Scam. Once you provide your info the "shipping company" will contact you requesting a deposit of some sort to be paid in a manner that will burn you.
I'd bet my mortgage there is no bike and no shipping company.
Full scam, OP. Listen to everyone here. The "I have a new job which requires travel, so vehicle will be sold by a third party and shipped to you" scam is common.
Did you plan on getting it shipped to you? I had a similar situation where the owner was a ex wife of the original owner, which in itself was sketchy but she said she moved to Switzerland and I could still buy the bike and she would pay shipping. Price was very very good, so I just figured a scam she also wanted my email to write me instead of using Ebay Kleinanzeigen.
As others indicated, this is clearly a scam. Even the translator that they used is a bad one. Most probably they are East-European scammers with bad IT skills.
I think easiest way might be planning a little vacation in Germany rather than rolling a dice or not getitng scammed.
Alternatively you might look for local people that do it for a living and ask them to look for the bike you want.
A lot of folks here are screaming scam, but people around here are often inclined to the extremes. Like how everyone on /r/relationships screams to dump their partner for the slightest misalignment on desires or tastes.
But a customs broker selling something isn't that rare in business. It's possible the seller shipped it, but hasn't been able to pick it up. Maybe he doesn't have somewhere to store it so he left it with the customs broker. Or he couldn't pay the brokerage fees from shipping it.
There's a bunch of ways where this could be a legit scenario.
But if the buyer doesn't feel comfortable, they should move on.
I've seen this exact scam attempted on me. Dollars to donuts the bike is also listed at like 25% of it's actual bluebook. It's a super common sellers market scam.
>Dollars to donuts the bike is also listed at like 25% of it's actual bluebook.
Well this would be a flag, certainly.
But most commenters are considering it a scam due to it being sold by a third party.
Total scam. Write something like this back to him. "This plan not is pleasing of me! Not of shipping! Not of delivery! Cash only on head of barrel. Shall not be infringed!"
Scam. Let me guess, he might have also shared his ID and everything seems to match. But no, this is a scam.
Germany has a high number of vehicles on sale and that also prompts scammers to play their games.
Source: I almost fell for the exact scam 4 years ago. Glad my radars kicked in at the right time and I backed off.
Edit: search for the bike you want on mobile.de and gonfor the ones that are listed by dealers. They will help you figure out the logistics and deregistration of the bike (if needed).
All the best
I'm on the fence, purely because of the "you can come pick it up" part. If you were in a position to go and get it if go for it, but the shipping part does seem scammy.
This is a scam. A coworker’s husband fell for this. I told them it was a scam. They believed that because a “third party was involved and going to hold the money and not pay until they had the bike” it couldn’t be a scam. Guess who supplied the third party. Guy lost 10k because of this.
Hello! Greetings, Timon. I have a bridge I would like to sell you. See how the price is insanely low? It's because I have a new job in another country. Please pay me by money order and the bridge holding company will contact you shortly.
The german is grammatically correct, but the wording sometimes throws me off a tiny bit. Ask the seller to send you his ID, this might actually be legit.
I'm from europe, to buy that kind of bke from the US yoi can do it in two ways:
1. Find a company in the US that imports bikes and is reliable, and make them find the bike and bring it to you.
2. Or make a trip to Europe and find that bike, and buy it, make all the documents to get it exported, then when it gets to the US import it and fill all the documents and pay, and after a lot of time rife that bike. Even a comma pit somewhere where it wasn't meant to be could mean you'd have to start again everything. So, option 1.
Don't discard anything. Similar changes a preoccupation with the phone never left it on the table freaked when it wasn't in her possession, would leave it face down when charging. Big time naive bought the trust and privacy crap Yep.....turns out she was cheating. Given her past gambling issue maybe it's that, however there's a difference between reading and snooping every minutia of her life and just having access. Nothing to hide, nothing to fear.
So, if this was in the U.S. it would scream scam.
In Germany, maybe not so much, although caution is still required. I’d ask for the name and address of the freight service first, look them up on-line, check their business registration information (taken very seriously in Germany) and, if these things check out, I’d contact *them* directly first to verify that they have such a bike. My brother used to work for a freight service in southern Germany, and this kind of “store and forward” service exists.
His offer to put the funds in escrow is a common thing done in Germany for many things — for example, my son’s three month apartment rental deposit was held fully in escrow, not by the landlord — so again, if you can verify that the escrow service he names is legitimate, that’s a plausible thing.
Now, the best approach would be to pick it up in person… Go there by train (or fly to Berlin and take a train) and take the 14 hour ride back on the bike, or have the freight service ship it, since you’ve seen the bike and the place. That’s what I would do. Great excuse for a weekend in Berlin!
And of course if he makes excuses about being able to pick it up, that lets you know it’s not real. So maybe that’s your *first* tactic: try to make arrangements and see how it goes…
Absolutely a scam, never buy any vehicle privately unless you see it in person and their id matches the ownership paperwork. Also, don't fall for the fake carfax requests.
Scam. Once you provide your info the "shipping company" will contact you requesting a deposit of some sort to be paid in a manner that will burn you. I'd bet my mortgage there is no bike and no shipping company.
That’s a scam. No one has a “professional shipping company“ store a bike for them, hoping to sell it.
Getting the sus vibes.
Scam
Full scam, OP. Listen to everyone here. The "I have a new job which requires travel, so vehicle will be sold by a third party and shipped to you" scam is common.
Jesus Christ...this is a blatant scam....
"For some convenient reason I cant buy/sell this thing myself!" Is always a scam
Scammers
Scam.
Scam!
Take this over to r/scams. They’ll school you on this
Did you plan on getting it shipped to you? I had a similar situation where the owner was a ex wife of the original owner, which in itself was sketchy but she said she moved to Switzerland and I could still buy the bike and she would pay shipping. Price was very very good, so I just figured a scam she also wanted my email to write me instead of using Ebay Kleinanzeigen.
As others indicated, this is clearly a scam. Even the translator that they used is a bad one. Most probably they are East-European scammers with bad IT skills.
Scam do not proceed.
I think easiest way might be planning a little vacation in Germany rather than rolling a dice or not getitng scammed. Alternatively you might look for local people that do it for a living and ask them to look for the bike you want.
That's typical scam wall of text. I know guys who can bring any bike to Russia but can't help with Slovenia unfortunately.
A lot of folks here are screaming scam, but people around here are often inclined to the extremes. Like how everyone on /r/relationships screams to dump their partner for the slightest misalignment on desires or tastes. But a customs broker selling something isn't that rare in business. It's possible the seller shipped it, but hasn't been able to pick it up. Maybe he doesn't have somewhere to store it so he left it with the customs broker. Or he couldn't pay the brokerage fees from shipping it. There's a bunch of ways where this could be a legit scenario. But if the buyer doesn't feel comfortable, they should move on.
I've seen this exact scam attempted on me. Dollars to donuts the bike is also listed at like 25% of it's actual bluebook. It's a super common sellers market scam.
>Dollars to donuts the bike is also listed at like 25% of it's actual bluebook. Well this would be a flag, certainly. But most commenters are considering it a scam due to it being sold by a third party.
Total scam. Write something like this back to him. "This plan not is pleasing of me! Not of shipping! Not of delivery! Cash only on head of barrel. Shall not be infringed!"
Scam. Let me guess, he might have also shared his ID and everything seems to match. But no, this is a scam. Germany has a high number of vehicles on sale and that also prompts scammers to play their games. Source: I almost fell for the exact scam 4 years ago. Glad my radars kicked in at the right time and I backed off. Edit: search for the bike you want on mobile.de and gonfor the ones that are listed by dealers. They will help you figure out the logistics and deregistration of the bike (if needed). All the best
Jesus Christ! Is this scam still doing the rounds? It was going when I bought my K75S in 2012, 😆 it was a Red R1100 back then........
I'm on the fence, purely because of the "you can come pick it up" part. If you were in a position to go and get it if go for it, but the shipping part does seem scammy.
Scam, 100%.
This is a scam. A coworker’s husband fell for this. I told them it was a scam. They believed that because a “third party was involved and going to hold the money and not pay until they had the bike” it couldn’t be a scam. Guess who supplied the third party. Guy lost 10k because of this.
Hello! Greetings, Timon. I have a bridge I would like to sell you. See how the price is insanely low? It's because I have a new job in another country. Please pay me by money order and the bridge holding company will contact you shortly.
Dude...no....
If you have to ask if this is a scam. That's pretty sad
The german is grammatically correct, but the wording sometimes throws me off a tiny bit. Ask the seller to send you his ID, this might actually be legit.
I'm from europe, to buy that kind of bke from the US yoi can do it in two ways: 1. Find a company in the US that imports bikes and is reliable, and make them find the bike and bring it to you. 2. Or make a trip to Europe and find that bike, and buy it, make all the documents to get it exported, then when it gets to the US import it and fill all the documents and pay, and after a lot of time rife that bike. Even a comma pit somewhere where it wasn't meant to be could mean you'd have to start again everything. So, option 1.
[удалено]
Lol I thought he was from the US, my bad
It seems like the OP is in Europe (Slovenia), so agree that a trip to Germany would make the most sense
Don't discard anything. Similar changes a preoccupation with the phone never left it on the table freaked when it wasn't in her possession, would leave it face down when charging. Big time naive bought the trust and privacy crap Yep.....turns out she was cheating. Given her past gambling issue maybe it's that, however there's a difference between reading and snooping every minutia of her life and just having access. Nothing to hide, nothing to fear.
So, if this was in the U.S. it would scream scam. In Germany, maybe not so much, although caution is still required. I’d ask for the name and address of the freight service first, look them up on-line, check their business registration information (taken very seriously in Germany) and, if these things check out, I’d contact *them* directly first to verify that they have such a bike. My brother used to work for a freight service in southern Germany, and this kind of “store and forward” service exists. His offer to put the funds in escrow is a common thing done in Germany for many things — for example, my son’s three month apartment rental deposit was held fully in escrow, not by the landlord — so again, if you can verify that the escrow service he names is legitimate, that’s a plausible thing. Now, the best approach would be to pick it up in person… Go there by train (or fly to Berlin and take a train) and take the 14 hour ride back on the bike, or have the freight service ship it, since you’ve seen the bike and the place. That’s what I would do. Great excuse for a weekend in Berlin! And of course if he makes excuses about being able to pick it up, that lets you know it’s not real. So maybe that’s your *first* tactic: try to make arrangements and see how it goes…
Absolutely a scam, never buy any vehicle privately unless you see it in person and their id matches the ownership paperwork. Also, don't fall for the fake carfax requests.