Sell a truck that might go to Alaska.
Should a guy use a broker?
Or do ya trust people, you would have to give a banking number for a direct deposit.
Wait for a check?

I sold a 8K horse trailer on FB Marketplace. Gal drove about 350 miles each way to buy it. You'll get lots of stupid questions that are best ignored, but when a potential buyer is serious you will probably know.

I bought a truck from a private party in Idaho....truck was almost new with 4000 miles on it

I never went to look at it , just photos

I needed a loan . So I contacted Alaskan credit union over the phone .

They handled everything ...@2.3% rate

I mailed the credit union a down payment 10k

The truck owner mailed the title to the credit union

The credit union mailed the full amount to the truck owner

This was all done via a couple phone calls and a few emails .

Everything certified and overnighted

A few days later I drove to Idaho and picked up the truck

Some trust involved for sure


I drove it 162,000 miles and traded it in a couple years ago . It ended up in Alaska


Still to this day I don't know where that credit union is located....lol

I’m super Leary these days.. if the buyer doesn’t show up with cash.. I politely refuse and wait on the next guy.. sold a grain auger for 10-12 thousand not long ago.. buyer kept hounding me about not taking a check.. finally I told him.. no disrespect.. but I have been taking for a few thousand before.. and it’s not going to happen again.. nothing personal.. just business.. he came the next day with a wad of cash.. wrote him a receipt and wished him well..

You bet...cash is king. They dont like it, they can walk.....

A buddy of mine sold a 90’s Honda MC on Facebook marketplace.
Guy shows up to my buddy’s house w a friend, likes the bike, Gives my friend 25 100.00 bills in a bank envelope.
Small talk at the kitchen table… he talked my friend into signing title over without going to notary title place- mistake!

They shake hands the guy drives away, my friend takes a better look at the loot- ALL fake 100.00’s

Facebook marketplace site taken down, but my friend took a pix of the page and had the guy’s name and pic.

Took over 2 years to arrest the guy. State Police slow-walked warrant for Facebook, but the guy eventually got 2 years in jail. Blamed drugs for his thefts…. Same old story.

The guy had some nerve sitting at the table passing fake bills. Stupid A… friend should’ve had his gun on his hip or shoulder holster.. That what I have done. The guy who drove the thief over made sure he stayed out at the street so his license plate was not visible.

Things have changed boys. Search for the story of Ryan Burke......decorated Marine (and later black ops guy......and martial arts expert)..........he put an ad to sell an iphone on FB Marketplace.........so last Sat, 4 kids showed up.......and gunned him down inside his home. He was the 3rd guy they pulled that on and I suspect Burke made a move and they plugged him.

There would seem to be less risk selling than showing up to some strange remote place with a wad of cash.

What may be a business opportunity is to provide a safe and secure location for buyers and sellers to meet........just take a commission.......say 2% to 5% of the transaction. Seller gets in with merch.......buyer gets in with cash. Gifts are exchanged and parties go on their own way.

I sold a Caterpillar D-6 dozer I owned to a cattle rancher in NE using equipmenttrader.com The trucker brought a cashiers check, it was ok but would not except cashiers check again, because they cashiers check still take a few days to clear. My bank contacted his bank and said everything was good before I let it leave my property.

Sold a Mack RD688 truck tractor on Craig’s list to a guy from PA. Cash deal. That’s the only way I would sell heavy equipment now.

In the last couple months I've bought a couple things from purplewave.com. Its a regional online auction company, mostly equipment but also some trucks.

The good news and the bad news is that purplewave staff describes the equipment. Their guy shows up, gets the keys from the seller, takes pics & videos, and writes up their description. Both things I bought were in Oklahoma about 3-4 hour drive from where I live. After the auction I wire them (purplewave) money they notifiy the seller the item is paid for. I show up with my paid invoice and collect the item. A few weeks later a title arrives in mail.

I like buying things from city/county governments on purplewave. Contact info for the seller is available to bidders. When I call the county maintenance superviser they are very open with information. They have no personal stake in the selling price and seem very chatty.


I think purplewave is regional, I don't know if they operate in your area. If they don't, there might be something similar.

Here’s an odd one.. friend of a friend here in Tennessee, sold a nice Monte Carlo to a guy in Indianapolis…they met half way at a bank of American .. the guy had a $20k cashiers check.. they went in.. verified the check.. the guy put $10k in his account, $10k in his pocket..,gave the buyer the title and the keys.. everyone was happy.. until a week later, the bank called.. said the check was phony ..they had withdrawn the $10k from the account and demanded the seller bring the other 10k in cash.. he never did.. I never heard anything else about what transpired..