Obtaining a safe and secure shipping container sale in Cape Town, is the next step in acquiring your container. Choosing the correct seller is key! Usually very good condition and easily transportable shipping containers are sold by private sellers, at a good price, for example the project manager of a private construction site where the project is nearing completion or a shop owner looking to upscale or relocate their business. When purchasing from a private seller rather than a reputable reseller, the points below will help you in securing safe successful sales.
Avoiding a Fraudulent Shipping Container Sale
Like all industries you have the fraudsters, it is no different in dealing with shipping containers sales in South Africa, and major cities like Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.
If you are purchasing a shipping container privately in the Western Cape, it would be best to adhere to the tried and tested guidelines:
Ensure the Seller has Keys to Container
All shipping containers are made and manufactured to lock and even have an air tight and water tight seal, ensure the seller of the shipping container has the keys to the container and takes you on an inspection of the inside of the container.
This may sound like a very obvious step however many stories can be told of sellers who are selling on behalf of so and so and only so and so has the keys and they will open for the buyer at some location etc. Which never ends up happening even long after funds have been transferred.
Whether the seller has the keys to the container on hand or not is an easy give away for an attempted fraudulent shipping container sale. Often containers that are not owned by the seller are sold, as they pose as the owners and even pay for the relocation with the money made from the sale. This is unfortunately a very common practice in Cape Town. There are shipping containers stored on vacant lots for years and some fraudster sees an opportunity to sell it, without actually owning it or even knowing who owns it, just so that it can be removed from the plot at your expense. Often the contents of such containers is not even known to the seller! Again ensure the keys to the shipping container are on hand.
Resprayed Containers
Often shipping containers are refurbished or repainted to weatherproof them and protect them from rust. There are reputable resale companies like ALMAR that undergo this task legitimately, however this is also another tactic used by fraudsters. Going through a reputable company like ALMAR will avoid many of these pitfalls, however there have been cases where these very companies have also fallen prey to a resprayed shipping container.
All shipping containers have serial codes and plates attached to them. The CSC plate for example – which is a metal plate fastened to one of the doors of a shipping container, which is stamped on date of manufacture and that safety and manufacturing standards are met, can often be tampered with and removed, with the excuse of respray paintwork. The serial codes located on the doors of the container serve as registration in port databases and can be intentionally painted over to mask fraudulent activity.
Be aware of buying a repainted container from a private seller and be sure that its CSC plate and its original serial codes are intact.
Ownership Papers for a Shipping Container Sale
Much like a motor vehicle or car, shipping containers will have ownership papers or some form of proof of ownership, either a receipt from a shipping container depot, or from a reputable refurbishing company.
Release Form from Depot
In order for a shipping container to leave the shipping container depot, a release form is required. This form can also serve as proof that the container came from a major depot in the country. The codes on the container should correspond to those listed on the release form, reputable container transport companies like RigRite will issue a signed release form on the transport of the container to the owners premises.
The existence of this form is another indicator that you have the owner of the shipping container is indeed the seller you are dealing with. Without it you should raise more questions as to how the container was transported to the location of the sale.
Neutralization vs. Respraying
This is a process that is many a times misunderstood to be a fraudulent practice, it involves respraying the shipping container or removing any decals or vinyl logos of the previous owners that are visible on the shipping container’s side panels. The importance of this step is to show that ownership has in-fact changed hands to a private owner and is not still owned by the original shipping line.
This does not mean that the codes and CSC plate located on the front doors of the shipping container are removed or tampered with, these must still be in place however the main branding located on the side panel of the shipping container is removed, this signifies that the shipping container is no longer owned by that shipping line.
This is mainly applicable for CW cargo-worthy shipping containers which will still make several trips on a cargo carrier, as containers with the original branding of the preceding shipping line can just well be offloaded and transported along with another owners containers, and you are left with an extensive legal battle proving that you indeed own the container. To avoid this neutralization or removing of the major branding takes place whilst still keeping the identification codes in place.
In order for major shipping lines to protect their brand identity and public reputation their logos are removed from containers when they reach the end of their service life so the shipping lines is not linked to the activity of the container in the future. Think of it like purchasing a police vehicle, it is still a usable car however under your use it is no longer a law enforcement vehicle, so you remove the branding and it becomes a regular serviceable motor vehicle.
Neutralization at Your Own Expense
Shipping line owners can even lawfully force owners of non neutralised shipping containers to undergo the neutralization process on their own expense, which entails costly labor and paperwork in addition to the cost of the container, which would have been in good cargo worthy condition thus priced at premium.
To avoid all this have your container neutralised by the previous owner and make sure you purchase a container with the original shipping lines branding removed and the container numbers on the door still intact.
For non cargo worthy and end of service life containers, this process is not necessary as the containers will be re-purposed and not used to transport any goods any longer.
Ownership Check During a Shipping Container Sale in Cape Town.
If all else fails and the serial number can still be read on the container, We can investigate as to legitimacy of the container by looking up the containers number in the depots database. This will give clear indication as to whether the sale is legitimate or fraudulent.
These are some basic guidelines, although the scamsters and fraudsters are very shrewd and cunning, and it may seem like a once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase a shipping container at a very good price, but it very well may be a steal.
