Want to sell your RV? You’ll probably get more selling it yourself than by consigning it, but watch out, you could attract scammers. This scam targets private RV sellers, and several have reportedly fallen victim.
Scammers pay the money, but then…
Police in the U.K. say several people selling their motorhomes have been approached by a pair of men. In a typical “transaction,” they seem quite keen on the rig, in some cases handing over cash to the seller. In other cases, they transfer funds to the seller. All to the good, eh?
The problem is, after the money changes hands, and the “buyers” are about to roll down the road with the purchase, they suddenly find something wrong. They’ve been known to pull out a moisture meter and “find” excessive wetness. Or one of the characters climbs under the rig, only to come back out with a long face. In the scammer’s hand is a piece of rotten material they claim they just took off the rig.
Then it’s a matter of demanding some of their purchase price back from the seller. After all, they reason, the rig has some problems, and the price needs to come down, eh?
Newton Abbot police report, “The males can then become intimidating and pressure the seller into returning some of the money claiming the vehicle is not worth what they initially paid.”
Could the scam come to the States?
While we’ve yet to hear of an instance of this scam that targets private RV sellers in the U.S., it wouldn’t be surprising at all that some will try it. A piece of advice that could apply: The clear phrase, “As is, where is,” in the bill of sale, signed by both parties, might separate the wheat from the chaff.
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Whenever I sold anything of value I always included the words ‘as is, where is’ and ‘no warranty or guarantee expressed or implied’.
Very smart, Rally Ace! Thanks! Have a good night. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Thank you, Russ and Tina! 🙂 Very helpful, thanks! Safe travels! 🙂
Here, we have what is known as “The Georgia Warranty.” It reads, “When it breaks, you get to keep all the pieces.”
Hahaha! love it.
We have a tail light warranty. It’s warrantied until I can’t see the tail lights.
After I put my ad in RV trader to sell I got quite-a few scammers call. But I was able to tell, plus RV Trader provided information on some of their schemes. Some big name RV companies called and had some nice scams for consignments. They would lowball you on the selling price. Want you to pay a inspection fee before trying to sell it for you. Another wanted you to drive two hours to deliver the RV to them. Plus if they sold it for less than what you owed. You’d pay the rest.
First, “WHY” are you allowing a buyer to dictate the sale or purchase. Don’t you know your RV, it’s condition and have a bill of sale ready with “AS IS, no warranty” clause” just waiting for their signature? Did you not crawl underneath to check their claim? If you don’t “re-check their finding(s), maybe you are hiding something, and karma is biting you right back.
Exactly, I’d call BS and be under there demanding they show me where they got that piece from. Same thing with a moisture meter…I’d be, “show me where”.