buying a tractor online long distance - escrow service?

JML755

Well-known Member
I'm looking at buying a tractor in another state. It's been advertised online at external_link.com. I spoke with the owner, "seems" very legit. The tractor will need to be shipped, I've submitted requests for haulers thru external_link.com. Getting those today.

However, the idea of handing over $$ in the 5-figures is worrisome to me. I know a lot of you do it all the time. How do you guys handle these xactions? My wife would KILL me if this goes south.

I buy all the time online with paypal and never got burned. Did have a "non-shipment" one time and I got my CC charge reversed by Paypal.

I'm thinking of escrow.com, paysafe.com, etc. Tractorhouse recommends paysafe.com as their preferred escrow service.

Looking for any feedback.
 
I'd take the money and go look at it in person ! If it is half what is claimed to be than hand them the money and haul it home with you.
 
(quoted from post at 14:37:05 07/25/17) I'd take the money and go look at it in person ! If it is half what is claimed to be than hand them the money and haul it home with you.

Well, why didn't I think of that? :roll:

First, it's out of state, a days drive away. (Plus the day back).
Second, I don't like the idea of a long distance haul with my p/u and trailer. It's an older truck, older trailer. Don't need a breakdown where I'm sitting on the side of an interstate with busted equipment, faced with an expensive tow to a nearby town where I don't know anyone (let alone a good mechanic), having to spend the night waiting for whatever broke to get fixed ($$$), No thanks, I'll pay a hauler. The peace of mind alone is worth the price of having a pro handle it.

My question is simply how others on here have handled the financial transaction without being there in person, specifically if anyone has used online payment (escrow) services other than Paypal. I know guys buy equipment all the time long distance and wanted to hear their experiences and suggestions. I still have to decide if I trust the guy well enough to even do the deal.
 
I bought a tractor in the Dakota's that way once and it worked out fine but today I don't think so and it wasn't 5 figures. Here's what I would do put the money in a Postal money order then either hop a plane it is for 5 Figures and that is still a lot of money)--and go look at it. Have a hauler lined up waiting for your call. If you still like it give the seller the money and call the hauler with the go command AND the serial number of the tractor. Then just go home and wait for it.
I did mine before cell phones and they allow a lot of "on the road business".
 
I did a sight unseen deal once. But I did have pictures and the guy was nice enough on the phone. Wasn't 5 figures but he wanted a deposit and I figured it was like gambling in Vegas or investing in the stock market. NEVER spend more than you are willing to loose ! Lucky for me I came out ok.
 
I am in the camp of "go look at it in person" Take bank check for most of the money. This will also let you sum up the seller. I would check with a hauler before hand. You could look at renting a truck trailer, U haul whatever also (this is not my favorite thing) I know a dealer who does this and he said there was to much of "when it got here" it skipped on one cylinder had bad tires and so on that were hidden by a trick photography!!! Now you have little recourse.
 
I bought 2 tractors out of Canada and had to pay up front....he handled the hauling (delivery). Guy sounded great on the phone. Both tractors had pony engines, which he said ran great! When they were delivered the floor of the trailer was covered with oil, and I would bet the pony engines hadn't been run in 15 yrs. Pulled the tractors and finally got them started and both were wet stacking so bad you needed a slicker suit to stay on them. So, long story short, I would NEVER, EVER buy sight unseen again. The guy soaked me with a smile on his face! Live and Learn....
 
I do bank to bank transfers. You will need the seller's bank information. My bank transfers the money to his bank. Your not exposing your account and the seller is not either. My bank takes the money out of my account and does the transfer for a fee, Usually Around $50. Then the sellers bank receives the money and post it to whatever account the seller wants it in.

I have done this hundreds of times. With the transfer going through the banks it has a better chance of being above board.
 
(quoted from post at 19:17:21 07/25/17) I do bank to bank transfers. You will need the seller's bank information. My bank transfers the money to his bank. Your not exposing your account and the seller is not either. My bank takes the money out of my account and does the transfer for a fee, Usually Around $50. Then the sellers bank receives the money and post it to whatever account the seller wants it in.

I have done this hundreds of times. [b:614c0f91ea]With the transfer going through the banks it has a better chance of being above board.[/b:614c0f91ea]
I talked to the guy earlier tonite and he said that's what his bank recommended as well. Of course, there's always the chance of something not being perfect or "as advertised" but that chance is there with any used piece of equipment no matter how you pay for it. I'm thinking of looking for a mechanic nearby to go take a look at it. Thanks for the input.
 
A mechanic to check it over would be a good idea,if there is a dealership that sells the same brand in the area I'd call them to get one of their guys to check it out.Once when I was thinking about spending a pretty good chunk on a tractor on ebay I emailed the seller to tell him I was going to get a mechanic to come check it out,suddenly the seller 'remembered' a few more
faults it had ended up I decided not to buy.At any rate let us know how it turns out if you don't mind.
 
Well, Traditional Farmer asked for followup: I pulled the trigger on the tractor. After talking to the guy for a few days and hearing his story, I felt pretty comfortable with the deal. I lined up a mechanic from the local tractor dealership less than 10 miles from the tractor to go look at it. Cost would be $90/hr plus mileage, figured about $200 for peace of mind. Talking to my wife about it she asked what was the guy going to do. I mentioned check for leaks, functionality, etc. She said "you've seen a video of it, everything works and you've bought stuff before that had oil leaks :oops: plus you're gonna buy it anyway, right?, so why waste the money?" :lol: Gotta love her logic. So, I bought it, just paid him direct out of my checking account like paying a utility bill, bank-to-bank xfer, took 2 days for the xaction to clear.

And then the fun started. I had put a request on Needahauler.com. and got about 10 responses within a few hours (some within minutes) with quotes ranging $300 apart from high to low. All promising how great their service was, how many trucks they had ("thousands"). Contacted the lowest guy that seemed to be more than a guy with a pickup :lol: He was at ~ $1.25/mile so I tried him first. (High guy was almost $2/mile.) No response from the first guy, called him back, still "looking for a truck" he said. Waited through a weekend and then contacted all brokers that responded. Basically opened the floodgates looking for a truck. The ones that were the most anxious for my business backed off from their promises when I said "ok, get me a truck". Funny how the excuses started. :lol:

Last Thursday, got a call from a mid- range broker who charged $250 for his services ($450 went to the driver) and he had a truck there in 3 hrs. Trucker was real professional, nice rig, had it in my driveway on Friday, less than 24 hrs after pickup. All operations checked out, neighbor drove over, took a look and commented how nice looking and well maintained it was. Other brokers charged $100 for their services but.... none of them could get a truck so their lower cost did me no good.

So, all-in-all, everything worked out fine. Learned a little more about the trucking brokerage business with LTL shipping. Most of our shipping here at work is door-to-door and we usually have only a small machine in the back of a truck, but we pay for it, big time.

Anyway, here's a pic of my wife's new tractor (she bristles every time I say that). :lol:

1928.jpg
 

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