And on it goes

Still trying to sell the Batmobile. I may have pitched the asking price a little high, although there is much conflicting information there. I've had a couple of email enquiries that, as yet, have not amounted to anything. And then over the weekend I got this:

Hello.
I would like to make an enquiry on the car you wish to sale.
Please do let have all necessary details about this car if it
is still available for sale,such as the condition of the car,
the cost if it is affordable?
Your urgent response would be highly appreciated .
Best Regards And God
bless.
Eric

Now, it's a bit oddly written, but not an obvious scam. It comes from a Yahoo email account, which has my internal alarm bells ringing quietly. Still, it's a query, and I'd be rude not to reply. I emailed back saying that yes the car was still available, and that I was open to negotiation on the price. The response came thusly:

Hello ,
Thank you very much for your mail.
I actually need the car for my wife. She is so much
keen in buying the car. I was hoping to make you an
offer for £13,900. I will be willing to pay £13,900 for the car. If you accept
my offer, Then we can make arrangment for inspection
and test drive at your own convenience.
Get back to me and let me know your decision.
Thanks

Now, bearing in mind that the car is advertised at £13,995, that's not really negotiating hard. If it were me buying, I'd pitch in at £12500 and fight up from there. I'm slightly worried about the English language used in the email now. It could be that Eric is foreign, but his surname - or at least the surname he has given me - would suggest otherwise. There's a tired old saying in life, that if something looks too good to be true, then it probably is. But so far I've not committed to anything. I email back saying that the price is good, and what does he want to do about viewing/test driving the car?

This morning his reply came thusly:

Hello,
Thank you very much for your mail.
My wife is so much keen in buying the car at all cost.
Since £13,900 is what you settle for is then we can make
arrangment for inspection and test driving.
But at the moment my wife is on business trip to
france and would be back 2 weeks time. I would really
love her to come down for inspection and do the test
driving since she will be the one using the car.
I really cannot make much decision until she arrives.
I would advice if you could keep the car until then.
But if you prefer I can make a deposit for the car to
hold it down for the 2 week.
You could confirm to me if you are okay with the
arrangment.
I would have my business patner to send you a
bankers draft.

Forward your details :

YOUR FULL ( name the cheque should be endose on )
YOUR CONTACT ADDRESS {POSTCODE , CITY}
TELEPHONE NUMBER.


For payment to reach you.
You can call me on this number 0703 192 6739
I look forward to reading from you,
Thank you.
Regards,

Now it starts to get complicated: the English Language has really fallen apart; I'm being given far more information than I really need to know - as if Eric is trying to build up a rapport with me; I've already told him my name, phone number and the nearest town to where I live. The involvement of a mysterious business 'patner' worries me too, and it seems very strange that Eric's wife should be so keen on my particular car, when there's actually no shortage of similar ones for sale at much the same price and less - hence my worry that I may have pitched my asking price too high.

So I am convinced that there is a scam going on here. What I can't work out, at least at this point, is what the scam is. If I take this guy's deposit and wait two weeks for his wife to come back from France, I may lose out on a possible earlier sale. If, after two weeks, he tries to play a Harry on me, then I can just walk away. I might even return his deposit if it's actually materialised. So what's in it for him?

A quick search of teh intarwub comes up with plenty of examples of the earlier scam, but I can find nothing similar to Eric's game. I have therefore decided to respond to him saying I can't accept a deposit to hold the car for two weeks, but that he's welcome to get in touch when his wife returns from France, to see if the car is still available.

I'll let you all know how I get on.