Just started putting up ads on the forum….I just wondered what regular users views and experiences are in respect to sending cheques and stuff. I’d ask the buyer to send a cheque, let them know when it’s arrived, wait for it to clear and then send the stuff whilst keeping in touch by email and letting them know what’s going on. Is that about right?

in the last 6 months I have built up two bikes from the classifides on here.

in the vast majority of cases, I have paid money into someone’s account and the goods have arrived a few days later.

for more local items, I’ve gone down the ‘lets meet up in a carpark route.

Never had a problem

EDIT – as for cheques, I normally post them off, let them clear then send / expect the goods to be sent.

simples

Many people use Paypal but I don’t have a Paypal account. If I’m selling then I state in the ad that only bank transfer or cheque is acceptable.

Make sure pics are clear and items are honestly described.

Essential to keep folk informed every step of the way and I also ask that when they have received item they let me know they are happy with it.

I could never cope with being named or shamed on here!

I could never cope with being named or shamed on here!

but it was YOU that sold me that….. 😆

I’ve bought and sold quite a bit over the years. The trust level is really high. Still occasionally get gazumped, messed around, but the good guys are really good……and you learn to avoid the dorks..

Only been “stung” once on here and it was my own fault. Too good to be true sort of thing.

Generally I’ve gotten my stuff a day or two later and I always post next day unless something happens out of my control. In that case clear and honest communication usually sort things out.

No, I don’t have a paypal account and don’t really want what seems like a load of grief dealing with them and ebay. I guess a little bit of trust is needed, then as you say, name and shame if you get caught out! Thanks.

sending cheques

Oh no thats a right pain on both sides. If you are selling you need to get to grips with PP gift and payment into your bank, no risk in either AFAIK

PP gift with people I know on here. Ordinary paypal if not, check history of people you are dealing with – meet up if possible for high value things

agree with TJ bought and sold a lot of things over the past year, paypal is fine simple and easy, same for bank transfer. If I can I will meet up with someone if that is possible for higher value stuff

Ive had no problems buying and selling on here always check to make sure the guy selling has a history on here and a good rule of thumb to go by is if it seems to good to be true it probably is.

No Problems at all, just check their forum history. There are a few traders on here, and there is the odd dodgy add but it’s usually clear from the advert or their history whether to avoid them or not.

Communication is key imo and, in most threads naming & shaming, the start of things going bad is when communications cease. Things do go wrong sometimes through no fault of the buyer/seller but as long as all parties are communicating then most problems can be resolved.

Part of it is just being realistic… Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, you just have to remember when you’re winning that it’ll be offset sooner or later by a loss.

I’ve only ever been ripped off once on this forum, and I’ve amused myself by losing the guy a few hundred quid’s worth of sales since. But on some forums- well, OK, on Pinkbike- you need to go into each sale assuming you’re dealing with a thief really, the win/loss ratio is fubbered.

I usually go with looking at forum history,
if someone is new/ish or only frequents the For sale forum I tend to give it a miss,
even if it’s a super deal,

I like collecting as u can see goods and nice to meet forum guys,

I’ve bought and sold 000’s of £’s worth of stuff on here since the very early days of the forum – I’m a total bike tart and can’t seem to stop myself….

…anyway, enough of my problems….

The very best way is to set yourself up a PP account and go learn how to use it (not hard) as I find that these days it’s the payment and clearance of a cheque that takes all the time – remove that and you have almost instant payment via PP and usually get your stuff within a day or two (witness my purchase of a 36t chainring on the form this week)

As for trust – this is a great place (as is Retrobike) – other sites not so good. Always look for people with a history where poss; even ask for a look at their ebay history if they have one…..

trust either way is important ,i have been buying and selling on here for a long .long time and touchwood never had a problem ..a lot of good people on here …also paypal makes it easy and covers everyone

You don’t need a Paypal account to pay by Paypal, if a seller sends you a Paypal invoice. You can simply check out with a debit/credit card.

Personally I don’t accept cheques for work or personal stuff anymore. Too much hassle.

I’ve never bought anything from here as of yet, but a thought just came to mind(so feel free to ignore). Should there not be a list of top or preferred sellers or something. Just to give people a helping hand in knowing who to buy from? Or is that just playing too much favouritism/too hard to organise/puts liability on the organiser of such list?