Selling your boat on the Internet

[olddawgsrule]

I'm certain you folks have discussed this before, but I just went through this and wonder how many others have.

I have 2 boats listed on Craigslist (yes, Wifey wants the yard cleared a bit of toys).
I received a response asking me to 'email' them.
"FIRST INDICATION"
Since they can respond through protected Craigslist, why?

With some thought, I did.
The most they get is my Personal Email address.
Never, Ever, open an attachment for an un-known!
Let me make that perfectly clear.
Never, Ever... None was attached.

The email was from a 'Girl' that would be out of town to discuss the condition the boat, though they stated what I wrote was acceptable and what they wanted.
They would send the money to my PayPal account, of which they wanted information.
She would than send a hauler to get the boat.

First: I asked which boat?
Response: Very happy with condition and excited to proceed.

Please be aware of Scammers out there.
Please ask questions when approached.

There are two serious Scams going on.
First is to actually pay you, take delivery, then complain to PayPal which will debt your account.
'Out a boat and money'...

Second is the 'Over-Payment' scam.
If you thought the first was bad enough, now they will ask 'you' to cash refund the over payment to the hauler!

Third is the false PayPal site.
If you're offered a link to PayPal.. Please don't.
Take the time and find it yourself.
It's your name, your credit card...
If... You decide to proceed, set it up yourself.

Short conversation with the bank today...
No PayPal (or other such accounts) payment on large purchases.
No cash payment, unless brought here to be verified.
This one surprised me...
No Bank Checks, unless brought here to be verified.

You know... this used to be easy

You folks?
Experiences?
Guidance on best way?

I'm Listening!

 

[oldjeep]

My rules when I sold my old boat on CL this spring
1) If you cannot form an understandable English sentence - deleted
2) If it looks like a form letter response - deleted
3) If it requests an email rather than going through CL relay - deleted
4) If it asks to pay immediately having never seen the boat or asked any questions - deleted


In the end, sold it to a young doctor - took a personal check for it but I kept the boat in my garage for a few weeks until the snow went away so there was no real danger there.

 

[olddawgsrule]

Very good OldJeep! Points to work by!
I reported Government style, then asked Local if they'd like to make the News?

I'm not quite done here yet..
Sent an email to PayPal for conditions of an "As Is" sale.. and what documentation is required of receipt of goods.
We'll see what response I get,

 

[roffey]

Thanks for the paypal information, I always wondered how it worked, and I’m a IT guy.

I sold boat online last year. My boat was a 1984 26 foot Wellcraft with a blown motor. I had some one contact me from Columbia ,LOL. He asked that I ship the boat to him and he would reimburse me. I said no way the boat is a POS with no motor. He said we was still interested as he had some guys who would re-power with some outboards. So the next day he calls and said he had contacted his people and they still wanted the boat. At this point the alarm bell are ringing. He called me the next day to make arrangements. At this point I was clear and said ok, cash deal only. The next day he calls and tells me he is in Canada to pick up the boat but has to drive for several days and has a tow vehicle. Now I’m starting to think he is for real. He calls me and emails me every day giving me status report as to where he is. On the day he is to pick up the boat I take the afternoon off. He's a no show but I think he is just delayed. I take the next morning off and he's a no show. He emailed me saying he found a boat miles from where I was but wants me to keep the boat for him as he will be in Canada next month.

I ended up selling the boat, just not to him. What a complete waste of time and I think that's what his game was.

 

[oldjeep]

Never ever accept Paypal for a major sale, even if you are willing to eat the transaction cost. There are too many ways for the transaction to be reversed and Paypal favors the buyer not the seller. I use paypal for many things but would never accept it for any real money and nothing in a private party transaction that I wasn't willing to lose.

 

[thumpar]

When I sold my boat last August I didn't even respond unless the person was local and wanted to come in person to check it out. It sold in 2 days so I didn't get much spam in that short time.

 

[ihearth2o]

These scams are so easy to spot, I think you would be giving these idiots a compliment by calling them scammers. When I sold my last Jeep Wrangler a few years ago, I had a buyer call me to ask about my Jeep. He told me it was for his wife and he asked all the right questions. We set up a time for a test drive and a nice looking young couple showed up when they said they would and they each took a turn driving. They said they were interested but needed to get back to me in a couple days to get more info that the bank would need to finance the deal. I received an email asking for a lot of personal info like SS#, insurance policy info, birth dates, etc. Told them that was not relevant for the sale and never heard from them again. I truly believe they were running a scam. Those were true scammers. These scammers that just sit in front of a computer or talk on the phone all day and don't even make an effort are not scammers. They are lazy amateurs at best.

 

[Brian 26]

Short conversation with the bank today...
No PayPal (or other such accounts) payment on large purchases.
No cash payment, unless brought here to be verified.
This one surprised me...
No Bank Checks, unless brought here to be verified.

Paypal = 45 day warranty - as said this is highly discouraged if you're a seller, it's great if you can get it as a buyer although I would never ask for that.

Cash - I don't see where you would bring it to a bank to verify, all their going to do is use one of those $5 pens to see if it's printed with the correct medium. In my experience when the banks themselves take large cash deposits they don't check to see if the bills are counterfeit. If you're worried about it you could get your own pen.

Bank Checks - Absolutely verify it, this can be done on the phone also. It always irks me when a buyer says "the bank check is as good as cash". No it is not, it's a piece of paper that says you're giving me money, it could be faked, there will be a waiting period before it clears, I can not use it to buy a burrito at Chipotle etc... It's like cash in the sense that the money has been withdrawn from the buyers account, I think this is where the confusion comes in.

 

[oldjeep]

PayPal buyer protection doesn't apply to vehicles.

 

[ssobol]

Sold my RIB via Craigslist. Got a few scammers (how can someone who can't receive email or make phone calls reply to a CL ad?). Told responders to the ad "show up at my place with cash if you want the boat". Do not take PayPal for payment. Insist on cash only (and get one of those counterfit detection pens). Ended up selling my boat to guy that drove from Canada (many hours) to get it and paid cash in US$ (thousands of $). Also, don't let the buyer use your trailer plates "just to get it home". If the buyer is legit and really wants the boat, he'll make the effort to comply with whatever conditions you set as the seller.

 

[MH Hawker]

When it comes to Craigslist its cash and carrier it off. Its that simple.

 

[tpenfield]

old dawg:

The stuff that you mention is pretty typical of CL ad responses. I sold my last boat and bought my current boat on CL. You get the scammers and spammers. I do not reply to responses that appear to be scammer/spammer oriented. They seem to be pretty easy to filter out.

Anything related to a long distance, paypal, or third party transaction is poop smell.

Also, as a respondent to an add, you want to make sure that you do not get perceived as such.

Regardless of the perils, the Internet offers a great amount of exposure that did not exist previously. So, you take the good with the bad.

 

[olddawgsrule]

Some great responses here and good to see you folks know of the scams out there.

I will look into this 'pen'.. Hadn't thought of this..

My terms to this buyer I guess were not acceptable to them.. Haven't heard back.

 

[ricohman]

I work in a commercial crime section.
Great advice here.

Remember that Bank drafts can be forged as well as any cheque.
No paypal for large purchases, period. Great way to get scammed. No CC either.
EMT is very safe. But cash is king for me. Beware that neat stacks of $20's is drug money!

 

[90stingray]

When I sold my stingray I listed it on craigslist and I clicked the button to hide my email. This helps eliminate spam. I also spell out some numbers of my phone so it's harder for computers to pick up on the number. So less spam and scams there too. But craigslist is always cash money... No checks, no way. I sometimes hold the bills to the light to make sure they are real. I don't respond to texts that ask what my bottom dollar is either. I like for them to see it before we negotiate. Seemed to work... Boat was sold in less than 24 hours.

 

[3rdtimesthecharm]

I posted mine on CL and Boattrader. Had all the issues above on CL and no issues on Trader.Sold it off of Trader.