Friend is selling something on CL and need some advice!

Collectorguy00

Collectorguy00

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A friend is selling his Halo edition Xbox 360 on Craigslist and someone from out of state is willing to buy it for $400. He said he was going to be paying via Paypal and I was just wondering if there was anything he should be weary of? Since he is having the guy pay through PP he should be covered if the guy tries to screw him over right?
 
Buyer could always dispute charges/try to get payment back. I'd really advise not trying to ship anything using craigslist. high-ticket items I'd advise in person at a safe, public area (mall, etc.) or somewhere with more protection than craigslist.
 
"DEAL LOCALLY WITH FOLKS YOU CAN MEET IN PERSON - follow this one simple rule and you will avoid 99% of the scam attempts on craigslist."
 
Bad idea I'd say, even if you get tracking/signature, the buyer can say he never authorized that transaction, and you'd have no recourse. If you sell on CL you should just stick with a local, cash transaction.
 
I agree 62t, but he hasn't had any luck locally with people who aren't trying to get it at 1/2 the price. He's an idiot so I thought I'd try and cover his ass as best I could. *cue gay jokes*
 
[quote name='Collectorguy00']I agree 62t, but he hasn't had any luck locally with people who aren't trying to get it at 1/2 the price. He's an idiot so I thought I'd try and cover his ass as best I could. *cue gay jokes*[/QUOTE]

*insert generic gay joke involving asses and cover*

Seriously though, either wait or use something that isn't craigslist. Craigslist is a bitch to get what you want out of an item.
 
If he wants to be safe ask for a USPS money order. Otherwise the person can just said it is an unauthorized charge and your friend gets nothing
 
CL is not a good place to be dealing for out of state. PP won't offer you that much protection just in case the buyer tries to screw your friend over in the end.
 
[quote name='Collectorguy00']A friend is selling his Halo edition Xbox 360 on Craigslist and someone from out of state is willing to buy it for $400. He said he was going to be paying via Paypal and I was just wondering if there was anything he should be weary of? Since he is having the guy pay through PP he should be covered if the guy tries to screw him over right?[/QUOTE]

Scam. Run away.

99% of the time it's a scam.
 
I very rarely ship using craigslist, but I'm about to be doing it for the second time come Monday.

If someone wants me to do it, I have to talk to them through e-mail first, and I only accept money orders or concealed cash.
 
I had one guy who wanted to buy my xbox 360, but was hearing impaired (1st sign of a scam). He also wanted to send me a certified check (2nd sign), when I specifically stated local pick-up and cash only. He said he couldnt do local pick-up because he was moving to Arizona for his job (3rd sign).

Just deleted his email after I read it.
 
[quote name='sasukekun']I had one guy who wanted to buy my xbox 360, but was hearing impaired (1st sign of a scam). He also wanted to send me a certified check (2nd sign), when I specifically stated local pick-up and cash only. He said he couldnt do local pick-up because he was moving to Arizona for his job (3rd sign).

Just deleted his email after I read it.[/QUOTE]

I had the same guy try to buy my xbox!
When he said he was going to pay by certified check I decided not to sell to him, and told him because I knew he was trying to scam me. He never replied after that...
 
I don't advise shipping on craigslist. Even with paypal there is no guarantee as stated already. You can be covered with paypal but you would need a verified and confirmed address. Signature confirmation and whatever else they state. If your friend never uses paypal he could go open a new bank account that he does no business with currently. Open a paypal account and link it to that account. Accept payment from the buyer. Don't ship until the paypal payment is in your account and you go empty and close that account. Then ship. Then you would have your money but if the buyer disputed it you wouldn't be using paypal anymore. Awful lot of work to be sure to not get screwed.
 
Could you set up a private "Buy it Now" auction via e-bay and have the guy pay a couple of more dollars to cover the e-bay fees? Also if your friend does ship it out to the guy make sure he gets signature conformation for the package.
 
[quote name='ajh2298']Could you set up a private "Buy it Now" auction via e-bay and have the guy pay a couple of more dollars to cover the e-bay fees? Also if your friend does ship it out to the guy make sure he gets signature conformation for the package.[/QUOTE]

If his friend is going to sell it for $400, its going to be a lot more than just a "couple" more dollars to cover that extra ebay charge. Even I would never do that.
 
Just take the loss in ebay fee's - it would still be worth it to not have to worry about being scammed - at most you pay $20.
 
[quote name='Brian9824']Just take the loss in ebay fee's - it would still be worth it to not have to worry about being scammed - at most you pay $20.[/QUOTE]

Amen... Why take the chance at getting scammed when there's hardly any chance of it if you just pay the $$ and use Ebay? I just don't get it. Maybe it's because the OP's friend knows that there's no frigging way he gets $400 on Ebay for it????
 
I've used craigslist quite a bit and have sold a lot of stuff on there so I know from personal experience that that reply was just spam/scammer. It says on craigslist to NEVER accept paypal, checks, or any other type of related type of payment. Believe me when I say that nobody would ever pay $400 for something that's worth maybe $50-$100. It's a scammer, don't buy into it. Accept cash only. If your friend was smart he would hide his email address and put just his phone # in the craigslist ad that way if somebody contacts him, more likely than not it will be somebody who lives in the same town or area as he does.
 
[quote name='Collectorguy00']I guess the guy agreed to pay with a Money Order so all is good. There is no way to dispute when it comes to Money Orders right?[/QUOTE]

Do Not Take a Money Order!!

Fake Money Orders can go through at the beginning, and then be found to be fake within 10 days. This is a very common way people get scammed on craigslist!
 
[quote name='leftwing1018']Do Not Take a Money Order!!

Fake Money Orders can go through at the beginning, and then be found to be fake within 10 days. This is a very common way people get scammed on craigslist![/QUOTE]

Haha, awesome. I hope I can just get him not to do it but atleast I can say I warned him. Thanks for all the help guys!
 
Why not just tell him to send the PayPal payment as a "gift," and then never ship whatever it is you're selling?
 
So 400 isn't even the price he was asking? Then it's definetly a scammer because they always offer you more then your asking price.
 
[quote name='Ye0ldmario']So 400 isn't even the price he was asking? Then it's definetly a scammer because they always offer you more then your asking price.[/QUOTE]

Agreed- the money order will be FAKE. If he must make the attempt, do everything you can to make sure he does 2 things:

1) Find out from wherever he cashes said money order how long it takes to confirm a fake, and DO NOT mail the system until after that window.

2) DO NOT spend the money until the fraud window closes- becuase if it is fake, he's responsible to pay the amount of the money order- most likely, it'll be pulled from his bank account.

Really, he should just sell local only and be paitent- a real sale a month from now is better than a scam today.
 
Wow. As everyone else said, your friend should not be shipping anything he sells on CL. Only deal with local pick-up, preferably at a public place. That money order is most certainly gonna be fake.

The fact that he's only getting much lower offers locally and then this guy pops up and wants to pay $400 should have automatically set an alarm off. That's exactly how these scammers get you. They offer you more than the product is worth.
 
Agree with what everyone else is saying. Your friends heading for scamming, cash only and local. If he ships and accepts a money order he might as well say bye to the thing as soon as he ships it because it's gone and he's going to deposit a worthless piece of paper in the bank and then be held liable for it being a fake money order and have to cover the money order amount and ludicrous bank fees as well.
 
If the scammer does offer to send a money order, have your friend tell them to demand a US Postal Service money order, as they have serial numbers on them and they can check them right at the post office before cashing it to tell whether or not it's a fake.

That's what I've even done on larger deals on CAG, is have the other person send me a USPS money order and I've gone to the post office to cash it so they could verify if it's legit or not before I try to cash it.

If the person making the offer offers to send a 'certified check' though and won't agree to any other form of payment, then tell your friend to run and run fast.
 
Yea USPS Money Order is one of the best form of payment you can recive. If you get a Western Union you might as well throw it in the trash
 
I received one from a CAG(Western Union MO) for a deal a while back, even though I told them I wanted only a USPS MO. Apparently it was more convenient for them to get a WU MO than going to the post office to get a USPS one.

So it may be sometimes convenience for some, but dealing on CL a WU MO is a scam 9 times outta 10.
 
[quote name='skateraXVIII']I've used craigslist quite a bit and have sold a lot of stuff on there so I know from personal experience that that reply was just spam/scammer. It says on craigslist to NEVER accept paypal, checks, or any other type of related type of payment. Believe me when I say that nobody would ever pay $400 for something that's worth maybe $50-$100. It's a scammer, don't buy into it. Accept cash only. If your friend was smart he would hide his email address and put just his phone # in the craigslist ad that way if somebody contacts him, more likely than not it will be somebody who lives in the same town or area as he does.[/QUOTE]
I have taken paypal for a couple items. One was for a gamecube component cable, it worked fine. The other was for a blackberry and I talked to the person on the phone and made sure it was verified/confirmed and used signature confirmation. For a console being sold by a total noob to craigslist, if he is going to accept payment demand US postal money order. You can verify this and will have cash in hand before shipping.
 
If he sends you a Western Union money order, DO NOT put it in your bank account. Take it to an actual Western Union and cash it, they will be able to tell right away if its legit.

And for people who were saying to put it in an ebay auction, that does not make you safe of getting scammed AT ALL. The buyer can just as easily file a chargeback whether ebay is taking fees from you or not...
 
Haha, the N64 I'm selling to this woman, she sent me a M.O. from Cumberland Farms. I doubt it was fake though. Definitely go with USPS
 
Never deal by mail on craigslist. I did so about 3 years ago, took Paypal, guy said he never got it when I had proof otherwise. He got his money back. Then the fucker called the police and tried to say I stole his money, which was AFTER he got his goods and after he got his unauthorized refund.

But people get pissed at me when I don't want to use Paypal anymore.
 
[quote name='darkslime']If he sends you a Western Union money order, DO NOT put it in your bank account. Take it to an actual Western Union and cash it, they will be able to tell right away if its legit.

And for people who were saying to put it in an ebay auction, that does not make you safe of getting scammed AT ALL. The buyer can just as easily file a chargeback whether ebay is taking fees from you or not...[/QUOTE]

No but ebay has buyer protection in place. As long as you follow the rules your basically safe on ebay. If they file a charge back you have signature confirmation confirming they recieved it.
 
It's a lot, lot, lot less likely to get screwed on eBay, because there are checks and protections in place. Dealing by mail on Craigslist is just like asking for trouble
 
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