Buyer offered to fly me to Italy...

[watchluvr]

A potential buyer refused to do a wire transfer because he had been burned previously. He offered to fly me to Italy to buy a gold Rolex. While communicating on the phone and whatsapp, he also asked for photos of other watches we carry. I sent him a pic of a Panerai, a Royal Oak chrono, and a Deep Sea. He said that he wanted me to bring those also. Then later he also asked if I could bring some diamonds.

Red flags about getting robbed or a Customs sting started going off in my head. I wanted to get an idea about how people here would handle it.

I ended up suggesting that he buy an airline ticket for someone he knows who could come here to buy the merchandise. He refused to do that. So no deal.

Does anyone have experience with a potential buyer offering to fly them to a foreign country to hand deliver a watch or watches? How did it turn out? Thanks.

[jrs146]

Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. Traveling across the world with thousands upon thousands of merchandise. That’s begging to be robbed blind.


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[brandrea]

Welcome Mark.

What do you know about him? Did he supply you with references?

[breitlings]

I would never do that. Good call on passing.

[bdex75]

Nope. Good call not doing that deal. You wonder about all kinds of crazy stuff like if buyer was in cahoots with customs officials. They would snag you for violating some import rule and "buyer" would buy from them out the back door.


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[Etschell]

he will rob you almost guaranteed

[Sunny Arizona]

Originally Posted by Etschell

he will rob you almost guaranteed

Agree, except for remove the word almost.

[greekbum]

i get this same offer a few times a year they send you there passport picture etc. Bottom line they are a gang and will rob you once you get there. This is a big scam ben going on for years.

[j0oftheworld]

Sounds like a scam the scammer free trip to Italy to me! :D

[shabaang]

crazy .. you made the right call.

Don't forget the diamonds!

[rootbeer7]

For that amount of money, you'd imagine they'd fly to you. If was to do it at all I'd fly in a day earlier than agreed. Deposit goods in main hotel safe (by arrangement)and arrange to meet in busy main lobby in full view of public. I would not produce goods until the person was happy to be photographed and identified. I might even locate a nearby jewellery store that could help for a fee? All in all I wouldn't do it!

[MonBK]

Of course you should fly to Italy and I'd suggest you take your whole store inventory with you.

Since when does a buyer have to go through all the trouble to come to the seller?

[rootbeer7]

Originally Posted by MonBK

Of course you should fly to Italy and I'd suggest you take your whole store inventory with you.

Since when does a buyer have to go through all the trouble to come to the seller?

I work with a gentleman that does fly all over the world, stock in hand. He takes every precaution. Would I do it? No!!

[MonBK]

Originally Posted by rootbeer7

I work with a gentleman that does fly all over the world, stock in hand. He takes every precaution. Would I do it? No!!

Great, send him to Italy.

[rootbeer7]

Originally Posted by MonBK

Great, send him to Italy.

[crowncollection]

Good move passing on that deal


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[Leeq]

I say take that free flight to Italy and have a mini vacation without him involved hahaha. Sounds like a scam my guy.

[Knappo 1307]

My guess, if you made it back, you would be less 1 kidney plus everything that was stolen from you....

[thomaspp]

Why not fly to Italy for free and leave the merchandise at home? Get a free vacation. Lol

[watchluvr]

Originally Posted by thomaspp

Why not fly to Italy for free and leave the merchandise at home? Get a free vacation. Lol

LoL Good point, but I think they would be waiting and probably wouldn't be very happy if they paid for a ticket and couldn't rob me.

[Chewbacca]

Wtf is happening to the watch world?

International travel?

Diamonds?

Italy?

Call Q and get the Aston ready in Bologna.

[breitlings]

Originally Posted by Chewbacca

Wtf is happening to the watch world?

International travel?

Diamonds?

Italy?

Call Q and get the Aston ready in Bologna.

Just got off the phone with hq, only the Jaguar and Maserati are available today.

[Chewbacca]

Originally Posted by breitlings

Just got off the phone with hq, only the Jaguar and Maserati are available today.

[rudestew]

Just make sure you pack your s**t yourself pants because your gonna s**t your pants when it hits the fan.

[watchluvr]

I told the buyer no yesterday and he began sending numerous photos of his id and passport to prove he was legit. He must have called 20 times and sent 50 whatsapp messages while I was helping a client. I think he thought he had a live one. Our diamond company MID has offices around the world and I told him we could also meet at any one of those offices, but he declined.

One can only conclude it was an attempt at robbery and possibly kidnapping. My Russian wife, Nataliya, went crazy when I first mentioned it to her. She went ballistic that I even considered it for a moment.

Sorry to hear about the friend to friend deal in a hotel room that went very badly.

Fortunately, we are located in a bank building and have a serious security system, so I think our chances of getting robbed at our location are even lower than a retailer in a mall.

Thank you for all of the thoughts and advice.

[greekbum]

Originally Posted by watchluvr

I told the buyer no yesterday and he began sending numerous photos of his id and passport to prove he was legit. He must have called 20 times and sent 50 whatsapp messages while I was helping a client. I think he thought he had a live one. Our diamond company MID has offices around the world and I told him we could also meet at any one of those offices, but he declined.

One can only conclude it was an attempt at robbery and possibly kidnapping. My Russian wife, Nataliya, went crazy when I first mentioned it to her. She went ballistic that I even considered it for a moment.

Sorry to hear about the friend to friend deal in a hotel room that went very badly.

Fortunately, we are located in a bank building and have a serious security system, so I think our chances of getting robbed at our location are even lower than a retailer in a mall.


Thank you for all of the thoughts and advice.

Mark there are large teams of Gypsys that do this daily they prospect off of instagram etc. Same story free tickets hotel show passport pictures bags of cash etc. They want to lure you there and once there you are 100% going to get robbed of everything. Its been going on for a long time. I get at least 3 messages on whats app a week same basic story. Hello do yo sell rolex patek AP. They have a story why they cannot leave etc.

[socalwatchcollector]

One can only conclude it was an attempt at robbery and possibly kidnapping. My Russian wife, Nataliya, went crazy when I first mentioned it to her. She went ballistic that I even considered it for a moment.




I feel her pain....

[rudestew]

Can he visit you on your terms ?

[drosen1]

You need to stay away, smells like a scam

[yannis]

Scumbags...it is a pitty some people fall for this scam...