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.

 

[/pine]

As a seller, be it on e-bay, craig's list...it does not matter... a few simple rules and you will never get taken...

most imporant rule is to state you payment methods...

if a buyer sends you a check all you have to do is call the bank the check is drawn on and verify the available funds...do not ship the item until the financial transaction is complete and finalized.

 

[MarkV]

I have to go with the consensus of opinion. An item that is selling for less than 3k, hasn't been inspected, overseas buyer, phone negotiations, the shipping costs involved, just doesn't add up.

MarkV

 

[Bird]

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

That's my opinion, too. I had one case of an elderly retired attorney who got scammed for $10,000 in a "pigeon drop". He did not want a police report made because he didn't want his family or anyone else to know about it. But he decided to tell officers about it and said in the event the crooks should be found and arrested for something else, or in the event he was ever able to identify the thieves, then he would be willing to prosecute and let people know what happened.

 

[EddieWalker]

The part that he wanted to negotiate the price is what makes me wonder if he was for real or not. If he was trying to scam you, then I'd think he'd accept the price regardless of what it is because he's not really planning on buying it anyway.

That said, I have a few friends in Australia, and shipping is not the problem with getting things there, it's the tax that is added to it. Gifts or anything else are taxed to an extreme when shiped into Australia, and because of that, when my friends come here, they don't bring a suitcase, but go back with two that are filled with clothes that they work real hard to make look like they are not brand new.

You might have blown a deal, but the headache and time to make it work would probably have made it not worthwhile.

Eddie

 

[charlz]

Shipping a welder is probably a bit complicated because of the size but I sold a Dillion MKIII/Henrob 2000 via Ebay to a guy in Australia. Fit in a USPS standard box so that made things easy as far as shipping. Payment was via Paypal. Everything went smoothly. Have also sold and shipped things to Canada. I think the cheap US Dollar makes things look appealing if they can get it for the right price. Used items may not show up there as often considering the US has 6x the population of Australia there is probably a better chance of finding what you want when you are buying from the US as a whole.

 

[JB4310]

I was part of the scam to get your CONfidence he needed you to play ball a little, thinking you were getting into a legitimate negotiation.
Good thing you were half asleep, let your instincts do the talking, if you were more awake you may of fallen for his ploy.

I always thought a conman meant the guy was an ex convict, of course that's not the case. it's all about gaining your confidence, then you just give up what they want, feeling good about it till you realise you've been had.

JB.

 

[AlanB]

The part that he wanted to negotiate the price is what makes me wonder if he was for real or not. If he was trying to scam you, then I'd think he'd accept the price regardless of what it is because he's not really planning on buying it anyway.

That said, I have a few friends in Australia, and shipping is not the problem with getting things there, it's the tax that is added to it. Gifts or anything else are taxed to an extreme when shiped into Australia, and because of that, when my friends come here, they don't bring a suitcase, but go back with two that are filled with clothes that they work real hard to make look like they are not brand new.

You might have blown a deal, but the headache and time to make it work would probably have made it not worthwhile.

Eddie

As I think about it more and more, I think your last line hits the nail on the head Eddie. At some point that is why I use craigslist to do things local and minimize the hassle (although selling things is always a hassle to me) and did not want to put this thing on e-bay or the like.

I hate to not sell it, but if it ends up being a big mess, then I would not be ahead then either.

 

[jinman]

As I think about it more and more, I think your last line hits the nail on the head Eddie. At some point that is why I use craigslist to do things local and minimize the hassle (although selling things is always a hassle to me) and did not want to put this thing on e-bay or the like.

I hate to not sell it, but if it ends up being a big mess, then I would not be ahead then either.

Alan, I want to call you the next time you are taking a nap and tell you that I want to buy your welder. I'll think up hundreds of excuses that are really my problems and try to get you to reduce your price. Seriously, shipping is his problem and should have no bearing on what you are asking for your welder. If you want to offer a discount, I'd say to do it to someone local and tell them to show up with cash in hand. This sounds to me like an Aussie who can't sleep at night and decides to peruse craigslist and try to make a deal just for fun. I think you did the right thing.

 

[dcyrilc]

It would be interesting to hear the thoughts of some of our Austrailian members.

I agree that shipping a genny would be a PITA. I don't know if UPS would handle something like that or not...I doubt that USPS would. Too big, too heavy. Even if it wasn't a scam, I have to agree that it would take more effort than it was worth.

 

[RadarTech]

Well..

I also wonder-- Isn't the power in Australia a little different too?

J