Selling Horsebox - best payment & receipt options

millimoo

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Hi, with great regret my mum has decided to sell her Coachbuilt Leyland Daf and get a trailer - she's 66yrs and it only gets used by one horse, and has only been out 10 times a year max since it was built in 2007.
We will be advertising it shortly, but what is the best way to allow a purchaser to pay for it that's safe and secure?
Also should we provide some kind of reciept, or sign 2 copies of some kind of sale document?
Any advise & suggestions would be greatly appreciated, as the price is not a huge sum(£12,500) but just want to be careful?
 

Rachaelpink

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I took the money I got from selling my horsebox to the bank before the people who bought it drove off with it. I figured this was the safest way to ensure I wasn't scammed. I copied a receipt off the internet saying no warranty was implied etc (2 copies), gave them one copy and I kept the other. We signed both and I got someone at my yard to act as a witness and sign both. I also got the person purchasing it to fill in the v5 and I sent it off to ensure the vehicle was no longer registered in my name.

You can get them to give you a bankers draft, but again this can go wrong so you need to take it to the bank to ensure it's legitimate.
 

millimoo

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Thanks Rachaelpink, that's really good advise, especially the V5 bit... This is the hard part of selling second hand vehicles privately, and I've heard some real horror stories.
If anyone else has anything to add keep it coming :)
 

lachlanandmarcus

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A bankers draft is drawn on the bank's own (branch payments)account and the person using it has to pay for it when they get it from the bank.

Provided it is not stolen, there is no risk to you of the funds not clearing (although they do take the normal time to clear), and it cannot be 'stopped' by the purchaser.

So, a bank draft is perfectly safe if you get the seller to advise you of all the details on the draft when they pick it up from the bank, and you then call the bank to check that it is a valid and not stolen one using the details (and obviously just check those ARE the serial numbers when you actually see it). Get the name and the position of the person you speak to when you do this.

Details you will need include
Bank the draft is drawn on
Branch it is drawn on (name and full address)
Sort code
Account name
Account number
Date (not postdated)
confirmation it has (normally will be) 2 signatures
confirmation of the exact text of the writing on it, both across the horizontal lines (the amount in words), in the amount box (amount in figures), up the diagonal crossing lines (normally an amount 1p bigger than the amount of the draft with the words 'not to exceed' or similar in front of it)
check that the payee name (your mum I imagine) is spelt exactly correctly

Do not accept a draft where absolutely anything is not exactly right (the number I had to cancel and reissue another when preparing them because you get one tiny thing wrong when preparing it....:)) Even a technicality, make them go back and get it re-issued.

The other option is cash (but then there is security issue of carrying that around and also possibility of forgeries)

or

standalone paypal payment which if they have an internet smart phone etc they can do in front of you and you can check it has arrived or a direct bank transfer payment which depending on the bank can be almost immediate but again check their bank details with your bank and the amount so they can tell you how long that amount/destination would take.

Personally for such a large amount I think a bank draft is the best option as internet bank payments are often limited to £5 or 10k per day to a new beneficiary and that amount of cash is not safe to be carrying around, but just make sure that the checks above are followed with the draft.

Alternatively the bank could do a non internet electronic payment like the ones used for house purchases etc, would cost the buyer about £20-30 ish and would be cleared immediately BUT the cut off time in the afternoon can be as early as 2-3 pm.

hope this helps!!
 

millimoo

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Brilliant, very informative - I'll be printing both posts off thankyou. This is what makes this forum so fab :D
Just hope we can sell it now - will be placing the ads tomorrow :)
 

lachlanandmarcus

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I should have added to my list above (not just mentioned it in the text) the serial number of the cheque - sorry! (it is a 6 digit number like your own chequebook ones). The draft is normally bigger than a normal cheque, like one of the big business sized ones.

good luck!
 
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