Weird sale deal- what should I do?

[contrail]

I am always baffled that people don't bother to read a thread, before lengthy and often duplicate answers! The OP told us he took a different offer and not the one he originally asked about, in posts 27 and 29, and hasn't been heard from since. The only question he had was about paypal. We are now at post 59 and counting, and only the posts concerning paypal have any relevance, at all. But we hear about everything else!

[Giro]

It’s always nice to have those people, like contrail, to keep everyone else in line. Thank you, contrail.

[CarinaPDX]

To a certain extent it is a conversation, not just a service to the OP. Just because the OP moves on doesn't mean the discussion has to end. Nonetheless I hope he did read my comments on PayPal.

Greg

[Tonali99]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Good to be leery but once you confirm with your bank that the check has cleared and there is no way for them to claw back the cash...it's his boat.

Do download an as-is sales agreement from the internet and clearly indicate what is and is not included.

After that, it's no longer your problem.

Banks have funny laws. No matter the name on said check, you sre the one responsible for the deposit. Get cashiers check, cash it at the same bank it was written on (if possible).
Enjoy the money while healing up.

[Sailorman4009]

Craigslist is warning people of a scam of long distance purchaser for large items that cost lots of money, they eventually want to send a money order (counterfeit) and you send title on receipt. Unfortunately the bank will try to process the MO and it come up a dud. You eat the damages for the bank and the other person holds title. You cannot recover it as they are not in an area of legal influence.

If the old guy wants to buy it make him pay by money transfer bank to bank or through Paypal or some such payment service that is responsible for the actual money movement. I bet when you suggest this you will hear nothing more from him.

[introverted]

Originally Posted by contrail

I am always baffled that people don't bother to read a thread, before lengthy and often duplicate answers! The OP told us he took a different offer and not the one he originally asked about, in posts 27 and 29, and hasn't been heard from since. The only question he had was about paypal. We are now at post 59 and counting, and only the posts concerning paypal have any relevance, at all. But we hear about everything else!

Sounds like a new thread is needed then, in regards to paypal, since it wasn't part of the original post. It is pretty normal for participants to add to a thread if it pertains to the original topic, even if it is 15 pages deep; I don't think most people are going to read every reply, especially if it starts to get hijacked and creep in to other topics. duplicate replies serve the purpose of reinforcing opinions for future readers that might find the topic to be of value or pertain to themselves. I think the paypal aspect of this discussion was lost.

[BobMc]

Had a similar experience yesterday (Aug 11, 2020) but via email. Listed our trawler on powerboatlisting.com and within a day had an email from a person with an address of richbarton@goupmail.com. Originally stated "I'm interested. Please send me details" so I responded with a little bit of text with some info and a link to our web site which has all the info and many photos. Second email from same email address, a couple of hours later, "Thanks for your message. Has any work been done on it lately?" so I again responded with an email list of some recent upgrades. Third email a few hours after that: "Sounds good. I'll take it. I'm currently on a business trip. I'll make a wire transfer then arrange pickup after payment clears. Let me know. Thanks, Rich" In my response I stated that I'd accept a cashiers check made payable to me, and that when it cleared my bank I'd arrange transfer of title and the boat. Haven't heard anything since!

If figured from the second email that this was one of those "If it's too good to be true, it probably is" type of things so I researched the email address and telno, also checked the source headers of the original email. Nothing unusual showed up until I checked the telno via google and turned up several different "businesses" in the Portland, Oregon, area, some of whom had bad reports at the BBB and FTC regarding overcharging, failure to deliver merchandise, etc.

The likelihood of this being the real thing are pretty darned slim - I don't need to be reminded about all the scams out there as I'm well aware of them. I'll have a better idea if there's ever a response. In the meantime, I'm going to try to report this to powerboatlisting.com so see if they've had any other complaints about this email address.

As the Sergent Phil Esterhaus said on Hill Street Blues after morning roll call: Be careful out there!

[GreenWave]

No one, and I mean no one sane and legit, will buy a boat sight unseen (unless maybe it costs $1)... nah not even that.


FWIW - wire transfer would be the safest bet as your bank will vet it before clearing the funds. Of course, some sort of written contract is needed as well.

[BobMc]

Originally Posted by dcbmba

First, do not accept a bank check. Insist that the money be wired to you over the Federal Reserve System, and not over the inter-bank ACH system.

IMHO, a cashier's/bank check payable to the seller is much better than a wire transfer. There's no way I'm going to provide my bank account info to anyone whom I don't know, and trust, personally!!! With a cashier's check (or similar) you can deposit it and wait for it to clear before doing anything, and never have to provide any banking info to the buyer.

What am I missing?

[Valmika]

What am I missing?[/QUOTE]


Cashier checks can be white washed and changed. Most are legit banks but changed info and amounts. All you need to do is check with the issuing bank for the amount. You tell them, they wont tell you. They will say yes or no as to whether it is correct or not. Look them up. Don't rely on the persons phone numbers.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by BobMc

IMHO, a cashier's/bank check payable to the seller is much better than a wire transfer. There's no way I'm going to provide my bank account info to anyone whom I don't know, and trust, personally!!! With a cashier's check (or similar) you can deposit it and wait for it to clear before doing anything, and never have to provide any banking info to the buyer.

What am I missing?

The information you provide for a wire transfer into your account isn't the information needed to do a withdrawal from your account.

Checks can take a long time to clear and unless you confirm with the bank that it's cleared and past the point where it can be clawed back, there is a risk. It's a surprisingly long time the banks have where they can claw the money back from a bad check. Really it's inexcusable in today's world that it doesn't clear within 1 business day but it is what it is. Most buyers aren't going to want to hand over the money and then wait a month before you are super certain, the check really cleared.

[BobMc]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

The information you provide for a wire transfer into your account isn't the information needed to do a withdrawal from your account.

Checks can take a long time to clear and unless you confirm with the bank that it's cleared and past the point where it can be clawed back, there is a risk. It's a surprisingly long time the banks have where they can claw the money back from a bad check. Really it's inexcusable in today's world that it doesn't clear within 1 business day but it is what it is. Most buyers aren't going to want to hand over the money and then wait a month before you are super certain, the check really cleared.

Good info, but I'd still rather not provide ANY bank info. What would be a safer way of effecting the transfer of funds? Perhaps use a closing broker (whatever they might be called) and have the funds wired to them, such as would occur in a broker-involved sale? Cash would work, but that's a big bundle and would involved a lot of paperwork for a deposit of $10K or more!

[Statistical]

Originally Posted by BobMc

Good info, but I'd still rather not provide ANY bank info. What would be a safer way of effecting the transfer of funds? Perhaps use a closing broker (whatever they might be called) and have the funds wired to them, such as would occur in a broker-involved sale? Cash would work, but that's a big bundle and would involved a lot of paperwork for a deposit of $10K or more!

If you aren't willing to accept cash, use an escrow service, or accept a bank wire then a cashier's check is the least bad option.

Just understand that the funds showing up in your account does not mean the check has cleared. That common misconception is how scams work. The funds show up based on your bank's funds availability policy are aren't proof of anything. Generally checks can take up to 14 days to clear but in some instances the bank can take 21 days. Since people are impatient and don't want to wait 14-21 days banks will usually make funds available either immediately or within a few days but that does not mean the check has cleared.

If you can meet the buyer at his/her bank and witness personally a teller issuing the cashier's check and take possession of it there that is a low risk payment.

[CassidyNZ]

Originally Posted by GreenWave

No one, and I mean no one sane and legit, will buy a boat sight unseen (unless maybe it costs $1)... nah not even that.

I did. In another country. Not insane, totally legit. Still the proud owner 15 years later. Not everyone on this planet is a scam artist.

If the money is in my bank and the boat is still in my possession it is the buyer that should be wary, not the seller.

[GreenWave]

Originally Posted by CassidyNZ

I did. In another country. Not insane, totally legit. Still the proud owner 15 years later. Not everyone on this planet is a scam artist.

If the money is in my bank and the boat is still in my possession it is the buyer that should be wary, not the seller.

My post wasn't just addressing scams... glad to hear it worked for you. For me- no way jose unless it was brand new right off the factory line OR I knew the seller personally.