KFC-AWD

As a suggestion from seeing multiple posts of people being scammed by people selling things, can we make it a RULE that users post pictures of the items with their screen name written on a piece of paper with possibly the date as well situated next to the item. That is done on a lot of other forums and helps combat these type of issues. People can still try to photoshop this, but you can usually tell if that is the case. Just a suggestion to help stop these scumbags. :-)

DomLS3

Although it's a good idea, people can still get scammed regardless. There's a sticky about being an informed buyer. The easiest way to not get scammed, is to be an informed buyer. Don't buy from someone who only has 2 posts with no vouches, or "too good to be true" sales. Buyers are their own worst enemy when it comes to getting scammed.

KFC-AWD

It's just another safe guard. Let's be honest, the vette forum probably has an older demographics vs other forums and sometimes they are not that internet savy. It's just another step to help. There is absolutely no detriment to adding this other layer as it can't hurt anything.

tcotta411

djpelosi is right.

This buyer requested the seller to do exactly that, and he still got scammed!

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...mer-alert.html

KFC-AWD

I'm not saying it is foolproof. I still don't see what the problem with adding this is though. Whatever, if the moderators don't give a ****, just let people continue to get scammed easier then.

FYREANT

A better recommendation would be to require that all buyers/sellers have a certain -valid- post count before being allowed to engage in transactions. Say 50 posts. Meaning before you can engage in any transaction, you must actually engage in conversation in the regular forums first. When a user engages me for something I am selling or when I am looking to buy from a user I check their forum record. I go read the posts they made and threads they started. If all thier posts are isolated to for sale threads, I don’t do business.

Yes, I understand there are some users that use the forum strictly as their Corvette parts craigslist. I just don’t support that concept personally..

Ant

KFC-AWD

Ya I totally agree on post counts as part of that layer. If i wanted to though, I could rack up posts quickly to hit a quota unfortunately and make the posts look legit. I do the same thing as you, look back at their post history.

cyi1

Buyers should always check account creation date, post history, etc before sending money and they should always use credit card on PayPal.

If it's a 10yr senior member with thousands of posts I don't mind sending the $ as a gift if it's a small amount but if the account is less than a couple years old and maybe 100 posts then I wouldn't send any payment that isn't credit card on PayPal.

I think buyers just need to be more informed of what payment methods are easier to dispute if they did get scammed. Seems like recent scams were sent as gifts on PayPal or they used their bank account / debit card in Google pay or venmo.

Earl H

Great idea! I have been a member of this board for over 10 years. The sale section has always been a great place to get deals and to provide deals. Its unfortunate that unscrupulous people have to come and ruin it for everyone. Anything that can be done to keep the board as "safe" as possible is a good thing!

AceG

Things to look for
age of the account- 3months and lower,proceed with caution

post counts- some of these scammers just randomly post to get thier count up. Seen it yesterday. Anything less than 5 pages with short responses, proceed with caution

payment method-paypal only(do not send as friends and family) paypal usually is in favor of the buyers.

extra precaution would be to get them on the phone and have em post a time stamp pic like someone said above.

good luck all

oemtech

Use a water mark.

BradT

One way to resolve this is to have the seller call the buyer from the shipping store/location, give the buyer the name of the shipping store and let the seller call them directly. The folks in most shipping stores are glad to verify that they have the item in their possession and verify the size, weight and ship to. They the buyer can instantly submit the payment on PayPal and the seller can then release the items to the shipping store.

It is a simple process for things of value but might be a bit arduous for smaller items. I doubt scammers would agree to that process. If I were shipping something of higher value I sure wouldn't mind going through that process to prove to the forum I am legit.

pewter99

nice bash we cannot control people who make poor decisions and do not do their due diligence....we provide you with everything you need to complete the transaction except you doing what you need to do on your end...we have set up and entire transaction/feedback section.

In the end if someone is going to scam you they are gonna scam you.

People send money friends and family and then complain when they get ripped off, no rule is going to prevent that.

post count means nothing, we have members on here for 15 years with less than 100 posts

pewter99

I have sold stuff on here and worked deals with the buyer to sell to them on Ebay to lower shipping costs and overall costs for them...it also provides them with some protection

FYREANT

While I agree that we have members that have been here a long time with low post counts, that doesn’t discount a post count restriction being a good idea. If a member has been here for 10 years and doesn’t have 50 posts, barring a few exceptions to the rule, they are probably only using the forum for buying and aelling anyway. In my opinion most of those users are simply not active enough to have proven they are “safe” to engage in e-Commerce. Obviously to each his own though.

It is nice that we have a feedback section but I don’t truly find it as useful as some other members might. If we had a way to add a transaction rating under each users avatar then I think it would be perfect. I have seen other forums that run on vBulletin use that capability to great success.

Bmwmike

To make the forum go smoother sellers should always post state in the thread title. Such as NY FL CA TX.

Pineapple

Be very careful. I noticed a lot of sellers with big ticket items and very few posts recently.

Also, I’d be wary of posts where not much detail is given about the item they are selling, especially for big ticket items where it’s obvious the potential buyer would want to know about.

C5-VERT

oemtech

I use USPS priority mail so I have tracking numbers and $50 insurance.
PP gift no buyer protection.. Use PP CC add 3%.

KGrant

Also remember that you can buy prepay phones that can't be tracked to you so talking to someone on phone might not provide sense of security needed.

When in doubt, ask for city and zip code and ask forum member in the same area to go check item out for big ticket items and/or items that seem suspicious.

It is unfortunate that we have had a rash of people getting scammed and it makes it bad for the legitimate buyers.

You almost need PayPal to hold payment until item is verified as received and as described in post. I wouldn't mind a slight delay to protect my money!