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Craigslist Safety


Edgar

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I'm hoping that this is the appropriate place to post this.

 

I found a speaker that I want to purchase, on the Dallas Craigslist. But I'm in the St. Louis area. So how do I get the payment to the seller and have the seller ship the item to me, in a way that is safe for both of us?

 

In the past I have always met in person or used a trusted intermediary, but in this case I cannot do either.

 

I wonder if any of the "pack-and-ship" businesses offer something like this -- buyer sends the money to the pack-and-ship, seller delivers the item to the pack-and-ship, pack-and-ship delivers the money to the seller. Great business idea.

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In regards to Craigslist, it definitely adds another layer of concern when it is not a local ad and requires shipping.   Does this guy sell on other sites such as Ebay or Amazon and might have feedback you can read. Good seller feedback is a nice way to verify someone.    I was interested in an amp on Craigslist one time and through emailing back and forth I discovered he had a regular presence on AVS forum, went to the site and read some posts of his and saw that he was a typical audio enthusiast,  loved gear, took  good care of it and seemed  upright.  This was a meet up though.  One thing you can do is ask if he will send it COD. That way,  when it arrives you hand over a check and if you don't, the driver returns it to seller. That way, you are both covered.  Make sure it is insured as well,  just in case, of course.    

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1 hour ago, Shiva said:

Does this guy sell on other sites such as Ebay or Amazon and might have feedback you can read. Good seller feedback is a nice way to verify someone.

 

That would be helpful, yes. At this point I haven't yet contacted the seller, because I do not want to get everybody all worked-up and then back-out because of mistrust.

 

Quote

 One thing you can do is ask if he will send it COD. That way,  when it arrives you hand over a check and if you don't, the driver returns it to seller. That way, you are both covered.  Make sure it is insured as well,  just in case, of course.    

 

If I were the seller, I would worry in that case about whether the check would bounce. So it is risky for him.

 

Thanks.

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1 hour ago, kevinmi said:

I have purchased several items from out of state sellers, and I always use paypal. Even when disputes, such as damaged goods from shipping, I've always gotten my money back. I'm sure I'll get burned someday, but I've been good so far.

 

Does a seller have to have a special kind of Paypal account for this, or can anybody with a Paypal account act as a seller? I've only ever bought things using Paypal.

Thanks.

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Just now, Edgar said:

 

Does a seller have to have a special kind of Paypal account for this, or can anybody with a Paypal account act as a seller? I've only ever bought things using Paypal.

Thanks.

 anyone can sell/ accept money. Some people may ask that you send as family/friends (this takes away any protection). As a seller I worry more about using pp than as a buyer. pp will always side with the buyer even when the buyer is a crook.

 

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15 minutes ago, Edgar said:

 

That would be helpful, yes. At this point I haven't yet contacted the seller, because I do not want to get everybody all worked-up and then back-out because of mistrust.

 

 

If I were the seller, I would worry in that case about whether the check would bounce. So it is risky for him.

 

Thanks.

You can ask is he is open to COD and also discuss what type of check that is to be paid, such as a money order, bank check and the like , for seller peace of mind.  

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Update: Transaction went flawlessly. Seller was very conscientious, triple-boxed the speaker, sent it promptly. It arrived yesterday ... smashed.

 

I don't know for sure, but from the looks of it, UPS dropped the carton from a very great height ... I'm estimating 35,000 feet.

 

Seriously, though, I'm stuck with a badly damaged loudspeaker and an insurance claim to file.

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I have had several packages damaged by UPS. The last was a case of 9mm ammo (1000 rounds). Somewhere along its journey with UPS, they destroyed the original packaging and re-boxed in their box. Inside included busted 50 round boxes, loose rounds, and a few intact 50 round boxes (maybe 8 out of 20. In the end it was all there except maybe 5 rounds. UPS routinely throws boxes in transfer, hence the ammo box destruction. And a case of 9mm isn't all that heavy or large.

 

Approx 15 years ago, I had a new sub purchase arrive damaged via UPS. It looked like the "rolled" the box maybe an eighth of a mile.

 

FedEx has been much better in my experience but I ordered a new SVS sub from a vendor (retail brick and mortar shop)  in VA. The vendor called me one day before scheduled delivery and told me fedx had destroyed the sub, and they were sending out a second unit. Must have been pretty bad if they notified the sender it was no longer deliverable. And SVS factory packing is pretty good. This was the first Fedx shipment they trashed on the way to me. The vendor (IQ Home Entertainment) was great and I received the second SB-3000 only one day later than than the first scheduled delivery.

 

In my experience UPS is way worse. Fedx is usually dependable. 

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2 minutes ago, polizzio said:

In my experience UPS is way worse. Fedx is usually dependable. 

 

One would think that, in this modern age of online purchasing with delivery, that the delivery services would have perfected their procedures to make things like this very rare. Instead I see reports of egregiously smashed shipments from every one of them.

 

In my case, the manufacturer is in Springfield, IL and I'm near Saint Louis, MO -- about a 1½ hour drive. If the loudspeaker is repairable, I believe I'll hand-deliver it to the manufacturer, rather than risk yet another delivery and opportunity to smash it even more.

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