Watch out for scams!

Just got scammed on a private sale! 

Completely my fault for being naive and sending with PayPal F&F (don't do that!) MP actually gives you a warning not to, but I didn't notice it until after.

A couple lessons I learned: check the join date of the seller, and reverse image search their profile picture. Had I done either of these things, the jig would have been up.

This is probably common knowledge to practical people, but keep on your toes!

Edit: saw the for sale thread. 

Maybe it’s common knowledge but I don’t think this sorta thing happens a lot. I’ve traded lots of gear. Makes me wonder how you could protect yourself in that situation.

T'is the season. There are at least a few scams on this week's feed. Thanks for the note on reverse image searching; I didn't know one could do that.

Another good way to prevent scammers from getting more than one person is to reply to the post when your payment is sent. Might prevent others from getting scammed as well. 

Also, if you don't know how to reverse image search, just drag and drop the image into Google's search bar. 

Bad climbing karma will get them.  

I got (lightly) burned on this as well. Go to Mountain Proj forums they said, build a rack via forum sales they said! 

Jk of course, but damn if it doesn’t feel shitty. 

That sucks Forrest. Thanks for the heads up-Lesson learned!

As a note, I sell things on here from time to time and I always expect you to pay friends/family option. I discount my gear as heavily as possible taking into account you will pay me a zero fee option. If a seller is asking for friends/family option and you are not comfortable you should volunteer to cover the fees....if they don't accept that THEN you can know something fishy is up! :)

Nobody has ever volunteered to cover fees but they have declined using friends/family option (lol)

Danny Poceta wrote:

The ability to completely delete threads seems to be a flaw in the MProj system. Hard to settle disputes or justify locking an account. His "Old Climber" or whatever account was locked, but John H. has not yet been.

Mods pleas lock John H.

likewise when I sell other things I sometimes accept BTC. Nobody ever volunteers to add on BTC fees to their transaction (which sometimes can fluctuate as high as $8-9USD). Every buyer wants to be treated special and pampered with free shipping, pass the fees onto me, etc. I could handle this if I inflated my prices 5-10% but I refuse to do that.

Interestingly, John H has not been out of communication with me. When I confronted him this morning, he apologized and said he would be shipping the cam tomorrow. I asked for my money back and have yet to hear back from him. 

Fortunately I paid the paypal fee, and have filed a dispute with them. 

Danny Poceta wrote:

Interestingly, John H has not been out of communication with me. When I confronted him this morning, he apologized and said he would be shipping the cam tomorrow. I asked for my money back and have yet to hear back from him. 

Fortunately I paid the paypal fee, and have filed a dispute with them. 

Did the same for me, gave him the benefit of the doubt due to the holidays. Hope you get your money back! I’m only in for one cam at $35, so doesn’t hurt too bad. 

Sorry about your loss and this jerk ripping you off.  

In reply to the other comments on this thread...

Why not just use PayPal like it was intended? 3% is not inflating the price that much. $3 on a $100. That is about $1 per used cam. I know I have done many different ways in the past (covered fees myself, asked the buyer to, or just left it open to their choice without ever asking), and now don't think it is worth it to negate your buyer and seller protection for $1/cam.

I think all sellers on MP should just list a price and take PayPal goods and services payment.  If you don't want to lose $1/ cam then inflate your price from $35 to $36 per cam or sell locally in cash (but you probably will give up over $1/cam in lost cost of gas and time to meet locally).

Just my 2.03 cents. (2 cents if paying with PayPal Friends And Family).

Anyways, why give money to Paypal? We're climbers, aren't we by nature known to circumvent the norms of society and bend the rules to benefit ourselves? Free thinkers and all that :)

5.samadhi wrote:

Don't buy from people with zero contributions or compliments etc. 

Going F/F with someone like that is not doing your due diligence, imo.

Sorry you got ripped off!

If there is the slightest doubt, buyer cover the fees!

DrApnea wrote:

Sorry about your loss and this jerk ripping you off.  

In reply to the other comments on this thread...

Why not just use PayPal like it was intended? 3% is not inflating the price that much. $3 on a $100. That is about $1 per used cam. I know I have done many different ways in the past (covered fees myself, asked the buyer to, or just left it open to their choice without ever asking), and now don't think it is worth it to negate your buyer and seller protection for $1/cam.

I think all sellers on MP should just list a price and take PayPal goods and services payment.  If you don't want to lose $1/ cam then inflate your price from $35 to $36 per cam or sell locally in cash (but you probably will give up over $1/cam in lost cost of gas and time to meet locally).

Just my 2.03 cents. (2 cents if paying with PayPal Friends And Family).

I agree with this.  

I had to start a new account because it's been years since my previous MP account.  So I have 0 point and 0 contributions, but climbed for about 13 years and was an active member- now just a broken homebody trying to sell the jewelry at a price somebody can afford. I use buyer security and tracking numbers, even though somebody commented me on being sketchy for the same reason. 

If you really want to become an entrepreneur and sell a bunch without middle man costs- then start a website and get some click ads.  But I've never seen any businesses not incur some fees for money changing hands- IE: apple square fees, CC company fees, etc.  Up to the seller to adjust pricing as they need, but it's a small buck piddling around with used gear or overstock items. 

Sucks to hear that you got took. The general rule of thumb is to only skip the PP fees if the user has a long time history on the site. 

Interesting to hear that some of us are accepting BTC. I’ll start throwing that on my sales from now on. 

5.samadhi wrote:

F&F is great for scam sellers - they get money that's irrevocable, keep it, and not send the gear.  Result - buyer gets screwed.  Buyers should NOT use F&F. And I say this as a confirmed PP hater.

 I've bought plenty on here in the past year, and will just cover the fees.  I check the user history, etc. but prefer the protection regardless.  It's a small fee on most purchases as noted above.