careful people

mysteryscribe · Dec 6, 2007

Now I know that things get posted for sale here and they sound like good deals but please use a little common sense. People who are new here trying to sell things might be here just to sell you something. That does not make them bad people but there may well be a villain mixed in with the good guys.

Once you send a money order, or your check has processed, you don't have a lot of recourse with someone who is just a po box number.

If i were going to buy something from a stranger, I would want to see that he was a stable member here with a track record of participation. If not that, then I would want a valid phone number, street address, and verifiable employer... Now that sounds like you don't trust the seller. Trust me he is not going to send the camera till your check clears.

I would expect him to take paypal so that he had a verified address. It takes all of five minutes to get a paypal account. You can also use your credit card there and have the charge taken off if it is a scam.

PLEASE BUYERS BEWARE....

seafoxfla · Dec 6, 2007

Good post. I agree and will not buy from anyone who will not take pay pal. like the saying goes."if it's too good to be true them it probably is."

BTW, I think that new members should not be able to view, sell or buy any thing in this forum until the reach at least 30 post and 30 days of membership. this at least should weed out the hit and run sellers. Just a thought.

mysteryscribe · Dec 6, 2007

Frankly I read a for sale camera adv and was really concerned that a new member and someone new to photography might fall into it.

Most of us who have kicked around a little would be careful but a new person trying to buy equipment might well fall into someone's trap.

Of course I'm sure a lot of these sellers first time or not are dead level honest but I still advise caution. It doesn't take but one to really put a hurt on a young person trying to save a few bucks.

FotoPro07 · Dec 6, 2007

For those who dont have a credit card or checking card you can not get a paypa. thats the problem with me.

Otherwise i would.

matpoh · Dec 6, 2007

Stumbled onto this thread while getting ready to post a feeler on a Nikon and I do agree with most all the above. This is my first post here and was wondering if anyone on this board used Heatware? As far as getting a PayPal account, I thought pretty much anyone can get a bank account with a debit card. Then tie your paypal to that. IF you are a minor, just need an adult "co-signer" on the account. Just my 2 cents.

seafoxfla · Dec 6, 2007

FotoPro07 said:
For those who dont have a credit card or checking card you can not get a paypa. thats the problem with me.

Otherwise i would.

Go to a bank and get a pay as you go Visa, Am Ex or Master card and pay with that.

TheMoneyPit · Dec 6, 2007

Yeah i agree that you definitely have to be aware of who you buy from.

Always ask for evidence of feedback.

For example I have a verified paypal account, a good rating on ebay and also above average feedback on another forum site i am on (vwvortex.com)

If a person can prove that they have done plently of business elsewhere and never hand any negitve feedback i feel much more comfortable buying from them.

The only time i ran into problems was someone on ebay bid on one of my items (it was someone from a different country) They had 300+ sales/buys with all pos feedback. I had specifically said in the post that i would not ship out of the country. I contacted ebay and it turned out that someone had phished the person account and it was a scam.

Everyone just needs to be carefull!

If a deal seems to good to be true it prob is. Like the canon EOS-1ds mk III body for sale for $600 on craigs list.

gsp · Dec 6, 2007

Pay-pal or ebay will get no more of my money. I beleive in the 2nd ammendment, they dont. But thats another story. I have bought and sold thousands worth of guns on the internent. I accept US postal money orders only. I will accept a personal check, but there going to wait until I know it has cleared. I have had more than one try to scam me from craigs list for my camera gear. Since I am one with only a couple posts, I have no problem deleting my post. There loss, not mine.
Just my 2 cents.

TheMoneyPit · Dec 6, 2007

As a followup here is the email i got from the person on craigslist selling the eos 1d mkII for $610

Hi there,

Sorry for my late reply but I'm currently in England, Wolverhampton. I was promoted to Sales Administrator and I have to take a 6 months trainning program here in UK, before I'll be back home, in States.
The camera is still available, in perfect condition, and I will sell it only in US because here the warranty and the CanonCare are US registered.
The reason why I am selling the camera is because I have just received a new camera as a birthday gift here in UK, so I do not think I will be using my old camera any more. I don't have use for 2 cameras.
I have attached some pics with the camera to this e-mail so you can see the condition of the camera. I bought the camera 8 months ago and it still has 16 months of Canon transferable warranty remaining.
I hope you are still interested and we can make the deal happen right away.
Since I can't meet you and make the exchange, I would like to use a service that will help us with that:

www.tnt.com/tnt.express.wolverhampton.depot/third_party_service.html

TNT is a worldwide delivery company (like Fedex, DHL or UPS). You can see from their procedure that you will be able to check the camera before I receive the payment. If you are in a hurry, I will use 2 day delivery (on my expense).

Let me know what you think.

Best Wishes,
Jenny