Gumtree

Korkyb

soolin said:

photome said:

I have something for sale on gumtree at the mo. I am not a regular seller. Buyer wants me to post and has offered a fair price and wants to pay by PayPal. He seems genuine . I am tempted to ask for bank transfer but don’t want to put him off

Any sensible buyer would walk away from a seller who asks for bank transfer, but if it wasn’t something that you offered postage on then buyer might be willing to compromise in order to persuade you to post. 

I've posted a few things that I advertised on Gumtree as local sale but always ask for bank transfer.
If I'm advertising as local pickup & the buyer asks me if I'll post then the chances of me being a scammer are pretty slim.

I've also done the opposite asking sellers if they will post to me - I always make it clear to them that I will pay by bank transfer to reassure them that I'm not "at it". (although one chap insisted that I paid by Paypal "for his protection"...).

Yes there is a risk both ways but if sensible it can be minimised.

soolin

Korkyb said:

soolin said:

photome said:

I have something for sale on gumtree at the mo. I am not a regular seller. Buyer wants me to post and has offered a fair price and wants to pay by PayPal. He seems genuine . I am tempted to ask for bank transfer but don’t want to put him off

Any sensible buyer would walk away from a seller who asks for bank transfer, but if it wasn’t something that you offered postage on then buyer might be willing to compromise in order to persuade you to post. 

I've posted a few things that I advertised on Gumtree as local sale but always ask for bank transfer.
If I'm advertising as local pickup & the buyer asks me if I'll post then the chances of me being a scammer are pretty slim.

I've also done the opposite asking sellers if they will post to me - I always make it clear to them that I will pay by bank transfer to reassure them that I'm not "at it". (although one chap insisted that I paid by Paypal "for his protection"...).

Yes there is a risk both ways but if sensible it can be minimised.

It is not sensible to use a bank transfer however it is phrased, banks are beginning to put more safety checks in place purely because people keep risking it on the basis of ‘it’s local’ or ‘they sound so genuine’. Every single day I could go online to my Facebook groups and find examples of people being scammed and usually the first thing they say is, the lady/man/local business were so nice and I spoke to them several times and knew I could trust them- and now my £150 for a pushchair is lost and the bank say it’s my fault. 

If you are happy to pay an amount knowing you could easily lose it then fair enough but for the majority of people that is not the case. It isn’t just out and out scammers either, what if your fancy new mug that you’ve bought as a gift arrives in a single paper bag broken, no recourse for a refund, what if you get sent a dodgy phone that turns out locked, no recourse , I could go on. I feel very strongly about this as you can tell as the sort of people I see being scammed are those that can usually I’ll afford to lose money and are naive enough to be taken in by a genuine looking seller, with a good backstory who sounds genuine.