'm glad everything worked out for you. Nice Elgin! I wants me an Elgin one day....<sigh>


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## Bri-In-RI (Jan 13, 2015)

bikewhorder said:


> Well I'm happy to report the bike is here and there was zero drama.  The seller was an absolute pleasure to deal with and did a fantastic pack job.  I'll stop being coy now about the bike and seller, its this bike that was posted almost exactly a year ago: Post #16 on this thread  http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?52308-Sunday-Show-amp-Tell-1-12-14 .  I don't know if I overpaid or not and I don't really care because this is one of those bikes that just does it for me and I find the deeper I get into this hobby the harder it is to find bikes that I can honestly say that about.




Watch out if he goes off his meds again because now he has your name and address.


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## Euphman06 (Jan 13, 2015)

Bri-In-RI said:


> Watch out if he goes off his meds again because now he has your name and address.




Now that you say that Bri... I kind of remember a bit of drama with that seller awhile back.


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## bikewhorder (Jan 13, 2015)

Euphman06 said:


> Now that you say that Bri... I kind of remember a bit of drama with that seller awhile back.




I was always kinda sad to see him go, I miss my daily dose of WTF?  I can attest to the fact that dealing with him was as normal as his contributions were bizarre.


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## GTs58 (Jan 13, 2015)

bikewhorder said:


> I was always kinda sad to see him go, I miss my daily dose of WTF?  I can attest to the fact that dealing with him was as normal as his contributions were bizarre.




You and me both. A handicap runs over someone's foot with his wheelchair and then he's thrown out of the bar. 

I had a gut feeling it was him when you posted this thread, and I'm glad it all worked out and you got what you were looking for.


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## Wayne Adam (Jan 13, 2015)

*Bikewhorder*

Hey Chris...You got the Twin 40...Great!. I'm still working on restoring the TB 40 I picked up this past fall.
 Mike Burden makes perfect lenses for these TB 40s. He sold me a lens for $20.00 shipped.
 Congrats on the new purchase!...............Wayne


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## dfa242 (Jan 14, 2015)

That's a great looking bike - good fro you, Chris.


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## mike j (Jan 14, 2015)

That is a really nice one, glad it all worked out for both of you. He did keep things interesting here for a while, WTF.


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## Freqman1 (Jan 14, 2015)

Glad it worked out for you. I didn't mind the craziness until he started with the threats to me and others. I hope he is getting treatment. V/r Shawn


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## bikewhorder (Jan 14, 2015)

Wayne Adam said:


> Hey Chris...You got the Twin 40...Great!. I'm still working on restoring the TB 40 I picked up this past fall.
> Mike Burden makes perfect lenses for these TB 40s. He sold me a lens for $20.00 shipped.
> Congrats on the new purchase!...............Wayne




That's good to know I didn't know there was a repro option.  How do you contact him?


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## Wayne Adam (Jan 14, 2015)

*Lenses*

Hi Chris,
    Here is Mike's email...
mburden@woh.rr.com
                                       Wayne


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