How do you transact on LT?

[WICheez]

Just curious. I'm looking at making a purchase off LT. It's a surprise for DGF. For this particular seller, this is the highest price item they've listed on there. Their previous sales were for things an order of magnitude less expensive. Say the previous sales were 1kish. This one is 10k ish. Its a private seller, not a business.

Whats the best way to ensure that the transaction goes smoothly? As a last resort, i could just fly out, inspect in person and fly back with it. Short of doing that, any best practice tips for sending payment etc. I'm not going to do a wire or paypal as gift. It seems like a zero recourse method if things go south. Use an escrow service? Paypal and split fees? Cashiers checks? USPS MO?

 

[soxfan]

First off, ask if they are a PS member and if they have references.

 

[WICheez]

The person is a member on here. Will ask about references.

 

[soxfan]

The person is a member on here. Will ask about references.

Great!

 

[VRBeauty]

For my large LT purchase I used paypal. You're absolutely right not to use the "gift" option on paypal - you have no protection with money sent as a "gift." I also used USPS registered mail for shipping. It takes a bit longer and it's a bit of a pain for the shipper, but I liked the extra peace of mind. Because the interactions with the seller had been a bit wonky, I actually had a friend video-record me picking up and opening the package. That turned out to be unnecessary, but better safe than sorry.

I've bought jewelry from vendors who used FedEx, using one or more sealed box within the actual shipping box, and then shipping to a secure facility. Io to the facility in person, show ID, and sign for it to pick it up. Also a pain since the FedEx secure facilities are few and far between, but again it did provide a bit of extra peace of mind.