Selling a boat interstate + frieght companies

[Chamelion]

Hi there,

I've had my boat listed for sale for a few weeks. This morning I had a phone call from a bloke in SA who's interested in purchasing it... He had asked if I would be OK to drive the boat down to Brisbane to a freight company who will then transport it to SA.

I have a couple of questions.. How do I go about transferring ownership (paperwork) over such a distance? What is the safest method to receive payment? What do I have to do to the boat to have it ready for transport?

It's safe to assume that I will not part with the boat until such time as I have the money physically in my account, with a phone call to the bank to confirm that there is no way for this person to regain the money once they have the boat.

Any other random information that might help is much appreciated also :)

Cheers,

Matt.

[Scott nthQld]

Personally, I wouldn't be sending the boat myself if i was selling. i would tell the bloke to meet you in Brisbane, so you can take care of the paperwork, monies and ownership tranfer there and then. Too much risk in transporting the boat yourself, if the boat gets damaged, or goes 'missing', it's goig to come back down on you.

Tell him, yes I will take the boat to brisbane, but you must be there to take care of all the handover issues. That way, HE is the one putting the boat on the truck and he carries the risk, not you.

[fish'n'chippy]

this is not as hard as it may seem.
the paperwork/transfer documents can be done via fax
the money is transfered into your account and cleared by your bank
fax off a bill of sale (effectively a receipt) informing the purchaser that the boat is now theirs and their responsibility for insurance purposes
deliver the boat to an 'agent' appointed by the buyer (and this can be a nominated person at the transport company) and have the 'delivery docket' signed to say that the boat was delivered to them in the stated condition, and thats it.

the risk should be entirely on the purchaser, not on you as the seller.
make sure that all the arrangements are in the contract document and signed off by the seller.
(at least this is how i have done it in the past)

grahame

[Noelm]

pretty easy, but a bit of fooling around, I just did the same thing with my boat, but I guess the guy will at least come and inspect and test drive it? all the details can be taken care of then, but it is not hard, but do not expect money to be transferred and be in your account straight away, it all takes time, (sometimes days) so leave some lead time before transport and all thst sort of stuff, it should transfer in a jiffy, but it doesn't! trust me I know first hand.

[Chamelion]

Thanks everyone.. From what I gather his intention is to buy it without having seen it in the flesh. It's 'only' a cheap boat at an asking price of $7490, so it would probably not be economical to travel so far...

Will be interesting to see what happens.

[Chamelion]

He called today and left me a message (I was out in my kayak).. He sounds genuine and will be able to give me a confirmation of his intention to purchase on Monday...

I'm going to nut out how best to approach the sale of the boat and I'll post it here.

I do have a question though, in regards to registration... The boat and trailer are currently registered in Queensland and he's in SA. Should I leave the rego on it or de-register it? (the boat and trailer will stay registered at least until payment is received, of course.)

[boatboy50]

Hey,

Mate, I do these transactions all the time.

You will need to remove the registration plate and sticker from the trailer, and the numbers and sticker from the boat.

Take the plate into Qld transport and cancel it. You will get some $$ back.

The rego is useless to him down there, and you can't cancel it easily without returning the plates.

Wait for clear payment in your bank, and then deliver it to his nominated transport company and employee. Do up a letter stating the boats condition (any damege) and have the employee sign it for you.

Once you have cleared monies, do up a signed receipt and have him fax you a signed copy with both signatures. Only release the boat after this is provided.

Darren

[PinHead]

simple:
get the money in your account
cancel rego's
send receipt
deliver to freight mob and get them to sign for it.

after that: not your problem any more.

[Chamelion]

Right, below is a copy of the email I intend to send. Please don't hold back, any advice greatfuly appreciated.

I really hope this sale goes through, we have to move house soon to a town 3 hours away and the extra income will make it a lot easier.


As I've never sold an item of this size over any great distance I've had to do some research and gain some

informed opinions on how best to handle it. From the information I received I believe that the smoothest and

safest way (for both of us) to approach this is as follows:

a) Upon confirmation that you wish to purchase the boat I can supply you with appropriate bank details. The boat

is owned jointly by my wife and I, the account is one in both of our names.

b) Once the funs have cleared into the account I will promptly fax you a signed (by both my wife and I) bill of

sale/receipt.

c) All arrangements/agreements will be noted on a separate page alongside the bill of sale. This will be signed

by both my wife and I and will need to be signed by you and any co-owners and faxed back to me before we proceed

further.

d) I will have to de-register the boat and hand in the QLD number plate and remove registration stickers.

e) I will then transport it to your chosen shipping company. I would ask that I have a direct contact within

that company who you've personally authorised to accept and sign off on having received the boat on your behalf.

I will take plenty of photos on the day so that should the boat suffer any damage whilst being transported there

will be proof of its condition.

I think it's safe to assume that you would do it anyway, but so it doesn't go unsaid. I would highly recommend

having the boat insured before I hand it over to the shipping company. I have it insured with club marine, but

that cover will likely be null and void once I sign the boat over to you.

At first sight it all looks a bit complicated, but with some open communication your purchase of the boat should

be quite quick and pain free.

I'll need to know what the shipping company expects re: fuel tanks, flares, battery etc. On that note, can I

please enquire as to which company it is? I might be able to find some information on their website.

Cheers,

Matt.

[Chamelion]

Oh, suffice to say the formatting will be fixed (went a bit skewy in the copy and paste) and I'll fix those spelling errors. It's a first draft. :P

[boatboy50]

Hey Mate,

Looks good to me.

Don't forget to mention on your receipt boat and trailer sold unregistered.

Also state the obvious that the boat won't be released to the transport company until cleared funds are recieved.

Darren

[timddo]

question,

How the hell are you going to transport the trailer boat to the transport company without registration????.

[Chamelion]

question,

How the hell are you going to transport the trailer boat to the transport company without registration????.

Good spot.. I guess I'll have to leave the de-registering until after I've handed it over to the shipping mob? Otherwise my only choice would be to leave the rego on it and have the new owner post the number plate to me once he's got the boat home?

[boatboy50]

Hey Mate,

Remove the plate at the transport company and then de-register it after it's out of your hair.

You won't get the plate back by post. I've trusted buyers many times only to be disappointed. Qld Transport make life hard if you can't hand the plates to them.

Darren

[Chamelion]

Cheers, good idea. :) I'm curious, how much do you get back when handing plates in? Anything is a bonus I guess. :)

[boatboy50]

Cheers, good idea. :) I'm curious, how much do you get back when handing plates in? Anything is a bonus I guess. :)

Very little. Depends on how much rego is left on either. Once they take their admin fee though theres not much left.

Darren

[BWald]

Being from SA myself and browsing boats in QLD I have given this some thought over the last couple of weeks. It would seem you have everything covered but leave the trailer rego on so he can get it home from the SA depot. Some degree of protection should also be given to the purchaser in the form of a sales "contract" that is signed by yourself and wife before he parts with his cash. The more that is documented, the less that can go wrong.

[PinHead]

sold 2 boats interstate over the years..first we pre internet..buyer sent bank cheque to boat tranpsort company..I gave them boat..they gave me the bank cheque.

2nd was about 3 years back...he flew up and saw the boat..he arranged the low loader..he put the money in my account..I emailed a reciept..I supervised the loading.

The easiest way is to keep it as simple as possible. I know if I was the prospective buyer I would shy away from too much unnecessary paperwork.

[Chamelion]

Trying to take the path of most protection for both parties.. the paperwork shouldn't be too hard unless one of us makes it so... It looks complicated at first glance but really it's a matter of two faxes each and a couple of signatures. This way we both have a leg to stand on should the other party screw up.

This is the altered 'shedule' which I put together last night.


a) Upon confirmation that you wish to purchase the boat I will draw up a contract stating all arrangements/agreements (price, how the sale/purchase is to proceed at each step and appropriate bank details). This will be signed by my wife and I and faxed to you. It will then need to be signed by you and any co-purchasers and faxed back to us.

b) Once the funds have cleared into the account I will promptly fax you a signed (by both my wife and I) bill of sale/receipt. This will include hull/trailer/engine identifiction numbers. Once you have signed and faxed the receipt back to us you will be the legal owner of the boat.

c) I will then tow it to your chosen shipping company. I would ask that I have a direct contact/agent within that company who you've personally authorised to accept and sign off on having received the boat on your behalf.

d) Upon delivering it to the shipping company I will remove the number plate from the trailer so that I can return it to Queensland transport. I will also de-register the boat and trailer (QLD rego is obviously of no use to you in SA).

e) You receive the boat and go fishing. :)

[PinHead]

just a couple of things there:
1. if he becomes the legal owner upon faxing the recipt back to you then who is liable if you have an accident towing the boat to the freight company?
2. I would also state who is liable for the freight costs.

[Chamelion]

just a couple of things there:
1. if he becomes the legal owner upon faxing the recipt back to you then who is liable if you have an accident towing the boat to the freight company?
2. I would also state who is liable for the freight costs.


Hi PinHead - Thanks for the input thus far. :)

He'll be the legal owner once he's made payment and I've sent the receipt anyway, wont he?.. So I guess the onus will be on him. I'm not sure there is any other way to do this other than leaving the receipt unsent until such time as I have given it to the courier.

Good point on the freight costs.. I'll ensure that he's covering them.

[Noelm]

not too sure scrapping the rego and so on is worth the hassle, just sell it registered, and fill out the required paper work, from then on, the rego is the buyers problem, when he re-registers in his home state, the registry place will take the plates, issue new ones and send them off to the other state registy, happens all the time, same goes for the boat rego, leave it as is, he will transfer it, for the measly couple of dollars you MIGHT get back, just leave it as is.

[kizza1]

believe it or not its not that expensive these days.
i have just sent a boat down to melbourne for a bloke today. it cost him $970 from the sunshine coast.
its about $750 to sydney.
the worst one was darwin $2500

just leave the rego on the boat and get the new owner to post the plate back up.
there is a little bit of trust involved. if they dont send the plate just report the plate missing and cancell the rego then.

this way the new owner can drive it from the freight depot to there house.

do not let the boat leave untill full payment is made. most freight companys wont book it in untill you give confirmation of full payment.
try dj freight 0427 341 076
or southern cross marine.

[Chamelion]

Had a decent chat to the bloke on the phone tonight. Sounds very genuine and on the level. Will know for sure that he can purchase it in the next day or so. :)

Sounds like it'll be going to a good home.. something I'm sure most other boat owners hope for. :)

[Chamelion]

Had the call, he's buying the boat. His loan was approved today, paperwork gets done tomorrow and the boat gets paid for around the start of next week.

Rego is staying on it until the shipping company gets it... The new owner works next door to the receiving depot and can use his works trade plates to tow it home.

Shipping is setting him back $1300, which he says still puts the boat within a price range that makes it a good purchase for him.

Again, sounds like a genuine bloke and from our chats on the phone the boat is definitely going to a loving home. I couldn't ask for more. :)

Cheers for all of the help.

Matt.

ps: I'm not counting my chickens until I see money in the account, but I think it's safe to make the assumption that it's now more or less sold.

[Chamelion]

Well, it's all happening.. The buyer has deposited the full amount into my bank account, he's pre-paid the shipping costs. All that's left is for me to tow it down to wacol (125km each way) on Monday and my side of it's all done. :)

Cheers.

[Chamelion]

Done and dusted.. Boat delivered to the depot and a con note provided.. She's on her way to her new owner.

[Mad-One]

Bet you're a relieved man

Cheers Phil

[Chamelion]

I am now.. Received word yesterday that the buyer now has the boat at home in his driveway and is very happy with the purchase. :)

Matt.

[cormorant]

Can't get better than that.

Write that call in your diary .

Just about safe to CXL that insurance now or transfer it to a new boat. Lesson Ilearn was if getting a new boat that they would allow ne to transfer it cheaper as policy was 5 months to go than to take out a new 12 month policy. Different insurers do it differently

Love it when a plan comes together and the person you are dealing with is actually genuine and honest. Not many of em about.