Receive payment by bank transfer from Gumtree sale

Haz606

I am looking to sell a collection of books to a remote buyer on Gumtree. They have offered to collect using a courier and have agreed to pay by bank transfer.

How do I ensure the deal goes through safely for me - do I ask for a bank transfer before giving him my address so he can book the courier service?

Alternatively, could someone give me the latest info on selling via Paypal as I have not done this for several years. Is it still possible for the buyer to chargeback?

Thanks very much.

enfield_freddy

bank transfer is brilliant , just give him your account no and sort code , dont worry , this is only the same info that is on cheques!


if you have online banking , you should see it arrive shortly (coop bank is about 10 mins)


paypal could be a problem , I know in ebay , they can say they have not recieved them , and you have not got YOUR couriers ticket number , not sure if this applies outside of ebay


alternate is Paypal , but marked as GIFT. , no fees (to you) and no claiming back by them

theonlywayisup

BT is safe IF it's checked correctly.

The main issue is if your buyer pays into your account by cheque. It will show on your account but may not clear for 6 days.

The ONLY way to confirm, is to check with your bank that the transfer is a cash deposit or a BACS transfer. I would also personally let it sit in my account until the next working day before sending. Ie receive it at 2pm on Monday, send the item on Tuesday.

Ting-Tang

Yep, bank transfer is brilliant. I've sold lots of stuff through gumtree and other places exactly as you describe, with bank transfer and courier collection and it's always gone without a hitch.


Obviously on Ebay you're forced to accept the dreaded Paypal, but with a deal like yours you should avoid it like the plague!

ballisticbrian

Would prefer to book the courier collection yourself, otherwise the contract to deliver will be with the buyer and you wont have any control over it if things go wrong.

bxboards

Definately avoid Paypal.

I assume you decided to igmore the message that Gumtree puts on every page that is is for face to face sales only?

Having said that I imagine a book buyer is likely to be on the up more than, for example a mobile phone buyer, and bank transfer is the safest way to be paid for something online. Ignore the Paypal 'protection' hype, it is one of the least safe ways to be paid, as it's very easy for a buyer to initiate a reversal if they choose.

Definitely do not accept Paypal whatever you do.

ailey

Personally I would be very wary of doing this as I listed a table and chairs recently and got a reply from some called Rose.Lama who said she was buying for her cousin and would pay the full asking price but, as she had a hearing problem and was in a wheelchair herself, she could not come to view the item. She would put the money into Paypal and send a courier for it etc. The courier part rang alarm bells with me as I read a while ago about the same thing happening with someone's car (I can't remember if it was on EBay or Gumtree) but the car was duly collected and then a chargeback was done so the person lost the car and his money.

I googled Rose Lama and found lots of information about it being a Nigerian scam so I don't know if they have somewhere in the UK where they sell the items they 'buy' or whether they get a lot shipped back to Nigeria.

Be very careful and do your homework on this one.

shaun_from_Africa

ailey wrote: »

Personally I would be very wary of doing this as I listed a table and chairs recently and got a reply from some called Rose.Lama who said she was buying for her cousin and would pay the full asking price but, as she had a hearing problem and was in a wheelchair herself, she could not come to view the item. She would put the money into Paypal and send a courier for it etc.

There is no need for the OP to be wary of what the buyer wants to do as they have asked about paying via bank transfer and not with paypal.
Provided that the money was transferred from the buyers bank account or was a cash payment over the counter, once it has appeared in the OPs account, a reversal won't be possible.

KRDmum

ailey wrote: »

Personally I would be very wary of doing this as I listed a table and chairs recently and got a reply from some called Rose.Lama who said she was buying for her cousin and would pay the full asking price but, as she had a hearing problem and was in a wheelchair herself, she could not come to view the item. She would put the money into Paypal and send a courier for it etc. The courier part rang alarm bells with me as I read a while ago about the same thing happening with someone's car (I can't remember if it was on EBay or Gumtree) but the car was duly collected and then a chargeback was done so the person lost the car and his money.

I googled Rose Lama and found lots of information about it being a Nigerian scam so I don't know if they have somewhere in the UK where they sell the items they 'buy' or whether they get a lot shipped back to Nigeria.

Be very careful and do your homework on this one.

i got an email from the same 'lady' disabled , in a wheelchair with hearing problems but different name to buy my expensive pram for her cousin! word Courier switched the alarm bells on!

Kaeren

I've just had the exact same thing as mentioned.....my table and chairs are advertised on gumtree and received an e mail from Rose Lama this morning saying she definitely wanted to buy them at the full asking price for her cousin but couldn't come to view hefself as she is in a wheelchair and has hearing loss and would arrange a courier!!

forgotmyname

Tell them they can have the table and chairs for free if they collect before the weekend, give them some remote address.