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Seller beware: Potential scam targets large equipment sales

A possible scam that has been around for some time in the agriculture equipment industry and used car markets has branched out into heavy-duty trucks and trailers.

OOIDA Life Member Bruce Delater is selling a trailer. He got two calls on Monday about his trailer. The catch is, neither of the calls were from buyers. The calls were from “sellers.”

In both cases, the men calling offered to sell Delater’s trailer if he would pay $399 up front to them.

“That just didn’t make sense,” Delater told Land Line . “I told them just to sell the trailer and take the money out of the sale. They didn’t want to do that.”

One of the groups calling Delater was National Vehicle Marketing based out of Omaha, NE. The second is linked to an online site, www.specialtynetwork.com , a website also based in Omaha, NE, that lists a number of affiliate sites related to car, truck and agricultural equipment sales.

The Better Business Bureau does not grade either one of the groups very well. National Vehicle Marketing comes in with a C- with a laundry list of complaints, some of which have been resolved.

National Vehicle Marketing is linked to www.classyauto.com , a business that has a number of complaints on www.ripoffreport.com . It is important to note that Ripoff Report does not actively seek to resolve problems or confirm resolutions.

Specialty Network is given an F by the Better Business Bureau. Of the 122 complaints received in 36 months, only 32 were closed in the last year, according to the BBB.

Specialty Network also takes a beating on the Ripoff Report. However, it is countered by some feedback from an “employee” who points to the seller’s positive rating on eBay. The feedback is in response to the sales of everything from lanyards to heavy-duty pickups.

While the offers to sell the Delater’s trailer came with the same price tag and from the same area, the BBB has not linked the two organizations as being affiliated.

Neither group returned Land Line’s calls requesting comment.

As for Delater, he passed on the offers and plans on selling his trailer on his own and keeping the $399.

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