Craigslist, overseas call

[AlanB]

Anyone run into this by chance?

Got a call yesterday while napping which did not make me at my best.

Guy with a heavy presumably Australian accent speaks with the wife a moment, she gives me the phone. He seems very nice, says he is from Melbourne and would like to buy the welder I have advertised on Craigslist.

All the little red flags shoot up for me that I am going to get a million dollar check to compensate me for selling him this welder etc. etc. but he said no such thing.

He said by the time he worked in shipping etc. it would be a similar price to new, what was my bottom price. I tend not to drop the price of an item after speaking for a minute on the phone maybe after some negotiation face to face and them looking at the machine but not right off the bat. I said the price was the price and he said thanks and hung up.

As I woke up a bit more, I wonder if it was a legit buyer and I blew a potential sale of a fairly expensive piece of equipment $2750 or was it a scam I ducked out of?

Anyone been farther down the road with this?

 

[/pine]

You are the seller and you think you were getting scammed?...that's a new one...

 

[mostly_gas]

When I sold my motorcycle, I had 3 or 4 people want to talk price prior to seeing the bike. Then they never showed.:confused2: All of that was via email not by telephone.

 

[Mousefield]

Someone from a different continent calls? It may have been legit but I would be pretty leery of it. Would you call someone in Australia to buy something you should be able to buy locally? Think of all the hassle in shipping, dollar exchange, brokerage, insurance. I think you did the right thing.

 

[Mousefield]

You are the seller and you think you were getting scammed?...that's a new one...

What scammers sometimes do is send you a check for more than the amount and ask you to send them back the difference. Of course you do this but later on you find out their check was no good. It has happened.

 

[brin]

Alan - You were napping...maybe it was just a dream ? LOL Seriously I can not see how the fella could have been legit, when you think about it he was willing to buy an expensive welder which could have many flaws, sight unseen - if he is not happy when he gets it what ....is he going to sue you in the US and he would have to pay first before you shipped so he would be totally at risk...I say the call was the beginning of a scam and your demeanor on the phone cut him off .

 

[dcyrilc]

Someone from a different continent calls? It may have been legit but I would be pretty leery of it. Would you call someone in Australia to buy something you should be able to buy locally? Think of all the hassle in shipping, dollar exchange, brokerage, insurance. I think you did the right thing.

I've bought electronics (fiber optic video convertors) out of Austrailia via Ebay. I think Craigslist is designed to be a little more local though. The dollar exchange can be simple through PayPal, but I think I would have still been leery.

 

[Mousefield]

I've bought electronics (fiber optic video convertors) out of Austrailia via Ebay. I think Craigslist is designed to be a little more local though. The dollar exchange can be simple through PayPal, but I think I would have still been leery.

fiber optic video convertors : These are more of a specialty item, much smaller so easier and cheaper to ship.
A welder is not. Still have trouble thinking that someone from Australia would buy a used welder from the USA. Put the shoe on the other foot. Would anyone from the USA buy a used welder from Australia and have it shipped to the USA? :confused2:

 

[Bird]

Both buyers and sellers can fall victim to scams. You might find this story in this morning's Dallas Morning News interesting.

 

[Mousefield]

Both buyers and sellers can fall victim to scams. You might find this story in this morning's Dallas Morning News interesting.

Bird, interesting reading. Suspect that many people don't report they have been scammed so the totals are probably much higher.