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Avoiding Scammers - Both As Buyer & Seller

I know that I'm not a scammer. But you don't know that I'm not a scammer. And I don't know whether or not you are a scammer. "Trust me!" are perhaps the most untrustworthy two words in the English language. 

Like many here, I used to regularly sell things on eBay, audio sites, etc. But in recent years it has gotten too easy to get scammed as a seller. You sell a nice item, package it securely and ship it as promised. The buyer receives it and claims you sent them an old shoe. They file a complaint. Despite your positive feedback & documentation you are ruled against with no apparent recourse. And wham - you're out both the item and the money. The selling platform like eBay,etc. and payment processors, like Paypal or credit card companies, almost always side with the buyer.

This unfair situation has led me to curtail most selling, except locally - and for cash. The rare times I sell online I worry until the transaction is completed without issue. 

Is it just the wild west for sellers, i.e keep on as before and hope you don't get scammed? Or are there some solutions you have come across that help bridge the divide? Obviously a sale should be a two-way street, with easy traversing for two honest parties. And protections against scammers should be equally balanced and available for both buyers and sellers.

How have other Agon-ers dealt with this issue?

 

sid-hoff-frenchman

Showing 3 responses by noske

noske
783 posts
 

@oldhvymec The amps were set up for American voltage and phase? Were they vintage or special in some way?  The correct amp fuse?

noske
783 posts
 

@sbayne  if the item is "expensive" to you then get their telephone number and give them a call. You can learn a lot in a 5 minute phone call about someone. Treat it as any business transaction. 

Yes indeed!!  I provide my personal details to anyone to have a chat about the expensive product to be traded. 

I once had cause to pull the plug on a vintage $3K amp (I had already paid in good faith but no action was yet taken) because I asked questions that the seller was not expecting (eg, serial #) and he got "sprung".  Hmm, awkward.  But phew!!

noske
783 posts
 

@oldhvymec Now you know WHY it was a penal colony. Still is as far as I’m concerned!

I just stumbled over a pic of the amp guts made by a dude near Perth, Western Australia. There are only a few people who build valve (toobe) amps in Australia, and only one I know of in Western Australia. Apologies for the delay in responding.

Being otherwise very well regarded (even on this forum - they do sound good, and there is plenty of evidence that is high priority), I won’t dare name names but I copy this from another forum by a highly experienced tech bloke commenting on the terrible lack of skills by the manufacturer -

ANY tech or engineer that sees heavy components (plastic film caps, high power resistors, et al), floating, unsecured in a chassis will recoil in horror. Worse, in one of the ones I worked on, were the results of unsecured, hot running, 10 Watt resistors, that had caused severe damage to one of the plastic capacitors. The filament supply regulator heat sinks are fully enclosed and run very hot. None of this is acceptable.

It’s not "unorthodox". It reeks of a builder who has never learned or understood proper construction methods.

I’m not sure if I can show the image, I’ll try. Nup. Can’t be done, sux. There seem to be no Audiogon guidelines on how to.

Just look at a plate of spaghetti and that would be much neater. Its a shocker, even to my layman eyes.

{and upon further reading of that forum discussion, that bit I quoted by the tech guy was just him getting warned up, so go figure}

 

 

 

 

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