Want an item on gumtree that seller has agreed to send by post. Should be ok?

Exodi

This feels like the whole traffic paradox of someone being angry about being in traffic, while not acknowledging that they are part of the traffic and everyone will be feeling the same way.

Most (popular) retailers put the customer first and I can tell you (as the sales director of a global manufacturer selling on platforms across Europe and the US), scammers are nowhere near as big an issue as the general public. Many categories on Amazon enjoy double digit return rates with faceless merchants suffering the cost.

GervisLooper said:

soolin said:

Personally I don’t think eBay favour buyers particularly, it’s just that buyers have rights and on eBay they are enforced, they are rarely enforced elsewhere particularly on places like FB marketplace and Gumtree. 

A good scammer portrays themselves as someone trustworthy, makes all the right noises, it’s bad scammers, the ones who we all shot instantly that tend to get mentioned.

Your only protection will be your choice of payment methods, only PayPal goods and services will cover you , paying bank transfers or PayPal friends and family will be the same as giving cash to a bloke in the pub who promises to deliver something to you ‘later’. 

Then you have rose tinted glasses. There are thousands of videos on youtube about how nefarious buyers will take item, break it, return it, demand refund then ebay always sides with the buyer and just automatically refund them full amount. INAD, item not as described, is abbreviated for a reason, because it is abused so much.

This sounds like the negative affect of algorithmic media selection - e.g. you're obviously keen to see videos about how bad eBay is, so YouTube is happy to flood you with negative videos about eBay which you gluttonously consume and the cycle grows, using this to confirm your pre-conceived view that, because your whole feed is videos about ebay scammers, it must happen very often. We saw this thing during the pandemic: both vaxxers and anti-vaxxers felt that everything and everyone agreed with them online (because that's what they were shown).

But let's think about this logically: what is the point of taking an item, breaking it, returning it and demanding a refund? The nefarious actor isn't gaining anything (unless the sole purpose is to make a rage-bait video online for views, potentially owning the item they are damaging). I would have at least been slightly on your side if you were claiming scammers were returning different items (e.g. buy iPhone 15, return iPhone 11, claim INAD) or replacing a new item for their damaged item, or a box with a brick in it. Your example makes the least sense of any of them.

It is ironic that in response to being scammed, your plan is to buy off websites with no buyer protection. I'm sure it makes sense to you.

GadgetGuru

Exodi said:

But let's think about this logically: what is the point of taking an item, breaking it, returning it and demanding a refund? The nefarious actor isn't gaining anything (unless the sole purpose is to make a rage-bait video online for views, potentially owning the item they are damaging). I would have at least been slightly on your side if you were claiming scammers were returning different items (e.g. buy iPhone 15, return iPhone 11, claim INAD) or replacing a new item for their damaged item, or a box with a brick in it. Your example makes the least sense of any of them.

As stated earlier in the thread, I have been victim to this a couple of times, with electrical items - an action camera for example. 
I don't think people purposefully purchase to do this generally as yes, there is nothing to gain, but if they receive the item, use it for a while, decide they do not like it, they then either damage it, or claim it's not working properly. They don't gain anything from doing it, but they are guaranteed eBay will side with them for a return, which will be a free return since the seller has to pay return postage. Hence the buyer is not out of pocket a single penny. 
Im convinced in the past someone has purchased a camera from me, just to try it out beforehand, and then return it as faulty. It's easily done. 

Let's say in another example, I sell a drone. Buyer purchases - flies it, crashes it, then simply returns it as faulty, saying that there was something wrong with it upon purchase so it didn't fly right etc. Irrespective of the reason, eBay will class it as INAD or as faulty, and the buyer can easily return, with the seller footing the bill of postage both ways, as well as a now damaged item. 

IMO, eBay has turned into a try-before-you-buy for a lot of item categories - I guess it comes down to the types of items you sell. 

Rocketdogroya

Ebay OWN gumtree!!!!! So your not really boycotting it just using its side door!

steveE2

eBay sold gumtree about 4 yeasr ago

BlueonBlue

I sold a £400 item on gumtree and received payment by bank transfer just this year .
Used to sell one or two items per year by bank transfer on gumtree but  now I dont think anyone has any money these days .
Alot of buyers are lazy they want items cheaper than advertised ,posted and seller pays paypal fees .
I used to send via paypal but in most cases today I feel its too risky also some buyers get the hump if you mention paypay has extra costs that they will have to pay .

soolin

Be aware this is an old thread 

GervisLooper

Oldy but a goodie.

BlueonBlue

I found Gumtree to be very slow to nearly dead this last year in my case 
People just dont have money in the first instance and/or the time in the second ie. cant be bovvered