Deal gone south

[enfish]

The OP lives in Canada and the seller lives somewhere, unknown where, in the states. I wouldn’t be opposed to a cashiers check or some sort of check but I’d make damn sure the funds cleared before giving them the boat. And depending on your bank or credit union, it can sometimes take a couple of business days on up to a week before the funds clear. If it was a local deal where both parties lived 10 minutes away from one another, then it would be one thing. Waiting for funds to clear hundreds of miles away in a different country though could prove to be problematic, or at least more time consuming.

Ahh, I missed the Canada part. That does change things... especially if the amount of cash is >$10k crossing the border...

 

[seasick]

If a legit broker wasn't involved, I would not take a bank check. Too many crooks out there.
More importantly, I would like to see the title of course and the HIN number on the boat. It would be nice to know that the seller is the actual owner of the boat.
And finally, I may have read the post incorrectly but how do you know the transom is solid by looking at a photograph? How do you know the photo itself is the actual boat?

 

[HTHM]

If a legit broker wasn't involved, I would not take a bank check. Too many crooks out there.
More importantly, I would like to see the title of course and the HIN number on the boat. It would be nice to know that the seller is the actual owner of the boat.
And finally, I may have read the post incorrectly but how do you know the transom is solid by looking at a photograph? How do you know the photo itself is the actual boat?

AS I said previously "This one APPEARED to be solid, no stress cracks, rust stains etc"
I spoke on the phone with the owner, he struck me as a honorable man.
If the boat was not what it was portrayed to be, I haven't (and wouldn't) given him any money until after inspection. I would go down there fully prepared to walk away. It would have been a quick overnight vacation with my wife.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

AS I said previously "This one APPEARED to be solid, no stress cracks, rust stains etc"
I spoke on the phone with the owner, he struck me as a honorable man.
If the boat was not what it was portrayed to be, I haven't (and wouldn't) given him any money until after inspection. I would go down there fully prepared to walk away. It would have been a quick overnight vacation with my wife.

You said the seller sent you another email back shortly after rescinding your offer... did he give you a reason? Or did he sell the boat to someone else? If he sold the boat to someone else, you can't really blame him, or at least I couldn't. For me... it's a first come, first with cash or other form of payment, type of thing. Nothing personal, but as they say "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" or in terms of fishing "A fish on the boat is worth two in the water". When I was in the process of trying to sell my last boat, I had so many people that "were serious" and wanted to come take a look at it. Some of them would come up with excuses as to why they didn't email/call you back, others just simply ghosted you. So for me, if someone shows up with cash or another form of a legitimate payment, I honestly don't think I could turn them down because someone from out of state, and even out of the country, says they'll buy the boat from me.

I try to give someone the benefit of the doubt and take them at their word... but coming back down to reality, you simply can't trust and rely upon everyone to follow through with what they say they're going to do. I had so many people making me offers over the phone or via email and telling me they wanted to buy the boat and they all fell through. I was about to pull the ad out of frustration with all of the tire kickers and low-ballers when I finally had a serious buyer come and buy the boat from me. That's the reason why the company that I bought my boat from said they only do in person transactions. Because they've been screwed over too many times in the past with people calling from out of state saying they want the boat, then they hold onto it for a couple of weeks for them, and then come to find out the potential buyer couldn't follow through for one reason or another. And they had to give them their down payment or deposit back. Which just allowed them to miss two weeks of where they could've sold the boat to another potential or serious buyer. I was annoyed with their reasoning at first as I live out of state from where I bought my boat, but I definitely now see why they do it that way.

 

[HTHM]

The main reason, I believe, was that I had negotiated a significant reduction from the asking price. A value that reflected the age of the boat and motor, but that was also fair. He decided to withdraw his acceptance of my offer and relist in the spring.
I, on the other hand, was planning on using the winter months to get the boat "shipshape". If we come to an agreement in the spring, then I'll own a Grady. If not, I continue searching. This will be my last boat so I want to get what I desire.

 

[PointedRose]

bank check. local bank to the seller. should be no issue unless seller is the scammer.

Agree with this here… with a bank check the bank has already taken out the funds from your account before you provide it to the seller, the bank is certifying to the funds.

another option is simply withdrawing from a local US bank when you do the deal, you don’t need to transport all the cash for your 7 hour trip.

lastly, I hope you have better luck next time… the US boat market has been on fire for 2 years, he probably had other buyers reaching out. Without you putting a deposit on the boat, he has no reason to hold it for you. be patient and don’t overpay, I feel like this year prices will come down and availability will start to go up. I don’t know the Canada market, but if you’re in southern Canada, you aren’t far from some decent boating markets, the northeast, the Great Lakes and the Pacific Northwest.

 

[leeccoll]

Just sold my boat on Boat Trader 2 months back and I would not want cash. How do you know it’s not counterfeit?

I do travel with 10+K USD of cash overseas, but I get it from a major bank. And fill out a special form declaring I have the cash on me in case US Customs asks at the departure gate.

That being said the buyers and I went into their bank (Wells Fargo) with me in my town and got a cashier’s check for the proceeds. I was comfortable with that.

And hello to all my Grady friends from Thailand

 

[Mustang65fbk]

The main reason, I believe, was that I had negotiated a significant reduction from the asking price. A value that reflected the age of the boat and motor, but that was also fair. He decided to withdraw his acceptance of my offer and relist in the spring.
I, on the other hand, was planning on using the winter months to get the boat "shipshape". If we come to an agreement in the spring, then I'll own a Grady. If not, I continue searching. This will be my last boat so I want to get what I desire.

Why not try to re-negotiate then? And especially why not try to re-negotiate in person? This will show that you’re not just kicking tires, like I’d assume someone was doing if they asked for a significant price reduction from my asking price and was asking for it to be done over the phone or via email, and once again... sight unseen. If this is the boat you want and it will be your “last boat” then why let it get away for a couple hundred dollars or even a couple thousand dollars? If you have the boat for 10, 15 or even 20 years isn’t it worth the extra money? You know the prices are just going to go back up again next spring/summer. Might as well see if he’s interested in working out a deal that’s more favorable to him? The worst thing that he can do is say no, or not respond back to you…

 

[Rustygaff]

We travelled to Halifax to purchase our 255. We brought a cashiers check for a portion of the payment and the balance was wired within minutes. The sellers bank was able to easily verify the check. The transaction went well. No way would I go through customs either way with a bag full of cash.

 

[tish]

I (US citizen in Seattle) bought a vehicle from the owner in Vancouver BC around 5 years back and I did the deal in cash, around $25k CDN. Bit of a pain to get that much CDN currency in US, needed to wait 2-3 days after contacting the bank. Then at the border you need to declare it and they need to count it and document it. Despite passing through a major border crossing (Peace Arch) Canadian customs seemed poorly equipped for the situation and had to do the count by hand. After that it was all smooth sailing.

I'm a fan of doing deals in cash but think the original poster is right to be wary of civil forfeiture. In his position I would consider using an international wire transfer, should clear (like REALLY clear i.e. recipient's bank would let them withdraw the funds in cash) same day. Cost depends on bank but at mine it is around $40.