Selling on GumTree

I have sold on Gumtree before and mostly it have been COD, only once was it bank transfer.

These last two buyers who want me to send the lenses aboard one to Nigeria and the other to USA. That straight away sets of alarm bells to me as these items should be cheaper there any way, especially the US !

What is the PayPal scam though, I mean if get payment then send the goods will the buyer just say they have not recieved the goods and ask a refund from PayPal ! ?
Or is it like mentioned above the buyers are using hacked paypal a/c's ! ?
Are you new to the internet?

That fact your first thought is “weird, because the lenses are cheaper over there” worries me. Lagos is one of the scammiest places on earth, unless you want to pay the Nigeria prince directly.

...and yes, you’ll sell via PayPal and they’ll say it was never received. You’ll be out of pocket as PayPal will deduct the money from your account and they’ll keep the items. Assuming they even use a legit PayPal account (could be using a stolen address).

Walk away.
 
Gumtree gives you zero protection, so payment needs to be cash and face to face.

I've sold a 2080 Ti on there recently and it was fine. I was dubious all the way up until the guy arrived with a stack of cash, he was a nice genuine buyer. They do exist.

Don't entertain any other arrangement.
 
Id never sell and post on Gumtree,Your always best to have them collect the item and pay cash..thats always worked for me no issue.

Gumtree is okay to be honest for the method above,Just be prepared to get a lot of Lowball offers then abuse when you tell them no thanks. :D
 
These are well known scams on Gumtree.

Having a courier to pick it up for a friend, working offshore etc.

They send you a fake invoice claiming they have paid you via PayPal.
 
Are you new to the internet?

That fact your first thought is “weird, because the lenses are cheaper over there” worries me. Lagos is one of the scammiest places on earth, unless you want to pay the Nigeria prince directly.

...and yes, you’ll sell via PayPal and they’ll say it was never received. You’ll be out of pocket as PayPal will deduct the money from your account and they’ll keep the items. Assuming they even use a legit PayPal account (could be using a stolen address).

Walk away.

Just new to selling on GumTree
The conversation I had with the buy did not start off with sending the item to Nigeria. It was quite a few e mails in to the conversation when overseas postage was mentioned.

I have now listed the items on ebay and will take the hit on the selling fees.
 
I've just put an item on Gumtree for the 1st time and within 5 minutes I get two messages, "is it still for sale?" and "will you post this item out to me?" offering £50 more than my asking price.:rolleyes:
 
So I've haggled on the price a bit with an actual human being and it's a reasonable amount, prob about £50 more than I'd get after ebay fees if I managed to get the same offer on ebay, the potential buyer says they don't want to collect because of coronavirus restrictions (and tbf they shouldn't) but is willing to pay by bank transfer after I asked. Thoughts?
 
Best one I had was asking for pictures via email for both items I listed. I mean the pics are in the add. Decided to humour using a burner address. Then received instructions to accept a PayPal payment and a courier would collect the items. I loled so much.
 
Best one I had was asking for pictures via email for both items I listed. I mean the pics are in the add. Decided to humour using a burner address. Then received instructions to accept a PayPal payment and a courier would collect the items. I loled so much.

lol. Yeah that scam is hitting Gumtree hard. They send a fake PayPal invoice with an overpayment asking for the funds to be paid back to a bank account.
 
Best one I had was asking for pictures via email for both items I listed. I mean the pics are in the add. Decided to humour using a burner address. Then received instructions to accept a PayPal payment and a courier would collect the items. I loled so much.

Had that recently too. Within 10 minutes of listing a bike.

"Is this still available?"

"Can I have your e-mail?"

"My father is interested and can only e-mail".

"I am a marine, my mover will collect, get paypal, best price, yada yada".
 
If you have the slightest doubt avoid.

Seems pretty genuine, asked me why I was selling it, negotiated me down from a slightly above average ebay auction price to one slightly below average, and unnecessary travel such as driving to strangers houses to buy a camera is against the law and a risk of coronavirus, I wouldn't do it either myself. I suppose in the end it's not really much different to selling on the members market here really. You don't have the protection of ebay so just have to go on instinct.
 
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