Intenational selling your boat

[Sandro]

Hi all,
a friend of mine is selling his 6 m catboat and advertised it.

After a few monthes of silence, two bidders showed up almost at the same time, both of them from Ivory Coast.
One of the would be buyers, who did see the boat only in the ad photo, agrees to pay the asked amount by bank transfer a few days before the delivery and would send a shipping company agent to collect the boat.

The matter looks someway strange. My friend asked my opinion and I am forwarding his questions to the forum.

Has a fascination for cat boats suddely grown in Ivory Coast?
What could hide behind?
What could go wrong?
What evil could happen after sale?
Did any Reader have had/heard of a similar experience?
What was the outcome?

Just a guess, but the transportation cost could exceed the selling value.

In case of sale which are the best procedures to follow in order to keep safe? (I remember a PBO article on this subject. I shall dig it out).
Who should care for the shipping packaging of the boat and rig?

Thanks to all that would suggest, on behalf of my friend.

Sandro

Editing: Sorry, the first bid di not arrive now but one year ago, always from Ivory Coast
Sandro

 

[Kelpie]

Hmmm, there I was thinking that International Selling Your Boat must be a new range of paints designed for tarting up hard-to-shift vessels...

But on a different note, yes it does sound a bit dodgy doesn't it! So long as your friend is careful not to be a mug, it's hard to see how he could lose anything other than time though, if he thinks it's a genuine offer worth following up.

When I sold my previous boat I had a surprising number of emails come in from various parts of Europe (mainly Germany and Spain) and ended up selling to an Irish chap who sailed her home the next day.

 

[Chalker]

Find the PBO article, google for purchasing scams and probably walk away from your buyers.
Talk to your bank about the clearance time on the money transfer, the time after which it cannot be declared fraudulent.

 

[pvb]

One of the would be buyers, who did see the boat only in the ad photo, agrees to pay the asked amount by bank transfer a few days before the delivery and would send a shipping company agent to collect the boat.

Classic scam! Simply ignore all communications from them.

 

[rivonia]

Typical Scam and you know it is.

 

[vyv_cox]

If I remember correctly it's to do with clearance of paper bankers' drafts. It has been understood that these were impossible to forge, so the seller assumed that once it was at the bank nothing could go wrong. Of course, anything can be forged and bankers' drafts are no exception. It can take 7 - 10 days for your bank to clear one of these drafts, by which time the goods are long gone.

 

[testmonkey]

419 scam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/419_scams

 

[Biggles Wader]

Cash on collection. Nothing else.

 

[Mark Turner]

If I remember correctly it's to do with clearance of paper bankers' drafts. It has been understood that these were impossible to forge, so the seller assumed that once it was at the bank nothing could go wrong. Of course, anything can be forged and bankers' drafts are no exception. It can take 7 - 10 days for your bank to clear one of these drafts, by which time the goods are long gone.

I understood that it goes beyond that - the transaction may clear in your account but then be reversed many weeks later. Typically, the bankers draft will be for an amount greater than the sales price and you will be asked to make an immediate refund (that is both irrevocable and the recipient untraceable) of the excess. The asset in question, whether its a boat, a car or anything else is irrelevant, and only part of what you will lose.