Selling car privately - bank transfer?

BeenThroughItAll

I sold a 20K motorhome earlier in the year and seller paid for it by FP.


Worth noting that for some people, there is a limit on how much they can send by Faster Payments - when I had to transfer 37K for a private purchase of another motorhome, I had to do it in four separate transactions (although they were done minutes apart!).

CMJB22

thanks for the replies,

as the seller, would it be ok if i was to say could we not.. say send £3300 Thursday via Bank transfer.. then sunday when you come to pick up the car have the £5000 cash with you and we will do the deal?


also he said he will send it online via faster payment? how can i check everything is genuine after he sends it?

BeenThroughItAll

CMJB22 wrote: »

thanks for the replies,

as the seller, would it be ok if i was to say could we not.. say send £3300 Thursday via Bank transfer.. then sunday when you come to pick up the car have the £5000 cash with you and we will do the deal?


also he said he will send it online via faster payment? how can i check everything is genuine after he sends it?

You can ask whatever you like, you're the seller. But the buyer may not want the hassle of withdrawing and carrying 5K in cash. I certainly wouldn't, these days. Faster Payments is all I need.


Regarding checking... really? Just log into your internet bank or ring your bank.

rich13348

If the money is there then it's fine. If you are worried move the cash to another account as soon as it is in and then they wouldn't be able to reverse it even if that was an option.

benjus

One risk of doing the transfer at the time of the handover of the car is that Faster Payments are not guaranteed to go through instantly. They usually do, but not always. So there's a chance you'll both be sitting there, with the buyer 8.5k down and you with nothing showing in your account yet, wondering what to do next.

agrinnall

rich13348 wrote: »

If the money is there then it's fine. If you are worried move the cash to another account as soon as it is in and then they wouldn't be able to reverse it even if that was an option.

Reversing isn't an option except in the circumstances I highlighted previously, and moving the money won't prevent it being reclaimed in that case.

khcomp

Hi;
I would always prefer a bank transfer into my account rather than cash - unless you're REALLY good at spotting forged notes! The only issue I have, as others have stated, is that a bank transfer is now immediate, so shouldn't need any time to 'clear' - the transfer will show you the account it's from, so ask the buyer to pay online immediately prior to collection, and make sure you see some ID that connects them to the correctly named account. Make sure you get a receipt - the AA does a good one that you can print out & fill in.

Mocha61

I am reading this with interest, im planning on selling my car in a month or so and i to am concerned with the payment side. As khcomp has said the AA does a good receipt form, i have printed mine ready.

Iceweasel

I am involved with bank transfers most week-days and occasionally at weekends.

With most UK banks an on-line transfer is completed and shows in your account within 30 minutes - any time of the day or night - and at weekends.

Rarely it can take up to 2 hours.

Paying in cash at a bank is no faster.

Even to and from Northern Ireland works the same on-line which it certainly does not if you use a bank.

Cash paid into a UK mainland bank can take 3 or even 4 days to appear in a NI account.

RBoS Group - are especially pathetic - from Nat West to Ulster Bank almost always takes 4 working days to complete a pay-in no matter whether it's a cheque or cash.

arcon5

I also would be walking if you wanted me to go to the bank with you to do something that's perfectly safe to do online.

Although he's doing you a favor really as a lot of people wouldn't transfer you £8k 3 days before. The fact he's willing to do this eliminates most of the risk anyway.