In the last week have had 2 people try to buy a snowblower using Venmo to pay. Luckily I did some homework and it very risky to use Venmo with people you do not know. It's okay with reputable business and friends.
the problem with Venmo is you will get a notification from them that PAYMENT was made but then the scammer can cancel transaction and get their money back. You do NOT receive a notification that the transaction was cancelled.
had a guy come over to house , agreed to my asking price ( 1st red flag ) , clean cut and smooth talker and acting overly friendly ( 2nd red flag ) and told me that in a couple clicks and seconds I would have my payment. I told him in email that I only accepted cash when he offered Venmo payment . he drove over an hour to get to my house anyway and offered venmo . ( 3rd red flag )
today received email from another "buyer" offering to pay by venmo. I agreed on purpose to get them all excited. we went back and forth a couple times. Then I told them I would deliver to save them time and needed phone number and address.
never heard from them again.
Be careful out there. Even check the good ol american cash you get. there is more and more fake greenbacks out there.
I had a similar situation. Some guy was so persistent to pay me via venmo for some items that was selling on Facebook marketplace. He wanted me to ship it to him even though the guy said he lived few minutes away from me. He got rude at the at and I told him to f off.
Scammers go out of their way to steal from you. Glad to hear that you cut them off at the pass.
Not blower related but I've had 2 recently. One is an automated call from Agent (forget the name) from Social Security that my SS number is disabled due to suspicious activity and to call a 217 area code number, social security deals via mail not phone. Even more suspicious when they called my 2d line (just a few numbers apart) with the same message. A little online checking found it was a scam wanting you to buy and send the numbers off things like Target Gift cards.
2d one was a travel thing, get great vacations at discount rates. Sounds good till you find they want a $9K buy-in, admin fees and yearly maintenance costs. Did a little looking online after the fact, turns out it appears they are an actual business but don't deliver on what they promise. Complaints run far and wide on them.
my "default" setting is to be suspicious always . that sometimes backfires with nice people but then I apologize to them and tell them how people have scammed me.
I have been offered bitcoin , jewelry , precious metals, venmo, paypal ( which i did one time and it cost me $60 in fees ) , checks , of course, cashiers checks and more. have had people try to tag-team me with a supposed big shot business owner. have had guys come over in a truck with a "done deal" with FULL ASKING PRICE in cash and then when they show up notice a couple scratches and then low ball the **** out of me ( always a waste of time on their part ) . have had people off me half down and then want to take to mechanic 45 miles away and if it passes inspection will give me rest of money.
I have told all these people to liquidate their assets and come back with cash. of course they never do.
it's starting to get to the point that is not even worth it anymore. I very rarely budge on my price anymore because I feel I have earned the full asking price because of all this bs.
My gawd, where do you people live (he asked incredulously)?
I've made maybe 50 sales on CL etc, various items, through the past few years. Not one person ever haggled me over insisting on cash ever, and only one guy ever haggled on price once he came over to look at the item. That one guy is the only time anybody ever came over to look at something that did not buy it, and all the others paid my asking price.
I had one guy give me half down payment and said he had to go to ATM machine for the rest of cash and meanwhile he was trying to load snowblower in his vehicle.
i said " wait a minute , you have to pay me rest of cash before you take."
I'm to the point where I clearly state in all of my ads, "Price is FIRM, Cash Only, No Trades". While that doesn't stop everybody from trying to haggle, I stick to my listed price. One thing that always seals the deal when people come over "to see" my snowblowers is showing them my 35 point checklist of service items. I don't BS any prospective buyers and won't tolerate BS from them either.
Having said that, 99% of my buyers are the nicest, most honest people you could ever meet. It's the 1% of lowballers, scammers and fast talkers that ruin it for everyone.
my biggest thing is getting them to the garage. once they see my set up they are 90% sold.
i do get a lot of replies asking questions and i usually say come over and I'll answer all questions in person. then i never hear back. I put plenty of info and pictures in the ads to cut down on questions and to entice people to come over.
I'm pretty firm on price but sometimes I'll take a little bit off if I like the people. I've even turned down sales from people who are ready to pay but who are ignorant and rude about it. Life's too short and i have found out the hard way that these are the people who usually email or complain about things after the sale. I especially dislike the ones that say for a little more they can buy a new machine. I tell them go ahead buy new. They can give the dealer a headache then.
your right about the nice people. outnumber the bad 10-1 but you tend to remember the bad ones.
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