Advice please- driving to Canada to make $11,000 transaction

[stravaglione]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Massachusetts

I posted a classified ad for my harp (yes, i know... interesting) on a website for harpists which has forums, classifieds, and other resources. Fortunately, within a couple days I had this lady telling me that she may be interested. Problem is, I am in Boston and she is in Canada. She is suggesting that we meet at the border where she will present me with a money order for my $11,500 asking price. Because it will be a 14 hour/700 mile round-trip journey for me, I am going to rent a van, and I am requiring that she wire me $500 before I leave.

I entered her name into google and it turns out that she is a pretty well-established harp vendor in canada (she contacted me because she has a client who needs a used instrument due to her tight budget... yes, 11k is cheap for a harp, it's sick). That's all well and good, but I cannot ignore my reservation that I will be driving back to the states with a phony $11,500 money order. So I am wondering if you legal-savy folks could lend any advice to a non-legal-savy 22 year old who is simply does not want to get screwed. I don't even know what an American money order looks like, nevermind a Canadian one.

Thanks,
-Steve

 

[Antigone*]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Massachusetts

I posted a classified ad for my harp (yes, i know... interesting) on a website for harpists which has forums, classifieds, and other resources. Fortunately, within a couple days I had this lady telling me that she may be interested. Problem is, I am in Boston and she is in Canada. She is suggesting that we meet at the border where she will present me with a money order for my $11,500 asking price. Because it will be a 14 hour/700 mile round-trip journey for me, I am going to rent a van, and I am requiring that she wire me $500 before I leave.

I entered her name into google and it turns out that she is a pretty well-established harp vendor in canada (she contacted me because she has a client who needs a used instrument due to her tight budget... yes, 11k is cheap for a harp, it's sick). That's all well and good, but I cannot ignore my reservation that I will be driving back to the states with a phony $11,500 money order. So I am wondering if you legal-savy folks could lend any advice to a non-legal-savy 22 year old who is simply does not want to get screwed. I don't even know what an American money order looks like, nevermind a Canadian one.

Thanks,
-Steve

I would not take a money order. Why dont' you have her Paypal the money to you? She can send it, you can drive to Canada. Once you deliver the harp, and you have a bill of sale, the money will be released.

 

[Just Blue]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Massachusetts

I posted a classified ad for my harp (yes, i know... interesting) on a website for harpists which has forums, classifieds, and other resources. Fortunately, within a couple days I had this lady telling me that she may be interested. Problem is, I am in Boston and she is in Canada. She is suggesting that we meet at the border where she will present me with a money order for my $11,500 asking price. Because it will be a 14 hour/700 mile round-trip journey for me, I am going to rent a van, and I am requiring that she wire me $500 before I leave.

I entered her name into google and it turns out that she is a pretty well-established harp vendor in canada (she contacted me because she has a client who needs a used instrument due to her tight budget... yes, 11k is cheap for a harp, it's sick). That's all well and good, but I cannot ignore my reservation that I will be driving back to the states with a phony $11,500 money order. So I am wondering if you legal-savy folks could lend any advice to a non-legal-savy 22 year old who is simply does not want to get screwed. I don't even know what an American money order looks like, nevermind a Canadian one.

Thanks,
-Steve

There is, to my knowledge, no "money order" that is issued in the US for over $2,ooo.00.

IMHO What you are planning on doing is ill advised and bound to "bite ya on the aZZ". IMHO.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

I suggest you get $500 in advance. Cash on delivery. Take a friend to avoid declaring over $10k at the border.

 

[stravaglione]

So I called pay pal, and in order for her to pay she needs her own account (does not have one) and pay pal is going to be charging me upwards of $500 for the transaction. So my options are still open.

Are there any other suggestions out there? If not, I'm wondering if Canadian money orders are different than American. I am giving her an over-the-phone sound demo tonight so I guess I will ask (if we end up going the money order route) if it will already be exchanged to USD or if I will have to do so myself.

By the by, thanks for such a quick response!

-Steve

 

[Just Blue]

So I called pay pal, and in order for her to pay she needs her own account (does not have one) and pay pal is going to be charging me upwards of $500 for the transaction. So my options are still open.

Are there any other suggestions out there? If not, I'm wondering if Canadian money orders are different than American. I am giving her an over-the-phone sound demo tonight so I guess I will ask (if we end up going the money order route) if it will already be exchanged to USD or if I will have to do so myself.

By the by, thanks for such a quick response!

-Steve

Are there any other suggestions out there?

Do a sale in the US, preferable MASS, where you have the most rights.

 

[xylene]

Sell your harp to a domestic buyer

Sell your harp to a domestic buyer or insist they come to you with cash or certified funds from a US bank.

This "travel to boarder" sounds like a crazy plan.

If you substituted the word "car" for "harp", you would never consider doing this.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

I live in Massachusetts, and will give you a $20,000 "Money Order" for it. (I have a color laser printer - is there anything special you would like it to say to make you feel better about taking it?).

Seriously, I would not leave the country with the harp, and I would not accept anything except green cash-money. There are simply too many scammers out there with laser printers.

If you do decide to take something other than cash for it (which I seriously discourage), do not, under ANY circumstances accept more than the selling price and pay the difference to someone else (like the shipping company she hires at the last minute).

Also, I don't know anything about harps, but I know a little about telephones. Can someone really tell anything about the quality of a musical instrument by listening to it over the phone? Telephone lines don't transmit most frequencies. They are tuned to transmit frequencies in the human voice range.

The whole thing sounds fishy to me.

 

[Antigone*]

So I called pay pal, and in order for her to pay she needs her own account (does not have one) and pay pal is going to be charging me upwards of $500 for the transaction. So my options are still open.

Are there any other suggestions out there? If not, I'm wondering if Canadian money orders are different than American. I am giving her an over-the-phone sound demo tonight so I guess I will ask (if we end up going the money order route) if it will already be exchanged to USD or if I will have to do so myself.

By the by, thanks for such a quick response!

-Steve

She can very easily get a Paypal account and if she really wants the harp, she can pay you for the fees you will incur.

I advise you to run away and don't look back if she wants to pay you with a piece of paper. If you do take the paper and it is fraudulent, please know that you will have to sue her in Canada.