need some solid advice from my HC brothers and sisters on the buying and selling

[guitarcats]

So I have this guitar I want to sell and I have two buyers who are interested. They both live out of state and I would have to ship it. My problem is how do they pay to give them security that they will not be screwed but at the same time what can I ask them to do so I don't get screwed. I offered that they pay by check or MO that way the money is traceable or if they do decide to use Paypal than pay me as a gift, which the one doesn't want to do. I don't know why its so hard now a days, 6 years ago I sold an Alembic to a guy in Portland. He sent a MO and when it cleared I sent a very well packaged guitar and we were both very happy. So thanks for reading and any ideas that would make the seller and buyer both feel good about the deal.

[lp_junkie]

Anyone that asked me to do Paypal as a gift so they could get out of the fees would scream scam to me.

I have taken checks only from people that were public figures, other than that it's cash money. I am sure that with all the scams on CL, Ebay, etc that people are wary of buying anything used online.

[guitarcats]

its not listed through Ebay, this has been done on Craigslist, my main concern with Paypal is if the buyer gets remores or breaks it they can claim it happened during shipping and file with Paypal, so they get their money back and Im stuck trying to fix a guitar

[walrus1]

Paying in paypal as "gift" actually protects the seller. If something goes wrong, the buyer has no recourse at all because it was only a "gift."

 

Otoh, if paypal finds out it wasn't a "gift" but it was for merchandise, they might freeze your account while they "investigate." You might then even get in further trouble, because technically you frauded them out of their fee by claiming it was a "gift" when it really wasn't.

 

Money orders are a scam, don't take them. The money order could be bad, and then in a couple weeks when the bank finds out, you are left holding the bag as the one responsible.

 

If cash isn't an option, my advice is to take regular, non-gift paypal. That way everyone is protected.

[Will Chen]

CL is akin to local classifieds and should be treated as such. I wouldn't accept anything other than cash or PayPal via invoice in-advance of shipment. No exceptions.

[soundcreation]

Frankly, as a seller I'll only take bank transfer into my account directly. (or equivalent money order with the seller waiting for it to fully clear before I ship). I'm never that desperate to sell stuff and if the person really wants it they will just have to trust that I'm no scammer. If that's too much for them to handle then fine...I'll just sell to someone else.

 

I just don't trust the paypal system with their over weighted support of the buyer. If he can complain and hold/get his money back then he has ALL the power once he has your guitar.

 

As a buyer if a seller uses paypal then fine, I'll use it cause it's no risk to me. But if they think like I do and seem trust worthy then I'll do wire transfer no problem. In the end someone has to trust someone else no matter what the system, but if you want something that I have then you'll have to trust me. And vise versa.

[d_dave_c]

Do what you did last time with the Alembic.

[Large]

Paypal as a gift option would scare me off, too.

 

You might want to consider the normal Paypal method and either eat the fees, or include the fees in the price. That way, both seller and buyer are offered a reasonable amount of protection.

[etepbbb]

It all depends how bad you'd like to sell. When I have sold stuff off a CL ad, I pretty much made sure I was covered. One thing I've suggested to buyers as a possible solution is shipping COD. That way the buyer don't pay until a package arrives, and the seller has reasonable potection too.

[guitarcats]

good idea etepbbb, just checked with Fedex and if you set up an account, which is free, you can ship COD and they have an option so that the buyer must use a verified payment like, cashiers check or MO from the PO, thanks....now off to set up an account

[mdintx]

How about using an escrow service and splitting the fees?