[anthond999]

How does someone get paid when they offer a military item,how to you guarantee you'll get your money/item you purchase?

 

[Miller Tyme]

They get paid by many different sources of funds, MO's, Checks, electronic transfers, ect. As to the guarantee you will receive your item, well there are no guarantees other than the honor and integrity a member has earned by having done business on these boards.

 

[Dallased]

The seller has no money at risk. The item is not shipped until good and true payment is received. The buyer has all money at risk. Only buy from well known board members. That is why sometimes it is difficult to reconcile the asking price on items on the forum as the buyer is taking all the risks, can not personally inspect the item, and is at the mercy of the shipping company. There are many many honest and trust worthy sellers on the forum. However, like any where else, there are those very, very few stinkers. Participate actively in the forum for a little while and you will soon recognize the difference. If you are a new seller and are here just to sell firearms, particularly if you want top dollar, regardless of what it is, you are probably not going to do very well for a while.

Someone who opens their first post with top dollar prices for items is frequently looked upon with a jaundiced eye. That is why there are post minimums for new members. First and foremost this is a collector's forum. Participate. Then sell would be my advice. Or, purchase at your leisure, for as I said, the buyer has money at risk, not the seller. I have never had an issue with any seller or buyer. On the other hand I have, a couple of times, driven a money order around over the sun visor of my truck for a few days just because I am old. These are good folks, however they will frequently encourage you to bankrupt yourself to feed a certain military surplus addiction.

Above all else, read the forum rules.

 

[Whig]

When you see an item for sale, there is usually a description of how the seller wants to be paid. It is a gentleman's agreement. Other than a credit card guarantee, you probably don't have any real recourse if someone stiffs you. Buying from a person with only a short history on the forum may be risky. Buying from someone who has hundreds or thousands of posts and has been a member on the forum for years is a pretty good bet you'll be in good shape and dealing with an honest person. There is a trader's feedback section but this is not always used consistently.

I sold a bunch of stuff to a buyer with a long history on the forum and lived across the country. His payment was sent and didn't get to me after about 10 days. We kept in touch regularly. He said he wasn't going to risk his reputation over a box of reloading supplies. Good point. His payment came and the sale was finished. Win-win. Be patient, keep in touch with the seller and give snail mail its time! Use insurance and/or tracking info when needed.

Good luck.

 

[SfcRet]

They get paid by many different sources of funds, MO's, Checks, electronic transfers, ect. As to the guarantee you will receive your item, well there are no guarantees other than the honor and integrity a member has earned by having done business on these boards.

and that is the "short and sweet" of it.........BTW, that goes for every forum on the net

 

[Jareds06]

How does someone get paid when they offer a military item,how to you guarantee you'll get your money/item you purchase?

When it comes to these types of forums, as a buyer, there is absolutely no guarantee other than your own judge of the information you've been given. There is a lot to look at when it comes to determining the legitimacy of a post, too many for me to list here, but there are guides out there, plus learning from experience. Even with all the information, still there is always a risk involved when sending money through payment methods without a refund process. Even the most trusted member of a community can have their account hijacked and fraudulent listings posted under their name.

I've been burned before on a different forum. Once out of maybe 50 or 60 times buying, using different payment methods of MO, Check, and Zelle. You just have to remain vigilant and not be too trusting, though the vast majority of sellers on these forums are legitimate.

I would say postal money order is the best way to send money. Despite being slow, if you have been scammed, you can do a money order inquiry and find out some information regarding the money order which you can then give to the police when you report the fraud. A money order, when cashed, requires you to present a photo ID, so you can know that someone is using the name/address written on the money order in conjunction with a photo ID bearing the same name/address.

I used this information to find the guy who scammed me for $550 on facebook. I found where he worked, his entire family's contact info, his actual address through searching his name in the CO vote records. I took all of this info to my local police chief (small town), we called him at work and the Chief "obliged" him to return the money. At the end of the week, the scammer called me and sent me the money via Zelle. Now I can only hope the police reports I submitted will eventually catch up with him (Chief and I told him if he gave the money back I wouldn't submit a report/press charges, obviously this was a lie 😀, thieves are scum).

 

[tcintxx2]

One thing that I do as when I sell I ask for the buyer's contact information to calculate the shipping. At that time, prior to money being sent/transferred, I research them on Google. I look to see if the address is real and if their name shows up in the search result. To help alleviate any concerns that the buyer may have I always try to provide the tracking information immediately after funds transfer. When I see that a buyer has sent the money I will generate the shipping label prior to accepting the funds into my account.

 

[Miller Tyme]

All good information but the most important item is good communications. Keep each other up to date on when funds are sent, or recieved, and most important in my mind is tracking information so both parties can see exactly where the item is so if there are any delays both know why.

Also remember if it is a high dollar item to check on insurance from the shipper, not all sellers include it as it isn't cheap.
I include it in all my sales with the shipping/tracking info. Cost more but it is a peice of mind thing for the buyer

 

[Highrider]

THIS^^^^^!!! As you all know, life happens. As well as that other thing. We are all adults here (some more than others I grant you that) and the personality types encompass the entire range of behavior, politics, morality and experience. We share an interest that is a small niche in the broader scheme of things so honesty and integrity bounded by patience should be the rules of the day on both sides of a transaction. It’s really as simple as that IMO. Of course your mileage may vary because life does indeed happen…….till it doesn’t anymore. You roll the dice and take your chances when you walk out the door every day.

 

[frankstah]

Another way to limit risk is to request the seller to provide a photo of the item with a handwritten time-stamped note. This is usually not necessary when dealing with a reputable member of this forum, but it is good due diligence when dealing with someone with low-posts and/or little feedback. From my experience, this typically stops most scammers right then and there.

 

[Jareds06]

I think an excellent thread idea to get pinned in the trader is a "How to Not Get Scammed" guide/discussion, like the Berettaforum has in their classifieds. There are a lot of these little tips and tricks we've picked up over the years, sometimes just intuitively, sometimes from experience (I spent my childhood getting scammed on Runescape) that, alone, aren't totally useful, but in the aggregate could provide people with a solid foundation for not getting scammed.

 

[N88]

I've never had issues on this forum (and this is a little off topic) but another good strategy to avoid a scam is to download the picture and reverse-image search an item if the price seems to good to be true. Occasionally you'll find the same photo of the item two or three pages into the Google search results.

 

[EOD Guy]

I've never had issues on this forum (and this is a little off topic) but another good strategy to avoid a scam is to download the picture and reverse-image search an item if the price seems to good to be true. Occasionally you'll find the same photo of the item two or three pages into the Google search results.

I had a guy try to scam me on a P38 barrel and did this. He did a damn good job with photoshop but I noticed a few shadows were not right. One image returned to a gun broker picture that recently sold off the gray blanket. I asked to speak to him on the phone and his English was about a bad as my Chinese….and I don’t speak Chinese.

 

[Pointyears]

When you see an item for sale, there is usually a description of how the seller wants to be paid. It is a gentleman's
I sold a bunch of stuff to a buyer with a long history on the forum and lived across the country. His payment was sent and didn't get to me after about 10 days. We kept in touch regularly.

You make a key point: Communication. For instance, I'm in the process of buying a rifle from a seller here. My payment from my bank got delayed in the mail, and I have communicated with the seller more than I have my girlfriend over the past two weeks. Hopefully, that (and my American English!) kept him from thinking I was trying to scam him.

 

[Whig]

If you communicated with him more than your girlfriend, maybe he thinks you want to hook up! Just joking!! Hope it works out well.

 

[anthond999]

I've never had issues on this forum (and this is a little off topic) but another good strategy to avoid a scam is to download the picture and reverse-image search an item if the price seems to good to be true. Occasionally you'll find the same photo of the item two or three pages into the Google search results.

Thank You