Safest way to take payment for private sale of a boat

boingy

We'll be selling our boat soon for somewhere in the region of £25k.
My question is what is the safest way to take payment for it?
I know faster payments can be disputed after the event but I don't know what the alternatives are.

Ten years ago cash was king for this sort of transaction so it was pretty common for sellers to deposit £10k+ in cash at their bank in a single transaction but somehow I can't see that working very well today.

The problem with boats is that there are no ownership papers. You only have the receipt from when you bought it and that tends to be a handwritten affair and you handwrite the same for the new owner. It's all quite informal.

Keep_pedalling

Bankers draft is about as safe as you can get, although some banks charge for them.

Devongardener

Download a boat Bill of Sale template, much better than a hand written receipt and both parties sign.   

This is absolutely essential for any boat transaction.
We sold a boat which we kept in a boatyard a few years ago but the new buyer failed to pay the yard fees after purchase. We were able to present the BOS to prove we had sold, otherwise we would have been liable for the arrears.   I wouldn’t buy a boat with a BOS,  it’s often needed for insurance valuation purposes too.
We have bought and sold in cash in the past, again with a BOS you should have no problem depositing cash into your bank.  Otherwise a bankers draft is the way to go.

SiliconChip

boingy said:

I know faster payments can be disputed after the event

I'm not sure what it is that you think you know, but the only way to dispute a Faster Payment is the same as if payment is made with cash or a cheque, there is no mechanism to reverse a Faster Payment. If the buyer's bank permits FPs of £25K in a single transaction (or possibly multiple transactions in 1 day) then it's the easiest method, but there is a small chance that the payment may not be instant, it could take up to the end of the next working day to be completed.

One alternative would be for the buyer to make a CHAPS payment, many banks allow this to be done from online banking now (not sure about through apps), you might have to agree to pay the fee, maybe around £20, and you have to be aware of the cut off time for same day processing.

grumbler

SiliconChip said:

boingy said:

I know faster payments can be disputed after the event

I'm not sure what it is that you think you know, but the only way to dispute a Faster Payment is the same as if payment is made with cash or a cheque, 

How can you dispute a cash payment with your bank?

there is no mechanism to reverse a Faster Payment.

Wishful thinking. Plenty of stories here where a buyer tells their bank that they were scammed, and the seller not only gets the money taken back, but has their bank account closed as well. 
Typically this happens for Facebook or similar transactions and is less likely to happen when a proper paperwork is in place for the transaction, but a possibility still exists that some dirty money is used by the buyer to make a payment or some hacked account.

Olinda99

a faster payment very much can be reversed all the payee has to do is to tell the bank it was fraud and before you know the payment is reversed and your bank account is suspended while investigations ensue...

cash or bankers draft is the way to go but just be careful there are forged bankers drafts around - as indeed there are forged notes.

make dure you get proper ID from the buyer

subjecttocontract

We sold a car privately for around £10K to a private buyer......we insisted on cash. He visited our house, we slowly counted every note and felt comfortable with the deal. Paid it into the bank within half an hour. 

born_again

Olinda99 said:

a faster payment very much can be reversed all the payee has to do is to tell the bank it was fraud and before you know the payment is reversed and your bank account is suspended while investigations ensue...

cash or bankers draft is the way to go but just be careful there are forged bankers drafts around - as indeed there are forged notes.

make dure you get proper ID from the buyer

Would be a very stupid person to do that when OP has proof of sale. As the claim would be thrown out & the person claiming fraud would receive a closed account & possibly CIFAS marker to boot for their fraudulent action.

retiredbanker1

One word - CHAPS!

This type of payment is safe to receive.

boingy

Thanks all. Some great food for thought there. I did wonder about a Banker's Draft but given that I've never seen one there is definitely scope for me to fail to spot a fake. The safest way to sell is via a broker but you end up coughing up 5% to 10% in commission, which sticks in the throat a little.

I'll ready a bill of sale and get on with advertising the boat. 

Olinda99

don't you find it a bit strange that in this day and age there is no truly safe way to take payment for something you are selling?