Re: Any worries about selling a car international
My colleague has a genuine concern, but you specifically mentioned waiting until the check clears. There ARE reports from my own bank of the use of FORGED cashier's checks. In other words, DO make sure that the check actually clears before you either ship the car or send any money to anyone else. The danger might be that once you get the cashier's check, the "buyer" will suddenly pressure you to send the difference to the "shipper" in a great hurry, so that the shipper receives money from you BEFORE the forgery of the cashier's check is discovered. However, assuming you are not swayed and have the discipline to wait to see if the check clears, I don't see any problem with that concern.
Because you are not a regular merchant (I assume) you are not covered by the Patriot Act. Hoewever, if you were regularly in the business of PAYING OUT money to sellers, you would be obligated to take "reasonable" steps (nobody knows what that means and it is the cause of much concern) to ensure that you know the identity of people you SEND money to, keep records, and make sure they are not on the terrorist watch list. In your case, this obviously does not apply.
Frankly, the buyer has a lot more risk than you do. While this type of transaction is reasonable and normal (I have a friend getting into this type of business), it is tough to pull off the shipment of a single car if you are not familiar with it. I would think that the buyer would rather have you deliver the car to THEIR shipper, chosen by the buyer, and work directly with the shipper, for the buyer's greater protection.
I cannot imagine any other problem for you, although I can for the buyer. Perhaps just take a videotape of the car before you hand it over to the shipper, perhaps with a witness present, to document the condition that the car is in and that there is nothing "extra" in the car, in case anyone adds any contraband later. Unlikely but a videotape is easy enough.
Obviously, someone needs to pay for insurance for the ocean voyage!
