What's the best way to pay for a out of state bike?

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Send me your money and a credit card. I will load up my trailer and go get it. I will carefully inspect it and send you pictures, my friends and I will ride it like I we stole it, load it up and deliver it put what is left into a small box and ship to your house. What could go wrong??:) :) :) :) :)
I fixed it for you

 
Bring a roll of cash money and a bill of sale for seller with the purchase price accidentally left blank (assuming your state assesses tax on registration).

 
Of course it varies widely state by state, but many of those that do assess a sales tax don't care what you say you paid for it. They just look up the book value for the year and model and mileage and then access based on the "fair market value".

When I sell a vehicle I generally just sign the appropriate spot on the title and hand it to the buyer. They can fill in whatever fables they want for everything else. A Bill of Sale is only necessary if you have no title to convey.

 
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What's wrong with using PayPal?

You can transfer up to $10K in one transaction. There's no fee if you're making a private party sale.

I sold my old Honda Accord to a guy recently. We did the transaction with PayPal. No fees and I got immediate feedback on my phone when he made the transfer.

I don't believe you can have a fictitious balance and make a transfer.

 
Here's what I did a couple months ago, selling my motorcycle to someone across the country. I set the following as expectations up front before negotiating or agreeing to a sale:

1) Seller will document deal in writing, and buyer will provide confirmation/agreement back in writing (such as emails)

2) Buyer will provide their personal address and name; Seller will verify authenticity through whatever services Seller wishes.

3) Buyer will provide their place of employment and supervisor's phone number; Seller will verify 'integrity' of the buyer.

4) Buyer will produce a 15% _non-refundable_ down payment via cashier's check, with the requirement that the buyer will electronically provide an image of the cashier's check as produced, along with a contact in the bank. Seller will verify check authenticity and funds. (Independently, I researched that bank and contact name!)

5) Seller will call the issuing bank and will verify the check is authentic, and funds are there.

6) Buyer is to overnight the cashier's check, and Seller is to deposit it.

7) Once check clears at the Seller's bank, the deal is official, under contract. Then, Buyer has 30 days to complete transaction or forfeits the 15% down payment. Buyer can cancel the deal before 30 days, but Seller retains right to solely decide how much, if any, of the down payment to return to Buyer.

8) The day or two BEFORE the Buyer flies in, the Buyer is to obtain a cashier's check for the remaining 85% of the price. Buyer is to similarly electronically provide an image of the check and Seller will verify the check authenticity and funds (ie, you're repeating steps 4 & 5 for the remaining 85% balance).

9) On day of fly-N-ride, meet buyer at airport with a smile. Buyer delivers 85% cashier's check, Seller delivers clear title, Bill of Sale, and bike.

Worked for me!

The reason I did the above is that for a previous bike I sold, I accepted cash. But later one of the $100 bills was found to be counterfeit. It was likely the buyer didn't know, but what if ALL the cash had been counterfiet? When I took the cash to the bank, it was not a pleasant experience watching the bank's machine reject a $100 bill over and over. The banker ran all kinds of tests on it, glancing at me like I was trying to put counterfeit money into circulation--and I honestly wondered if they had discreetly notified authorities and were running the tests over and over buying time while waiting for the police to show up!

 
What's wrong with using PayPal?
You can transfer up to $10K in one transaction. There's no fee if you're making a private party sale.

I sold my old Honda Accord to a guy recently. We did the transaction with PayPal. No fees and I got immediate feedback on my phone when he made the transfer.

I don't believe you can have a fictitious balance and make a transfer.

Scroll down to "The Vanishing Cash" scam: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-ebay-scams-to-be-aware-of/

Now, check this out: https://www.atg.wa.gov/all-consuming-blog/fbi-ebay-warn-car-sales-scam

 
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Thanks but I'm not a big bank or credit union member either so I still need to find something that will work out.
Bug, That coffee can buried in the back yard isn't safe.
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PayPal should work great and be safe, but they are going to want a couple percent if it is for goods or services.
I use a local bank with big coffee cans in their vault. Looking into paypal they don't offer their buyer protection for motorized vehicles.
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Uh huh. "Local" banks. Sure!

Doesn't everyone already know? Buggie is in the Weed killing business...
rolleyes.gif


 
Thanks but I'm not a big bank or credit union member either so I still need to find something that will work out.
Bug, That coffee can buried in the back yard isn't safe.
uhoh.gif
PayPal should work great and be safe, but they are going to want a couple percent if it is for goods or services.
I use a local bank with big coffee cans in their vault. Looking into paypal they don't offer their buyer protection for motorized vehicles.
sad.png
Uh huh. "Local" banks. Sure!

Doesn't everyone already know? Buggie is in the Weed killing business...
rolleyes.gif
Let's be clear about this. Nothing like the wettest year ever at 96.8 inches of rain so far this rain season, everybody has tons of weeds this year. I'm a popular guy now. Really helps pay for a upgrade on the best little hooligan mellow KTM bike.
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I learn a lot on this thread, thank you but for me the bottom line is I would have to meet the private seller and see the bike to ensure no scam. Or go with the gut feeling after multi conversations with private seller and buy it in hopes that I believe most people do the right thing and my judgment isn't wrong. After 30 years in self employment you get a feel for quality customers...except one famous fast guy but that's another story.

Because bringing a out of state bike into California is such a *****...DMV inspection of vin numbers and emission stickes( yer screwed without them) no matter how many miles on it and you know that involves lots of time I don't have, buying an instate bike is the most efficient.

Bam!!!!!!!! The mc gods smiled on me and I found a 2013 SMT (last year produced...that was stupid KTM) for sale here in Ca and will pick it up Sunday. Less than 4K miles and nicely farkled. Plan to glean a few items from my 2010 before it goes. Isn't it fun to look forward to a new bike, even if it's not a virgin? I'm like a 5 year old in a candy store about now.
punk.gif


 
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The buyer and I were standing next to each other with our phones. He transferred the money to my PayPal account and a minute or so later I checked my balance. His transfer had been executed and I had a new balance.

Maybe you could be scammed this way but it's not obvious to me.

Seems easier than dealing with a cashiers check.

If you can do it a straightforward technique is the buyer writes you a personal check and you both go to his bank, cash the check, and you walk away with currency from the check. Hopefully the bank has checked the currency and you're good to go.

 
Bam!!!!!!!! The mc gods smiled on me and I found a 2013 SMT (last year produced...that was stupid KTM) for sale here in Ca and will pick it up Sunday. Less than 4K miles and nicely farkled.
Now that right there is a happy ending. :thumbsup:

 
Constant Mesh wrote:

The buyer and I were standing next to each other with our phones. He transferred the money to my PayPal account and a minute or so later I checked my balance. His transfer had been executed and I had a new balance.

Maybe you could be scammed this way but it's not obvious to me.

Seems easier than dealing with a cashiers check.

If you can do it a straightforward technique is the buyer writes you a personal check and you both go to his bank, cash the check, and you walk away with currency from the check. Hopefully the bank has checked the currency and you're good to go.

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My experience talking to a real person at PayPal last week:

I talked to a real person at PayPal and they said that this is not safe. The buyer can have a balance from a counterfeit debit card and two weeks later when it is discovered, the seller is out of luck.

He told me NOT to take PayPal for a vehicle transfer. That's PayPal talking, not me. If you want to short circuit the PayPal AnswerBot, you have to ask for "Agent." Asking for "Person" or "Customer Service" is not recognized. I finally got to the real person by a sequence of button pushing and trying different words. I think the AnswerBot just finally recognized that we were in an infinite loop, and shunted me over to the human. The human said to ask for "Agent."

Also , on this "no fee" concept, that is supposed to be used for gifting among friends and family. It is not intended to cover transactions between folks who were pretty much strangers up until the onset of the transaction.

 
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Yeehaw, baby! Pics, please, and preferably those that show you with a dusty, dirty, non-virgin.

 
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