Things to watch out for when buying online

ttf_slide advantage · Post by **ttf_slide advantage** » Fri Apr 21, 2017 8:22 am

There have been some complaints about scammers operating in the forum.

Things to watch out for that I'd consider to be red flags include:

1) Anyone asking for Money Grams as a way to be paid.

2) Prices that are suspiciously low. If the price seems to good to be true, it probably is a fraud. Beware.

3) When the seller is pressuring you to do the deal, rushing you into an impulse buy, saying "another guy is interested, so you better buy it before I sell to him"

4) Sellers sometimes copy and paste pics from other ads. You see that on Ebay and Craigslist too. Ask for phone pics.

Be cautious. There are no safety nets here.

Ask for as many contact numbers and emails as possible. Talk to the seller, don't just exchange emails.

ttf_BGuttman · Post by **ttf_BGuttman** » Fri Apr 21, 2017 8:55 am

You might also want to see if the seller is actually a Forum member (queries to me to look up a name or e-mail will be done as long as it's not excessive). If the seller (or buye) is active elsewhere on the Forum means they are probably legit. Note that I said probably. There are no guarantees here.

ttf_slide advantage · Post by **ttf_slide advantage** » Fri Apr 21, 2017 9:11 am

Great suggestion. I also recommend checking on how long the seller has been a member. I would never take a chance on dealing with a newbie with zero posts.

ttf_Matt K · Post by **ttf_Matt K** » Fri Apr 21, 2017 9:38 am

The investigation (at least the PayPal one) is finally completed so I'll divulge a little more about what happened to me.

Someone sent me pictures of a YBL321 and was asking a low, but reasonable price for what it was. They sent me a PayPal invoice, but then cancelled it and asked me to transfer it to another account. The former was a personal account, the latter was a business account. He said something about having trouble transferring funds between them. Just indicate his name on the order since ts not for usual business stuff. Okay, a little unusual but really not that unusual. I put down his name and "For YBL321 Bass Trombone". Evidently at the same time, he ordered something from that business and told them the money would come from me. So when I sent them the money, they saw the other guys name in the comments and were just confused about the bass trombone part, but didn't say anything about it. The scammer then sends me the tracking # of the stuff he purchased from the business. The business was not in the US and he claimed to live in that country too.

So weeks later when the tracking # indicated that the package was delivered and signed for, only then was it evident (signed by the scammer) that there was a scam; at that point the goods had already been delivered (literally in this case). Had the business contacted me, it would have became evident sooner and perhaps something could have been done about cancelling the shipment or something.

I submitted my e-mail and Facebook correspondences to PayPal and after doing an investigation, they decided that there was fraudulent activity involved that was beyond our ability to know about so they made it right. I also submitted a Police report. In the US this means calling your local authority and having them submit a courtesy report. The business gave me the address they shipped to. Whether or not PayPal will ever see that money again is perhaps unanswerable at the moment. This particular problem is complicated because it was not only wire fraud, but also occurred internationally.

So in short: As nice as it is to avoid that 2.9% PayPal charge, getting the Buyer protection can really save your skin. Ultimately, if I had insisted on receiving a bill specifically for the trombone from the other account, the whole thing would also have been avoided. That's how I'm going to handle anything I do in the future. Get an official bill with the details of the transactions in PayPal or just walk away from it. It takes a few weeks to get the investigation cleared up otherwise. And really, they could probably have found a reason to not get the money back to me. With a clear receipt indicating what you purchased, its very difficult to dispute that away.

And also save all your correspondences! But that's less important than the above.

ttf_Driswood · Post by **ttf_Driswood** » Tue Apr 25, 2017 2:03 pm

I don't pay "Friends and Family". I'll pay the fees myself to have the evidence of the sale, and the coverage from PayPal. Better safe than sorry.

Jerry Walker

ttf_jalapeno · Post by **ttf_jalapeno** » Tue Apr 25, 2017 5:15 pm

I used to have a large collection of Michael Jordan shoes....one thing I looked for when buying from ebay and other places is the seller's screen name in the photo, so I'd know I'm getting what's in the picture(s)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Air-Jordan-7-Retro-DB-Doernbecher-size-9-/282349651248?hash=item41bd59c530:g:-T4AAOSwLEtYlZf-

I've also done this when selling.

I've also asked for this from sellers of trombones before purchase

fwiw