To Avoid Getting Ripped off in Classified Sales...

sov82

sov82

Member
It bothers me seeing threads every week about someone ripping someone off.
I would REALLY recommend if you are going to buy something from the classified section, have the seller make an ---- auction and pay via Paypal. Even if you have to pay a couple dollars more to cover listing fees, at least you have insurance.
For those of you who don't know, if you pay for an ---- auction with Paypal you receive insurance. If you get ripped off, Paypal will refund your money to you after filling out some forms (refunds are up to certain dollar thresholds depending on the type of payments...the thresholds are in the hundreds to thousand of dollars).
Personally I think this part of the forum should have a sticky with this recommendation.
 
tiggerguy

tiggerguy

Member
ok first off ---- and paypal dont is not a garantee you will get your money back if you get ripped off. yes sometimes you will be able to but the cleaver ones can just use paypal shipping labels and say they sent you the package. You can still get ripped of using ---- and paypal.. it is just the way the world turns.. best thing to do if it happends to you is turn the person in for fraud. if you sent them a check notify your bank and your local police.. mail order fraud.. (anytime you send someone money and dont get what was promised) is a federal crime.
i dont know weather or not jackalpupz will send what was promised to me. but i garantee this he will not get away with it.. already notified my bank. if i dont get in by next friday i will notify the police.. let them get involved. then have my brother knock on his door. he lives about 40 miles from jackalpups address..
anytime you buy online you take a chance. anytime you accept a check you take a chance.. ---- and paypal are not garantees the just lower the chance a little
 
sov82

sov82

Member
It takes a lot more than what you said to get away with fraud if its a ----/Paypal deal. Is it possible? Yes. Is it likely that someone would go through that effort to commit a $35-$200 fraud (most items sell for those ranges on this site...). Paypal looks at a lot more than just the tracking number. They check to see if the package was shipped to the confirmed address. They check to see if the package is delivered. If you give them information on the product from the manufacturer, they will look at the weight of the package and/or its dimensions. They have committed more dollars this year to improving these services and their overall customer service this year as well.
For Those Interested on Paypal's Policy:
http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr...cy_pbp-outside
 
tiggerguy

tiggerguy

Member
realy they look at the weight of the package huh.. nope have to dissagree with you there.. they just look to see if you got a package or not.. not to mention you only have 30 days to file a claim. does not give you much time to get anything worked out with a seller. and you are limited to three claims a year.. I have had my bad deals and paypal has only helped out on one of the five of them. yeah five.. but when you figure i get probably three to ten packages a week it is bound to happen. paypal has a guarantee but does not back it as well as they say they do.
lets say you buy a real diamond ring of ---- for 500 dollars and get sent a fake diamdond with a value of of 50 bucks. paypal will not help because they will not pay if item differs from the ---- add.. they only pay if you dont receive item.. but if you got an empty box they consider you got the item..
best advice. dont spend more than you can afford to lose. odds are sooner or later you will run into a bad deal
 
mbowker

mbowker

Member
in every aspect of life, if you feel this way just buy items at the local stores or regular businesses. Sometimes you have to pay the piper if you want what you pay for.
 
tom024

tom024

Member
I disagree, something you should buy new at the retail stores and something you can purchase used to save the resources.
I believe we are all educated people here. If we promise or agree to make a deal on something then we should follow that promises or deal. I totally agree with Tiggerguy not because I am on the same boat as he is. If you get the money from someone and promise to send the product and you don't then that considers Fraud or Federal Offense. My attorney and also Collection agency told me that, If i don't get the money back from Matt Jardine (JACKALPUPZ) then they will involve and I will also take Tiggerguy's advise by reporting to Police and let them taking care the problem.
WHAT COMES AROUND GOES AROUND!!!
 
ros

ros

Member
I feel most people are honest. What I see is there are many people who look for a deal that is to good to be true. Emotions take over and then the con takes place. People who shop for a deals should do there homework a little better. I see alot of low balling the price which is ok but I feel this drive away legitimate seller, all for the purpose of saving a few dollars. I do also have to admit there is room to bargain and also that people try to sell items for high prices. I think used equipment if worth 50 % of retail and that's why some items never sell on this board.
I also feel sorry for the people who lost money or was sold bad items. This post is no disrepect to them.
 
sov82

sov82

Member
best advice. dont spend more than you can afford to lose. odds are sooner or later you will run into a bad deal
I agree with that.
However, you're $500 ring argument is assuming you fail to look at the users feedback. Would I buy someone expensive from someone on ----? Yes and I do all the time. Would I buy if they had low feedback levels (in amounts or ratings), No. Is it possible the feedback could be fake? Could the user of the account have hacked it? Yes. So no matter what, I'm taking a risk. However, things such as confirmed addresses, feedback, Paypal insurance, increased knowledge of account security all give me comfort.
I never said using ----/Paypal would prevent fraud completely. It would just make it much more difficult. I am willing to pay an extra few bucks by making people sell through ----/Paypal to decrease the risk of fraud exponentially.
Yes, most people are honest. I also agree with that. An honest person would have no problem meeting your request of making an ---- auction. A dishonest person would have a problem as they know the likelihood of them getting caught is increased.
(FYI, its 45 days to file a claim, not 30)
 
chris777

chris777

Member

Originally posted by sov82
An honest person would have no problem meeting your request of making an ---- auction. A dishonest person would have a problem as they know the likelihood of them getting caught is increased.

That isnt always true. You know not ever person has a ---- account? Which saying that your basicly insulting every person that dont have ---- that cant put it on or maybe for one reason or another dont want to use ----. If you dont want to get scammed by a person then maybe you should just go to your lfs and pay the money to get it new. I do that with just about everything unless the person is local to me.
 
jedi

jedi

Member
Or.....
Ask for references.
Anyone who sells regularly will have peeps that they sold to.
Personally, on this site I have bought a couple things from people,and showed interest in a couple others. The things I did buy, I bought because I got an email from a couple people who said they had dealt with the seller before, and all went well.
On the other hand I also did not buy from a couple for the same reason. People emailed me to let me know they got burned.
I think that the mods should instill a selling rule. Only members with ,lets say 50 posts minimum, can sell on the site.This would help ensure that the people selling have been around, and can be followed up on.
Either way, We can easily police sellers ourselves. Leave your email if you are interested. People who know about the seller can then email you to let you know the deal.
just another opinion from ...
The Jedi
 
jenn-e

jenn-e

Member
Getting info from others who have dealt with that person is a good idea. I have dealt with people here and so far so good.
I think it would be nice to have a sticky or something in this forum where you could leave feedback for people. It would be a good reference when considering buying from someone. And it would help the good sellers out.
 
scubadoo

scubadoo

Active Member

Originally posted by sov82
It bothers me seeing threads every week about someone ripping someone off.
I would REALLY recommend if you are going to buy something from the classified section, have the seller make an ---- auction and pay via Paypal. Even if you have to pay a couple dollars more to cover listing fees, at least you have insurance.
For those of you who don't know, if you pay for an ---- auction with Paypal you receive insurance. If you get ripped off, Paypal will refund your money to you after filling out some forms (refunds are up to certain dollar thresholds depending on the type of payments...the thresholds are in the hundreds to thousand of dollars).
Personally I think this part of the forum should have a sticky with this recommendation.
Sorry, but this post is not accurate. In order for buyers and sellers to participate in the buyer protection program with paypal they both need to meet certain criteria which is outlined in the user agreement. You do not receive automatic "insurance" coverage or a guaranteed refund by paying through Paypal. Please read the user agreement before posting inaccurate statements and misleading people. I realize you intentions are noble but the information is wrong.
For example, if a seller wants to participate,...they must have at least 50 feedback and a overall 98% positive feedback rating...only two of the MANY points listed on the user agreement.
Fianlly..Paypal is not the saint you paint it to be. It has been sued in the past for "limiting" consumenr rights and was forced to change the user agreement....
UPDATE: [3/8/2004] The news is all around the net. PayPal agrees to pay a $150,000 in penalties for not following it's own ToS. This was just for the state of New York. Quoting from a Reuters News article:
"PayPal is not a credit-card company and is not required by law to provide "chargebacks" to consumers should a transaction go wrong, a Spitzer [New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer] aide said, but the company's customer service agreement had led consumers to believe they enjoyed such protection. ... PayPal agreed to change its user agreement to more clearly describe consumer rights, and will pay New York $150,000 in penalties and investigation costs, Spitzer's office said."
And again in an AP story:
"The nation's largest online payment service, PayPal, is paying New York $150,000 in penalties after misrepresenting to consumers its policy on repayment when merchandise doesn't arrive, the state attorney general said Monday. ... PayPal, which has 40 million customers worldwide, had specifically stated that it provided the same rights and protections of a traditional credit card transaction, said Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. But consumers were often denied those rights, he said."
 
scubadoo

scubadoo

Active Member
The 45 day time period to file a claim is again not totally accurate....45 days from date of payment or 7 days after receipt. of goods,,WHICHEVER IS EARLIER
Money Back Guarantee Policy
This Policy was last modified on January 14, 2005.
1. General. PayPal's Money Back Guarantee program, which applies to selected physical goods transactions for less than $1,000.00 USD, ensures that if you buy the Guarantee, you will be satisfied with your purchase or have an option to resell the merchandise to PayPal for the price you paid for it for the first 45 calendar days following the date of payment or seven days after receipt, whichever is earlier.
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
Promotion of either paypal or ---- is not appropiate on this site.
Maybe the best thing to do is simply shut down the classified forum altogether.....???
:thinking:
 
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