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.JahJahwarrior.

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 1, 2007
438
0
I'm selling a Garmin GTM-25 cable on th elocal craigslist, had the ad up for about 2 weeks. I get an email today that looks legit,
email said:
Hi -

Would you be willing to sell the gtm-25 and mail it to me in Minnesota? I could pay you via PayPal for the item plus shipping.

Thanks,
Dale

No spelling errors, no mention of escrow accounts or anything...

I have a few options.
1- don't sell it to him at all.
2- take money via paypal, and remove the amount to my bank, waiting the 2-3 days and verifing the money is in my account before I ship it.
3- ask him to mail me cash.
4- ask him to mail me a money order, and cashing the money order before shipping him the cable.

Money orders could be faked, but moving the money into my bank acount in paypal, or asking for cash, should be foolproof, right?
 

yg17

macrumors Pentium
Aug 1, 2004
15,027
3,002
St. Louis, MO
I'm selling a Garmin GTM-25 cable on th elocal craigslist, had the ad up for about 2 weeks. I get an email today that looks legit,


No spelling errors, no mention of escrow accounts or anything...

I have a few options.
1- don't sell it to him at all.
2- take money via paypal, and remove the amount to my bank, waiting the 2-3 days and verifing the money is in my account before I ship it.
3- ask him to mail me cash.
4- ask him to mail me a money order, and cashing the money order before shipping him the cable.

Money orders could be faked, but moving the money into my bank acount in paypal, or asking for cash, should be foolproof, right?

Cash would be foolproof, but PayPal can and will go back into your bank and withdraw that money if it turns out to be fraud.
 

.JahJahwarrior.

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 1, 2007
438
0
I'm trying to sell the cable for $50, and I haven't had any local interest.

I didnt know Paypal would go and take the money back if it later turned out to be fraudulent, that gives basically no protection to me as a seller.

I'll see if he'll pay with cash, otherwise, no go. I wish there was a service out there that provided protection for sellers and was easy for buyers to use, without costing much....
 

harperjones99

macrumors 6502
Nov 3, 2009
497
0
I'm trying to sell the cable for $50, and I haven't had any local interest.

I didnt know Paypal would go and take the money back if it later turned out to be fraudulent, that gives basically no protection to me as a seller.

I'll see if he'll pay with cash, otherwise, no go. I wish there was a service out there that provided protection for sellers and was easy for buyers to use, without costing much....

I stopped using paypal and ebay a while ago...too much headache and not enough protection for sellers. Anyone who has paypal linked to their bank account is sitting on a timebomb. Greedy people and companies ruin everything eventually.
 

.JahJahwarrior.

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 1, 2007
438
0
Surprisingly, he agreed to send cash.

I know money can be counterfeited as well but the bank should be able to tell when I deposit it.
 

Ruahrc

macrumors 65816
Jun 9, 2009
1,345
0
I think in the case of money orders as well, if it's a postal money order (probably elsewhere too) you take it to the post office and they verify it right there and you can walk out with cash. It's a little safer than sending straight up cash and I really am not sure the P.O. could come after you for that cash if they later determined somehow that the MO was fake.

I bought a camera lens and sent a money order to which the seller agreed because he could go to the post office and get cash for it right away vs. waiting for a PayPal to clear.

Ruahrc
 

MrMacintoshBlog

macrumors 6502
Sep 21, 2009
457
304
Chicago, IL
To be honest the email looks legit. As long as you have the money and its cleared in paypal you should be ok. The only thing he can pull is to say that you didn't send it. Then you can show that you sent it with delivery confirmation and tracking and you will be ok.

If you are still worried you can have him send you a USPS money order and you will be set with no worries.
 
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