Selling Cars to China

[royvaldez]

I have been contacted by a person who lives in China. He wants to purchase a 1950 Startlight Champion to restore. I have many that meets that discription. Has anyone been contacted by this person. Is it for Real???

[studegary]

If he wires good funds before shipment or transfer of ownership, I do not see an exposure to you.

Is the guy Chinese or American. The reason that I ask is someone that I know is now teaching in a university in China and he used to have a
Studebaker of about that vintage when he lived here.

[wolfie]

Just watch that everything seems to be a normal straight-forward deal. In straight-up deals the seller receives good funds (cashiers checks can be and are forged in several scams I have seen) with time for verification, no high pressure tactics, and you receive funds for the car and the car only. If the buyer wants to send you extra funds to be wired to anyone/anywhere such as a shipper read it as a scam. Otherwise I have sent numerous motorcycles to several countries to legit buyers who lived there and had legit funds and desire to buy. Just use common sense. If it is a scam it will reveal itself fairly quickly. Steve

[57pack]

My neighbor recently sold his 1962 Buick LaSabre convertible to a fellow from Norway.
He was paid in full with a certified US bank cashiers check. Once check cleared, the Norwegian purchaser arranged all the shipping details. Car shipping service picked the Buick up from his door, took it to Philadelphia, put it in a container, put it on a freighter to Norway. He had no issues or problems.

[Studebaker Wheel]

I have sold parts to a buyer in China....Hong Kong to be specific. No problems there. Paid by Paypal. Of course there is also Nationalist China (Taiwan) which is a democratic island country. I doubt whether the party interested in the '50 is on the main land (i.e. Communist China).

[SScopelli]

China has a strict dislike of import of old cars, especially from the US..

Unless this guy is connected to the Chinese Mafia, don't take the bait on this one..

I've know a few that had stars in their eyes in sending over cars, but their dream were soon smashed..

As far as I can tell, the person has to be a Chinese national with residency in another country for 5 years, and have owned the car as a personal automobile during that time. Then they get one entry, but it is taxed the snot out of.

The only other way to get a Studebaker into China is as scrap metal!

Google it..

[Bob Caser]

It is not easy to import a used car into China, but it can be done. There years ago I brought two replica Cobras into China, but many issues needed to be resolved both stateside and there as well. Bob Caser

[swvalcon]

I had a Pontiac for sale and this guy contacted me to buy. Wanted to send a check to cover the car and the shipping that I was to pay when the trucker got here. Told him to send the check to the shipper and have them bring me cash when they picked up the car. To this day I still haven't seen a trucker wanting to pick it up.

[rknight89]

DON'T do anything until you have cash in hand!!! If this person wants you to send or transfer a title DO NOT do it. In this case "seller beware". I've seen lots of domestic scams because people were too trusting. When you're dealing with international transactions, U.S. law may not apply. Wait until all checks or money orders clear the bank before you do anything! Cash in hand...Cash in hand...Cash in hand!

[tbirdtbird]

not sure if Taiwan is still democratic independent. notice nothing says 'made in Taiwan' any more, it all says China.
I'd walk away from this one.

It will cost him a fortune to ship it, and the paperwork will choke a horse.

If you do go thru with it, make NO attempt to arrange shipping, it is HIS problem and not yours, and it is a nightmare. A friend just sold a meticulously restored early 50s gas pump to a guy in Vietnam, it was a horror story and he said he would never do it again. It took forever to get his cash and then the war began over shipping, which he wanted no part of.

[BobWaitz]

My brother lives in Taipei, Taiwan. It is still independent. My wife's sister lives in Hong Kong. That is still pretty independent as well. You don't need a visa to visit Honk Kong, but you need one to visit mainland China.

Where is this guy really from? Is he from Taiwan, Hong Kong, or Mainland China? If he is from Taiwan I can have my brother check him out. If he is from Hong Kong, I MAY be able to have my brother-in-law check him out (can't promise, though). If he is on the mainland... I have a couple of contacts there, but that's like saying you know someone in North America -- geographically so large the odds are I can't help there.

[royvaldez]

He states that it will take him one hour to Hong Kong. It looks like he is coming to the US.

[hausdok]

In China, money talks and there are a LOT of Chinese with a lot of money. For someone with money, getting around a little bit of red tape is not an issue in China.

Probably 45% of my clientele are Chinese who've immigrated here to work for Microsoft. I've had Chinese customers hire me to inspect properties they've never seen before. Properties over a million dollars. I'm usually contacted by the buyer but then all appointments and payments are made by brokers here in the U.S. When I'm getting paid by an overseas buyer I prefer the broker bring cash or that I receive a cashier's check drawn on a local BOA branch.

Like the Koreans and Vietnamese, and every other nationality, there is a large Chinese community in this country that goes on day to day living and doing business in this country and they are accustomed to sending stuff to China and dealing with Chinese buyers and sellers. If it's legitimate, the buyer can arrange for a Chinese contact living in the U.S. to make all arrangements for shipping and to bring you cash; you probably won't have to do much more than sign a bill of sale and fill out some forms.

[wolfie]

I certainly would not walk from doing a deal simply because he is in China. I would walk if things started getting sketchy but not just because he is in China. Steve

[70Avanti2]

My question is. how can anyone restore a Studebaker in China?