SAFE TRADING GUIDLINES
At best, buying, selling and trading in cyberspace is a great risk. You can lower your chances of getting burned by following these tested guidelines.
It is strongly suggested that everyone should understand and abide by these guidelines when conduction transactions.
1) Prior to finalizing a deal with someone, do some research. VERIFY that they are who they say they are. If they don't have ANY references, ask why.
There are many different ways to verify someone. For example, Heatware, PayPal, eBay, Beerology, etc. (PayPal is really only a reference if it is a
VERIFIED account). Another place to check would be http://www.trollhunters.com. They
keep a list of known trolls, and have lots of info including names, addresses, and aliases. Ask for email addresses of people they have completed
prior transactions with. Get references you can contact by phone or by email, quiz them on the trader. If you do not take a few extra minutes to look
around, you are contributing to their role as a troll. If you can, use fellow forum members as references. Obviously, many of the regulars have traded
with each other. We would vouch for another that a successful trade had occurred between us.
2) Make contact with them in various ways before hand. Always get a phone number. Home number for sure, work number if at all possible. Tell them to
call you. If you have the phone number and the trader turns out to be a troll, you will be better off.
Once you have that person's phone number, give them a call if you feel uncertain about your trading partner. Do a reverse trace on the phone number
just to make sure it's not a pay phone. Call the person when they least expect it, like late at night or early in the morning. This would eliminate
the possibility of someone camping out at a public phone waiting for your call.
Get an Address. Make sure it is real. Insist on a real name. There is no good reason for someone not to give a real name. Phone numbers and a scanned
image of a pictured ID (Drivers license, state ID, school ID, whatever) will be strongly suggested.
Get a REAL email address. Hotmail email is not real. Neither is Yahoo or Mailspring. If someone is emailing you from one of these (or another free
email), chances are you may have a problem. EVERYONE who is serious about computing has a REAL ISP. Mindspring, AOL, MSN, Bellsouth, @Home, Earthlink,
etc.
3) Confirm everything before hand. Right before the deal is complete, email them saying the EXACT details of the transaction. An example would be...
I am emailing to confirm our deal. I will be sending you a used Sound Blaster Live sound card, with the boxes, manuals, and disks, all in working
condition. I will pay shipping.
For that, you will send me a bare CDRW drive. It will be in working condition upon receiving it. You will pay shipping.
If either of these items are not received as stated, then xxxx (insert repercussions here).
4) WHOEVER HAS FEWER REFERENCES SHIPS FIRST. If an established member (1000+ posts) said they would pay me upon receiving $1000 worth of items, I
would have NO problem mailing first. Neither should you. If you are dealing with someone who has 1000+ posts, you SHOULD have nothing to worry about
(This DOES NOT mean that you are totally in the clear. I would still check around). If you are dealing with someone who has 17 posts, I would make
them ship first. If they are not willing to ship first to someone who is clearly verified, chances are they have something to hide. Also consider
their side. Most people are honest, and don't want to get ripped off any more than you do. Make it clear to them that you have references, are known,
and provide any information (within reason) to make them feel comfortable.
5) As a general rule, all goods should be shipped out within 24 hours, unless a prior agreement has been made (such as one party is waiting on a
replacement video card to arrive before shipping old one). If it cannot, or will not be shipped within 24 hours, a valid reason should be given. Also,
tracking info should be provided within the same time period.
All goods should be sent with some sort of tracking. Shipping is the SELLERS responsibility. If there is any discrepancy regarding shipping, it
remains the SELLERS responsibility to take care of it.
6) If you are questionable about a deal, DON'T DO IT. It is not worth saving a few bucks by buying a used part. If the person is iffy, or displays
any of the aforementioned qualities (no refs, hotmail email address, etc), DON'T DO IT.
If a new trader will not ship something first, and cannot provide a valid reason why, other than "I don't ship first", then people should not trust
this person. Trust is built up. Please do not come to the Buy, Sell and Trade forums and expect people to send you money without question. If a new
seller refuses to ship first to an established member, then I would hope that EVERYONE would refuse purchase from that person. If I refuse to send
payment first to a questionable member, but someone else goes right behind me and does it, what has the seller learned? Even if the deal is completed
without incident, they haven't learned anything.
7) LEAVE FEEDBACK ABOUT YOUR TRANSACTION. Whether it is good or bad, try to let people know. http://www.heatware.com is there for a reason!
8) If there are ANY problems, make EVERY attempt to contact the other person before going public with the issue. Posting a public attack on the
individual without contacting them is not an attempt at an amicable resolution. Worse case scenario is if the other party takes offense and decides
not to complete the transaction and they have your money or goods! Give a reasonable time for goods to arrive.
I cannot think of any reasons why everything here should not be followed. Don't let your excitement of saving $15 or $20 on any product take control
of your common sense and judgment. Be smart. |
