If you are selling a boat......

[Geek_Guy]

I have an ad for my Hunter 37. I'm receiving some really unusual responses. A guy last week has never been on a boat bigger than a dinghy yet was planning on leaving this week for Europe. He wasn't a bit concerned about this. There have been 3 like that the last few weeks. I now have a guy that is in Europe and want to pay for my boat sight unseen and hire a captain to take it to Cancun.

I understand that some could be scams. But they completely understood that I'd have to see the money wired into my account before we did anything.

The guy last week came and visited the boat. Then kept insisting that I would have to show him how to sail, turn on the nav lights, everything he would need to cross the Atlantic this week.

I'm just curious if others are getting these situations and how you are handling them.

Thanks

Dave

[sailormed]

Maybe some cases of COVID paranoia, but most are the usual scams.

[LittleWing77]

Speak to Chotu. He's been getting a deluge. Don't know if any of them have been weird like yours - to my mind, those spring from YouTube viewing which makes them think sailing is like driving a car....

[Fore and Aft]

As a surveyor nothing surprises me anymore. That guy who wants to cross the Atlantic next week is no more crazy than people who have never sailed but spend $250,000+ on a catamaran and the first time they have sailed is on the sea trial. I get that and the Youtube wannabees buying their first monohull to sail around the world so often that I do not even raise an eyebrow anymore. They are actually good for business as the first dream boat they find is usually a real lemon. Then after I have knocked the rose tinted glasses of their heads they listen and the second boat I survey for them is way better. That's the ones that listen anyway, some never listen and months or years later you hear how the disaster unfolded.
I used to really worry about some of these clowns. But fortunately in most of us the will to live is pretty strong so they often bail out of the dream or get rescued the first time there is a minor drama.
Cheers

[Chotu]

Selling anything is all about the specific deal and the money side of it. Every buyer will be quite different and have a different plan, personality and story.

Just make sure you’re not overcome by greed. That’s what people prey on. You’ll be sailing that guy across the Atlantic or putting in several 40 hour weeks as an unpaid sailing instructor if you don’t properly communicate your position and be ok with losing a sale that doesn’t fit your path moving forward.

Every buyer has a different backstory. Every buyer has the freedom and the absolute right to do whatever they want with your boat after the funds clear. It’s not your place to tell them what to do. At all. As a seller, it’s your place to agree with them and help make their dreams, however crazy you think they are, come true by supplying the boat. That’s what they’re paying you for.

The only things you need to be careful of are using a proven purchase and sale agreement like the one all the yacht brokerages use and making sure the agreed upon funds have properly and fully cleared your account to become become liquid before you relinquish possession.

The rest isn’t your concern.

When someone says something you don’t agree with sailing wise, you shut up. One of the hardest things for me to do. But just remember, it’s your job in the sales process to be agreeable. Yet at the same time be firm about your side of the deal (you’re not a sailing instructor).

Note: one of the most common scams out there is a buyer sending you a fake check for the purchase amount plus some delivery fee amount the buyer says a shipping company will be charging. You deposit the check, it clears provisionally, you pay that extra to the shipping company (the buyer actually) and then the check is found to be fake or insufficient funds after you paid the “shipper”. Leaving you responsible for that shipping amount plus a bounced check fee.

Also, you can tell by the language used. Odd, out of place language such a as “What’s your final price” early in the discussion is always a scammer since they don’t understand how we speak here. Look for irregularities like that tipping their hand that they’re from Africa (where just about all these classified scammers originate).

Finally, no. I haven’t seen these exact sellers or seller stories. A lot of people are very real and very serious about buying a boat ASAP right now.

[valhalla360]

Scams aren't new...just new angles related to the corona.

Some may just be odd but the cancun example seems like a classic scam. The float a bad check and get the boat out of the country and it becomes a much more difficult task getting it back.

Sold our boat in Spain a couple years back and one guy wanted to pay cash. He was supposedly European and had the full asking price in US dollars. After giving him multiple options to wire the money to my bank account (I was even willing to cover the $50 to do it), he finally stopped communicating.

I'm sure the scammers know that people are panicking with the cornona, so they use that to try and get past your normal scam detection.

[denverd0n]

Agree with Chotu. If the buyer doesn't know what he is getting into, that is his problem, not yours. I might walk through the boat and show the buyer how to operate the various systems. Maybe even raise and lower the sails. I am definitely NOT going to be providing any sailing lessons! Not, at least, included in the sales price.



If your personal ethics won't allow you to sell your boat to someone that you are certain is only going to get into trouble with it, I respect your choice. That's up to you. But don't imagine you are going to keep him out of trouble by not selling him your boat. "A fool and his money are soon parted." If you don't sell him your boat, you can be sure that someone else will.


Good luck selling your boat, in any case.

[fred4936]

We have had some unusual questions asked about our Tartan 27-2, which is on the market. I answer as best I can, then go from there. I would much prefer to sell her to someone who appreciates what she is, but I really can't worry about that.

[Davie J.]

Back in the old days (early 80's), the 40 foot boat next to mine, in a slip in Ft. Lauderdale, was sold to a guy who arrived with a group of 4 others. He had not seen the boat before, but said that he and his friends were setting sail immediately for Bermuda. Within the hour, they set off. Three weeks later, they were found drifting 200 miles east of the Abacos. They had run out of food and water and all were so sick they needed help getting off the boat. How they got so far south is anyone's guess. Apparently, he had never sailed before...............

[Chotu]

I had a guy show up with a suitcase of large gold bars to buy an old boat I sold.

He was very sketchy. I figured they were fake. We went together to the gold exchange place and they were real. He exchanged them for money, but the deal derailed for other reasons of sketchiness.

[cdy]

I have sold a lot of sailboats over the years but nothing was for more than 15K - I tend to buy low and sell low so I can quickly move on - so almost everyting has been sold thru Craigslist and a few sites dedicated to the specific manufacturer - if you can sell though the group association - you get less whack jobs calling - but selling on CL - about 50% are flaky - either they want it for free - want to make payments - want you to hold it - you just completely off their rocker and just want to waste your time or talk about boats - since I tend to sell cheap I never offer a test saul - did that once on a Catalina 22 - the guy showed up with the whole family - when we got back - they jumped off as soon as we hit the dock - said thanks and disappeared - free sail I guess was what they were after. However one time I had a guy in Naples offer me twice waht I was asking for a Seaperal 21 - as long as I could deliver to Naples FL from Jacksonville - had my doubts but I did - paid double in cash and offered to give me another sailboat for free - which I passed - so sometimes weird things happen in a good way

[sjm823]

[QUOTE=valhalla360;3136948]Scams aren't new...just new angles related to the corona.

Sold our boat in Spain a couple years back and one guy wanted to pay cash. He was supposedly European and had the full asking price in US dollars. After giving him multiple options to wire the money to my bank account (I was even willing to cover the $50 to do it), he finally stopped communicating.

Valhalla360: Just curious, what's wrong with getting US dollars in cash? Why insist on a wire, unless you're not turning over possession in person maybe?

[JPA Cate]

What's wrong with getting it in cash is that between receiving it and getting it to the bank, you are vulnerable to having it stolen off you. The other thing is that if it is over $9,999, there are anti-money laundering laws, and you may bear the brunt of that, including having the funds confiscated. And then, if you're American, there's the IRS to explain to. Mmmm. Not for this little brown duck.

Don't deal in cash these days. It can be a real headache.

[JPA Cate]

@GeekGuy:

I think some of the anxiousness to purchase your boat (escape dream) is reaction to the corona virus pandemic. Sort of a "Beam me up, Scotty" deal. If they don't have a local bank, have 'em buy you a postal money order.

And, whatever payment is, make sure it has cleared and is liquid before you hand over the boat and its registration papers.

Ann

[Chotu]

Note: I’m ok with cash payment. I just do the closing at my bank’s office when I close in cash. Let them run it through the counting machine and deposit it.