Does an Australian enquiry scare you people?

[FJR Steve]

Story goes like this....

Could be coming to the USA for a number of bike related touring holidays. I want to purchase an FJR and have it garaged in the USA while waiting for my wife and I to return (annually...or twice a year).

So, I have spotted numerous worthy FJRs on Craigslist....and have sent several emails to the owners...but no response. The latest one (was in Louisiana) was an absolute ripper...but like the crap fisherman I am...he got away.

Oh...and I will be a cash buyer.

For Patriot:

Mike...I'm thinking it may be better if I find something I like...that maybe you send the "initial" enquiry on my behalf. Just thinking....you know?

 

[FJR Steve]

27 viewed....1 voted.

Guess that says it all.

 

[bikesniffer]

Story goes like this....
Could be coming to the USA for a number of bike related touring holidays. I want to purchase an FJR and have it garaged in the USA while waiting for my wife and I to return (annually...or twice a year).

So, I have spotted numerous worthy FJRs on Craigslist....and have sent several emails to the owners...but no response. The latest one (was in Louisiana) was an absolute ripper...but like the crap fisherman I am...he got away.

Oh...and I will be a cash buyer.

For Patriot:

Mike...I'm thinking it may be better if I find something I like...that maybe you send the "initial" enquiry on my behalf. Just thinking....you know?

I have noticed that Americans are quite leery if they receive inquiries from people overseas. This is my personal experience though. Even having a potential seller on the phone and explain that I'd be sending the money and he can send the stuff as soon as he has the money, I got: "I'm not sure if I want to sell to someone in Europe" which usually gets an internal (non-verbal) WTF?

Living somewhere else than the US or having an accent can be a scary thing. :blink:

 

[Thug]

Steve, you just need to make contact with some USA residents (Oh hang on maybe on this very forum?) no dramas!

Yanks are a bit funny like that, there happy and willing to get you into their wars but try and buy a motorbike off them!

 

[beemerdons]

Steve, If I can do anything to help you find an FJR in the American Southwest, just give me the word and I will get busy with this.

I was the one vote for sending the e-mail to the trash bin, because I have heard of so many horror stories about e-mail scams.

I also have had the shoe on the other foot, trying to import a BMW R80 G/S Kalahari from Europe, a task so arduous I gave up on it.

Steve, I just have to ask! Did the bike Patriot-Mike pick for you have a dash that looked like a commercial jet and an air horn on its fairing?

 

[FJRay]

If I can help from the northwest let me know. Could probably arrange storage also.

 

[beemerdons]

POSTSCRIPT: Guys, it's definitely not the OZ accent. You Aussies are easy to understand, Fairlaner's whole other kettle of fish!

 

[timk]

Steve

Have you considered shipping yours, using it here for the time you're gonna use it then selling it? A member of another club I belong to,shipped his Venture here,

used it and sold it. He may have had help from his gov't, as he is a Captain in the Aussie army.

 

[Flybum]

Steve, let me know if I can help from the Jacksonville, FL area. Usually leery of overseas emails, unless I'm selling something (depending on content). BTW, I enjoyed my stay in the Perth area back in 2001. Got a tattoo (in Fremantle) on that trip and a surfboard from my Adelaide trip (2002), man what a blast! Good luck on the FJR purchase, my local dealer still has a few 08AE's at a good deal.

Zach

:drinks:

 

[HaulinAshe]

Selling a bike from one individual to another between states in the U.S. can be difficult enough. I think the prospect of selling to another country would be scarey for many.

It may not be justified, but fear of the unknown is real.

 

[Patriot]

Oh...and I will be a cash buyer.
For Patriot:

Mike...I'm thinking it may be better if I find something I like...that maybe you send the "initial" enquiry on my behalf. Just thinking....you know?

sorry, been asleep at the wheel, ah bars, ah forum this week. What, you know I only listen to FB...

Cash buyer...just send me the cash, now, Cmas bills and all that... :yahoo:

sure, like that '07, I can screen the bike with the seller and let them know over the phone what's up

American greenbacks talk volumes and there's more than one way to skin...a whatever

Personally, if I could bring myself to decide I'm buying a new bike, I'd stick with these guys and let them work for me:

D&H Cycle, 18115 US Hwy 31, Cullman, AL 35058, 256-739-1840, 888-553-3311

Anything I can do, Steve, just let me know...you already know that, but go ahead and wake me up as needed

10 hour diff in time shouldn't be a problem

 

[squeezer]

I have noticed that Americans are quite leery if they receive inquiries from people overseas. This is my personal experience though. Even having a potential seller on the phone and explain that I'd be sending the money and he can send the stuff as soon as he has the money, I got: "I'm not sure if I want to sell to someone in Europe" which usually gets an internal (non-verbal) WTF?Living somewhere else than the US or having an accent can be a scary thing. :blink:

Your perception is correct, but it has less to do with xenophobia than experience. The "overseas buyer scam" is as common as Nigerian phishing emails over here and people hit the delete button just as fast.

Interestingly enough, given the OP's location, here's a warning about it from the Australian government:

https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/ConsumerProt..._sales_sca.html

On the flip side, you'll find plenty of people around here who will be willing to help you out and act as a go between.

[threadjack]

Regarding option 3 in the poll, "Where the bloody hell is Australia?" -- check around the 2:20 mark of this video:


[/threadjack]

 

[bikesniffer]

I have noticed that Americans are quite leery if they receive inquiries from people overseas. This is my personal experience though. Even having a potential seller on the phone and explain that I'd be sending the money and he can send the stuff as soon as he has the money, I got: "I'm not sure if I want to sell to someone in Europe" which usually gets an internal (non-verbal) WTF?Living somewhere else than the US or having an accent can be a scary thing. :blink:

Your perception is correct, but it has less to do with xenophobia than experience. The "overseas buyer scam" is as common as Nigerian phishing emails over here and people hit the delete button just as fast.

Interestingly enough, given the OP's location, here's a warning about it from the Australian government:

https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/ConsumerProt..._sales_sca.html

On the flip side, you'll find plenty of people around here who will be willing to help you out and act as a go between.

The Nigerian scam is just as prevalent here in Europe as it is in the US.

I can't see that waiting for the money and once it is safe in your bank account and then shipping the goods can be construed as a scam...to me it's all a matter of applying common sense. As soon as a relatively simple transaction is getting complicated I smell a rat and scams are usually not straight forward transactions...

 

[Afast03nNJ]

If your coming to the NE, I would be glad to help you out. PM me.

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

I have noticed that Americans are quite leery if they receive inquiries from people overseas.

I sold a m/c part to a nice bloke from Queensland -- it was all painless (for me) and was all done by emails and post office (another thread..., shipping took awhile...).

It was not an FJR and was listed for sale on another board and was a U.S. accessory that (apparently?) wasn't readily available in Australia. He was as glad to get to get it as I was to sell it.

 

[squeezer]

The Nigerian scam is just as prevalent here in Europe as it is in the US.
I can't see that waiting for the money and once it is safe in your bank account and then shipping the goods can be construed as a scam...to me it's all a matter of applying common sense. As soon as a relatively simple transaction is getting complicated I smell a rat and scams are usually not straight forward transactions...

Well, you'll get no argument from me on that. It's not an issue with me. But I think it's also easy to see why lots of people would just like to avoid the hassle. We're a big place, there are plenty of buyers here, and title transfers, etc., are pretty much painless.

As noted, lots of us are willing to help out.

 

[Geezer]

I don't have a bike for sale, but if I did I would have no problem selling to someone overseas who is going to come here to take posession. . You can register a bike in the US and ride away with registration and insurance the same day. If you are going to come here anyway, then just show up with your cash and buy the bike.

The problem here is that there have been, and still are, many scams that relate to forged checks and false money transfers. These scams usually include a 'buyer' overpaying and requesting their change.

 

[FJRBluesman]

I tend to agree to an earlier post that American's are more leery then others from over seas. They just don't feel comfortable doing these things or swapping houses for a month, etc, that many others do.

That being said, A forum member would probably have no issues, with other forum members or getting help, but just answering a Craigslist ad would probably bring more issues or skepticism.

Sounds like what you want to do is doable, you just need to find the right mate for it.

Good luck.

 

[SacramentoMike]

I haven't seen this thread till now, so I didn't vote, but I wouldn't have with the choices you provided. You just didn't give enough information, and you didn't have a reply I'd have chosen, like "I'd see what the guy is all about, and consider his offer." They were all either "Sure, no problem," or "No freaking way" choices.

Did you make an offer to buy the bike for a specific amount? Did you say you'd be arriving with cash, and how soon you'd be arriving? Anybody would be an idiot not to sell a bike, or at least talk to you, under those conditions, wherever the buyer lived. Or did you just pose a theoretical question about possibly selling to an Australian without a definite plan laid out? It sounds like it would present complications that a sale to a local buyer wouldn't--delays in particular--so why bother? As somebody said, there are lots of buyers here, so why should I enter into a much more complicated deal instead. You'd have to make it easy for the guy to decide to sell to you, IMO. If I was looking for a bike from a guy here in Sacramento, I wouldn't expect him to be very excited if I emailed him and said I'd like to maybe buy the bike "sometime." On the other hand, a reply to an email is pretty painless, even a polite "no, thanks."

If you sent him something like this, it might be a much easier transaction for him to agree to: "Dear seller guy, I live in Australia. I'll be in your city in XX days and I'm interested in your bike. I'll have cash with me. I'd like to see it, and if it's as you describe it, I'll take it (or would you take XXX dollars less?). Here's my telephone number."

That gives me something I can work with, at least. If I'm interested, I can call you, or we can exchange emails. I might agree to hold it for your inspection for a few days, especially with a good faith deposit from you by Pay Pal. After all, I'm advertising the bike for sale and somebody could be walking up my sidewalk right now with cash in hand. It's "first cash gets the bike" as a rule, at least here in the US, where we don't ever trust anybody, and especially foreigners. (Except, of course, for the several forum members who've already offered to help, the big suckers.)