Deposit when selling my car unseen

[Oldyzed]

Hi everyone
I am selling my car to someone who wants to pay a £ 200 deposit by bank transfer and collect ( unseen ) within two weeks. He lives in Cornwall and has to travel all the way up to North Yorkshire.
I have researched and know his full name and address.
He wants me to email confirmation of my bank details for the bank transfer.Is this dangerous for me ?
I will stipulate the deposit is non refundable and that I will keep the car advertised and take until we complete.
The car is a BMW Z4 at £16 .ANY ADVICE WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

[randlemarcus]

Sixteen quid is a bit of a bargain

Sending your bank details is not dangerous to you, so feel free to do that. Deposit is a funny one, personally I would say non-refundable unless the car was significantly not as described, but be prepared to refund anyway if the buyer turns out to be an arse.

[CheesecakeRunner]

Oldyzed said:

Hi everyoneI will stipulate the deposit is non refundable and that I will keep the car advertised and take until we complete.

What’s the deposit for then? Either take a deposit, and take the car off the market for them or don’t take one and sell it to the first person who arrives with cash. You can’t have both.

Personally, I’d politely decline the deposit and say I’d keep them informed of the status of the car, and if it sells before they are able to travel up then I’ll let them know to avoid them making an unnecessary journey. Deposits are more hassle than they’re worth.

[_Neal_]

Oldyzed said:

Hi everyone
I am selling my car to someone who wants to pay a £ 200 deposit by bank transfer and collect ( unseen ) within two weeks. He lives in Cornwall and has to travel all the way up to North Yorkshire.
I have researched and know his full name and address.
He wants me to email confirmation of my bank details for the bank transfer.Is this dangerous for me ?
I will stipulate the deposit is non refundable and that I will keep the car advertised and take until we complete.
The car is a BMW Z4 at £16 .ANY ADVICE WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

Feels like continuing to advertise the car after you've taken a deposit on it isn't quite right (I'd certainly not be happy if I was your buyer and you took the deposit and then sold the car from under me). Perhaps leave it advertised but marked "deposit taken" and stipulate that you can readvertise it and keep the deposit if he hasn't collected by a certain date. Sounds like a genuine buyer to me.

Giving out your bank details is fine in my view.

[Oldyzed]

Hi again everyone any many thanks for your replies. I did stipulate to the buyer that I would keep the advert live and just take details of potential buyers to contact only if he failed to turn up and complete within the two week viewing deadline.
Gonna contact my bank today to see if it’s safe to give my bank details by e mail or whether I should give over the phone.

[Oldyzed]

It’s £16500 !!!

[_Neal_]

Oldyzed said:

Hi again everyone any many thanks for your replies. I did stipulate to the buyer that I would keep the advert live and just take details of potential buyers to contact only if he failed to turn up and complete within the two week viewing deadline.
Gonna contact my bank today to see if it’s safe to give my bank details by e mail or whether I should give over the phone.

Makes sense - good luck with the sale, hope he's legit and it goes smoothly!

[Oldyzed]

Just spoke to my bank.They say ok to email but only give my sort code,account number and name. Then it’s perfectly safe.

[fflump]

Personally I’ve always declined deposits but for anyone traveling a long way I promise to not sell it if they send confirmation of travel eg train or plane ticket and are coming in a reasonable timeframe. Seems the decent thing to do

[Dr G]

Professionally we're strict on 7 days for that; not worth taking things off the market for longer as people have a habit of changing their minds, cancelling, don't like it, want a lower price, don't have the money ready...

[Oldyzed]

Thanks again.
Apparently I can declare deposit taken on the advert. I have e mailed him with my details and conditions for completion including a stipulation the deposit is non refundable unless he finds reasonable faults in the advertised description. Also that I am not liable to recompense any travel cost.


ETA

Sorry not allowed.

Edited by Big Al. on Saturday 4th May 13:25

[Sebring440]

Oldyzed said:

Thanks again.
Apparently I can declare deposit taken on the advert. I have e mailed him with my details and conditions for completion including a stipulation the deposit is non refundable unless he finds reasonable faults in the advertised description.Also that I am not liable to recompense any travel cost.

I don't think you're allowed to put adverts on here, unless, umm, you actually place (and pay for) an advert.

[Big Al.]

Sebring440 said:

I don't think you're allowed to put adverts on here, unless, umm, you actually place (and pay for) an advert.

Correct, and sorted.

[Oldyzed]

Hi big Al
Yeah sorry about that didn,t realise. Seriously wasn’t trying to advertise just letting members know what I’m going to sell in two weeks time.

Will be much more careful in my posts.

Great site and forum.

[RSTurboPaul]

Oldyzed said:

Just spoke to my bank.They say ok to email but only give my sort code,account number and name. Then it’s perfectly safe.

Wasn't that all that was needed by a prankster to donate £500 to charity from Jeremy Clarkson's bank account after he published them with a similar viewpoint?

[Jamescrs]

RSTurboPaul said:

Wasn't that all that was needed by a prankster to donate £500 to charity from Jeremy Clarkson's bank account after he published them with a similar viewpoint?

Indeed but he asked for it really by publishing his details in a. National newspaper.

[AlfaManc]

Oldyzed said:

Hi everyone
I am selling my car to someone who wants to pay a £ 200 deposit by bank transfer and collect ( unseen ) within two weeks. He lives in Cornwall and has to travel all the way up to North Yorkshire.
I have researched and know his full name and address.
He wants me to email confirmation of my bank details for the bank transfer.Is this dangerous for me ?
I will stipulate the deposit is non refundable and that I will keep the car advertised and take until we complete.
The car is a BMW Z4 at £16 .ANY ADVICE WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

I did this last year. Put a deposit down on a car but couldn't travel 200 miles to collect it until a week later. I assumed I would lose the deposit if unforeseen circumstances meant I could not complete the transaction. That's how a deposit works!!
I suggested the buyer leave the ad live and note any genuine interest in case this happened but I had every intention of completing the purchase. The buyer was very forthcoming with service history, pics and videos of the car so I had an amount of trust. It was his choice to take a deposit or hold out for a buyer who could collect earlier. Not everyone out there is a scammer!

[sixor8]

I sold a 1998 Honda Prelude last year via eBay classified. We agreed a price and he sent me a holding deposit, then another £1k before he arrived!

It was only a £2750 car but he drove 300 miles down from Glasgow for it with a trailer on the back. We had spoken on the phone but he'd only seem photos (no videos at the time like now). Some people are genuine buyers, and seller for that matter. I don't even bother with the cesspit that is FB Marketplace.