Seller safety — eBay and beyond (other marketplaces)
Several people on these boards have posted about how dangerous selling can be.
It’s not just the risks of online selling, but also the risks of face-to-face transactions in an increasingly violent environment where strangers can target you for violent burglary or home invasion, or use counterfeit money in cash on pickup, etc.
It’s worth reading this article:
Seller beware: How putting up items for sale on Facebook marketplace and Gumtree could put you at risk
Ever sold something on Facebook marketplace or Gumtree? Without knowing it, you might've put yourself in danger. Here's how to stay safe when selling items online. Read the full story
PayID scams are another one of which to beware, but I’ll leave that can of worms to another post.
For now, the salient points are:
• don’t give away your phone number or address to strangers and of course don’t post these online;
• don’t photograph items for sale in such a way that you reveal your home or other possessions or family members;
• for pickup sales, don’t use your home — rather, select a public location and try to bring along a second person;
• if accepting cash, how confident are you that you can recognise genuine bills? If you can’t, then use PayPal or PayID (but you’d better be well up to speed on how PayID works so that you don’t fall victim to a PayID scam).
I’m opening the floor here for others to suggest more ways to protect oneself against these risks.
dadbod
·3 years agoI just want to say that I hope eBay addresses this Issue that I raised.
https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Selling/eBay-suggesting-to-quot-Save-Seller-quot-Showing-Personal-Name/td-p/2505469
I don't think it's safe to have my name as a seller so prominently displayed. I know most people won't mind, but it's just totally unnecessary to show it here.
sandypebbles
·3 years agoHave you actually raised it with eBay or only posted on the member to member forum?
padi*0409
·3 years agoMaybe I'm missing something, but as I see it it's only you as a buyer and the seller you've dealt with in the past that is going to be able to see those details - which presumably are in the order details anyway.
sugar249
·3 years agoNever had issues with local pickups.
But one that I know from a friend, they had a arranged to do a pickup at there place and said they wouldnt be home till 2PM, so come after that.
They happened to arrive home an hour earlier to find a car parked in the drive, about to start doing a little bit of self service, knowing that the resident would be out.
springyzone
·3 years agoI've not had issues with local pick up either but your story highlights that it is best not to tell buyers when you will be home or when you will not be home. Just give a convenient time range.
One other thing I do is when I reply to a buyer, I use the term 'we' or 'us'.
In my case, it is genuine, but I think it is best to give the impression you're not alone.
Having said that, when I look back to the time we cleared out my parents' house, I never even gave it a thought to be alone there with buyers coming in to pick up things & actually had some lovely customers.
I've found the main hesitation seems to be on the part of customers. I was once selling something small and the man who came parked outside, sent a text (which he was lucky I saw as I am old and not soldered to my phone) and I had to go out onto the road with the item. Why people can't just ring a doorbell is beyond me.
paper-jack
·3 years agoPeople including postmen and couriers who never ring the doorbell, just drop the parcel and run. In some cases not even taking to the front door - especially if for a unit/townhouse. I've lost count of the times I've noticed a parcel in a driveway or on the pavement in front of the letterbox - when I knock on the door the occupant is surprised and thankful I noticed and took the time to let them know. (If the occupants are out, I try to leave in a safe place and put a note in their letterbox). Especially bad when its raining and the parcel is in a cardboard box.
While I'm having a rant, another thing I encounter frequently is a courier leaving a sometimes heavy delivery in front of my screen door which opens outwards. Fortunately I can go out, move the parcel and open the door.
On the other hand annoying hawkers are only too quick to ring the doorbell. When the "Do Not Knock" sign is pointed out the smart rses always say "I didn't knock, I rang the bell" (my DNK sign courtesy of a family member after many visits by 2 guys in white shirts, dark trousers carrying a book)
sandypebbles
·3 years agospringyzone
·3 years agoYou're a kind neighbour!
My pet hate is couriers who don't ring the doorbell. I don't expect them to stick around, they can take off, but at least a doorbell ring lets us know a parcel has probably arrived.
Our doorbell is easily seen, easily pushed (the grandkids delight in pushing it multiple times, non stop till we get there) & in my opinion, there is no excuse for any courier to just dump the parcel.
Admittedly, the parcels are at least left at our door and we are in a reasonably quiet location, but I was extremely annoyed a while back to find an expensive item-expensive to me, anyway as it was several hundred $$$) left out there without a ring. How long it had been there, I don't know, but we had been home and we always hear the doorbell as it chimes in the centre of the house, you can't miss it.
I find Auspost excellent, they always ring.
Some couriers do, some don't.
We don't get many salesmen or religious preachers any more (& I think the politicians have all moved to phone messages) but what works for me is a security door. We actually have 2 of them so when I open the front door, I can see who is there and if it is a stranger, I just speak to them through the door. It unnerves them as they can't see me. It's very easy when you are just a disembodied voice to say, sorry, not interested. They soon take off.
paper-jack
·3 years agoUnfortunately my screen door is see through. However, I have an intercom with my door bell so I can answer from the house or the workshop which saves having to go to the front door and waste time. Not yet upgraded to one with a camera.
During lockdowns one cult, who were obviously distraught at not being able to door knock, resorted to phone calls and written letters!
When I lived in Adelaide my emergency department nurse male neighbour was woken by 2 of the guys in white shirts. It was summer and in a heat wave, so nurse had come home in the morning, stripped off and fallen in to bed. When rudely awoken by a caller apparently unable to read or respect the request to "Be quiet or Beware the sleeping night worker", he went to the door (remember what he wasn't wearing), opened it, took an appropriate pose to match his words and said "hello boys, am I pleased to see you" - his wife reported that she wouldn't have believed anyone could run that fast in 40C heat as those god botherers.
springyzone
·3 years agoThat intercom sounds useful!
My sister has a similar set up but attached to a camera.
She also has some app attached to her phone and it activates when anyone is in the drive way, not just at the door.
She hears a ding. Usually she ignores it but one day she was at home and checked her phone as she was expecting her daughter. What she saw was some man walking up the drive. He must have seen the camera and he jumped into a bush on the side then moments later dashed off the property.
Dead give away he was up to no good. Should have had a pamphlet or something to explain his presence if caught.
She was relieved too as she was home alone.
But she also finds the app it useful when she is working as she can always see if a parcel has been left at the door and can tell if she has had visitors while she has been out.
k1ooo-slr-sales
·3 years agoAnother scam to watch out for is the social media number plate scam.
Scammers trawl social media and 'for sale' posts for pics of cars that are the same as theirs. They look for pics with number plates.
The scam works by making a copy of the victims number plate, even a paper copy, that is placed over their number plate.
The scam occurs when they then drive on toll roads or do servo drive aways, without the victim even knowing until they get a toll penalty notice in the mail or a knock on the door from police.
There have been several stories about this in the media.
https://www.facebook.com/ACurrentAffair9/videos/337712577719332/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v
sugar249
·3 years agoHad not quite the same but similar happen to us.
Picked up our daughter from school and walked over to the car, and she said thats not our car. It was but it had different number plates on it.
Reported it to the police, and the car they came from were exactly the same model and colour as ours. And ours ended up being found on the same type of car dumped about a hundred K's away.
So they had carefully planned it so they would never get pulled for having a car that didnt match the plates.
springyzone
·3 years agoYour story reminds me of an experience we had.
One day, we realised that our front number plate was missing. Not the back one, just the front.
We had not noticed it earlier as the car is in the garage and we only see the back of it when we hop into the car, so we weren't sure when the plate had been taken.
Police said it is a common thing that happens, but it was very inconvenient.
k1ooo-slr-sales
·3 years agoI haven't sold many things on fb, I mainly use it when I want to give stuff away.
I give away things I have no further use for.
When I do give stuff away, I arrange to meet the person at a bus stop near my home. I don't let them know where I live.
I don't normally give my mobile number to fb members, but when I do it's my 'burner' phone number.
My burner phone is my old S9 with an Aldi 365 day sim (costs $15/yr). It's the number I use when I buy raffle tickets, or when I don't want to give my main mobile number.
springyzone
·3 years agoI'm a bit wary of advertising things for totally free. I did it once before, a few years back, for free tan bark, and I have never had so many messages, it drove me mad for weeks, well after the ads had been taken down.
It did get rid of a massive pile of tan bark though.
These days, I tend to advertise with a smallish price so that I am more likely to get people who genuinely need the item. Then if I want to, I can just say they can have it for free. With the cot, there were about 30 'looks' but only 2 queries. Had it been free, I may have had to field more messages.
I was just pleased to clear it out within hours.😁
*sons_n_daughters*
·3 years agoNever advertise anything for free, even if you are happy to give it away free. The tyre kickers come out in force. OK, so I want to offload my old lounge, it will be on the footpath at this address. Or you just put it out the front with a sign, free lounge. Put it up for free, and it will still be there in a week. Put it up for $20 and some scumbag will have knocked it off within the hour thinking they have ripped you off! Even quicker if you've chained it to the telegraph pole.
Edit: What gets me is, "free queen sized bed, great condition blah blah blah, no holds, pick up only". Then someone pipes up "can you hold it for me until I get my next dole, and when can you deliver it?". Not only do they want it free, they also want you to deliver it! No. Just no.
springyzone
·3 years agoI'm aware of scammers out there.
A friend of mine, her son had a mobile phone advertised and was out on the porch showing the customer when the customer ran off with it to an accomplice, waiting down the road in a car. Police said it was not that uncommon.
Perhaps it depends on what items you have and how likely they are to attract scammers. I just this morning finished a transaction on marketplace and it was very pleasant actually. Most of mine have been, except for occasionally with people who never turn up, that would be the main problem I think people would have.
I was getting rid of a cot & mattress, fairly newish. My husband just wanted to toss it out on the hard rubbish collection but I felt that was wrong in the present climate & wanted it to go to someone who would use it.
Advertised for $20, had a new grandma arrive for it as she will be doing the childminding 2 days a week.
Told her she could have it for free, she was rapt. She took one of those door gates too as I had that out and she offered to buy it but it was due for hard rubbish too.
Because of the size of the cot pieces & mattress, it was just easier to have someone collect from home.
I've sold quite a few larger items of furniture over the years & never had any trouble.
I've also been to a lot of homes to pick up and never give trouble.
Nothing is ever 100% safe, you just have to do your best & be careful.
paper-jack
·3 years agoI've also had positive pick-ups. It definitely depends on what a person is buying. I have occasionally arranged pick-ups at some of the nearby railway stations as the buyers were coming by train, but for the purpose of making it easier for them not for any concern about safety. Usually my picked-up sales are for things I've made.
Yes, I know that there can be bad experiences, but these are discussion boards and I'm posting my positive experience as a balance. There are some very kind, generous people out there as well as some very nasty, selfish and dangerous ones.
countessalmirena
OP3 years agoRecognising funny money / counterfeit bank notes
https://banknotes.rba.gov.au/counterfeit-detection/counterfeit-detection-guide/
https://banknotes.rba.gov.au/counterfeit-detection/list-of-security-features/
https://banknotes.rba.gov.au/assets/pdf/counterfeit-detection-guide.pdf (PRINT THIS GUIDE)
Download the RBA bank notes app on your phone: https://banknotes.rba.gov.au/resources/rba-banknotes-app/
Bear in mind that a bird, the serial number and year of print fluoresce under UV light.
To validate the UV fluorescent features on Australia's banknotes, it is recommended that a UV black light with a wavelength that is centred around 365nm be used, and that it is done so in low ambient lighting conditions. Many UV black lights that use Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) emit wavelengths between 395–400nm, which are not suitable for viewing the UV features
Example of correct type of UV blacklight
https://www.ledtorchshop.com.au/?s=365nm&post_type=product&type_aws=true
eol-products
·3 years agoIt's easier to just do the scrunch test
countessalmirena
OP3 years agoRegarding PayID scams
https://amp.abc.net.au/article/101935092
https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/security/secondhand-sale-market-takes-hit-as-scammers-rip-off-260k-using-payid-scam/news-story/26fda48c740b4aaaed1aa6a9d7f9f470?amp
https://news.nab.com.au/news/payid-scam/
In essence:
PayID is safe and easy if used properly… I really suggest that everyone not familiar with PayID and wary about it get in touch with their bank and ask how to use it safely.
https://payid.com.au/voxpops/fight-scammers-with-payid/
To use safely, your buyer can pay you while picking up the item. All they need is their usual banking app.
The people paying you just need to:
“For the sofa - picked up today”
To set up your PayID:
There are two options - using your mobile phone number (or email account - it depends on your bank), or if you have an ABN and the payments you’d receive are payments to you as a business or sole trader, you can set up PayID with your ABN.
You can probably set it up within your normal banking app, but sometimes it may require you to set it up in person with your bank at your nearest branch.
If you’re just selling the occasional thing online, and it’s not part of your business, obviously you won’t want that going through your ABN; that’d be an accounting nightmare! Just set it up with phone/email.
If you are concerned about giving your phone or email details to online buyers, bear in mind that you don’t need to give them that information verbally until they’re standing in front of you, picking up the item. Very unlikely they’ll memorise your phone number or email address as they make the payment…
But as always, talk to your bank about any security or privacy or practical issue.
Alternatively, the buyer can make a direct transfer on their banking app using your BSB and account number. You should always check the number verbally very carefully with someone making a payment so that there’s no wrong digit. OSKO will mean practically instant transfer.
holdencars11
·3 years agoTo be honest I don't allow any pickups, only postage. And my return address is my PO Box or Parcel Locker. The less information provided in the wild the better. Some buyers don't like that I don't offer pickup... I don't because of those risks.. it's just not worth it.
*sons_n_daughters*
·3 years agoI occasionally sell items on Marketplace. Things like fruit or fresh herbs. Not something that really attracts scammers thankfully! This year the fruit was gone inside 3 days. Normally it's around 3 weeks. The Indians and Asians hound me to death as soon as I advertise. They love them! I love that they all want to take a family photo with the tree. I think that is so sweet.
I've had a few people request pick up for ebay items. My items aren't generally ones that would attract scammers, but I opt to meet at Bunnings, or the local IGA carpark. One time someone said they were about to take their kids to Macca's for a birthday party, could we meet there. Absolutely! Macca's has lots of security cameras. I live in a rural/regional area (not far from the4 masters, who was the first respondent), so it's only a few minutes to go to any of those locations.
As for photos, the fruit is taken close up on the tree, as are the herbs. Most of my ebay items are photographed on a black blanket as a macro shot. Sometimes darker items might need to be taken on a white background. I have seen photos people have taken that are basically mirror selfies and that concerns me a lot. Not only is their face in the photo, but so are half their household belongings.
For that reason, this was a good post to start.
the4masters2013
·3 years agoThank you for this.
I am sure people feel "It won't happen to me:" then are mightily shocked when things go amiss in a major way.
I live in a smallish town (43,000 people) and I would never put things up for sale on Facebook or Gumtree.
Every town and city may have their fair share of dishonest people. Which makes it so unfair for for all the decent people in the country.