Safe for me (seller) to send item from gumtree after I receive bank transfer?

deleted244775827/12/2021 17:47

...I believe if you take payment in PayPal and the payment is 'for friends …...I believe if you take payment in PayPal and the payment is 'for friends and family' or whatever (non business transaction), there's no way the sender can recover the payment. They're not covered by PayPal buyer protection policy in that circumstance....Read lessRead more

PP F&F:
source accountholder claims fraudulent use of source funding.
PP F&F payment is reversed to detriment of seller, and seller pays the £14 PP fee to cover the chargeback.
PP F&F summary: seller pays £14 to have their item stolen. (edited)

Garry_Muir27/12/2021 17:30

Out of curiosity. What's the risk in the sellers part of recieving a bank …Out of curiosity. What's the risk in the sellers part of recieving a bank transfer? Can the buyer attempt to recall the transfer? Like can be done on paypal service/goods payment.Read lessRead more

If the seller claims fraud on their account, the bank might step in.
There is a reason why the fraudsters tell their victims to pay for goods with Amazon credit.

I sold a links of London necklace on gumtree 2 years ago.
A coveted hope egg topaz pendant which is very rare to find now .
The buyer said that they lived in northern Ireland and they needed it posted and they paid by bank transfer.
As soon as my bank confirmed that the money was in my account I went straight to my local post office and posted the item special delivery on Saturday morning.
On Monday I was on a lunch break and my bank phoned me to say that they had been contacted by my buyer and he told them I sent a empty box.
I had the proof of postage receipt which shows the item weight.
I withdrew the £250 the evening before but the bank said he was asking for a charge back.
I had to send my bank pics of the item and my post office proof of postage receipt.
He was refunded by his bank not mine so I was in the clear.
Three people messaged me on gumtree later that day warning me about him.
He has done this trick a times.

definitely face to face only

please don’t go through with the bank transfer option

tell them they can have it for £350, if they pick it up, they will say no (edited)

cash only

I sent a cheque to a really old couple the other end of the country and bought them a prepaid postage label to drop the item off at a post office. I had a lengthy chat with the husband and wife before I committed. It wasn't as expensive, only £90. But I took the plunge and trusted they should post the item. They paid the cheque in, funds cleared the next day, they drove the item to the post office and posted it the same day. When it arrived, it was packaged with a cute little 'thank you' card, handwritten.

I called them to say thanks. They were lovely. Obviously it was a risk and they could have taken my money and ran. It's a gamble. I believe if you take payment in PayPal and the payment is 'for friends and family' or whatever (non business transaction), there's no way the sender can recover the payment. They're not covered by PayPal buyer protection policy in that circumstance. So if you want to play it safe, I would ask for a method of payment that you know they can't withdraw or dispute afterwards. I'm not so sure I would have been happy to gamble with a sum much higher than £100.

deleted244775827/12/2021 17:47

I sent a cheque to a really old couple the other end of the country and …I sent a cheque to a really old couple the other end of the country and bought them a prepaid postage label to drop the item off at a post office. I had a lengthy chat with the husband and wife before I committed. It wasn't as expensive, only £90. But I took the plunge and trusted they should post the item. They paid the cheque in, funds cleared the next day, they drove the item to the post office and posted it the same day. When it arrived, it was packaged with a cute little 'thank you' card, handwritten.I called them to say thanks. They were lovely. Obviously it was a risk and they could have taken my money and ran. It's a gamble. I believe if you take payment in PayPal and the payment is 'for friends and family' or whatever (non business transaction), there's no way the sender can recover the payment. They're not covered by PayPal buyer protection policy in that circumstance. So if you want to play it safe, I would ask for a method of payment that you know they can't withdraw or dispute afterwards. I'm not so sure I would have been happy to gamble with a sum much higher than £100.Read lessRead more

Thanks J. Glad it worked out for you. Alas on paypal friends and family, there was a terrible post on here whereby someone sold via paypal friends and family and got scammed... the 'buyers' claimed their account was hacked. I always thought friends and family was safe... but the recourse from paypal was "you're not friends and family"! I'll see if can find a linky...

this one
hotukdeals.com/dis…110

jameshothothot27/12/2021 17:57

Thanks J. Glad it worked out for you. Alas on paypal friends and family, …Thanks J. Glad it worked out for you. Alas on paypal friends and family, there was a terrible post on here whereby someone sold via paypal friends and family and got scammed... the 'buyers' claimed their account was hacked. I always thought friends and family was safe... but the recourse from paypal was "you're not friends and family"! I'll see if can find a linky...this one https://www.hotukdeals.com/discussions/action-fraud-help-required-3838110Read lessRead more

That's a real shame. I'm not sure of any kind of foolproof method. Scammers like using moneygram because it's non recoverable, but I have no experience using it, and I think it might just be for international payments. Of course, taking cash face to face is probably the safest way. If you don't want to risk it, I would just refuse to mail it and wait for someone else to buy the item with cash. Hate to see anyone scammed out of their hard earned, and gumtree is of course notorious for being rife with scammers

I don't know if you dabble in crypto but sending bitcoin is non refundable unless the recipient agrees to refund it. Just on the off chance that both you and the buyer have bitcoin (edited)

Or if you spend on Amazon, get them to buy you some Amazon credit. They could even get it at 4.94% discount if they did it right, saving themselves about £17.
Bet that won't happen, as it is non reversible. Mind you, they might use a stolen card.

Out of curiosity. What's the risk in the sellers part of recieving a bank transfer?

Can the buyer attempt to recall the transfer? Like can be done on paypal service/goods payment.

i found this No, providing this was not a transaction done via a card/merchant services. If they simply transferred funds to your account using either a credit transfer, faster payment or other electronic means, then a chargeback is not possible.

bracey10027/12/2021 17:45

i found this No, providing this was not a transaction done via a …i found this No, providing this was not a transaction done via a card/merchant services. If they simply transferred funds to your account using either a credit transfer, faster payment or other electronic means, then a chargeback is not possible.Read lessRead more

about the charge back (edited)

jameshothothot27/12/2021 17:31

Thanks all. It is tricky. I often do bank transfer in person too as …Thanks all. It is tricky. I often do bank transfer in person too as rumours of fake notes being used! I guess could get a proper note scanner!Read lessRead more

Face to face transaction with seller never touching the payment.
Payment is made by buyer directly to Post Office teller with seller standing socially-distanced alongside.
Buyer to be made aware of payment-at-PO requirement beforehand as buyer/scammer will then be aware of comfort/dread of other people in vicinity, comfort/dread of CCTV and comfort/dread of PO teller performing fake note check.

Sold a bunch of stuff via eBay as cash on collection only a few years ago.

Items were priced cheaper to account for the fact the market for potential buyers would not be nationwide.

Surprised how many people were willing to travel further than I would have done to save a few quid.

Next time, I won't be so generous with my pricing.

I’ve got an iPhone for sale on gumtree right now and to date the majority of replies have been from scammers who want to use gumtree delivery and will pay by BT.

As others have said, unless you are convinced that the buyer is 100% genuine, you will get payment, they also arrange for pickup and then a few weeks later the payment gets reversed as they somehow managed to make a dodgy payment to you.

Banks are bending over backwards to help anyone who claims a scam. The system may not have a charge back mechanism but given the pressure to protect, it has become very difficult to be a seller. If anyone insists on a bank transfer, I insist on a selfie with them, just in case they claim a scam later. If they refuse (and I hope they refuse because even I don't want a photo) and also don't want to get the cash, I walk away from the sale. I am fortunate that I can afford to do so but I will simply not risk the hassle with a scammer.

Thanks all. It is tricky. I often do bank transfer in person too as rumours of fake notes being used! I guess could get a proper note scanner!

Garry_Muir27/12/2021 17:30

Out of curiosity. What's the risk in the sellers part of recieving a bank …Out of curiosity. What's the risk in the sellers part of recieving a bank transfer? Can the buyer attempt to recall the transfer? Like can be done on paypal service/goods payment.Read lessRead more

"Buyer" (scammer) could either use hacked source account, or state source account was hacked (typically after successful delivery to address unrelated to source account and/or holiday rental address).
Both of those scenarios could result in reversal to detriment of seller.

Loads of third party Escrow dealers about ... Costs more but there's plenty of good ones.

TristanDeCoonha27/12/2021 17:29

Or if you spend on Amazon, get them to buy you some Amazon credit. They …Or if you spend on Amazon, get them to buy you some Amazon credit. They could even get it at 4.94% discount if they did it right, saving themselves about £17.Bet that won't happen, as it is non reversible. Mind you, they might use a stolen card.Read lessRead more

Of course it is! Cash is King - provided they are real banknotes the only way to get them back is for someone to snatch them from you!