A Better Way to Buy Gear - Help Needed

My advice is walk away. This seller is absolutely full of crap

The "meta" factor here is that Paypal either has or has not yet implemented an IRS-mandated reporting mechanism to compel sellers who accept money via Paypal’s "Good and Services" feature, to declare proceeds of the sale on their taxes. It’s actually more nuanced than that. Most individual (regular people) sellers accept less for their F.S. item than they paid, and thus have no profit to declare from the transaction.

Having said all that, this G&S vs F&F thing has prompted many sellers to demand payment only via F&F. These are people who, a couple years ago, would have accepted G&S payments, w/ or w/o bulking up their price by ~3% to offset PP charges. But now many many sellers advertise payment only by F&F. They’re either misunderstanding the IRS mechanism involved--or just opportunistically using it as excuse to not accept G&S payments. .

I’ve interacted with a number of such sellers. For any item going for a few 100 dollars, I’ll play along. But for anything more expensive & larger, no way I’ll do F&F with a total stranger. I’ve gotten a couple sellers to accept my G&S payments; I’ve walked away from 2 or 3 sellers who would not.

The plain fact is that some % of sellers are dishonest, and this F&F thing only increases their number and gives them better cover to scam others. Don’t fall for it.

 

Tell the seller to go pound sand. His customer service sucks.

@inagroove  What is the listing id?  

 

 He isn't selling the cure for cancer . 

 

After my last Update: 

1. The seller changed the item’s color from silver to black in the listing. 

(… yet another cause for concern).

2. I requested the item’s serial number and name of the dealer from whom he purchased the item.  I seller provided both.  I contacted the dealer, and he confirmed that he bought the unit in Feb 2024.  Next, I contacted the manufacturer, who confirmed, via the serial number, item was sold to that dealer and that the item was sold in Feb 2024. 

(… I am now comfortable that the seller has the item, but what shape is it in?  What color is it – silver or black?)

 

Next Step:

I knew that sending cash and F&F are inappropriate, so I asked the dealer to broker the purchase using my VISA card.  He agreed, but only if the transaction was in-person.

              (…I am beginning to wonder if I should just go fishing 😊)

 

On the Road Again:

I decided to spend two days on-the-road to see the item in person. 

The item was now back at the dealer’s residence - still sealed.  We opened the boxes, and it was… Black.  >> I bought the item, spent the night in a hotel, then drove home. 

Oh yea, the item in question is a preamp.  I will write a prologue to let you know if the unit is working, or not, and my thoughts after the break-in period passes. 

 

Thanks to everyone for their input.  I hope that aspiring sellers get the nearly-unanimous message – PP Friends and Family is a deal-killer for expensive (self-defined) items.

Special thanks to:

NTPC4 - “Find someone in this community who is local to the seller and would do you the favor of inspecting the gear.”  (Great, constructive outside-the-box thinking – really appreciate the suggestion.  Hopefully others in the AG community will use this idea in the future)

Coltrane1 - Offer to purchase and you pay the PayPal fee. (It is great to know what the ‘standard practice’ has been, and that it worked)

For their sound ideas addressing the original question: “is there a better way forward… “

 

Best Regards,