I am talking to a slowtwitcher and he wants to buy my bike. We live across the country from each other. How can he get the bike and I get the money without any risk for either of us. Is this possible?
Kevin Jasper
Use escrow.com its the same sevice that ebayers use for big items. If you need more info send a private message to me.
I just sold one on ebay and used Paypal for the money side. You can request the money from the person or they can directly transfer the money to you. I had no problem with it. It’s worth checking out.
Like others have said, escrow is the way to go if he doesn’t trust you with the $$. As a seller, I find that pictures help the buyer to be more confident. Likewise, when I buy things I always request at least one picture. Plenty of pics of everything is the way to make sure that the buyer is not surprised about this or that. If you need any help, drop me a PM. I’ve sold a bike across the 'net. Good luck
Andy
All transactions incur some level of risk. There are ways to limit it though. I recommend:
- Using E-bay.
- Follow their rules to the letter.
- Maintain good communication between buyer and seller.
- Identify yourself with your name to instill trust.
- Maintain accurate buy/sell records.
Knock on wood, so far the only mistakes we’ve had using E-bay have been the ones I’ve made! (that were easily corrected).
I agree with the points made by the above posters with a few additions given that I live in Canada which makes buying/selling more difficult.
Buying: know what you are buying to a T. Ask questions regarding the item for sale like it was the Spanish inquisition. Sometimes a seller who is scamming will inadvertantly say the wrong thing or if asking the same question twice give two different answers. If it is a bike/frame, know it inside out long before you buy. Bought a Softride for a friend who was paranoid his $2000 was surely gone on a bike that didn’t exist. Asked the seller questions only a person who had one or had it right in front of them could possibly answer. Paying by escrow (or Paypal if under $500) is a good way to go but I’d wager they are limited in their return if you get scammed AND they could take forever to investigate your claim. One very good way to go is to pay with a Postal Money Order. Not bank. Postal. One thing the government doesn’t like is people screwing around with their money (them screwing with yours is okay though). When you buy a postal MO you are buying from the government and if you get scammed they take it VERY seriously. Criminal offence in fact. Very tracable too. And you can’t hide from the post office…they will find you. If shipping into Canada from the US have it shipped USPS (not UPS, not FEXED…not nothing). For every dollar translated into Canadian funds you get taxed…with USPS/Canada Post you only pay taxes+ a small fee for importing (like $5 in most cases)…use a courier and they break out the steel toed boots and give it to you but good. Their brokerage fees can sometimes come to more than the item is worth. Finding a way for the seller to prove prior sales integrity is handy but not always possible. If they have used ebay before they have an identity with a feedback record…most good sellers will let you know of this in advance and offer it up as proof (sort of) of their integrity. And above all keep very detailed records of the entire purchase.
Selling: Have pictures that you took (not ones from another seller/website). In most cases if what you are selling is common the person buying has likely been in the hunt for some time and has probably seen every other bike of the same kind for sale at some point in time. This is how those ebay scammers get busted when using a pic from another auction. Buyers…keep an eye out for this as well. Other than making sure the item is packed as bulletproof as possible for shipping the only thing you have to worry about it getting paid. Same thing applies here. You can use the above mentioned methods of payment but I still firmly believe that postal MOs are the best. Not sure if you can buy one using a credit card (or more to the point a stolen one) but for the most part you cannot buy a MO if you do not actually have the money either in your hand or in your bank account. Again, because it’s government issue, your level of protection for value of sale is way better than one of those financial services. As well…the fees for buying them are way less and you don’t have to pay to cash them.
Nothing you ever buy is without risk…knowing as much as you can only minimizes the risks.