Sellers Beware

[lbbc]

I have bought and sold basses on this, and other, websites. I try to give accurate descriptions and reasonable prices. What burns me up are SCAMMERS! I had a guy offer to buy one of my basses. I told him I accept PayPal, Certified Check or Postal Money Order and gave him my address.
He said he would send a check with additional money, above my asking price, to cover the cost of someone to pick it up. I politely refused saying I would ship it and asked for his address...no reply. Yesterday, to my surprise, I received a check from a business in Utah, priority mailed to me from West Orange, NJ....red flags!! His eBay account says he's from Doral, FL. I contacted the business in Utah and they said it wasn't their check and redirected me to Fraudulent Investigations. The buyer contacted me saying he knows I received the check and to deposit it immediately. I told him, via email, that it was a fraudulent check and not to ever contact me again. MAN, people like this are just scum...if I deposited the check, my account would be drained (due to depositing a fraudulent check) and I'd be out of a bass. Sorry for the long post but just wanted to warn you that this is still happening!

 

[murmur70]

This is a very common Craigslist scam.

 

[guy n. cognito]

Outrageously common. Any number of not so subtle clues along the way probably would have given away his true intentions.

Report him to eBay and move on.

 

[lbbc]

I have reported the buyer to eBay so they won't be able to make purchases under that ID. Thanks to all!

 

[bal704]

If he mailed a fraudulent check, that's mail fraud. Contact your local USPS postal inspector.

 

[klejst]

Very common happening with Craigslist and eBay. I learned to spell out your phone number on Craigslist too if you include one, I used to get bot messages all the time about anything from my items to free cruises and coming into some money. Hence why local face-to-face and cash transactions are always the way to go if possible.

 

[bal704]

To get this thread back on track, I only take paypal, cash and USPS money orders. If I get the money order, I cash it before I ship.

 

[SLO Surfer]

I just had someone do the same thing to me on Craigslist this past week. He had some weird name so I googled it and Lagos Nigeria popped up. I don't use an email with my name for Craigslist because of scammers like this. If they get your name and address they have enough info to do some damage, add your email address and any other info like your phone number in your signature and you could be in trouble.

One tall tell sign is asking if item is still available, and the guy NEVER mentioned the bass I was selling, he kept referring to it as an "item."
"Is your item still for sale?"
"I'm ok with the condition of this item."
"I will send check with extra $50 for you to hold this item because I am out of town for a while."
"Why do you ask me to send a check for $1,500 when you are selling item for $950 and I offered extra $50 for you to hold it for me?"

Be careful out there!

 

[friskinator]

Craigslist never ceases to amaze me. If it's not scammers, it's sellers that don't actually want to sell. There was a bass listed a few months ago that I was interested in. Emailed seller, days go by with no response. Finally get a response, and I ask if it's possible to come look at it. We exchange one more email about possible meetup times, then silence. I noticed this week that the bass is up for sale again. I emailed the guy again and said "if you're serious about selling, I'm ready." No response.

 

[Iridescentone]

$0.02....

Ebay is still the safest place to buy/sell online. There are ways to get scammed, but using Paypal exclusively will eliminate most of the would-be attackers. You have a safety net with ebay/Paypal, as both a buyer and a seller, that you don't have elsewhere, including Reverb (don't ask ) or any of the various forum classifieds. Not to mention access to the biggest market.

Even so, buying safely off ebay is so easy that a chimp could do it, but selling safely on ebay requires some effort. Tbh, most of the ebay listings I see are rife with potential problems because the sellers don't bother to disclose enough info to protect against fickle or dishonest buyers.

For ripoff sellers, ebay is nowhere near as attractive for them as it was years ago. As it stands now, Reverb is a bit like the old ebay, where dishonest sellers can get away misrepresenting items without much consequence. Reverb is still kinda new, but over time the crooked sellers will realize the opportunity that Reverb presents.

 

[tekhedd]

selling safely on ebay requires some effort. Tbh, most of the ebay listings I see are rife with potential problems because the sellers don't bother to disclose enough info to protect against fickle or dishonest buyers.

Yeah. A detailed listing definitely improves your ratings too, because people know exactly what they're getting. I've lost count of how many listings I've skipped because the seller didn't provide even the most basic information.

 

[rodak]

$0.02....

Ebay is still the safest place to buy/sell online. There are ways to get scammed, but using Paypal exclusively will eliminate most of the would-be attackers. You have a safety net with ebay/Paypal, as both a buyer and a seller, that you don't have elsewhere, including Reverb (don't ask ) or any of the various forum classifieds. Not to mention access to the biggest market.

Even so, buying safely off ebay is so easy that a chimp could do it, but selling safely on ebay requires some effort. Tbh, most of the ebay listings I see are rife with potential problems because the sellers don't bother to disclose enough info to protect against fickle or dishonest buyers.

For ripoff sellers, ebay is nowhere near as attractive for them as it was years ago. As it stands now, Reverb is a bit like the old ebay, where dishonest sellers can get away misrepresenting items without much consequence. Reverb is still kinda new, but over time the crooked sellers will realize the opportunity that Reverb presents.

I'll add one thing - do NOT take PayPal if you make a local sale, where the buyer picks up the item personally. The buyer can then file a claim with ebay and PayPal, saying they never received the item, and PayPal will ask you to provide electronic tracking to prove you delivered it - no tracking number? You lose - end of story. For local sales, cash-only.

 

[guy n. cognito]

I'll add one thing - do NOT take PayPal if you make a local sale, where the buyer picks up the item personally. The buyer can then file a claim with ebay and PayPal, saying they never received the item, and PayPal will ask you to provide electronic tracking to prove you delivered it - no tracking number? You lose - end of story. For local sales, cash-only.

Or personal PayPal transfer. No buyer protection.

 

[bal704]

What about paypal gift? I also have a cash only local sale policy, but have considered paypal gift. Seems like it should be risk-free,but I have this tingling sensation that tells me some scammer has already figured out how to scam that too.

I'll add one thing - do NOT take PayPal if you make a local sale, where the buyer picks up the item personally. The buyer can then file a claim with ebay and PayPal, saying they never received the item, and PayPal will ask you to provide electronic tracking to prove you delivered it - no tracking number? You lose - end of story. For local sales, cash-only.

 

[rodak]

What about paypal gift? I also have a cash only local sale policy, but have considered paypal gift. Seems like it should be risk-free,but I have this tingling sensation that tells me some scammer has already figured out how to scam that too.

Is that the same as a "Personal Transfer"? As Guy N. Cognito pointed out, that should be no problem, I would think. I hadn't thought about that. I wonder, though, it it's possible to pay that way using eBay's checkout. I used to be more on top of this stuff, but I don't do a lot of eBay selling these days.

 

[Adhesive_X]

I had a pedal on craigslist recently and a guy tried the same thing.

I wouldn't entertain a check. PayPal or cash.

And sure....you want to give $20 over retail for my used pdeal. Seems legit.....

 

[waveman]

I only accept PayPal for in-state folks on Craigslist, and only if I have a good vibe about it. You can usually after a few emails and phone conversations. If you are not in my area, and can't meet me in town, by my work or some place I feel safe, no way.

No checks ever.

 

[packrat]

Unfortnately, this makes things really hard for out of country folks who come by sometimes and want to by stuff in the classifieds.

B>

 

[CryingBass]

I take some hot Czech's, like this

 

[petrus61]

I'll add one thing - do NOT take PayPal if you make a local sale, where the buyer picks up the item personally. The buyer can then file a claim with ebay and PayPal, saying they never received the item, and PayPal will ask you to provide electronic tracking to prove you delivered it - no tracking number? You lose - end of story. For local sales, cash-only.

I wonder if that would be different if there were photographic evidence of the transaction?