I know a few of you have sold your cars overseas. Being near Baltimore makes loading a car affordable and easy for a buyer and not a big deal for me. What are the best practices for this? How do I deal with it safely?

Get paid first. Go from there.

Typically someone may personally view the car on behalf of the buyer, price is agreed.

You would then scan and copy the paperwork to prove ownership if required.

Buyer will do a bank wire transfer to pay you for the car, this is the ONLY safe way to do it other than cash.

Buyer arranges shipping, it must be done be the receiving company, they will hire a broker, and let them flatbed it off your property.

Take pics, good ones, of the car on the flatbed.
Paperwork never goes with the car.
MAny times with cool buyers the car ends up full of car parts that have been shipped to me prior to sending the car on its way...sometimes up to the roof.
Paperwork is sent, in my case, using fedex or ups with a tracking. Number.

I send the original paperwork after the car has left my care.
It may be required to arrange shipping before hand and I do that if I have been paid in full, and only paid in full. Paperwork , originals, are part of the full price.

Sell it on ebay. I've had cars go to France, Japan and all over the US. You have to build good ebay feedback. Get a Wire transfer to your bank first before shipping. Cashiers checks can come back long after the bank says they have cleared.

Wire transfer, got it. So my bank gives me a number and a routing number right? It's not just me giving an account and routing number, I'm not cool with that.

I sold a 911 that was shipped to Germany, the entire deal was handled by an agent from LA. Never met anyone other than the driver of the transport truck, all handled over the Internet, the car was checked out by a dealership of the agents choice that I drove to and paid for by the agent one phone call, and $$ wired to my bank once it cleared I sent overnight the title shed a tear as the car was loaded on the truck and it was done. The whole deal couldn't have been easer!
The sad part is I thought I was paid well for the car but air cooled 911s have more than doubled recently!

It's the routing and acct number on your check. We do them all the time and I did them working at the bank and when I was in real estate that's how the attorneys transferred money at settlement. But go into your bank and talk over your concerns with a rep. That way you know your bank policies and procedures. Your bank will protect you if you ask them how.

Cool, thanks guys. I got a reasonable offer from a guy in Belgum. Seems ligit.

Having done this twice for myself and once for a New Zealand buyer, I can tell you that the title must be with the car... Long Beach twice, New Jersey once and they all required paperwork.

Very true ,in our country everthing has to be 100%,if not the car will be seized and only if only its sorted the only people that do ok are the lawyers.....
I think this applies to other countries besides mine,the car documents must be really clean period.

I opened a new account to receive funds when I sold the DP and then closed it shortly thereafter.

Most find a buyer on eBay?

Paul

It's a very old and very controlled method.
In order to do the transfer the other party needs to work with a local bank, so there is a very good audit trail.
It may require the buyer go into his bank, be on camera, and sign documents.
That is the best audit trail available nowadays.
Rich

Cool. I have an account that's only used for a few things and there's not a ton of funds in it at any one time. I think I'll use that. Buyer seems super cool and has stateside references that seem to check out. Wish me luck.....

As a buyer and seller of watches from all sort of places all over the world, I think I can add a few tricks.

Ask the buyer for his full name, his full home address and -when possible- a landline phone number. Start a search with Google Maps/Earth: check the address: is a real address & house or is it just a PObox on an industrial estate. Walk away when it's not clear who you're dealing with. A legit buyer will not mind sharing his name and address with you.

With the phone number you can often cross check the address. Most landlines are registered. You will be amazed what you can find with these three pieces of information!

Watches are by defenition small and often very expensive. Research gives you a more confident feeling when doing business. (And I never got scammed).

In this case, try to find a fellow enthousiast here on the forum from the same country as your buyer's. You might get additional info (by PM) when you ask for it.

Menno