International Private Sale Conundrum

[RhinoKel]

Hi ladies and gents,

Just wanted to ask the brains trust here for some advice on how to deal with a situation that has arisen during organising the sale of a piece of gear here in the forums.

I had a polite exchange with a gent selling a pack, only slight complication was that he is a US seller whilst I am in Australia. Not a huge problem just takes more time and money

I asked for a quote and he said that he would get his wife to get one for me.

Long story short is that he asked his wife to take said pack to USPS for the quote and she apparently sent it to me instead.

I had not yet transferred any money for the pack, so it seemed a little odd. He was happy for me to just cover half the shipping.

The fellow has sent through a receipt with a tracking number that certainly now seems to be on its way to an international destination, and the price seems to indicate it is of a reasonable size, though I have No way of telling the final destination from the tracking number.

I’d like to take this gent at his word as in all likelihood what he’s saying is the truth, but I wanted to check if anyone here has fallen afoul of scammers before running something like this?

 

[sbaker0029]

I have never had this experience, but I'd say to get with him and tell him you'll send funds upon arrival of the package or once the tracking becomes more precise and I'm route to your house or wherever you get large packages delivered.
Also are you paying for the pack and shipping or was he happy to just have you cover half the shipping cost?
If the latter, that'd be a big red flag for me.

Good luck

 

[Theringworm]

When it arrives to you, send him the money. And not a moment sooner.

 

[TxLite]

Mistakes happen. I would wait until the pack arrives before sending payment

 

[dirtytough]

When it arrives to you, send him the money. And not a moment sooner.

I agree.

 

[Danomite]

I’d probably ask the guy to discuss by phone. I think you can get a better sense of someone from a phone call than by emails/private messages/whatever. My bigger fear would be that I was basically stuck with a pack purchase I hadn’t fully committed to. Hopefully the guy is legit and you like the pack.

 

[MightyWhitey]

Ahh I didn’t even consider it looking squirrely on my end until now. Yeah with it being such a fumble on my end I don’t expect any money until it gets there. I sure hope you like it and want to keep it, if not I guess I’ll just pay to have you send it back.

But really the only guy that should be worried in this situation is the guy that paid $100 dollars to send a pack to the bottom of the earth before every getting paid for it ha. Actually she paid for the shipping so that makes me feel a little better. Now I’m hoping to God she sent the right bag... This may be one big expensive Easter egg. So yeah, please wait until it gets there and we’ll go from there. And I put my phone number in my first PM back to you, call me anytime. Sorry, again.

 

[RhinoKel]

Hey Whitey, thanks mate, and apologies for the public post but I just was not 100% on the whole thing as you might imagine looking at it from my end. I’d seen the recent post on scammers and was just a little nervous that I was an easy target for a scam being on the other side of the world. I’ll keep watching the tracking and as soon as it arrives I’ll make sure I get the money to you straight away.

Also thanks everyone else for the input. I’ll make sure that I hold up my end of the bargain.

 

[MightyWhitey]

No sweat man. It’s my fault. We’ll get it figured out.

 

[bozeman]

Mistakes happen.......I sold two packs and sent them to the wrong address (Swapped labels at post office)....one guy was cool with it and sent the pack on to the next and I sent him the $ for shipping it.....other guy was a total jerk accusing me of fraud and all sorts of stuff. Wouldn't ship the pack to the other guy and pitched a fit he didn't get his pack. Once he got it, told me he wanted a refund and sent the pack back to me 'on principle'...anywho.......glad yall can work this out reasonably. Hoping for the best on both sides........

 

[RhinoKel]

Guys just want everyone to know that MightyWhitey came through and in the end did me a solid. He's a legend, would recommend dealing with him.

 

[displacedtexan]

This is why when I have my wife help me I'm terrified.

She's usually overly helpful, and I frequently less than clear. Lol

Glad it work out for y'all though!

 

[fwafwow]

Late to this thread, but I’m glad it worked out. When I read “the seller said his wife took it to the post office” I figured that was a scam, as there are plenty I’ve read about that included that sort of line. Phew!

 

[DenimChicken]

I have had a 100% success rate as buyer and seller here. Not to say scammers don’t exist, but if someone has a feedback rating, I’m decently comfortable that the deal will work out. That being said, the original story is bonkers and I surely would be worried if that was told to me.

As an aside, my only eBay transactions with any problems have been international sales. Not a high volume, but enough that I’ve blocked international buyers but still end up with buyers using the third party shipping companies and circumventing the block.

 

[Swamp Fox]

Hi ladies and gents,

Just wanted to ask the brains trust here for some advice on how to deal with a situation that has arisen during organising the sale of a piece of gear here in the forums.

I had a polite exchange with a gent selling a pack, only slight complication was that he is a US seller whilst I am in Australia. Not a huge problem just takes more time and money

I asked for a quote and he said that he would get his wife to get one for me.

Long story short is that he asked his wife to take said pack to USPS for the quote and she apparently sent it to me instead.

I had not yet transferred any money for the pack, so it seemed a little odd. He was happy for me to just cover half the shipping.

The fellow has sent through a receipt with a tracking number that certainly now seems to be on its way to an international destination, and the price seems to indicate it is of a reasonable size, though I have No way of telling the final destination from the tracking number.

I’d like to take this gent at his word as in all likelihood what he’s saying is the truth, but I wanted to check if anyone here has fallen afoul of scammers before running something like this

Ahh I didn’t even consider it looking squirrely on my end until now. Yeah with it being such a fumble on my end I don’t expect any money until it gets there. I sure hope you like it and want to keep it, if not I guess I’ll just pay to have you send it back.

But really the only guy that should be worried in this situation is the guy that paid $100 dollars to send a pack to the bottom of the earth before every getting paid for it ha. Actually she paid for the shipping so that makes me feel a little better. Now I’m hoping to God she sent the right bag... This may be one big expensive Easter egg. So yeah, please wait until it gets there and we’ll go from there. And I put my phone number in my first PM back to you, call me anytime. Sorry, again.
View attachment 583418

LOL ... Phuckin' 'Muricans and their wimmins ....


Cheers.

 

[gwtravis]

Not to hijack but I won an auction on gunbroker the other day for something I would consider expensive and I received a tracking number for its shipment before I was invoiced. I thought that was odd but it was indeed sent before I paid for it.