• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
  • When posting a classified ad, you MUST select a prefix from the drop-down next to the subject line. If you don't you will get an error and your ad will not be posted!
Tips
Tips

Recieving $ from seller question

Share this page

SCguy

SCguy

Jedi Warrior
Country flag
Offline
The buyer of my TR8 lives accross the country. I asked that he pay for the car by wiring money to my account. He's asked to pay by cashiers check instead. It's my understanding that cashiers checks are not totally "safe" until the check clears from the original bank. Usually this takes a couple of weeks. The seller doesn't want to wire money as he says a wire doesn't get him a reciept that the money was recieved. The buyer is scheduling the pick up of the car for as soon as possible.

What's the safest method to recieve payment for me?
 
At this point, a "cashier's check" appears to be even worse than a personal check!

I don't have the link handy, but there was a story told a few years ago of a fellow that got a cashier's check he felt was probably fraudulent. He took it to a bank and told them it was probably fraudulent. They insisted it was good, so he opened an account, deposited the check, waited for it to clear, and withdrew the money (closing the account).

Weeks later, when the issuing bank finally discovered the check was fraudulent (during their monthly audit), the local bank tried to have him arrested for fraud!

Your buyer is mistaken, his bank will give him a receipt that says your bank got the money. He won't get that with a cashier's check. Besides, why does he need independent verification that you got the money? All the proof he should need is that you signed the title to him.

Smells fishy to me.
 
Any sane buyer understands the proper wait for checks to cash. Normal procedure for any personal transaction.
Personal check and wait til clears is more than reasonable.
 
Not to be perionoid but..... From experiance, DO NOT SEND YOUR CAR AWAY WITHOUT CASH IN HAND!! To many scams and your TR8 is to nice to be lost!!!!
 
Not sure why he doesn't want to wire the money, bank to bank. Seems the safest way for both of you. I'd hold out for that, myself. Good luck, Larry!
 
tinman58 said:
Not to be perionoid but..... From experiance, DO NOT SEND YOUR CAR AWAY WITHOUT CASH IN HAND!! To many scams and your TR8 is to nice to be lost!!!!
Click to expand...
Good advice, IMO. "Just because you are paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you!"

But a bank-to-bank wire transfer (within the country) is probably even more secure than cash. Even $100 bills can be counterfeit.
https://www.usatoday.com/money/2007-02-27-counterfeit-usat_x.htm
 
GreenOne said:
At the very least I would ask for a Certified Check and upon receipt you should call the originating bank and verify the funds.
Click to expand...

Just because you get a bank check and call the bank to verify the funds means NOTHING.
I got a bank check two years ago for $3,500. I went to the back to cash it and the person in the bank told me that the buyer can put a stop on the check... YES, you heard right. The buyer can put a stop on a bank check.
Randall is right... you buyer should be able to get a receipt that the money was received by your bank.
Don't let it leave the driveway until you are positive it's in your bank.
 
agreed..I have done all large transactions through bank-to-bank wire...his bank will mail him a confirmation and/or copy him if he's in the bank...worse case I did sell a car and let the buyer pay all through paypal since the transport showed up before paid.. but the fees are ridiculous on those amounts...
 
DO NOT, repeat DO NOT take cashiers check! I tried selling a TR6 on Craiglist, bet I got 20 responses from scammers wanting to send me cashiers check. I like the bank to bank wire transfers. Easier and safer. I asked that from each of the responses I got from Craigslist, never heard from any of them again. Personal check from well known Bank and time for it to clear might be okay.

Just found a 2000 XK8, 48K miles on Craigslist for $4000, she wants me to send her all my info and she will ship it to me. Think its legit? Would be heck of a deal.

Marv
 
Marvin Gruber said:
Just found a 2000 XK8, 48K miles on Craigslist for $4000, she wants me to send her all my info and she will ship it to me. Think its legit? Would be heck of a deal.

Marv
Click to expand...


We get those all the time.They put a vague location,no phone-
number,no license plates,& the pictures are always from another area,
not local.
The other ones I dislike are when they put $1 for the price.
There was a guy who advertised a car trailer for $1,I emailed him $
said that "For $1,I'll be right over to pick it up".I received a
semi-nasty email in return.

- Doug
 
There was a guy years ago who put an ad in several newspapers. All it said was. "This is you last chance to send me $1" and an address. People actually sent him money! I mean a lot of people, enough for the Feds to bust him for mail fraud...

Glad to hear your buyer was real and willing.
 
Heres what you do:

I got an escrow account. Im a 3rd party, so I would be a neutral party. Have him give the money to me. =)

Actually I dont understand the point on money orders and cashiers checks. Those things can be stolen and cashed just as easy as real cash. How are they any different from personal checks? If they have the money to buy a cashiers check, they have the cash to give you. Ive always bought cars with cash. And every time we sold a car we got cash. My mom sold her piano off craigslist and got a cashiers check. It was legit, but I still dont understand why she didnt get cash? I mean if youre going to get mugged, its going to happen. If you loose that cashiers check, its gone. Youll never see that money again.

If hes coming to pick up the car, why dont you BOTH go to your bank. He can wire his funds, or pay them with cash directly. That way he will get his receipt, his proof directly from the bank. Then of course with a title and bill of sale, he now has 3 pieces of proof he bought the car, that it is his, and you have confirmation that the money is there in your account.
 
Marvin Gruber said:
Personal check from well known Bank and time for it to clear might be okay.
Click to expand...
A moot point by now, but I want to emphasize this : Just having a check (of any kind) "clear" is not good enough! The clearing process only transfers the funds, it does not ensure the authenticity of the check. If the check is later discovered to be a forgery or fraudulent in some fashion, your bank <span style="font-weight: bold">WILL </span>get it's money back, from your hide if necessary.

Same goes for PayPal, BTW. There are a fair number of vendors these days that refuse to use PayPal, because they've gotten burned that way.
 
Re: Receiving $ from seller question

Gliderman8 said:
GreenOne said:
At the very least I would ask for a Certified Check and upon receipt you should call the originating bank and verify the funds.
Click to expand...

Just because you get a bank check and call the bank to verify the funds means NOTHING.
I got a bank check two years ago for $3,500. I went to the back to cash it and the person in the bank told me that the buyer can put a stop on the check... YES, you heard right. The buyer can put a stop on a bank check.
Randall is right... you buyer should be able to get a receipt that the money was received by your bank.
Don't let it leave the driveway until you are positive it's in your bank.
Click to expand...

A Certified check is not a Bank check and the funds cannot be stopped ! A Certified Check means the funds are certified and held in escrow by the originating bank
 
Re: Receiving $ from seller question

GreenOne said:
A Certified check is not a Bank check and the funds cannot be stopped ! A Certified Check means the funds are certified and held in escrow by the originating bank
Click to expand...
But a certified check can still be counterfeit.
 
Re: Receiving $ from seller question

TR3driver said:
GreenOne said:
A Certified check is not a Bank check and the funds cannot be stopped ! A Certified Check means the funds are certified and held in escrow by the originating bank
Click to expand...
But a certified check can still be counterfeit.
Click to expand...

Yes it can, that's why a phone call is necessary to confirm the funds. The best way is still an electronic transfer or God forbid cash !
 
Re: Receiving $ from seller question

GreenOne said:
Yes it can, that's why a phone call is necessary to confirm the funds.
Click to expand...
Even after "confirming funds", if the check you submit turns out to be counterfeit, guess who doesn't get the money.
 
Back
Top