How to avoid the buyer scam?

[doctorbanana]

So say there's a person interested in buying an item from you, but he/she lives in another state or country.

What's the safest way for the buyer and seller to do the transaction?
I read online that there's a lot of "buyers" that try to scam by giving the seller some check and then canceling the check after or something.

Is there some kind of way to do a safe transaction? Maybe I can record both of us talking on phone or something so I have a documentation of the agreement? Or make both of us sign a contract or something? I really don't know, I'm a noob at this

Oh and I don't want to use something like ebay because it charges alot. I need something free and effective.

I got some people wanting to buy my keytar but I don't know the best way to go about this.

[tpantano]

Oh and I don't want to use something like ebay because it charges alot. I need something free and effective.

ebay charges like, $2. not really that much.

online exchanges are done easy through paypal... but there is a fee deducted when you get cash in (I forget percentage)

[cminor]

It is a fact, that many countries (Including mine - Romania) have laws, but the system is too corupted and the scammers doesn't care ...
I haven't a paypal account, but willing to buy some digital mixers from USA, made me send the money first, thru western union.
I am feeling sad about the fact that when someone hears about Romania, is afraid of scam, but that's the situation.
Until the authorities make something about that,the scam will exist.
I had abot 3 floors under my apartment, some 19-20 years young boys.
In one morning the police break the door and arrest them.
They didn't look as card scammers, but the police found about 1000 cards, and 80.000 euros in different exchange money.
I think is not as the poverty that made those young boys to steal from the internet, but impulsiveness, need for hard sensations.
I had to take the risk, knowing that in USA the law is still the law.
I did received the mixers. (after 3 weekes - San Francisco to Bucharest is a loong way)
So my advice, take the money first.
You never know.
Thru paypal, thru other system , but take the money first.
And be carefull about the shipping, it ay cost more then it looks.

[tpantano]

need for hard sensations.

kind of off topic but I couldn't stop laughing at this XD
your engrish is sweet

doctor, I still would really recommend using paypal to sell. There is a small % of your cash taken away from you as a processing fee, but it really is minimal. It will make your transaction much smoother, especially dealing internationally- it can exchange currency.

ebay uses paypal, so if you're finding buyers without it don't even bother with ebay. ebay doesn't actually process your transaction, it just lists your ad and does the auctioning, but forwards payment to paypal. however, paypal has selling features built right in so there's no need for ebay if you already have buyers.

I've had no problem selling through paypal yet, and the fees are really minimal.

[Timo]

your engrish is sweet

Far better than your Romanian language though.

Back on topic, Western Union is one to run a mile from. I hear of so many dodgy scams involving WU. There's no paper trail for the buyer. They have no come back.

I know you're the seller in this particular arrangement, though.

I've never had to use Paypal's anti-fraud options so am unsure what comeback you have with them, but I'd imagine it's much better than Western Union.

Also, separately, I think that some international cheques don't clear properly for one month, even though they look as though they've been temporarily been cleared by the bank and added to your account. If it later turns out to been a bad international cheque, they'll take the money back out of your account.

Sorry I'm no help here. I only know the above risks to steer clear for as a buyer, but not about an actual best option for such a transaction.

[xmlguy]

Since either the buyer or the seller, or both, may be scammers, then the best solution is to have a reliable, accountable, and legally liable third-party as an intermediary for the exchange and to ensure that the sale is conducted according to the terms of the contract. That's what an Escrow service does. You pay for that service. The buyer is at more risk than the seller, by the way, because most sellers don't send the goods without the receipt of verified payment. So if the seller doesn't send the goods, then the buyer has lost everything. If the buyer doesn't send the funds, then the seller is out nothing except potential sales opportunies.

So you pick: spend a few percentage points for protection, or risk losing 100% on the deal.

[tpantano]

your engrish is sweet

Far better than your Romanian language though.

true, true, româneşte mea e de rahat

[viberunner]

You have choices for long-range fraud protection. You can have free, or you can have effective.

Selling locally is best if you want to minimise overheads and scams. I've used Gumtree for a lot of buying and selling recently, and have noticed a lot of music-related items there.

Otherwise, eBay. Really. I've used that for long-range selling, and I've bought loads of things from it. I know the fees are a pain, but it's better to get 90% of a sale price than 100% of a scam.