How to safely make the deal for non-local deals

pguan · 11-24-2015, 08:04 PM

BIMMERPOST / Classifieds

Asking Price:

None

Item Interest

How can we safely make a deal for both buyer and seller. I.e make sure the seller will get the money and the buyer will get the item? What payment platform do you guys use?

kisarci · 11-24-2015, 11:22 PM

Paypal all the way. Protects buyers and sellers the best in my opinion.

SeanS54 · 11-25-2015, 01:53 PM

paypal... pics, cell number, text, phone conversations, itrader feedback/score, gut feel, intuition...

at the end of the day there's always going to be some risk but you have to take chances sometimes..

sirdaft1 · 11-25-2015, 10:34 PM

I've bought dozens and dozens of items private party on various forums. Not to mention hundreds of transactions via Craigslist (no joke, you have to see how we furnished our house).

Follow these guidelines to cover your ass:

As a buyer ask for every detail imaginable so every expectation of yours is met. Always pay via PayPal. NEVER send payment as a gift even if the seller adds the 3% fee to the total cost. Consider that 3% your insurance and it is WELL worth it.

As a seller, provide every imaginable detail and pictures of the item for sale so there are no surprises. And ALWAYS purchase shipping insurance. If item arrives broken or is lost in the mail, this is the sellers liability 99% of the time.

And as SeanS54 said; use your intuition. I've found that I stay far away from sellers that have poor communication or poor grammar. That's almost always been a recipe for bad bad news. On the contrary, some of the best sellers I've purchased from sound educated, and will anticipate the main questions and concerns you will have and address them up front; either in their post or in private communications.

Lastly, on these forums post count helps. If they have a strong and consistent reputation on the forums, the risk level will be lower. Do they have 5 posts, all of them bumping their one For Sale thread for an expensive and rare Competition Kevlar/Carbon Fiber CSL trunk for $2,000? For me, that's a big yellow flag. And if you really want to do your due diligence on a seller. It never hurts to search their username via Google. It may unearth a link to another forum, their Facebook profile, etc. You're looking for anything to legitimize the seller.

Any other questions, just let me know. Always happy to be a resource.

11-24-2015, 08:04 PM	#1
pguan New Member 4 Rep 13 Posts Drives: BMW 2011 328i Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: CA, United States iTrader: (1)	How to safely make the deal for non-local deals BIMMERPOST / Classifieds Asking Price: None Item Interest How can we safely make a deal for both buyer and seller. I.e make sure the seller will get the money and the buyer will get the item? What payment platform do you guys use?
	Appreciate 0 Tweet Quote

11-24-2015, 11:22 PM	#2
kisarci Lieutenant 67 Rep 435 Posts Drives: 2007 335i Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Long Island, NY iTrader: (0)	Paypal all the way. Protects buyers and sellers the best in my opinion.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

11-25-2015, 01:53 PM	#3
SeanS54 Captain 182 Rep 860 Posts Drives: M4 ZCP, E46 M3, '21 Tacoma Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Bay Area, CA iTrader: (20)	paypal... pics, cell number, text, phone conversations, itrader feedback/score, gut feel, intuition... at the end of the day there's always going to be some risk but you have to take chances sometimes.. __________________ https://www.youtube.com/user/SeanS54/videos
	Appreciate 0 Quote

11-25-2015, 10:34 PM	#4
sirdaft1 Brigadier General 2266 Rep 3,353 Posts Drives: F85 X5M Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Chicago West Burbs iTrader: (9) Garage List 2016 BMW X5M [9.00] 2012 BMW X5 35i (SOLD) [9.67] 1989 BMW 325i Track ... [10.00] 2007 E90 WTCC Wideb ... [8.50]	I've bought dozens and dozens of items private party on various forums. Not to mention hundreds of transactions via Craigslist (no joke, you have to see how we furnished our house). Follow these guidelines to cover your ass: As a buyer ask for every detail imaginable so every expectation of yours is met. Always pay via PayPal. NEVER send payment as a gift even if the seller adds the 3% fee to the total cost. Consider that 3% your insurance and it is WELL worth it. As a seller, provide every imaginable detail and pictures of the item for sale so there are no surprises. And ALWAYS purchase shipping insurance. If item arrives broken or is lost in the mail, this is the sellers liability 99% of the time. And as SeanS54 said; use your intuition. I've found that I stay far away from sellers that have poor communication or poor grammar. That's almost always been a recipe for bad bad news. On the contrary, some of the best sellers I've purchased from sound educated, and will anticipate the main questions and concerns you will have and address them up front; either in their post or in private communications. Lastly, on these forums post count helps. If they have a strong and consistent reputation on the forums, the risk level will be lower. Do they have 5 posts, all of them bumping their one For Sale thread for an expensive and rare Competition Kevlar/Carbon Fiber CSL trunk for $2,000? For me, that's a big yellow flag. And if you really want to do your due diligence on a seller. It never hurts to search their username via Google. It may unearth a link to another forum, their Facebook profile, etc. You're looking for anything to legitimize the seller. Any other questions, just let me know. Always happy to be a resource.
	Appreciate 0 Quote