Paying for a horse - buyer or seller

[OverandOnward]

[QUOTE=Appsolute;8054429]
…
Cashiers cheque is a common scam these days. I wouldn’t want to accept one as a seller.
…[/QUOTE]

^^^^this^^^^

In the last few years a whole bunch of people have learned to their great sadness that a cashier’s check CAN bounce.

There is a scam that relies on the widespread and incorrect belief that a cashier’s check can’t bounce, and that manipulates the timing of bank processing, vs the timing of a bank making funds available.

This scam has been used for purchasing horses, among other things, because the scammer can manipulate the seller into paying the cost of shipping by making them believe they have already been reimbursed (with the bouncey cashier’s check).

Many people incorrectly assume that a bank won’t make funds available if a deposit hasn’t cleared - because that makes sense. However, that is not what banks do, and it is possible that a deposit will bounce after a cashier’s check was issued against it. Then the bank bounces the cashier’s check, withdrawing the funds from the account where the cashier’s check was deposited.

Happens all the time.

More complete explanation:
http://banking.about.com/od/securityandsafety/a/cashierscheckfd.htm

[Wonders12]

Well yesterday the owner/trainer dropped him off so we can try him. Today my student decided she wants to buy him. Monday she will drop a personal check in the mail. Once he gets that, she will get the bill of sale.

I bought my horse by sending a personal check in the mail. Bill of sale was signed and scanned back in forth the same day I mailed the check (before she received it). The horse did stay where it was in training until the check cleared, but that was because I was out of town, and not necessarily to make sure payment was good.

BUT both horses were under $5K, the recent trainer donated two horses to our program who we still have, my trainer has a great relationship with both of them, and I’m the BM of a decently well known barn in the area. So the buyers can’t really disappear into the woodwork and have good reasons to not want to burn bridges.

I think it all depends on the situation.

When we sell horses, personal check is fine and the horse goes when the check is handed over. But again, we’re dealing with horses under $5k, and usually under $3k.

[Sandy_M]

My first two horses, I paid cash, but they only cost $650 and $1,500 respectively. All the others, I paid with personal checks, but in each case, I had found the horse thru friends, or was previously acquainted with the seller, so there was some trust.

[Snork]

As a buyer, i paid cash in one instance and wired money in another.

The first was a mid-4 figure horse. The Seller was local, I had already tried the mare at their place and they trailered her over to my trainers barn to get my trainer’s opinion. Trainer said to buy on the spot, so I handed over the purchase price in cash and Seller handed me the leadrope and mare’s papers. A few days later they sent me a signed purchase agreement in mail so that I can get her registered in my name. Caveat - this was a stupid way to buy a horse. I got bad advice and assigned a bit more knowledge to people than they probably were entitled to. Luckily for me the Seller was honest, but I strongly advise anyone against doing the same.

I lost that mare to a colic not even 18 months after I bought her (unrelated to my stupid way of purchasing her) and the next horse was out of state and more expensive. In his case, I had grown up a bit so I bought him in a more rational way and wired the money when the vet check came back clear.

[cherham]

Canada - US I use wire transfer exclusively. Sale in Canada I will accept a Money Order drawn on a Cdn. bank only. Never had a problem (knock on wood).

[HorsesinHaiti]

[QUOTE=meupatdoes;8055808]
Wire transfer, although hand to God HSBC delayed the closing on my house by swearing up down and around again that a wire transfer from an in-state bank would take “several days to clear,” and, I swear this I true, suggested as an alternative that the transferor drive 7 hours from one end of the state to the other with cash because “cash clears right away.”

It was easier to just wait than to try to explain banking to them.[/QUOTE]

Dear Lord, as a manager myself I’d have insisted they send those instructions to me in writing - and then forwarded them to some appropriate direct contact in HR if I could get a name! That has to violate all kinds of company policy beyond what a script-reading customer service rep can handle.

Because what would have happened if buyer HAD walked into their bank saying, I need $xxx,xxx in cash right now to buy a house per HSBC’s orders? Their bank would certainly have made use of their HSBC contact information, I should think!

[Sueby]

I used email transfers as per my banks suggestion. They ended up being cheaper for me than a cashiers cheque was. My account would have incurred a $25 fee for the cheque and it cost me $3 for the email transfers. Cashiers cheques aren’t included in my monthly allowances

I also have a paper trail this way, and once they accepted the transfer, it would show that they accepted it, what time and day. No way to say horse wasn’t paid for if the money left my account, came via my email to yours, you accepted it then dumped it into your account.

[Thoroughbred_in_Colo]

I’ve always paid by personal check, but I’d be fine with a wire transfer if that is what the seller preferred. I’d never use or take a cashier’s check, around here at least there is a huge problem with people passing fakes.

When I bought my current mare, I put a substantial deposit on her after trying her out, with the balance to be paid pending successful pre-purchase. The check had already cleared by the time we did pre-purchase a couple days later. Mare passed PPE, so I paid the balance at that time, also by personal check. I wasn’t able to pick her up until the following weekend, so there was plenty of time for the check to go through. Had I been able to pick her up the same day I would have put the balance on my credit card.

I did pay cash for my trailer, and carrying that much cash made me uncomfortable.