Need some input (Financial)

I'm going to be purchasing a streetbike in the near future, and im posed with a VERY nice option. There is a bike located in california, and the owner has agreed to ship it to me complete with title and everything free, the bike costing 3500.00.

As i am concerned about getting scammed, the seller suggested a escrow company. The idea is i pay the company, and they place the money in his bank account with a freeze hold on it. So he can see the money but not use it.

I have 7 days from the time i recieve the bike to inspect it, test it, etc...at the end of those 7 days, or before, i call the company and say yay or nay. If i say yay the money is released to the seller, and all is well. If i say nay, arrangments are made to ship the bike back and i am refunded minus a small service fee.

the idea sounds cool, this is the escrow company he suggested(which is why i want input):

www.do-escrow.com

I can't find anything on www.bbb.org and www.bizrate.com which isn't a good thing

whats a good escrow or similar company? I'm calling the shots or im not buying it.

whats the service fee? and who pays for shipping back??

BTW, I'm sure you could find something closer to home...as you know RoD, things that seem too damn good....well you know the rest.

its not too good, actually a fair price. He would pay for shipping back, not me. A friend spoke with his dad (a lawyer) and told me that i should talk to my bank, but as far as escrow companies a good one would be www.escrow.com

Yeh, thats the one Ebay uses right?

Probably the biggest and/or safest.

Good luck with the shipping. My roommate once shipped his bike from Michigan to California. It showed up without the helmet and with some scratches. Shipping companies do not care.

>>Shipping companies do not care.

agreed. I had some friends work at UPS...and I've heard MANY stories of the "package handler". I ordered a nice set of rims once, and FedEx managed to bend one through the delivery.