Selling things on craigslist help?
 

Here is the situation:

I am selling a cell phone on Craigslist Vancouver but there is this guy that keeps on asking me to send it to him in Ottawa. At first I was kind of declining his offers, but then he offered the same as my asking price...

Someone in Vancouver offered $215 to meet up locally. However, the Ottawa guy (well not really a guy, hes a teenager I think cause I just FB'ed his email) offered me $250 plus he will pay for the shipping charges as well... Also, he wants to do paypal or money order (both of which I am unfamiliar with)

Since I have never dealt with selling anything or sending anything I have a couple of questions:

1) I don't want to be scammed, so is there any possible way I can be scammed?

2) How does paypal work? I have had some input from friends saying that we should use paypal and have him send his money first and I wait until I can withdraw the money before sending the item. But I also heard that paypal deducts 4% off of your money withdrawals....

3) How does money order work? Can I still do the same thing where I withdraw the money order as cash before I send the item? The buyer told me that there is no decuction fee with money orders but I heard its more scammable?

TIA for your inputs!

:p

What was the asking price of the phone? 250 dollars?

If it was, then you have to ask yourself, what moron pays full asking price (without haggling) for a used phone, in addition to stating that he will pay for shipping. Exactly......either a scammer or a moron. I'll put my money on a scammer.

Take the $ 215.00 offer and have some peace of mind.....even if the 250 dollar was legit, you really want to go through all that hassle of arranging the exchange for an extra 35 dollars (close enough)????

Think about this: if you meet up locally in a public location, what are the chances of you being scammed?

Compare those chances to sending your phone to some dude in Ottawa and getting paid "electronically".

local

I put it up as $260. He originally said $220, then $230, then i said paypal charges transactions and he said he will pay $250 then. I have his address and everything... he's some teenager in highschool which is why I didn't see this as a risk thing... But since I am selling this phone so that I can get a newer one, it will definitely help me pay for the new one.

Don't do it. A lot of scammers out there, especially on craigslist.
Most of those aren't even legit.
It's better to just do local, or wait for a bit if you can.
I first had really low offers for my phone, then no interest, and was just going to trade it in for a bottom low price, when I had 3 offers coming my way.
Good luck!

Ask him to send you money first. If he has a bank account and an email address, he should be able to send you the money via interact email money transfer.

Once you have the money, then send him the phone.

Interact email money transfer only charges $1.50.

^How does it work though? I would need to sign up as well right? Got anymore information?

^ this

Don't even bother with oversees/out of the city emails.

Always do local unless you know what you are doing.

It's right here: http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/about/scams

It's only a ~$35 difference, why take take the risk?

scam scam scam

Interact email money transfers are done through online banking. Basically, the buyer sends money through their email to the seller's email. Once you, the seller, receive the email, click on the link and fill in the approptiate info and receive the money.

http://www.interac.ca/consumers/prod...ces_ol_emt.php

I would do money order. :)
it is like a cheque you buy in post office
have him mailed it to you by snail mail. (the one with stamps :P)
wait for the money order to arrive.
cash it in. if it's a make money order, than you know its a scam
if you get the cash out. then don't send the item and sell it locally - PROFIT!.. LOL I am just kidding.

once you get the cash
send the item ..
slow but .. very safe

Sell it locally. Its not worth the extra $50 for the possibility of being scammed.

If you can get the guy to send you the money first it's likely not a scam. Take a picture of the phone with the shipping package clearly showing it's not broken at time of shipping (also have him pay for insurance if he wants it). Use paypal if you want, they don't charge anything to transfer money (not sure where you got that information from but I do it all the time - it's $0.50 if it's under $100 and free over). Once you receive the money it's yours and he can only get it back if he files a claim through paypal (that's why you have the pictures). Shouldn't be any risk this way.

Personally I would deal locally as $35 isn't worth my time.

I have one question... is this a special phone that you have? One that he can't find in Ottawa? If the answer is yes, then there's a chance this could be legit. If the answer is no, it's almost guaranteed you're going to get scammed.

scam..

Its a normal Bell Mobility LG Xenon..... I mean, i am selling it for 60-70$ cheaper but i mean...

Im betting its a scam. Im amazed at how many people on here are telling you to go through with this. Dont accept anything but cold hard cash. Money Orders can be copied so easily even banks won't know it till after you've cashed it in. Paypal, just as scary as well cause it could be stolen and the funds will just get reversed out of your account. Get him to mail you the money or don't do it at all.

Hmm, interesting... you know what, there's actually a possibility the guy is legitimately wanting to buy your phone.

I did a quick lookup on the Ottawa Craigslist, and there's only one posting for the LG Xenon... and it's a wanted ad:

http://ottawa.en.craigslist.ca/wan/1463712523.html

So if this is the same person, chances are he's actually for real.

At the same time, I see two BNIB LG Xenons listed locally now for $200 and $190...

+1


for selling local, at least u get to see the guy face to face

LOCAL TRANSACTIONS.

$35 ain't worth the hassle, straight up.

High chance of being a scam. Sell it to the local one for less.

Not necessarily - Paypal's website states that for a personal transfer, if the buyer pays through Paypal using a credit card, there is a fee of 2.9% + $0.30. The buyer gets to choose who pays this fee.

There are no fees if it is a personal transfer and the money comes from your Paypal balance or bank account - however I just tested this and I got charged $0.02 on a $2.00 transfer... turns out if you pay someone outside of Canada, there will still be a fee.

Bottom line is Paypal is convenient, but expect to pay fees.