How would you solve this?

[fryman04]

I have a site that gets over 2k uniques per day. Earning about $30 each day with activex and popunders. 8,600 backlinks at Marketleap. Top ranked at Google, Yahoo, MSN and many other engines. Listed at directories like Zeal and Gimpsy, etc...

I am planning to move soon, and I will need to sell this site. The problem is that I live in Mexico. I would expect to get a 5 digit amount for this site. That may not be a huge amount in the States or similar countries, but you can buy a house with that here. So, the problem is that anyone that gets a check for over $9,000 here is investigated and treated like if you were some kind of drug dealer. I have no intentions on being treated like that. What could I do? I was thinking of asking the buyer to Paypal me half the amount, and send me the other half via Escrow.
Wouldn't Paypal cause me any problems if they see that I receive a payment for $5,000, when I normallly only get a few hundred bucks? What if they freeze my account, or cause me any of those horrible problems posted at sites like paypalsucks.com? What solution can you think about?

Any ideas are apreciated.

Thanks!

 

[namewaiter]

if you have escrow.com mail you a check, how would anyone know it's contents, except for maybe the bank ... when you cash/deposit it? is the bank who would investigate?

 

[unholy1]

How about Wire Transfer through Escrow.com. Do they also investigate wire transfers there?

 

[Peace]

How about opening a US bank account under your name/company name? Then you can withdraw the funds in small amounts. Opening a bank account would cost you anywhere from $100 - 500, depending on the agent you use.

Good luck

 

[fryman04]

Yes, the banks report any transaction of over $9,000. Same thing if I receive a check, if I went to a money exchange place they would also have to report it.
I don't think it is so easy for a foreigner to open a bank account in the States, I have browsed around and it seems really complicated to do that.
Amazing how living in a 3rd world country can cause you this kind of problems.

 

[neologist]

I've never contemplated this problem before. When someone from outside the US comes into the Sates for work, can't he open a bank acccount? Why wouldn't you be able to do the same thing?

 

[Chaiki]

Why not be paid in a few installments, with no check over $9000?

 

[skylight]

If you are definite that your site sold for 5 digit. Hire a lawyer to complete the transaction. Do not use paypal for such a big amount, paypal guarantee you nothing.

 

[Capitalwebhost]

My opinion is if you are expecting to get a 5 diget figure for this site, you may want to engage legal representation. Escrow.com is good idea and no doubt the buyer will want to use an escrow acct. I would also assume (as I wouldn't do it any other way as a buyer) that the escrow would stay there for a period of time after the switch or be paid in installments to ensure nothing funky was up with teh site, and that it's traffic was legit, etc.

Just some thoughts...

 

[fryman04]

I've never contemplated this problem before. When someone from outside the US comes into the Sates for work, can't he open a bank acccount? Why wouldn't you be able to do the same thing?

Yup, as long as you give some address in the USA. I can't open an account there if I live in Mexico

Why not be paid in a few installments, with no check over $9000?

Yes, that would be great, but how do you complete such a sale? How could I get paid in monthly installments?

If you are definite that your site sold for 5 digit. Hire a lawyer to complete the transaction. Do not use paypal for such a big amount, paypal guarantee you nothing.

You are right, I don't even know why I thought about that. Paypal offers no protection at all against what they call "intangible goods", meaning anything like domains or websites. A buyer could do a chargeback, and I am positive that Paypal would do nothing to protect me against it.

My opinion is if you are expecting to get a 5 diget figure for this site, you may want to engage legal representation. Escrow.com is good idea and no doubt the buyer will want to use an escrow acct. I would also assume (as I wouldn't do it any other way as a buyer) that the escrow would stay there for a period of time after the switch or be paid in installments to ensure nothing funky was up with teh site, and that it's traffic was legit, etc.

Oh, no problem at all with that, I can back up all my claims without problems, and I would be more than happy to let the new buyer check the site out first. I would love the option to be paid in several installments, but, as I said, I live in Mexico, I have no idea of how the legal stuff works in the USA or what kind of document or contract would be required. I think the only option would be to sell to someone with a good reputation and base the transaction in trust.

Thanks for all your advice, guys. I will contact Escrow's customer support and see if they can figure out some way to do this.

 

[ToddW]

Why not just have the buyer send you multiple cashiers checks at once? You can cash them at different banks?

 

[RottenPug]

It works the same way in the US, you are not INVESTIGATED, hehe
any transaction over $10,000.00 has to be reported by the financial institutions, etc etc. It's a tax thing. to prevent money laundering etc etc.
Your's is just set at 9000, the us is 10,000

So what you sold a web site for 10grand, yes you will have to pay taxes on that, which perhaps is what your trying to get around not doing?

 

[David G]

.

 

[GiantDomains]

All that other stuff looks fishier than just doing the deal the normal way.

 

[fryman04]

Nothing fishy, and even if I cash a check for $1,000 I still end up paying taxes when I cash it, so that is not the reason.
As I said, not many people here get checks for big amounts, so if you do get one, the Government thinks you are a drug dealer or some kind of felon. The minimum wage here is about 4 dollars PER DAY (that means, for an 8 hour shift).

You get the point.

 

[Domagon]

So they investigate you? What are they going to do ... domain names sell for a lot, that's a fact ... if they want to see some examples, just show them some print outs from DNJornal's Weekly Sales list.

More importantly, make sure you have a written contract between you and the buyer, and do the transaction through a trusted escrow company, such as escrow.com.

DO NOT use PayPal - that's a sure way to experience problems ... this applies to really any transaction through them, but I digress ... see http://www.PayPalSucks.com for more details about the dark side of PayPal.

Unless you believe there's a risk of the authorities stealing your money, you'd do better to just do the transaction in the simplist manner possible ... ie.

* Written sales agreement (escrow.com has a standard one you can use)

* Escrow, such as through escrow.com

* Report all income as required by law

Ron

 

[fryman04]

About 5% of the houses here have internet access... and the ones that do, only use it for email and chat. All my friends here are amazed by how I earn 2 times more with my website than what I earn in an 8 hour job . Authorities would find it hard to believe that a website can be sold for thousands of dollars. Sucks, but remember, I have 3rd world authorities here, lol


I don't think they would steal my money, but I am almost sure that my funds would be frozen for at least one or 2 months while they investigate where I got the money from. That is what I don't want; here you don't need to prove you are innocent, you need to prove you are not guilty, and it is not the same thing.

I will have a chat with a local accountant to see how I could protect myself. I agree with you, never use Paypal for any "untangible" items as websites or domains, since you won't be protected at all in case of a chargeback.