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Selling private raises some other issues. First off you become susceptible to thieves. There are tales on this forum (or have been) of vans being stolen, bounced cheques, counterfei cash, con artists coming back with heavies wanting part refunds saying the van is faulty,to just people stealing your van when they know where it is.

To avoid this here are some tips from a guy that locks the bad guys up :

Always put on the advert - viewings must be pre-booked and viewers must have a land line number to contact - 'specialist caravan thieves' and I choose these words carefully (ahem) dont have land line numbers. Dont accept a mobile as these cannot be traced by the Police. Yes it could be a duff but it puts off the casual thieves.

Always put on the advert "payment will only be accepted by cheque/bankers draft NOT cash. All payments subject to clearance." You can also use Paypal - its free for them and there is only a small fee for you which you can absorb or add on if you wish - this enables credit card payments. These specialist thieves never have bank accounts. More about payment later.

Never if at all possible show the van at your home address. If you store it then use the storage area (if its a good secure one). If you havent got a secure storage area then ask a friend if you can view it there then take it back home when the viewing is done. OK so you cant show it powered up at the storage area but if they are genuine and you feel happy with them then you can arrange a new viewing at your pals house with it plugged in.

This avoids thieves returning to steal it from your house - the oldest trick in the book is to view it, then suss out the vans security AND your home security then return to steal it. Once you suss them out and they seem genuine then you can inform them this isnt your house or where the van is usually stored but will supply full papers on receipt of the payment - (or if they seem genuine then show them there and then) with your address on and the CRIS paper. Its only a viewing at this stage. At this stage you can show them some photo ID too.

When accepting payment only give the van up when the cheque/draft has cleared. if they dont like that then they can pay by Paypal - this is instant and safe and you can even let them use your PC to log in and pay it. There is stacks of fake bankers drafts and cheques doing the rounds and you have no comeback if it is fake. So make sure the money clears if you get payment by these methods.

I would recommend Ebay as there is some buyer protection built in and of course you can then insist on Paypal. Yes people can freeze paypal payments once they have made them but only if they can prove to paypal there is a genuine problem will the freeze remain. Paypal also gives both parties some protection. Again thieves wont have valid credit cards or bank accounts.

Payments can be made by stolen credit cards via paypal, but usually these are blocked quite quick.

So what happens if someone turns up who looks wrong? Easy, just tell them that you have someone ringing back tonight who has left a deposit, so get a phone number for the dodgy folk and tell them you will ring back. If they produce a wedge of money DONT take it. there is dodgy notes around that are so good even the plod dont spot em. You can buy pens and stuff, but I wouldnt risk it.

This sounds over the top, but genuine people have bank accounts/credit cards and phone numbers. They will also be happy to show you some ID such as a bank statement and driving licence. Putting such requests on the advert will prevent all but the most determined thief and the rest will not even bother and prevent the most common scams.

Personally I would never sell private but here are some take it or leave it tips for you.

I sold one 30 months old on Ebay, it sold on a buy it now, for similar money to the forecourt prices at my local dealer & in less than 5 hours from posting the advert. The man came 180 miles with the notes, we took the oney to my bank & paid it in & he took the van away as happy as larry. I think it cost me around £60 to post the ad & sell it, that included a few photos as well.

I'm no expert on Ebay but, I wasn't greedy with the price, the van was genuine & thankfully it worked for me.

Best of luck.

BB

There should be no problem showing it at storage or a friends house as long as you take the documents and some ID - the CRIS number will match and show it is legit.

Click on Free Adverts at the top of the page, adverts appear straight away.

Rob

We are moving next weekend to a bungalow at Charmouth and decided that as the caravan was now less than 10 minutes away, it didnt really warrant keeping it.  We put our Mazda Tribute up for sale on Friday last, and on Saturday, the caravan was taken off its seasonal pitch and put in a display area the site has for parking vans which are up for sale. I genuinely expected the van to hang about for most of the year, and the 4x4 never to sell. 

However, by Sunday at noon, the 4x4 was sold, and by 4pm yesterday the caravan had sold.  And they say there's a recession!

Jenny