I friend is working on a deal to sell his boat to a guy in the bahamas, just want to make sure he is doing everything right, I cant think of anyway he could get ripped off doing it this way, He is having the money wired a week or so prior to the sale to a new account not tied to his bank account, he will the deliver the boat to NJ for shipping. anything else he can do to be safe?

Talk to Rock Steady. He sold his Wellcraft to a guy in Dubai.

Have your bank confirm from the bank sending the wire that it wasn't a counter deposit, that it came from an account. Big scam in cars in Florida right now is to do a counter deposit wire with a bad check, bank sends the wire, check goes bad, bank charges wire back, you're out the money. Can't understand how the bank can do a wire with uncertified funds, but it happens. Client of mine is a Secret Service agent in their fraud division and says there have been at least 5 cases in the last few months, all dealing with cars though.

make sure they send USD and not some other currency

is RS still alive?

wow, I thought a wire transfer was 100% safe, unbelievable what can you trust these days.

Thanks for the info

Who is paying the shipping costs? Use a good freight forwarder to handle the shipping stuff. A roll-on roll-off ship is the safest. There are fees involved, plus insurance, plus the shipping cost. With a freight forwarder, you can arrange to hold the boat at the port if the payment turns bad and title does not convey. Of course, you have for the hold time or the return freight.

So, over charge for the freight at the settlement table. Do ship the boat until you know all the funds are good. Return the over-charge once you have a true shipping charge.

Hope you do not have a problem, just be careful...