If you are in the process of selling your RV privately, please be on the lookout for potential scam artists trying to rip you off!  If you are like most folks trying to sell your RV, you probably have listed the RV on one or more websites such as Craig’s List or RV Trader Online.  While the internet can greatly increase the number of people looking at your RV, it can also increase your exposure to thousands of scam artists who prey on unexpected RV owners.

The most typical scam to watch for is when a potential buyer is willing to pay full price without haggling.  They will then want to send you some type of payment which will be for more than the purchase price.  they will tell you this is to cover shipping costs and other miscellaneous expenses.  The scam artist will then tell you to deposit the check and send back to them the over payment because they have made different arraingements and there will not be any shipping or misc. fees.  The problem is the check you deposited into your account is no good.  In most cases you find this out too late because you have already sent out the overpayment amount back to the scam artist.

Bottom line is to use a common sense approach to selling your RV.  The best rule is if it sounds too good to be true it usually is.   Beware of the buyer who does the following:

• Wants to send you more than the asking price.
• Wants to pay with more than one credit card.
• Wants to pay to have the unit shipped and the ratio between the selling price of the RV and shipping costs seem out of whack.  (ie you are selling your RV for $4,000.00 and it is going to cost the buyer $2,000.00 to have the RV shipped.)
• Represents another buyer.

We are sure there are other situations that will raise a red flag.  Simply use caution and use your gut.  If it doesn’t feel right to you then politely decline the buyers offer and wait for the next buyer to come along.  The best defense.  Do not release your RV or the title until all funds have cleared and are posted to your bank account.