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Dodgy deal via Gumtree? PayPal protection??


solo4652

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I have my Fernandes bass on Gumtree. This morning, I had an enquiry from somebody who describes himself as:

"...from London, UK" and "...i'm a very busy man working all day, am an (Operating officer) am presently on-board, i'll be looking forward to the total cost of the shipping and buying i dont mind adding extra £50 for helping me please i really need to get them send to [my son in Texas] as a birthday gift..."

Hmmmmm. My antennae are in full twitch mode here. I've said that I will only proceed if he pays me for the bass up-front via Pay Pal. He'll need to send me his email address so I can send him a payment request. He will need to pay for and organise a courier and insurance. He will be completely responsible for any US import/sales duties. I am happy to pack the bass securely, and drop it off at a courier, or wait in for collection.

What do we think, people?

 

 

Edited by solo4652
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1 minute ago, bazzbass said:

also kinda depends on whether you are in the UK or US. Personally, I'd run away, too many things to go wrong.

I'm in Stockport. Ball's in his court to send me his private email address for PayPal payment request to be sent. I'm also waiting for him to ask for my address and phone number to pass onto a courier. I rather think I'll have quite a long wait!

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Don't get paid by PayPal! All he needs to do is say he hasn't received the bass and they will refund his money. It's happened to me before and PayPal paid the buyer out despite having proof of delivery to the right address. You will not be able to claim on any insurance either as of course a delivery company will have proof of delivery. Be very careful.

Edited by itsmedunc
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18 minutes ago, solo4652 said:

I have my Fernandes bass on Gumtree. This morning, I had an enquiry from somebody who describes himself as:

"...from London, UK" and "...i'm a very busy man working all day, am an (Operating officer) am presently on-board, i'll be looking forward to the total cost of the shipping and buying i dont mind adding extra £50 for helping me please i really need to get them send to [my son in Texas] as a birthday gift..."

Hmmmmm. My antennae are in full twitch mode here. I've said that I will only proceed if he pays me for the bass up-front via Pay Pal. He'll need to send me his email address so I can send him a payment request. He will need to pay for and organise a courier and insurance. He will be completely responsible for any US import/sales duties. I am happy to pack the bass securely, and drop it off at a courier, or wait in for collection.

What do we think, people?

 

 

Nah....

There are so many ways to scam people out of their money on Gumtree and this sounds like one of them.

Take cash, at your door, from the person who is buying directly from you, or don't sell it at all.

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4 minutes ago, itsmedunc said:

PayPal paid the buyer out despite having proof of delivery to the right address. You will not be able to claim on any insurance either as of course a delivery company will have proof of delivery. 

It's even worse in OP's case, since he isn't organizing the courier and so won't have access to proof of delivery or even proof of postage.

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10 minutes ago, itsmedunc said:

Don't get paid by PayPal! All he needs to do is say he hasn't received the bass and they will refund his money. It's happened to me before and PayPal paid the buyer out despite having proof of delivery to the right address. You will not be able to claim on any insurance either as of course a delivery company will have proof of delivery. Be very careful.

Really!?. And there's me thinking that payment via PayPal would give me some protection...

Edited by solo4652
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Just now, taunton-hobbit said:

I hate sending stuff overseas, had one parcel go to somewhere near Russia - got paid, much to my surprise, the latest was an American gentleman who seemed to think I was going to send a basically uwrapped Marshall valve amp............hmm...............

Two weeks ago, I sent a £650 bass to Belgium. Up-front payment via PayPal. EU, of course, so no concerns about VAT or import duties. Very helpful buyer who volunteered all necessary information without being asked for it. Smooth and worry-free transaction.

This is most certainly not how I'm feeling about our friend the "Operating Officer" who is currently "On board..."! If/when he replies, I'll politely tell him to get lost.

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46 minutes ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

Its a common scam. There's absolutely no point in replying to these criminals. Delete the email & move on. If he messaged via gumtree, report him.

Bang on.

Every time I put anything up on Bumtree I get a reply within an hour to send details as they are asking for their boss/uncle/dad/client/clairvoyant/pet cat, whatever.

Block & delete

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Same scam when I was teaching. 

“Son (always a son) is over from USA/Nigeria/Burnley/etc for 2 weeks, teach him every day, I’ll pay you in advance, etc etc, give me your bank details and I’ll put the money in there ..like now” 

Knobs! 

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29 minutes ago, solo4652 said:

Two weeks ago, I sent a £650 bass to Belgium. Up-front payment via PayPal. EU, of course, so no concerns about VAT or import duties. Very helpful buyer who volunteered all necessary information without being asked for it. Smooth and worry-free transaction.

This is most certainly not how I'm feeling about our friend the "Operating Officer" who is currently "On board..."! If/when he replies, I'll politely tell him to get lost.

Don’t even reply. It’s a well known scam. This person is a criminal trying to steal from you. You don’t need to be polite or explain anything. Just block them and don’t waste any more of your time on them.

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6 minutes ago, itsmedunc said:

In my case, it gave me no protection. Have a quick search on Google. It's a common scam.

Well, I've learned something very useful there about PayPal.

As for the Gumtree scammer, I've deleted and blocked him, and reported him to Gumtree.

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