Buying on the org!

[Dadie]

Why cant people get it?
You check the items over before you hand the cash over.
Treat it as if buying at a carboot sale...buyer beware...sold as seen!
If it seems to good to be true...it probably is.
DVDs etc take them out the boxes and look for scratches, items in boxes..take em out and look at them (unless sealed as there isnt a lot you can do there)....item isnt quite what you thought say no thanks and walk away.
Clothes, check zips, buttons and seams are intact and check for stains.
Furniture etc have a good look and test the seats, look at the legs and corners etc...always better to see assembled and take the time to unassemble flatpack yourself if it wont fit in your car the way it is.
Electronic / electrical stuff ask if you can see it working etc...
Kids toys check they are not broken or have missing parts etc.
Most sellers are happy for you to take reasonable time to check stuff out....
Its always better to meet the seller at their home as well as getting their phone nos...at least then if you need to see them again you know where they live!

Ever so often there is a wail from an orger saying dont buy from ..........so and so ...as they ripped me off!


If they wont ...you dont buy ...

Any other advice?

[Beat Bug]

Looks like you've hit the nail on the head on every point!

[Kodiak]

There is no protection if you buy anything off the org, you are safer, better and often cheaper if you buy off eBay. At least they have buyer protection of up to £500.

[billmoseley]

i have done some good deals with people off the org. What Dadie says is so true and good advice having said that 99% of sellers on here are honest

[annemarie482]

Your all so right!
Unforutately, I broke a couple of the must do's
( how stupid of me to trust anyone lol)
And was "done" by the 1% today :(
I won't make that mistake again!

[Dadie]

I have bought a few things from the org over the years and have yet to be ripped off.
Luckily I have walked away from a deal that wasnt "right" ...all I wasted was my time (DVDs the first 2 were ok the rest were scratched).
The last thing I bought was car for my wee boy and he loves it, in the past I have bought clothes, furniture etc....
I did wonder what sellers thought, when you go to see something (before photos were the norm)and it just wasnt what you thought it was like, and you walk away feeling guilty after saying no thanks.....

Just reminding everyone of the risks ......I hate it when people get ripped off, because they think everyone on the org must be nice.
Just wish a sticky could be made on the for sale section warning people about the risks on buying and selling.....might remind people that not everyone is as nice as they seem!....that and if the mods think its ok shaming the baddies!

[Dadie]

Annmarie482 you are not the first and wont be the last to be scammed!
It happens...I have a thing for playtents with wonky poles at carboots!
If this helps one person to remember the golden rules about buying on the org so they dont get scammed its worth it?
You were unlucky thankfully for not for more money than it was....
I wish the mods would let you name and shame ....
And you wont be scammed again!

[Stig]

Buying on the org for me has been no bother. Its the selling its a problem, the time wasters on here that say they are coming and don't turn up is unbelievable.

[starfish]

we had plenty of those stig in fact one person made 3 appointments to come and never showed at any of them

[bluechesse]

And the time wasters who do turn up. Advertised a van for 1600 quid, and a bloke came to look. Then announced he only has 500 quid. So....why are you looking at a 1600 quid van then........Hmmmmm.

I know people expect to be able to haggle over things, vehicles in particular, but less than a third of the advertised price? Beat it.

[Crackeday]

The best bit of advise I ever got was from an old guy years ago who was renowned for buying and selling.
he said " Keep your hands in your pockets and use your eyes as a guide".
So true.
Any item i bought from him was guaranteed until i got past his front gate!!!.
he never once ripped me off though :)

[Crackeday]

Remember to use the Report Post http://forum.caithness.org/images/buttons/report-40b.png link to report an item that has been sold or a post that is no longer required and it will be removed.
That annoys me when people dont do that, then they post a month later item now sold please remove :(

[Tilly Teckel]

I wish the mods would let you name and shame ....

I'd love to name and shame the 'sweet old couple' who sold me a car for £800 when I was learning to drive. It broke down the second time I took it out and when I had it towed to a garage they said that it would cost at least £1500 to fix and that it had been quite obviously patched up to sell. I ended up scrapping it and was left with just the stereo! I found out later that the lovely old fella does this often. I do hope what goes around comes around...[disgust]

[slinky]

Your all so right!
Unforutately, I broke a couple of the must do's
( how stupid of me to trust anyone lol)
And was "done" by the 1% today :(
I won't make that mistake again!


hi u bought a watch of me that day are u referring to me ?

[octane]

Ive asked admin to setup a trader rating system on the org a few times. Theres a plugin for V-bulletin called Itrader which allows members to leave feedback on transactions. Pretty simple and basic setup and works well. Theres a lot of buying/selling on here so cant see why they wont implement it into the org.

Cant take anything for granted and alway check the item is what your expecting before handing over money to a stranger.

Admin any feedback as to why you dont wanna add this feature to the org? :confused

I know its not ebay here but its still a community and will hopefully deter from dodgy goings on

I took a screenshot of trader system and blacked out members names to show how it looks

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y55/Feesty/ITRADER-2.jpg

[Crackeday]

Ive asked admin to setup a trader rating system on the org a few times. Theres a plugin for V-bulletin called Itrader which allows members to leave feedback on transactions. Pretty simple and basic setup and works well. Theres a lot of buying/selling on here so cant see why they wont implement it into the org.

Cant take anything for granted and alway check the item is what your expecting before handing over money to a stranger.

Admin any feedback as to why you dont wanna add this feature to the org? :confused

I know its not ebay here but its still a community and will hopefully deter from dodgy goings on

I took a screenshot of trader system and blacked out members names to show how it looks

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y55/Feesty/ITRADER-2.jpg
Cant see any probs with this, would make alot of sense.

[Ajax]

great idea ,makes sense to me also

[Colin Manson]

Admin any feedback as to why you dont wanna add this feature to the org? :confused

First time that I've seen a request for it but...

Looks like it would cause more headaches than it's worth, without it being tied into a purchasing system like eBay, what is to stop people sending random feedback for other users, good or bad?

We don't have the time or means to check that someone has actually made a sale or purchase so you'd have to trust that the feedback was honest. That doesn't always happen with the reputation system so why would a sales system be any different.

Cheers
Colin