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Buyer anxiety
I have purchased an integrated amp here on Audiogon. It is my first buy here. I tried to pay with Paypal but the transaction will not complete. I sent a message to the seller asking for advice. She is asking me to pay her directly to her email at Paypal. I'm not sure Paypal will back up a purchase with a private individual.
This is her message to me.
Hello Dear, I Hope you are doing well.
Sorry for my late reply, I tried to contact you through audiogon,
For the confirmation process and for your item to be shipped to the right address could you please give your shipping address and send us a screenshot of your payment from PayPal.
Your order has been prepared and ready to be shipped tomorrow, please confirm the previously requested details.
The red flags are
They have no sales history.
There is no discussion history under Witting74
The amp is supposed to be in Kansas, but the phone number is out of country.
42 responses Add your response
Paypal provides excellent buyer protection if you pay for goods and follow their terms. If you are ever in doubt, offer to pay the 3%. Insistence on FF used to be a red flag but now there are honest sellers who don't want the government in their shorts so they are not accepting regular paypal payments. I agree in this case. You sniffed out the red flags. Jerry |
@rocray Yes we don't talk like that in the US even in the south where I am from. |
@ebm They seem too be in the Philippines The deal was too sweet A B.A.T.integrated VK 3000 SE for $2650 rated 10 of 10 the new price is $7000 |
@clearthinker County code was 66 |
Yipes. That's Thailand. Some of the biggest international scams originate there. Some years ago there was a huge forged wine fraud that lost buyers more than $8 million. Wine speciallsts in auction houses were taken in. It is also known that audio equipment is forged there. Yup, they copy the stuff good enough so that some people buy them.. Good rule of thumb: don't deal with people in the Far East, except possibly Singapore and Japan. Not Hong Kong any more, it's just part of China now. It's worth repeating that the internet and websites are by far the biggest source of fraud and it's growing all the time. |
@clearthinker Ok now even more anxiety! As soon as I saw the phone number, I said WTF. I was very attached to the idea that I rally wanted the unit, even though I saw the red flags. Paypal saved me! |
@clearthinker Ok now even more anxiety! As soon as I saw the phone number, I said WTF. I was very attached to the idea that I rally wanted the unit, even though I saw the red flags. Paypal saved me!
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@blue-magoo I'm not intending to create anxiety. But everybody needs to know the internet and the web are dangerous places. At time progresses more and more care needs to be taken. The scammers are far cleverer and more committed than those few trying to clean the place up. There is nothing that can be done and the experience will get worse and worse. They sure opened a Pandora's box when they started the internet. People here rightly say you should always get in contact and talk with people you deal with. But over her in Blighty the largest and most widespread scams are financial frauds where very plausible criminals do just that and convince you they are genuine. Billions are lost every year. The rule has to be: if you are in the SLIGHTEST DOUBT WHATSOEVER immediately walk away. |