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 Replies: 17 / Views: 2,630 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2602 Posts |
I think you meet in person in a public spot, like a parking lot of a grocery store or department store where there are cameras in case the transction goes horribly wrong. You can inspect the coins, see if they are real, ding like they should, etc, before buying.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
863 Posts |
I have done it a few times with fairly large purchases. I go to public places. Parks work pretty good. Lots of people but noon really paying attention to what you are doing. Always inspect the coins before any money is shown
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1659 Posts |
I'm assuming you placed an ad on Craigslist or a similar site on the internet? If so, I would only handle those kind of transactions in person as suggested above.
Safety can't be stressed enough with this kind of transaction.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1348 Posts |
its all depends. I am currently in dispute right now over coins I bought. Here are my 3 scenarios:
1. Bought $190 worth of silver from a guy who that ended up sending me a fake 1909 s VDB. I claimed it on paypal and its going through the process now. The best part is the tracking he provided wasn't used on the package he sent so there has been no proof of delivery on any coin. Not a big deal I'm sure paypal will return my funds.
2. On another coin forum (CT) A guy listed he had many double eagles and silver eagle rolls available for very low prices. I bought $1275 in stuff from him and waited on tracking which was never sent. After discussion about this with other buyers of his on that same deal I came to the conclusion this was a a scam. I tried calling Google checkout but they do not have phone customer service. Instead I emailed like a mad man to them to stop the transaction and return the money. They simple gave me the run around. So I called my CC company and they are disputing the charges.
3. I bought $1800 worth of proof sets off a guy on a forum and everything went smoothly and we are working on out next deal with hopes of being a long standing relationship.
Morale of the story: You never know when online deals will be good or bad. All you can do is research as much as you can and unless you know the person well I would never send funds paypal fee free (personal or gift) Also always pay with a CC that will back you up if fraud occurs.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
36800 Posts |
One thing I've learned over 50 years of buying coins is, you will still make mistakes from time to time. Knowledge helps but will never totally prevent a bad buy.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
511 Posts |
Trust your gut instincts if a deal doesn't feel right.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Remember one important thing about meeting in public place. Although there may be lots of people present, usually about 99% of them see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing. No one ever wants to get involved. IF you feel meeting someone is necessary, make sure it's in a place where there are security cameras. And make sure the other person is facing them.
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Valued Member
United States
198 Posts |
I like to do transactions like this at my local bank.  I fell more secure there and if anything goes "funny" there are plenty of people with in reach of a panic botton and LOTS of cameras. |
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Banks and police stations are where I do my craigslist deals. For something like this I would definitely do a police station or the very least somewhere with armed security. Better to be safe than sorry and picking one of those places should deter a would be robber from ever meeting up. I know in my area theres a ring going on where people say theyre buying or selling iphones and the unsuspecting person ends up with a gun or knife pointed at them instead of the transaction
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Valued Member
United States
125 Posts |
Hi John,
I've met people in parking lots, Mcdonald's, at their homes in the evening time, at their stores in after hours and mailed checks for out-of-state listings. I may be naive, but I will defend the notion that most people on CL and in general are good people that just want to make a sale.
I hear from members of other forums that they don't go to CL meetings without some protection (gun or knife), but that always seems way too extreme.
Remember that the person you are meeting is also trusting that you are there make a purchase, and risk just as much bringing their valuables to exchange for your money. I've never felt the need to meet in a protected area like a bank or police station, but if those places will allow it why not.
Whatever location allows you to feel comfortable is probably the way to handle Craigslist transactions.
CWS
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Valued Member
United States
196 Posts |
Police station. As a retired COP, let me tell you that there was always something going on in our public parking lots. Mostly divorced couples doing child custody swaps, but there were many times CL deals were done. Some times one party would come in and just give a heads up what was going on, most times not. First time I met some one in a McD's parking lot to buy coins, I thought for sure some one was going to call the police and say there was a drug deal going down. Just the way I look at things, lol.
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Valued Member
 United States
327 Posts |
All great replies but actually the offer was made online with the other party on the other side of the United States. What I went ahead and did was ask the person to ship the coins and once I receive them, I would pay. I have a couple of people in coin community that can vouch for our dealings and also an ebay account with over 1000 rank. Not sure if that will be enough to convince but oh well. I just can't stomach that kind of loss if I don't know the person. He is actually responding to an ad I placed here to buy silver. I guess before I placed the ad I didn't think about how to handle that part. I am just a workin guy who wants to add some more silver to my holdings. |
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
I dont think anyone would ever think ahead as to how to deal with someone who responds from the other side of the country. If he was really unsure you could always suggest he make an ebay ad and tell you when so you can do the buy it now or whatever and do it that way. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
863 Posts |
if you do the buy it now you are dealing with ebay charges. and that is usually what I am trying to avoid when posting an ad on CL. |
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Which is true, but generally youre also not selling to people across the country on CL. Id rather eat the charge then ship something cross country and hope they pay me for it or send my money and hope to get the item
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Replies: 17 / Views: 2,630 |
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First Page
Posted 08/01/2012 1:44 pm
