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Scam alert

---------- PAY TO SELL ONLY? -----------
People have been telling me that if someone can't afford $20 they shouldn't be allowed to sell at all.

Absolutely....this forum's "population" is a unique collection of quality folks who've invested much time, and in some cases, $$ (Silver & Gold) in the integrity of the site.

George
 
I currently in the middle of a transaction with a member that has been active for quite some time and has no trade feedback. That said he was as cautious as I was, he was hesitant of internet purchase and I no feedback, a simple phone call and the use of a money order instead of PayPal the first time is a good way to establish history for him and security for me. I was burned on PayPal once. Sold a dog and the guy paid deposit via PayPal bc he was in the service over seas. Puppy was a gift for his girlfriend upon his return. He couldn’t pick up the pup for a week after they were to go home so he wired the rest via PayPal as a “good faith” guesture. Met the guy when he came to pick up the dog, shook his hand, nice guy, looked me straight in the eyes.... week later PayPal pulled the funds and said that my text and email correspondence weren’t enough to prove the sale. Out 800 bucks and a dog. Called the guy and he said his wallet was stolen. And had to cancel everything, that he lost more money than me and that was “ tough luck”. So even I’m weary of PayPal now. I talked to corporate and everything. No luck. His word against mine. And they are always on buyers side. Only reason I continue to use is, is bc of this site and its users. Don’t use it unless there is all positive feedback.

Food for thought
Wes
 
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I agree, Gold or Silver or not at all. Minimum posts might be a bit difficult, but then again, not a bad thing. I definitely don't see letting a new member sell right off the bat. Buy? I can see that, but the $$$ comes before the shipping.
 
The one forum I belong to in Canada has a minimum of 20 posts before you can sell anything. I have 70 ish here, and no trader rating, but I don't buy and sell on here, but that's more to do with the ITAR rules. Lots of things I see, I want , just can't manage to get it, and I see it getting worse than better between Canada and the USA as too the rules. So I don't see that a minimum amount of posts will stop scammers, so a fee to be able to sell just makes sense.
 
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I havent been here long. Made 1 purchase. Dont really post much as my questions have generally already been answered and just take some research. Any comments i may have are only wise cracks because i have not had all these valuable experiences to share like other members.
This is a good group. Bad people get in anywhere. I think common sense will prevail as this forum is disproportionally well endowed compared to most of humanity.
Life is good
Tom
 
One thing about making silver or gold membership mandatory for selling is that instead of weeding out the scammers, it will potentially give them false legitimacy. If a scammer pays $20 for a silver membership, it'll be much harder to detect him/her as a scammer and people might be lulled into a false sense of security because the said person has a silver or a gold star against their name.
 
This horse has been beat to death numerous times (is that possible?). There will always be gullible people, with no common sense, and all jonesed up about a deal they just have to make.
From my perspective, requiring anyone to pay to play is a moot point. Silver or gold with no trade history transactions made over the web? As my dear old dad used to say "Use your head for something besides a hat rack".:D
 
This horse has been beat to death numerous times (is that possible?). There will always be gullible people, with no common sense, and all jonesed up about a deal they just have to make.
From my perspective, requiring anyone to pay to play is a moot point. Silver or gold with no trade history transactions made over the web? As my dear old dad used to say "Use your head for something besides a hat rack".:D

But...but...I'm really mad because I paid 78.50 for a NIB NF Benchrest scope and it never came in the mail. ;)

You are correct though. A little due diligence goes a long way. Just yesterday, I spoke to another member here about buying a gun. We were on the phone for an hour talking about the gun and shooting in general. By the time we wrapped it up, the gentleman told me that if I didn't like the gun, just send it back to him. After that phone call, I have no qualms about dealing with the man. It's been this way for me on pretty much all my transactions. You have to put in the effort.
 
when I'm selling something,I put right in the ad,WE TAKE PLASTIC,I get a PM , I message back,address and phone number only,I'm going to call call for card numbers and talk some.
you can see on your phone who is calling..
 
I tend to look at things a little different than the rest of the world...pay to sell might work and it just might seem like the answer. I have no problem paying to use the classifieds, but when that happens we are somewhat paying for our own stupidity and that is bad. For a scam to work and the scammer to be successful it requires people that are able to be scammed. It's easy to say Mexico is our drug problem, especially when your kid has been coked up for the last 2 years. The simple fact is that 1/5th the population uses drugs. Simple market and demand.
As incredible as it sounds, right now, somewhere some moron is wiring $10,000 to a "Nigerian prince". This person will absolutely fall apart when the 2 million never shows up. The answer is, "don't be a moron"!!!!! I guess what I am saying is, the folks that lost $500 for a Unertl USMC sniper, the ones that bought a Leupold Mark 4 off ebay for $300 {you know, the ones with all the same serial numbers}....they didn't get scammed, they were just slap stupid!!!! I am not saying these scammers that do this are not bad, I am saying that Americans all tend to believe someone else should be out there to protect them. No one is going to protect you like yourself, so do it.
 
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In my opinion...
The Classifieds are a just a nice bonus for active members. I’d dare to say that most members did not join this site simply to buy/sell and those are (again IMO) the legitimate members here.

In contrast: people who rarely or never participate in forum discussions are (yes, again, IMO) taking undue advantage of this site’s very generous Classifieds rules; regardless of their gold or silver membership status. While they are certainly following the rules in the most technical sense I feel they are not operating in the intented spirit of this excellent website or the Classifieds privileges. Rant over.

Back to the Boss’s question: Requiring a minimum number of posts in forums OTHER THAN CLASSIFIEDS prior to being allowed to use the Classisieds would weed out a bunch of scammers and other losers.
 
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He tried to scam me too! I listed a WTB ad, and his deal was too good to believe. I provided an FFL that would serve as a 3'rd party broker to protect both of us, and that flushed him out.

You are smarter than I am. I was thinking everyone on this site would be honest but was mistaken.
 

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