Kalcium
I have someone who wants to buy a guitar of mine through gumtree and he is willing to pay upfront but wants to know how I can guarantee him he will get his guitar since to him, Im just a random seller on gumtree. Im thinking of sending pics of myself with the guitar and a copy of my ID that way he can see I have sent him the correct ID and not just a random fake one. But would that guarantee him security?
sharonzaz
Just a caution...
Most guitarists I know would not spend a single Rand before they
touched and felt the guitar.
Someone tried to rip me off that way a while back.
best thing is to meet at a music store you know the guys who work there
and will agree to you doing this there.
Rip off artists send you fake EFT's and so on, be careful if so, contact the bank
and make sure the money's cleared.
friend of mine lost a car this way, one of the guys working at the bank was in on it too.
unless you stay a day drive away, and have a guitar that is collector's item
no one in their right mind would pay upfront for a GIT they never saw and played.
unless I'm wrong?
Danny-B
I had a good experience of selling a guitar of mine to a man in Joburg. He didn't play the guitar until it arrived at his house, andf I received my money without a hassle. Nearly everyone has an internet presence, be it Twitter or Facebook, or maybe an article on him or his company. Do a search in Google to see if he's legit.
singemonkey
Easy enough. Let him know about this forum and your presence here. He can look at your back posts and will realise that you have to be legit. That combined with suggesting he look you up on facebook will confirm, I feel, that you are a real person and not misrepresenting yourself.
Make sure the money is cleared by the bank before you send anything though - and make it clear that you will do so.
Riaan-Combrink
I think the cautionary notes are worthy of notice.
On the issue of proving your honesty, I suggest you send him a link to this page - then we can all post messages vouching for the fact that you're a stand-up GFSA'er!
Riaan-Combrink
Riaan C wrote
I think the cautionary notes are worthy of notice.
On the issue of proving your honesty, I suggest you send him a link to this page - then we can all post messages vouching for the fact that you're a stand-up GFSA'er!
Er, what Singe said.
aubs1
Kalcium, I've had a guy who did the same.......offered money up-front, and then wants to know my credentials....... for quite an expensive camera!!
You don't need to prove your ID to him....if he wants it, let him come to you (or place of YOUR choice, like someone here suggested). What he's doing, is making you feel that you are not the honest person, I say.......stuff (almost tempted to use another word) him...... you're not desperate, so wait for another potential buyer, and sell it on your terms...... good luck!
I fully agree with Sharonzaz........
Kalcium
I probably should have mentioned that it is long distance, I am in Durban, he is in Limpopo. I will phone the bank to make sure the money ahs cleared before i send anything. And its not like hes making me seem dishonest, i told him straight up, I can only send the guitar once the money has cleared for security reasons and he said he understands but of course no one in their right mind would just send money to someone they dont know and hope to get a guitar so he asked how I can give him some security you know? He seems like an honest guy, I mean hes using a work email address with his numbers and name there so hes not trying to hide anything. Not that that guarantees hes honest, but he just doesnt seem to be trying to be sneaky about anything. I will still wait for the money to be cleared and in my account for certain before I send the guitar though, he seemed content with a copy of my ID as security. Will do a search for him on facebook too just in case ? Thanks for the advice guys, lets hope this goes well
Kalcium
Its an @telkomsa email address with his name in it, and he comes up on google on linked-in as:
http://za.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-merrifield/10/284/b5a
seems like a regular guy...
Kalcium
If he EFT's and the money is in my account and I phone the bank to check as well, theres no way the money can leave again is there?
sharonzaz
the story i told you about the car, the bank teller made it look like
the money cleared via EFT but in actual fact it was a cheque that bounced after a few days.
call your bank manager or someone you could trust.
make sure the $$ is reflecting and available, not only showing and pending.
I know i could come off as paranoid, but shit like this happens every day,
ppl's ID's get hijacked and stuff, things you dont even know thats happening.
rather be safe.
i know im rambling on, but a long time ago MTN contacted me saying
im a good client and i can choose a gift.
were few options, i chose a battery, and they sent it to me.
couple of years later same story, they said you get a gift, where would you like us to send it to?
i said same place as last time,
and when the lady asked for my address i said you should have it on your system.
when i got curios the lady hung up real fast.
careful friend.
there are trustworthy ppl out there no doubt.
problem is that sometime finding out who is NOT comes with a painful price.
Kalcium
sharonzaz wrote
the story i told you about the car, the bank teller made it look like
the money cleared via EFT but in actual fact it was a cheque that bounced after a few days.
call your bank manager or someone you could trust.
make sure the $$ is reflecting and available, not only showing and pending.
I know i could come off as paranoid, but shit like this happens every day,
ppl's ID's get hijacked and stuff, things you dont even know thats happening.
rather be safe.
i know im rambling on, but a long time ago MTN contacted me saying
im a good client and i can choose a gift.
were few options, i chose a battery, and they sent it to me.
couple of years later same story, they said you get a gift, where would you like us to send it to?
i said same place as last time,
and when the lady asked for my address i said you should have it on your system.
when i got curios the lady hung up real fast.
careful friend.
there are trustworthy ppl out there no doubt.
problem is that sometime finding out who is NOT comes with a painful price.
Thanks, I really appreciate the words of caution. He really seems like a regular guy though, I've found documents on the net of his work with his name and the same email address he emailed me from on the document. When it loads just search andrewmerrifield as 1 word and it comes up with the email address he is emailing me from so his presence is quite obvious and not hidden at all. Will still make sure with the bank though.
http://137.215.9.22/bitstream/handle/2263/16275/Oranje_National%282010%29.pdf?sequence=1
Averatu
Never send a copy of your ID. Next thing you'll have maxed out accounts at all the retailers you didnt open, and married to a Nigerian woman with 9kids.
Reputation.
Manfred-Klose
a friend of mine sold het macbook recently, so i had to help out as she has no expoerience using gumtree, the seller was close by and wanted it the next day, and wanted to pay via EFT, so eventually i demanded him to go with to the bank, and everything was safely transfered and the laptop was handed over.
Moral of the story, in a few minutes i could gather quite alot of information on the internet about who the guy was, where was his previous job(which seemed like a dodgy operation), who his family was.......
so upon the information the guy seemed trust worthy and the deal went through with no problems, aldough he appeared very dodgy at first with his demands.
