Avice on safest way to sell?

domlee

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I am selling a sail boat privately and have been made an offer and was wondering what was the safest /best practice when requesting funds for the purchase. Normally I would have accepted a bankers draft on face value but with so many fraudulent drafts about am wary of doing this. The sum involved is circa 7k ad is simply a clear sale.

Would it be acceptable to request funds be cleared by my bank before release of vessel or would there be a method of checking the validity of a bankers draft/cheque before release? Or is there a better method?

Any advice would be appreciated.
 

Lakesailor

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Cash that you have put into your account and has been accepted is the safest method.
Of course with that amount you may get caught up the money-laundering awareness that banks are obliged to carry out.
 

RickMoss

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If you pay an amount in excess of 15,000 Euro's (circa £8k+) into your bank account (or pay more than this amount in cash for goods or services), then whoever receives the money is required to report the transaction to HMC&E, but as you are not laundering money, and the amount is below the threshold, this need not be a consideration to you.

A bankers draft can be verified by calling the bank that issued it, as long as you can call during banking hours. Doing it this way tends to be the best bet. Alternatively, you and your purchaser can go to your bank and deposit the cash together. If the bank accepts the cash, you can be assured that it is not counterfeit!
 

Norman_E

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The safest method is to get the buyer to arrange a direct transfer from his bank to yours (called a BACS transfer) It takes about 3 days, but the money is treated as cleared funds as soon as you receive it on your account. Usual cost for the transferor is about £10.
For a very large sum where solicitors are involved in the contract, you can use the method they use to transfer house purchase funds, but they may make a much higher charge.
 

Lakesailor

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Of course if by fortunate coincidence you both bank with the same bank, you could go into a branch and have the money transferred and confirmed there and then.
I did this when I sold a car for £12,000 and it was painless.
 

Birdseye

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Just what Norman E says. I sold mine for 50k by that method without problem. Hold onto the boat until the cash is received, and preferably a day or 2 after. Dont forget to write out a Bill of Sale - "sold privately as seen tried and inspected without any warranties expressed or implied etc etc"
 

Sea Devil

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All the times I have sold I made it clear to the purchaser that I would not sign the bill of sale or release the vessel until the funds had cleared into my account.

That way you can accept a cheque or bankers draft and pay it into your account and then wait the 3 or 4 days for your bank to assure the funds have cleared irrevocably. Once the funds have cleard you sign and hand over the bill of sale and release the vessel - that is also the way a broker would do it on your behalf.
 
G

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Act like most businesses do ...

Hold onto goods till funds clear on your account. Nothing wrong with that.

When I bought present boat at 8K .... he kept all keys etc. till money was on his account and confirmed.

Don't see any problem with that .... with that you can choose / accept all sorts of methods without worrying how he is going to do it ....

BTW - Money laundering .... I never have trouble with money transfers in this respect and really its a matter that I feel is irrelevant here ..... IMHO
 

Egbod

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Beware. I understood that clearing a cheque only means that the money was available in the account and has been transfered. If later the account holder discovers that the money has been taken fraudulently then the money is just taken back by the banks. This is the basis of many scams especially those using foreign addresses- when they send you too much money 'by mistake' and then ask for the excess to be returned by sending them a cheque after their cheque has cleared. You end up with no goods (boat) and have given them money. The account holder may only notice when they get their bank statement maybe a month or so later. I would be tempted to ask for a bankers draft and only hand over the boat a week later.
 
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