There really isnt much of a risk at all doing a wire transfer. However, some people are scared of giving there account information. One thing i recommend is that you open a seperate account. I did this just to use with paypal to transfer funds out of it into my primary account. This way the account only holds the bank required minimum and i have nothing at risk. Once the person sends the transfer, just use yur bank to transfer it into your primary account.

Transfers are guaranteed, once your bank says it is in there, it yours, no risk at all. Some banks do charge a fee for transfers. My bank charges 15 for regular transfers and 50 for international.

As for the shipping. I tell my international buyers that they have to set it all up and handle it. Its a pain in the ass. Depending on what country it goes to, it can be a ton of work as some countries require full crates, some sealed crates, some just palleted, etc. So ive decided not to even deal with it. If the buyer wants it the machine, have him to the leg work on it.

also, what machine are you selling, im still trying to find that game that i want while up at MGC

troy

Western Union Cash Transfer.

Ok, I signed up just to post this, as a former North American now living overseas. The reason your contact wants to transfer money by bank transfer is that in the rest of the world (EU, Australia, Asia) this is both free and fast, and entirely risk-free (you can easily get as much information about someone's bank account off of the horrible paper cheques still in use in the US). If you explain "actually the US banking system is broken and will charge me a bunch of money, let's use paypal" they will probably understand, or alternatively you could move into the future.

(FYI I make something like five bank transfers a week. Most of my bills are paid that way, and I can give money to friends or whatever instantly using a bank transfer on my phone as well.)

As for actual shipping just don't accidentally airfreight it: surface shipping will take some time but be generally safe. One pin isn't enough to fill a container, so pins turn out to be awkward to ship: if your buyer has a plan and has done this before, I'd probably just go with that.

I use bank transfer in Europe. Safe for the seller but not for the buyer.

What game is it?
is it really that rare that the buyer cannot find one locally?
I'd be very cautious

I bought a Mirco playfield from Germany (to Australia) It was easiest for me to do a bank transfer of the money

They wouldn't ship one pinball in one container.

They would ship it in a LCL Container ... A container that the freight company uses to ship smaller items together.

If you are shipping LCL always write "TOP STOW ONLY" on the machine so it goes up on top, rather than down the bottom. And wrap it well!! It needs to be strapped to a plastic pallet, not a wooden one. Unless the wooden one is treated to international standards. Use plastic instead.

rd.

Out of interest what country is the buyer from? And what machine is it?

If Australia could give you some feedback on freight side of things.

My $0.02 - forget it - not worth the drama.

The buyer is very likely legit but the amount of work and costs involved are simply stupid.

sorry I can't help with that one.

I did freight one solo from US to Aus and some parts were a pain. The buyer was cool and I found a company to pack and crate and that was cool but the import cost at the docks in Aus was a rip off so a bit of warning to your guy.

If the pin is crated not card board boxed the timber has to be rated to come into Aus so be wary of that one.

what ever the agreed sale price is dictates the import tax and assocaited costs.

hope that helps.