A Canoe Shipping Scam?

[Craig Allen]

Okay, so I can use a little bit of advice here. I joined the WCHA earlier this year primarily for the purpose of selling four antique canoes that I acquired many years ago. Admittedly I'm new to this canoeing scene, but it just seems to me that when a seller (me) is approached to buy a canoe, it should be the responsibility of the buyer to arrange and pay in advance for all shipping costs. I've had two people so far offer to send cashiers checks for the purchase price with extra money included so that when the "shipper" shows up at my door, I'm supposed to pay him/her for the shipping. All kinds of red flags are waving in my head that this whole arrangement stinks of rotten fish. I'm just picturing in my mind that the "shipper" will present to me a bill that far exceeds any extra money that was included in the purchase price. It just seems like there should be a more honest way to ship a canoe. I did manage to sell one canoe but that was because it sat in front of my house and a passerby bought it with cash.
I would appreciate any thoughts. Thank you.

 

[pklonowski]

Classified ads always attract scammers. It's not just "buyer beware," it's "seller beware," too. This sounds like a scammer.

 

[Benson Gray]

Your suspicions are correct and this is an ongoing issue as Paul mentioned. See http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/5904/ for other variations. These "cashiers checks" are usually fake as well but it can take a long time for your bank to figure that out. Then you will get charged a very large bounce fee. Good luck,

Benson

 

[Rod Tait (Orca Boats)]

As a business owner I get these types of scams all the time via my web site. Do not accept any offers like this. If it is legit, then you can easily accept an electronic transfer for payments nowadays. As for shipping, I would suggest that they arrange the shipping, pay for it and have a truck arrive at your door after they have paid and the money is safely in your bank account for the canoe or come and get it themselves.

 

[Dan Miller]

As I recall, it was Gil Cramer who would respond to these with something like, "The canoe is in Ohio. Bring cash."

 

[pklonowski]

Somehow, I suspect he never heard back from these people... A wise man, Gil is.

 

[Dan Lindberg]

Ya, I usually respond "cash on pickup only".
Haven't heard back from one yet.

Dan

 

[Dave Osborn]

I do what Dan, Gil, and Lindy do.... cash on pick up in any correspondence.
You can usually tell by the lack of specific canoe knowledge and butchered English language that the scammer is checking you out.

 

[Fitz]

I told him to come and get it and I would throw in a paddle to get him back to Nigeria.