Home Forums Gear Free Classifieds Reason's to be cautious buying from other member's?

That's usually my policy, send the stuff when the deal is struck. I tend to trust most folks until given a reason not to.

Never could figure why a guy offers something for sale then requires payment to be in hand before he ships his something. Trust is a two-way street, a buyer just a well as a seller could be a thief.

That said, I'm still waiting for payment on something I shipped and was received by the fellow almost a month ago.

I have a low post count and don't do a lot of posting due to the fact I do not have a home puter. Have plans to get one but just have not done so yet. I have dealt with quite a few guys here and everyone has been great so far.

SLG888

All excellent suggestions to take into consideration, but like all guidelines they vary and do not always fit every situation. Being familiar with a sellers postings normally will tell you of their character or lack of, but even then you may get surprized sometimes. We scrutinize our elected representatives but its apparent we oftentimes misjudge their character. Nothing is 100%. GW

I normal ship as soon as it is convenient for me. If someone is going to rip me off for something that is usually under $100 then they get to live with knowing that they were willing to sell their integrity rather cheaply.

The only times I have been disappointed in a purchase is when I do not ask questions, or read the ad thoroughly (I call that buck fever).

And no, I will not change how I do business on this board because I trust people, especially gun people.

I log on, post and buy from individuals on three different sites. I have found the members on this site to be the most courteous,helpful,respectful and knowledgeable of them all. 24hourcamfire is the best for a lot of reasons and the members are why.

Like others who have posted on this thread, I assume honesty and I haven't been burned yet. I doubt I ever will.

The only reason I have a low post count is because I'm busy opening doors for old ladies, performing charity work or mentoring. I haven't tried to sell anything, but I've purchased a few items. Good thing no one refused to take my check!

I don't have a high post count, but have never had an issue with anyone, except for the occasional "I'll take it" that doesn't end up sending the funds like they said they would.

All I have is a PO Box too, I have a physical address, but the street I live on doesn't have curbside or home mail delivery (I can actually see the post office from my front yard though!). I will give out my physical address if shipping UPS, but I prefer getting things in the mail, because then the packages don't sit outside when I'm at work, and my wife doesn't find all the goodies I buy. LOL

I guess you can look up my phone number though, but I only give out my cell number since it's always with me anyway.

I will admit to not reading every post in this thread but in many, many years of buying and selling on the Internet, I've had one bad experience (out of 1000s).
Common sense will get you through. Wait till payment clears, verify FFL, ship insured with tracking. Low post count doesn't mean much as many posts start with "Re:", nothing is being bought or sold, just chatting.
Look at the member's record in the Classified thread, and if you feel it's necessary, contact those from whom he has bought/sold for feedback.
Too bad the site does not have a comprehensive feedback system like Gunbroker, Auction Arms and Ebay. The "good guy" list is just to cumbersome to wade through.
I and many friends have found this is one of the best places to deal and never had the slightest glitch.

Where I live we had to have a PO Box for over 10 years because the USPS would not deliver as it was too far off of a main road.Once we had 3 households on this road they started to deliver.So just because someone uses a PO Box ,does not mean they only use it for nefarious reasons.

+1 on a bad guy list.When I Bought a pistol last month I tried looking thru the good guy list and it took forever and I was still not sure if I covered every one on the list.I don't think the post count is as important as the date the person joined the site.I don't think a cheat will be around long without being found out.I have bought at least 8 guns ,5 scopes and lots of other items off of at least 5 different sites and I have not been screwed yet (knock on wood).I believe for the most part most gun folks are honest.But I also believe there are a few bad apples.Why don't we just start a BAD GUY LIST and see how it works out.Someone else will have to start it because as I said I haven't been cheated yet.

Even if I had a high post count I wouldn't buy anything from me.:=)

I agree that communication is what gives me confidence in a transaction. Having said that the good con-artist will gut you while you have a big satisfied smile on your face.

I have bought and sold many thousands of dollars worth of stuff on several other forums and have never had a problem. Once however paypal saved me $34 on a $110 flashlight that was misrepresented. Paypal can be your friend.

Calvin, Thanks for the laugh!

Unfortunately Bad Guy is somewhat subjective.

I think most have missed the humor..(grin)

Hell, most don't even realize it's a year-old thread...

And thanks for the laugh Calvin.

+1. Man, I started this WAY back when few guys were getting ripped off and wanted 'campfire opinions how to protect each another. Hope it helped somebody.

Surprised to see the comments about how people with PO boxes are more likely to be sketchy. I live rurally, and I have had very mixed luck with UPS being able to deliver packages accurately, to my house. So I vastly prefer receiving things at my PO box, where there has never been a problem. I've even gone so far as to avoid dealing with businesses who refuse to ship via USPS. I figure if I am paying for the shipping, I ought to be able to choose what service I have the most confidence in.

As far as dealing with individuals goes, I've bought a wide variety of things off of this forum and others, as well as GB, eBay and Craigslist, and I've rarely run into problems, and on the rare occasion that I have had troubles, they've been minor ones. All the people I've bought from here on the campfire have been very easy to deal with.

I think that "spidey sense" is a useful tool to deploy.

I am fairly new, joining at the start of this year. I have purchased several things and had everything shipped to my P.O. Box. Never had a concern or problem yet. If I do this long enough, maybe I will get burned, like anything in life. I think 99% of people are good guys.

I have been gouged in the past. Not here and not for a large amount of money but it was enough to make me cautious at times. Sometimes people will set up PO boxes for the express purpose of internet scams so I can see why some would be wary of that. I've shipped stuff before I've received payment at times when I've felt comfortable with the other person and I've paid the extra expense to send payment registered mail when I did not feel comfortable. Just depends on the feeling I get from the other end.

Bought a rifle from a regular member. I was told the action work was done by Kampfeld. After buying itI contacted Karl.He never remembered doing the work.I latter called the member about my conversation with Karl and requested a copy of his invoice showing he did do the work. He said he could find the paper work from Karl. I was told the rest of the rifle work was done by another well know smith. Never verified if this was true or not

My fault as I was out of the country when I bought his rifle. When received I had my wife just put it in the safe for me and never shot it before selling it again

The add showed clover leaf groups.While home I sold it to another member and the best he could get was 4" groups I was very appolgetic and took it back from him and gave him his money back

Before selling it to him I told him about my comunications with Karl and also told him I never shot it

I can not blame anyone but myself for not doing more research and buying it while out of the country