Cash Buyer

[Poly]

or of course it could just be a builder (or other tradesman) who has done a few cash-in-hand-for-no-vat jobs that he needs to do something with the cash without it going through the bank and having hmrc asking difficult questions about vat and corporation tax etc.

[bingomike]

Originally Posted by Jon.esp

Money laundering regulations regarding accepting cash payment relate to businesses but I am not aware they apply to private individuals but I may be wrong.

From what I remember if a business wishes to accept cash payment for high value items they must register with HMC&E. They define a high value sale as in excess of €15,000 or the equivalent in any other currency.

If you have no good reason to suspect he is money laundering then as a private individual I am not sure it is technically your problem.

If it were me my greatest concern would be that some of the notes may turn out to be forged. From my experience some bank branches are very laid back about accepting largish cash deposits whilst others take forever checking every note whilst queues back down the street and customers stress levels turn platinum.

Take another method of payment then as others point out you may end up with an iffy bankers draft.

I think it depends on which industry you are in, in Bingo level is set at 2k, Betting shops & Casinos are more. Banks will flag up any large cash payments but will normally ask a simple question from the private depositer- my normal answer is 'I have just sold my car' - usually shuts them up.

[Doug Stormforce]

Originally Posted by BogMonster

I'd be wary of large sums of cash these days. It's most likely either stolen or forged,

No its most likely genuine hard earned cash. There is of course a slim chance its counerfeit.

Lots of people use cash, I bought a boat a few weeks ago from someone in S wales. We did the deal over the phone. I had no intention of driving all the way there to view it and then wait three days for a cheque or bank transfer and then drive back there to collect. Instead I drove there, checked it was as described, handed a fist full of red ones over and took the boat away.

I sold a RIB a year or so ago and the situation was the same, te guy did the deal over the phone, came down from the East Coast and wanted to take the boat away the same day. He gave me a fistful of £20s, i checked it and gave him the boat.

money laundering laws mentioned earlier do not apply to private sales.

If you are really suspicious of the guy buy a £10 UV money checker, count it, compare the notes with each other, check the serial numbers are different and just be a bit street wise.

Having taken a pile of cash of him you might find it helps negotiations in your next purchase, despite what al the worriers on here have said there are still many people who will do you a better deal for cash and don't want funds going through banks.

A lot of buyers have cash to spend because they earn cash, your only worry is wether your conscience can cope with knowing that they might not have paid tax on it.

[biffer]

CASH SPEAKS VOLUMES!

[Pablo]

I personnally buy quite a few boats without having seen them. I tend to go through people that I know I can trust (thank you Malthouse and JM Yachting). On twenty odd boats i've been bitten once by trusting a rib.net member

I transfer the full amount up front before pickup because of the different money. Such a pain Britain being so backwards but thats your problem

[Anchorhandler]

Originally Posted by biffer

CASH SPEAKS VOLUMES!

We just sold a Discovery a few weeks ago and after openly mentioning my unease at accepting a bankers draught (couldnt let xell over 10K's worth of vehicle go in exchange for what is just a bit of paper) we agreed with the buyer that he would Paypal me a deposit of 500 then the rest, he would transfer electronically at the time of collection by using his laptop and online banking. In this case it worked very well as both myself and the buyer had mobile internet dongles for our laptops and i was able to verify the money had gone into my account imediately.....

Other wise, as previously mentioned, cash is the way to go as even bankers draughts are not secure these days.

Simon

[Anchorhandler]

Originally Posted by Pablo

I personnally buy quite a few boats without having seen them. I tend to go through people that I know I can trust (thank you Malthouse and JM Yachting). On twenty odd boats i've been bitten once by trusting a rib.net member

I transfer the full amount up front before pickup because of the different money. Such a pain Britain being so backwards but thats your problem

Salut Pablo

We too go back and forward with all sorts of vehicles at least 6 or 7 times a year.....are you able to transfer your payments into a UK account as we do then pay the seller from this account?
As you know from the CB forum, , we live full time in France but we have a couple of UK accounts registered to our French address. This makes life so much easier for all of our dealings.
You may already be doing this though?

A+

Simon

[BogMonster]

Originally Posted by Doug Stormforce

A lot of buyers have cash to spend because they earn cash, your only worry is wether your conscience can cope with knowing that they might not have paid tax on it.

That wouldn't bother me at all, what would bother me is ending up with no cash and no boat and possibly in prison.

Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean to say they aren't out to get me

As said internet banking and it's almost instant transfers is a good solution too

[Poly]

Originally Posted by BogMonster

That wouldn't bother me at all, what would bother me is ending up with no cash and no boat and possibly in prison.

Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean to say they aren't out to get me

As said internet banking and it's almost instant transfers is a good solution too

Crikey, I thought you lived in a low risk everyone leaves their keys in the ignition part of the world.

[Channel Ribs]

Originally Posted by Polwart

... everyone leaves their keys in the ignition part of the world.

Na, thats here

[lakelandterrier]

Thanks for all the advice and views - always interesting to see the scope!

As a private seller I'm not that keen on a paypal account - I don't really buy & sell stuff.

Transferring money by bacs at the time doesn't guarantee the payment - it still has to "clear" which could take a few days.


Seeing the boat then taking the buyer to deposit the cash in the nearest bank would be great if the nearest one was closer than 8 miles away (not open at weekends) and would the bank pick up on the notes at once?

I think the biggest risk on reflection is counterfeit notes - doing a pre-meet, then meeting again to do the exchange doesn't really lessen the risk of this.

Meeting at the buyer's house, or confirming their address prior to the tranaction is probably the best security. I'm happy with cash as a medium!

[cjj216]

My most recent rib purchase was for quite a few thousand pound and the guy insisted i do it by bank transfer.

I didn`t like the idea as the bank could only say that the money would go in to the Sellers account between 10.00am and 5.00pm.

To be sure the guy didn`t run off with the money and the boat, would have meant me sitting next to the boat, possibly for a whole day, till the funds appeared in his account.

He would not take cash or bankers draught for fear of fraud and i wouldn`t do bank transfer as i wasn`t prepared to camp out next to boat all day.

In the end i had the idea of putting the boat in a secure marina and together we informed them not to release the boat to either of us, until we both contacted them to agree that the transaction had taken place.
On the day of sale the vendor sent by fax, a signed proof of sale and i sent a signed proof of purchase. (signatures & fax numbers had been previously agreed with marina).

Sounds drawn out but then both parties were Scousers!
Turns out he wasn`t a boat thief and i`m not a fraudster!

The marina charged a day`s mooring fees £25

[Poly]

Originally Posted by lakelandterrier

As a private seller I'm not that keen on a paypal account - I don't really buy & sell stuff.

paypal is OK for a deposit but not really sensible for the full transaction (fees quite high, only verified sellers (and buyers?) will be able to do large transactions and there is the risk that the buyer claims a week later that it is credit card fraud/he never received it etc.

Transferring money by bacs at the time doesn't guarantee the payment - it still has to "clear" which could take a few days.

You are right about bacs. However Chaps which usually costs about £20 will be same day cleared funds (this is how people buy and sell houses) - but is usually not "instant", just by the end of the day. Most banks also take part in "faster payments", although there may be a cap (£10k?) on these, in theory they are same day although for new transfers some banks insist it is next day (the trick here is it transfer £1 a few days before then the transfer on the day is not a new transfer). Faster payments usually take less than an hour to appear in the recipients account. Obviously with all these things you need the buyer to be willing to pay through the bank and for him to know how to do these things.

Seeing the boat then taking the buyer to deposit the cash in the nearest bank would be great if the nearest one was closer than 8 miles away (not open at weekends) and would the bank pick up on the notes at once?

you'd be best asking the bank that question - but can you not take the boat to the bank?

Meeting at the buyer's house, or confirming their address prior to the tranaction is probably the best security. I'm happy with cash as a medium!

the biggest percieved risk to the buyer is the boat is stolen, the police recover it (possibly charging him with handling stolen goods) and he has no come back since he can't prove where he bought it - so if I was the buyer, and as paranoid as you, I'd want to pick the boat up from your house.

[Roy Smith]

i have sold 2 Boats where the buyer as paid a cash deposit wanting to collect the boat a week later Great
I then get a phone call saying they would like to collect a bit sooner and that they will pay the balance in Cash
i told him i dont want cash, i want a direct bank transfer.
i have never heard from or seen the buyer since. i sent reg delivery letters
but they where returned.
Maybe i was lucky, but trying to explain to HMRC where the cash came from would be a lot more hassel than waiting around for the bank to tell you the moneys been transfered,
if it could be proved that the cash was from ill gotton gain then i think i am right in saying you could lose the cash and the Boat.

[martini]

I can't believe so many people are scared to death of cash! I use cash for just about everything, it's quicker, easier and safer. Who's ever filled their car up with petrol then gone to the counter and your cards decided it's not going to work anymore? I get wound up standing in the supermarket queue for hours while everyone spends forever typing in pin numbers and waiting for receipts etc. Buying expensive items I always ask for cash discount and 9 times out of 10 I'll get it. And it works great when negotiating cars, bikes etc, people go weak at the knees when you flash a big wad of tenners under their nose!
I think you'll find most people who are trying to offload counterfeit notes will do it in very small amounts somewhere busy ie supermarkets etc where people don't have time to check properly. Most dodgy money will have the same serial number throughout so it's not hard to confirm when you're receiving large amounts.

Nothing else is foolproof, even bankers draft which used to be regarded as safe as houses is now used to rip people off

I recently bought a Rangerover L322 for 5 figures, the guy who was a car dealer wouldn't take anything other than cash. Met him in a carpark, handed over the cash and he handed over the keys, job done

[Anchorhandler]

Originally Posted by martini

I can't believe so many people are scared to death of cash! I use cash for just about everything, it's quicker, easier and safer. Who's ever filled their car up with petrol then gone to the counter and your cards decided it's not going to work anymore? I get wound up standing in the supermarket queue for hours while everyone spends forever typing in pin numbers and waiting for receipts etc. Buying expensive items I always ask for cash discount and 9 times out of 10 I'll get it. And it works great when negotiating cars, bikes etc, people go weak at the knees when you flash a big wad of tenners under their nose!
I think you'll find most people who are trying to offload counterfeit notes will do it in very small amounts somewhere busy ie supermarkets etc

Well put....

More and more its seems its the banks who are the most scared of cash.......money laundering etc.....but it also costs them too. Transporting cash around everywhere (and having to manipulate it) is far more expensive for them then having us do everything in the virtual world by electronic transfer etc.... So if it means that i can still be an inconvenience to my bank by using cash then !!!

PS, thanks for the offer of a lift the other day (even if you didnt make it across), much appreciated.

Simon

[martini]

Originally Posted by Anchorhandler

Transporting cash around everywhere (and having to manipulate it) is far more expensive for them then having us do everything in the virtual world by electronic transfer etc....

And yet when you do transfer electronically they still charge you what it would cost for G4 to drive to the other bank

Originally Posted by Anchorhandler

PS, thanks for the offer of a lift the other day (even if you didnt make it across), much appreciated.

No worries, I'm sure we'll cross paths (or wakes!) next season

[Mollers]

Originally Posted by martini

I use cash for just about everything,

No income tax,
No VAT,
No money back,
No guarantee.

[gotchiguy]

Originally Posted by mollers

no income tax,
no vat,
no money back,
no guarantee.

gst

[BogMonster]

Originally Posted by Polwart

Crikey, I thought you lived in a low risk everyone leaves their keys in the ignition part of the world.

I do, here I wouldn't worry about it. How many forged Falklands notes have you ever seen