I'm selling a welder and some other welding related items. I have 2 50lb. cans of unopened Lincoln rod I'm asking $200 for. I had 2 people wanting it within 15 minutes of posting the ad. I wasn't even finished posting the 4 ads I had. I told the 1st guy to respond that he had 1st dibbs on it. If I would have asked more money I'd probably have no interest. On the welder I also had a 2 people interested within an an hour. The 1st guy seems to really want it but wants to e-mail a certified cheque and asked if I know how to do a mobile deposit. I've never done that. I said I'd need to make sure of payment before loading the machine. I don't think you can trust anyone with all the latest scammers. Has anybody been paid for something by a certified cheque through an e-mail? I'm wondering if my bank could take the certified cheque by e-mail so I know it's legit? I'm not going to get scammed out of $900. I don't want to question the buyer but I prefer dealing in person. He is apparently out of town but will have his movers pick it up. My spidey sense is tingling. Hoping someone could give some guidance on how to proceed? I just noticed something. None of the area codes from prospective buyers for both the welder and rods are anywhere near me. Looking online apparently one of the scams is the buyer is out of town and will have movers come to pick it up and they'll pay with a (fake) certified cheque. I think I need to put in the ad cash in hand.
sure sounds scammy.
Scam its a scam. They some how use the information when you scan there check to get in to empty your account
Cash only
It's a scam, many have been taken by that one. Worst part is by the time you find out your bank will charge you for the bad check. Use cash or something like paypal F/F or zelle. Don't use paypal with anything else
As soon as you said he’s out of town and will have movers pick it up I said scam. They always say out of town or working on a ship far away. Lol
Scam. Cash only in person if it were me.
Cash in hand only for something small like a welder for $900. Every posting will bring scammers, it's just the way it is.
His movers is the give away, who has movers? I've had a couple of those cheques, they are real checks, just no good. Take Buyer Number Two !! for $900 cash. Joe H
I don't even take cash anymore! If they come to me with cash I send them to the bank to get a cashiers check or money order made out to me. Let the bank decide if their cash is real or not.
This is one I didn't see coming
I stopped responding and then realized the area codes weren't anywhere near me, they were from Ohio and Florida. Even if someone tried to scam me with a bogus cheque, I wouldn't let the machine go without the cash in hand and I certainly wouldn't give out any of my banking info. From what I was seeing online, they usually "make a mistake" and send too much money and want you to send back the difference.
When you deal with legit buyers you can usually get a idea if they're honest when you talk to them and then meet them in person. The 1st welder I sold, the guy really wanted it. He brought cash and didn't even haggle on the price. His cash was good, he was 80 years old and had his welder and a bunch of tools stolen.
You should probably just take that stuff to the auction house to sell it.
Mic Drop.
It wouldn't bring much at auction, that's where I got it. The last welder I bought for $125 and sold it 3 days later for $450. I realize this one is twice as much but it's 10 times the welder.
I was going to suggest Iron Planet but the $$ amount is not enough to justify the hassle of listing, paperwork and fees charged. Speaking from experience or abundance of caution?
I don't know what a certified check is. I've received Cashier's checks phony. I did sell a four wheel drive van to a person several states away. He, (like me) didn't know how. A lady he worked for sent money by wire to my bank. My bank confirmed the payment was good. Next day a transporter she arranged picked it up.
Someone in our town just got scammed out of 17k on a used truck....cashiers check was a fake. Ed
My dad has a 65 GTO for sale and had a similar experience. Guy claimed it sight unseen and promised to send a certified check. My dad was suspicious because of the amount of money and asked the guy to call him so they could speak. Poof. Gone.
That is the litmus test I use, selling stuff and also scam calls to the business for jobs and such. Call me. The scammers will never call, at least I haven't run into one who will.
The scammers will call you, alright. They are cunning as the proverbial outhouse rats. I got scammed on a transport job. I needed some industrial gates and chain-mesh fencing rolls picked up from a location many hundreds of kms away. They were purchased at auction, and located in a Govt Dept yard. The scammers registered with a load-finding site, calling themselves "iTransport Solutions". I put up the load for offers, and they emailed me with a reasonable price. Then they called me and discussed the job. I should've been wary of the Indian voice, but many businesses use India as a base for administration, and Indians make up a sizeable portion of the Australian population today. Then he sent an email with a proper invoice and an Australian bank account number, and even an address and landline number. I checked on the address and it was an office location in Melbourne, Victoria and looked legitimate. I was still suspicious, so I asked if the company was picking up the goods with their own truck or using a subcontractor. The guy advised they were using TNT Transport as the subcontractor, and even sent me a genuine TNT booking confirmation! I paid the $780 they requested, and then when I asked the guy in charge of the Govt Dept yard two days later, if the fencing materials had been picked up, he told me, No! It was only then I realised that anyone can book a job with TNT and get a confirmation - but you don't have to proceed with the job! The scammers vanished, and my money went with them!
Anybody else notice this: You'll have something listed for sale online, $XXXX.XX OBO. Someone will make an offer, sight unseen. You say ok and they come to get it. Once they show up they think they can lowball you. Sorry bud, you made the offer sight unseen and we agreed on the price. Either stand by your offer or go pound sand.
Have seen this also, have actually seen ads where the seller states: ‘no offers until item seen in person‘
Yeah I've done it a few times, only with smaller things though. Though they were a bit dear and didn't want to drive all that way and they wouldn't move on price. I still look the item over and make sure they represented it fairly and then stood by my offer. It hasn't happened yet, but if I found something like, they didn't photograph some damage or something like that, I would either want to renegotiate or walk away. Fairness cuts both ways, be honest with me, I'll do the right by you.
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Haven't had a fake cashiers check have you? Better give 10 days for it to clear first!
Haven't had a bad one yet, fingers crossed!
Always wait 10 days and you won't have any problems
Yes I have.
10 days is crazy this day and age. Its not like banks are talking to each other by carrier pigeon.
It's a Check, doesn't matter if its yours or a Bank Out of town check need to be transmitted to other bank. Out of town Bank receives, and no they don't jump on it. They probably have one day a week to verify out of town checks. Only Bank check I would take is from local Bank, and that is only after calling or going to Bank and verifying
I keep forgetting you folks down south have thousands of different banks. I guess it could get a bit difficult.
Nowadays e-transfer for small stuff works pretty good
Have the buyer send the truck, you keep the truck until the payment is cleared.
I took a personal check for stuff, called the bank, gave them the account, they would verify that the account was legit and the amount on the face of the check would clear.
Well all right then
Then once they leave they clear the account out.
Or put a ‘stop payment’ on the cheque by calling the bank as soon as they get out of sight. I usually use a certified cheque, bank draft or wire transfer on larger amounts
I stopped payment once. A tractor I had my eye on since 1985 was offered for sale. I made an offer, owner accepted. I went for the truck & trailer loaded it, wrote a check. On the way home my son was on the phone with his buddy: "That tractor was in the pond last month!" We made it home took plugs out of crankcase & transmission. No water in the engine, transmission milk shake came out. I called my bank, stopped payment. Then I called her. I gave the choice, I'd bring it right back, or renegotiate the price. I didn't mind a project, but not at full price. She called me a liar, called me some other choice names & hung up. She must have gone to the bank, found I had stopped payment. She called me, ranted a while, used some foul language, hung up again. Later she called again, wanted to know what I would pay. We came to a new value I could live with.
The new value should have been even lower after her ranting. I lost a $50 or $100 deposit on a pick up truck. The seller claimed the owner he bought the truck from was an old farmer and figured the air filter needed oil in it. At least that was his excuse for the air cleaner having oil in the bottom. I just couldn't trust that was the reason for the oil. The more I thought about it, the more it didn't make sense. Why didn't the guy selling it clean uthis that was the case?? It would have taken 10 minutes at the most. The only theory I could come up with is the engine was blowing oil out the intake. I wasn't willing to take a chance on the sellers theory for the oil.