Home Craigslist shipping request

[oobiecoo]

DH and I listed a few things on craigslist last night and I got an email from someone interested in purchasing and having an item shipped since he doesn''t live in our area. Should I stay away from this? I know there are lots of scams where people use paypal fraudulently and all of that so I want to know what I should look out for. He said he''s been looking for this item for a while now to replace one he had a while back and can''t find it anywhere. I did an ebay and google search and that does seem legit... apparently this item isn''t very easy to come by. Should I just pass and hope someone else is interested?

 

[Lanie]

I wouldn''t...but that''s just me. Is it a high dollar item? How did he find you? It''s not like you can search for "dresser" and all cities come up. You can only search for items within a city, which would tell me right there he''s not legit.

 

[TravelingGal]

I personally, would not.

 

[laine]

I might, assuming its not super expensive or hard to ship. I'd email a few times to get a sense of whether he seems legit, maybe ask he found your item (I know some people code programs to search craigslist for them, or a google search could bring up your ad, so its not totally weird that he found you). If he seems ok, have him pay through paypal (and only ship it to the confirmed paypal address).

If its expensive, I might not risk it, but I guess I'm sympathetic to the "really want it, can't find it".

 

[Loves Vintage]

How did he propose he would pay for the item? You could insist that he send you a bank check, and then send the item after receipt. If he wants the item badly enough, he can comply. Then again, if he sent you the money first via paypal, I don''t see how you could be scammed if the money is moved into your account. But, if you would feel more comfortable, see if he''s willing to send a bank check.

Also, people can search craigslist everywhere, by doing a Google advanced search for specific key words on craigslist.org. It will bring up listings that contain that key word in any city. I''ve done this before when searching for a specific item.

 

[D&T]

Hi There, a few years ago I sold a persian rug to a gal out of state, I was such a craigslist novice, but it worked out just fine, My buyer sent me a money order along with shipping supply, I told her I would wait a week before I would ship out the item, to make sure the money order was good (I called the number on the money order and it was a legitimate money order) She then told me that once I receive the money order, to call her and she would send UPS to pick up the item. I wrapped up the rug in her shipping supply then she called UPS (on her account ) and it was picked up and everyone was happy.


ETA: Just be weary of Paypal money, if he doesn't have a confirmed address or address on file with Paypal, also would wait a few days if this was the case and call paypal directly to verify that it is the person who owns the account. We have been scammed once, before, as my husband was selling virtual accounts and the guy that sent us the paypal used someone else's paypal unauthorized anyways, long story short, is that Paypal reversed the funds, and we lost out on his account (for me it was good ridence, but it was a mess) if he is comfortable with you waiting a couple of days to verify everything, then I dont see a problem with paypal, but again, if you are uncomfortable, then I would not do it.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I would pass on the transaction. It doesn''t seem like it''s worth the stress worrying if his payment is good or not.

How long has your item been up for? If it''s that hard to come by, hopefully another person responds to your ad! Also, if it''s a shippable item, may be ebay would be a better route.

Good luck.

 

[PumpkinPie]

This is why Kijiji (a similar thing to Craigslist for anyone who isn''t familiar) posts a notice on their homepage warning people to only deal with local transactions! I would not do it.

 

[Miss Sparkly]

I would ONLY accept paypal for payment. Once you have your funds then ship it off.

 

[lilylover]

I would pass. I have sold quite a few things on craigslist and in my experience it''s never a good thing when people ask the items to be shipped. Especially if they want to pay with a money order or check. There are quite a few scammers out there and you really have to be careful. Just hold out and someone in your area will buy your item.

Good luck!