Selling and delivering a car to somebody sight unseen

MichaelT

MichaelT

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2007
Location
Charlotte
Here's the deal, I have a car for sale on craigslist. I am in Charlotte, buyer is in Greensboro. He has not seen the car other than pictures I have sent him and a description I gave him. I have given pictures of every issue the car has and have given him a description of the issues. My terms are he will be sending me half of the selling cost as a non refundable deposit before I deliver car to him. He requests that he sends it via western union. I tell him that he will be meeting me in a walmart parking lot due to their security cameras and being in a public place. It will be around midnight or so due to our schedules. What do you think about this situation?
 
Western union would worry me personally. I would request a cashier check at least. Greensboro is not that far away, why not just make it happen on a weekend and pay all at once in cash? Make sure to check bills with pen and look for water mark in bills. People have been known to bleach $5 bills and print them as $100.
 
Why would western union worry you? I have never used it but my understanding is that he will send the deposit via western union and I will go to the grocery store and collect deposit from the western union there, am I correct? The only reason I am going along with this is I have been trying to sell the car for over a month and have some vet bills I need to pay and am going on vacation this coming up weekend so I need to free up some cash.
 
sending money via western union would be my only concern. Picking it up from there, not so much. Walmart does transfers. Since you are meeting there, he could send half now and do a second transfer for the balance. You pick it up at the meeting spot. That reduces the chance of getting counterfeit bills.
 
Why, what is the deal with western union? I have never used it. I have a counterfeit pen that I will take. The main thing concerning me is meeting up with somebody in the middle of the night. I will have somebody else with me who I know will have my back if we do get into in a tight spot and I will be carrying.
 
His work schedule is until 11pm and as long as I get paid I don't care what time we're meeting, I'm getting pretty desperate to sell this car
 
with western union.... You send money, someone goes and picks it up; there is no recourse if the transaction was fraudulent. Example, a friend bought a car on ebay, paid via western union, never got the car, never got a single penny of his money back. There is no fraud protection such as with paypal, or a credit card, or other forms of money transfer. If he is willing to send it to you via western union, he is the one putting himself at risk. with you being the recipient, I dont see a lot of risk there on your end.
 
Ok, that's the train of thought I had too. I'm not gonna screw the guy over but just Making sure he isn't trying to pull one over on me
 
I would not worry about receiving money from WU, only sending it. Once you pick it up from wu it's yours, they can't get a refund like using a cc or PayPal. Like any other sale the the funds could be from a stolen credit card or similar source. That can happen with any cl transaction. All sounds pretty dumb from the buyer's end of the deal, but honest people make dumb deals all the time.
 
My use of the walmart parking lot is just because they have the security cameras and it's a public place, I would definately not feel comfortable rolling up to a complete strangers house at that time of night. That's good to know that they're not all 24 hours, if all goes through I will look up one that is. Thanks!
 
I don't think walmart at midnight would be considered a public place, but that's just me.
 
Sounds a little weird, but if the deposit money clears - just go from there. I would definitely not go alone, but wide open public place, even at night, works. Have all of the emails, texts, etc printed & saved.

How will the title be notarized @ night or will it be left open?
 
I'd assume you have someone going with you since your delivering the vehicle. I don't think they could scam you since you are picking up money from the Western Union
 
In case you aren't a news reader.....

http://myfox8.com/2014/07/08/woman-dragged-20-feet-by-vehicle-during-robbery-in-greensboro/

http://www.wfmynews2.com/story/news/local/2014/07/14/craigslist-robbery-in-greensboro/12655799/

http://www.wxii12.com/news/3-teens-charged-in-high-point-craigslist-robbery/26961474

Don't rely on Wal-Mart's security cameras for protection. You carrying is a good idea, but rely on your situational awareness for the better part. If it were me, I'd ask for a copy of his driver's license in advance of the meeting and be prepared to give yours as well. If someone other than the person in the driver's license picture shows up, cut bait quick. Used to, Craigslist was a good way of doing business, but it's turned into something very unsavory. There's still honest people in the world, and those people will not mind an extra shake of safety either.

One other thing that bothers me about meeting at night to sell a car is how do you deal with having the title notarized?
 
something fishy here, pretty much anytime someone insists on paying with the western union/paypal/Nigerian check payment thing, there's always an angle of fraud involved. cash money or meet him at his bank during daylight hours
 
flatblackzj said:
something fishy here, pretty much anytime someone insists on paying with the western union/paypal/Nigerian check payment thing, there's always an angle of fraud involved. cash money or meet him at his bank during daylight hours
Click to expand...

If he wants to pay 1/2 up front... hoe else would you do it before they can meet?
 
If you still think it's a good idea at least change the meeting location. Why not a big ass right off the interstate gas station.

Personally, if I wanted a vehicle bad enough to go through all this I would take a day off of work and do it at a bank. Plus I could see the vehicle during the daylight. The whole deal smells to me...
 
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