[Closed] Is this a scam?

It's a classic eBay scam, because it means you don't have a record of them receiving it so they can raise a dispute, and you have to give the money back. Not sure if it would work on pinkbike though!!! 🙂

grum - Member

I’m normally pretty cynical but I’d imagine this could be legit. Go with your gut feeling though.

People who are afraid of someone finding out you own an expensive thing and coming to rob you, are you too afraid to actually use the expensive thing too in case someone sees you with it?

Na, cos that would be unfortunate for me if they followed me home, as opposed to deliberately giving them information on the location of potentially several *bikes, my motorcycle, tools and all the goods I have in my house, car keys etc....

*May or may not be expensive

It's a classic eBay scam, because it means you don't have a record of them receiving it so they can raise a dispute, and you have to give the money back.

Not sure how this is relevant to the situation the OP is describing ?

He’s talking about Cash on collection and nothing to do with eBay/PayPal.

deliberately giving them information on the location of potentially several *bikes, my motorcycle, tools and all the goods I have in my house, car keys etc....

I don’t think most thieves give a shit about this to be honest.
Nice houses are full of nice things (shocker)
They can sell any of them.
Break in and nick whatever you can carry.
They aren’t bothered if it’s a bike, or a bag of Laptops, iPads and phones.

(In fact, they would much rather it was the latter.)

grum - Member
As long as you don't hand over anything until you have cash in your hand I don't see how you're going to get scammed.

Fake cash.

Take cash and hand over, baseball bat round your head, bike and cash gone.

All seems to go well, some time later, house contents emptied, or if you've been talking up a new bike on forums to replace the one you're selling, bye bye new bike.

I don’t think most thieves give a shit about this to be honest.
...
They aren’t bothered if it’s a bike

Average opportunist types yes. There are loads of targetted thefts aimed at people they know have £Ks worth of bikes. Bikes are also one of the safest and easiest thefts. Virtually zero chance they'll get nicked for it. Very easy to dispose of the bike or parts.

There is no risk on your side

Sounds totally on the level. Legitimate buyers need to reassure sellers that there's no risk all the time.

Why are we still even discussing this? Tell him to foxtrot oscar and sell your bike to someone who doesn't want you to take payment in fish. If you've read his email beyond "I bought this way a few bikes" and you're still thinking "hmm, sounds plausible" then you deserve to have your bike stolen.

Besides, look at it from the other side.

Would you buy a bike from a bloke in Germany, unseen, by sending Yodel round with a carrier bag full of £20s? Even if it's legit, which it blatantly isn't, you're demonstrably dealing with a stone bonker.

This is just one big steaming pile of scam. Avoid.

We can all invent all sorts of unlikely imaginary scenarios to scare ourselves with. I genuinely wonder how people get through life when they’re so scared of everything. I’ve never been scammed BTW, maybe I’m lucky or maybe my instincts are good.

People saying this is definitely a scam, did you miss the bit where people said they’ve bought and sold bikes using this exact method?

Sure, it's not [i]definitely[/i] a scam. Worth a punt then obvs.

I’ve never been scammed BTW, maybe I’m lucky or maybe my instincts are good.

If you think this transaction is a great idea then I'd respectfully suggest that it's the former.

meh, He didn't go through with it so either position is equally valid. End of.

Difficult one really, mate has a second hand motorbike place in Aldershot and was approached like this, he investigated whether German courier could carry cash as above and found out they could. He received a long email explaining that second hand motorbikes are actually more expensive in Germany/ Poland and that is why they had approached him. So he had 2 or 3 staff with him when he sold the bike, the courier turned up, paid cash, gave him a full receipt for the transaction and was fine.

This was a few years ago, and he now has dealt with the same guys (poles living in Germany) a number of times, to the point where he sources bikes on their behalf now and as they are collecting 5-8 a time, they drive their own van over instead of a courier.

So definitely approach with caution, but may not be a scam.

If it was COD I would insist in cash not a cheque paypal bankers draft etc

The only scam there is to turn up and rob you of it

The real problem is scam artists do say COD as they dont want to pay you and I would certainly prefer another method
Also never been scammed but lost items in the post one to me and one from me and reimbursed both ways on trust - both were /are regular posters on here.

Besides, look at it from the other side.

Would you buy [s]a bike[/s] [i]second hand goods [/i]from a bloke in Germany, unseen, by sending [s]Yodel[/s] [i]a courier [/i]round with [s]a carrier bag full of £20s?[/s] [i]collection instructions and payment[/i]

Yes.

As I said earlier, I’ve done it loads of times without a problem.

Probably spent something like £30k over a five year period buying parts from Germany and Poland and never had any issue whatsoever.

Germany and Eastern Europe seem to do this all the time and nobody thinks twice about it.

It’s just cash on collection made easier for the buyer.

Certainly continental European countries have a different approach to delivery of goods and paying for things.

From a business view I recently ordered a large quantity (value) of goods from a company in France that we have never dealt with before.
They were happy to ship the goods to me and then accept payment after we had received them. No upfront payments were required.
There is no way that UK companies would operate in this way but clearly business and probably personal payments are viewed and handled differently to what we regard as 'normal'.

Just put 'UK buyers only' on yer ads and refuse any overseas buyers. Avoids this kind of hassle.

Unless you're really desperate to move something on... then who's the dodgy one.. 😉

(Similar scams using [url= https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/Access-and-security/Is-this-a-Paypal-Scam-on-Gumtree/td-p/976894?profile.language=en-gb ]Paypal[/url]. Not sure how it would work with a cash buyer, but I still wouldn't.)

Certainly continental European countries have a different approach to delivery of goods and paying for things.

Does [url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/is-this-a-scam-7#post-8937884 ]this[/url] read like an email from someone in continental Europe? I've spam-killed STW posters for less.

And you don't think an unnamed 'privat transportation company' is in the least bit suspicious?

If scammers could use a spill spell chicker checker they wud get a heck of a lot more bizness

This:

Can I have your address please and details of any bikes you may be keeping at the aforementioned address? Thanks, promise I won't come round and steal them...

I fell for an eBay scam a few years back (can I view? yes, sure). Emptied my shed.

Does this read like an email from someone in continental Europe? I've spam-killed STW posters for less.

I deal with customers in Germany and Poland all the time and the way this is written is very familiar.

And you don't think an unnamed 'privat transportation company' is in the least bit suspicious?

No. Not really. (Not to me anyway)

But like I said, I’ve dealt with these companies before. In broken English/German. And it sounds totally familiar.

If you haven’t, then I can appreciate why you might.

Fair enough.

All the more reason to arrange a meet at a neutral (i.e. WELL away from your home) public place.

Fake cash.

Take cash and hand over, baseball bat round your head, bike and cash gone.

Bike thieves don't work like this. The assault and theft occours on dark roads or quite lanes/parks. Not at your doorstep after a complicated scam involving fake couriers and counterfeit money.
P.s
It would have rung alarm bells with me !! But after reading the information on some of these posts I'd go along with it, providing the cash was placed in my hand.

I've seen before people are saying that due to the weak pound, UK goods are appealing to EU right now (especially on EBay).

You could of met at a bank as said previously, paid in the cash, made sure it was all legit, then handed over the bike.

Or do what I probably would of done and just said "Sorry UK only" as it sounds like a whole thing - I've not got time for that.

to the point where he sources bikes on their behalf now and as they are collecting 5-8 a time, they drive their own van over instead of a courier.

Probably sells that to fund van hire, hotels, ferries etc for the next trip....

Second hand cars/motorbikes/ bikes are astronomically expensive here.

Fake cash.

Take cash and hand over, baseball bat round your head, bike and cash gone.

All seems to go well, some time later, house contents emptied, or if you've been talking up a new bike on forums to replace the one you're selling, bye bye new bike.

But if you're going to do that, why bother with the courier story that might put some sellers off. Just say "I'll bring the cash round and pick the bike up, what's your address?".

That said, I'd say no to the 'offer'.

So, to update everyone in case anyone is interested in how this all panned out...

Couriers arrived in a van, two Polish chaps. Handed me the cash, a full printed reciept to confirm i had recieved the payment and that they had recieved the bike. They wrapped up the bike as they said they would in bubble wrap and packing card and off they went to deliver to the buyer in Poland. Buyer received the bike today, all happy, job done.

What happened is exactly as the buyer said would happen - he transferred the payment to them, they brought the cash and handed it over to me. The courier company just deliver large items (bikes, motorbikes, car parts) around europe mainly to and from the UK and Poland.

The easiest sale I've ever had.

If you've read his email beyond "I bought this way a few bikes" and you're still thinking "hmm, sounds plausible" then you deserve to have your bike stolen

And yet here I am with (real) cash in the bank and a happy buyer.

You live and learn, you live and learn.

Even if it's legit, which it blatantly isn't,

It was

you're demonstrably dealing with a stone bonker.

I wasn't

Nice one mate.

Being cynical is a necessary evil these days but not always.

Glad you had a smooth sale bud.:-)

Nice result for the OP! Win win

It’s great when a plan comes together, despite all indications to the contrary!
A win all round.
😀

Good for you, OP. 😀

Interesting, did you post a link already? Think you did. Could be a handy thing to have if they deliver this far north.

It is quite a good idea to be honest, no less secure than sending money by Paypal and hoping you get what you paid for. Glad it all worked out.

Well there you go, glad I was wrong and good on you for seeing it through to a conclusion.

Yep- scam.

Yep- scam.

Thanks for participating.

Unfortunately on this occasion you have not been successful.

We will keep your comment on file for any future occasions when it may be correct.

^^ 😀

Pretty brave, well done fervoured! I wouldn't have 😉

cyclistm - Member

Well there you go, glad I was wrong

Likewise. 🙂

The levels of paranoia shown on this thread explain how Brexit happened.

To add my 2c. Sold a bike somewhat similar to this way a while ago. Bloke did a Bank transfer and arranged a courier. All he asked was that the bike be packaged up.

I looked and looked for the scam angle, but it was legit. Made me feel ashamed of my paranoia in the end. Also, have dealt with continental sellers who take COD. But they’ve been big firms.

Kudos to OP for being rational about it. Also, found all the paranoid stories somewhat amusing. How are you expected to sell anything without some level of trust?

The levels of paranoia shown on this thread explain how Brexit happened.

No, because there really are many "courier scams" out there. Either the complications-Western Union scam, or the "what's your address and when will you be in to collect (or out to be burgled)" scam. I've played along with the cash offer-turns-to-money-transfer scam on a Nomad I had listed on Gumtree just out of professional curiosity as to how it worked. Obviously not to it's conclusion, but enough to get to the typical "our courier is carrying a W.U credit from a previous job, so we'll pay you £5000 which is more than the asking price, if you pay us half the difference back and keep the rest then we all win".

On this occasion it's a genuine Polish-white-van-man (not UPS/FedEx) driving around the UK buying up enough cheap kit to make it viable to drive to Poland and still make a profit. Brexit will have helped this with the weaker pound, if we're desperate to keep a Brexit link in the debate. Glad it worked out for the OP but, like overseas eBay buyers, I don't bother taking on the risk/hassle.

The levels of paranoia shown on this thread explain how Brexit happened.

🙄