Selling an airgun. Please help

[whitetail17]

I listed my Daystate Rosso on American Airguns Classifieds by recommendation of AOA.

I get emails telling me they will take the rifle for asking price. Pay by certified or cashiers check and after it clears , I can ups the rifle. 

No pictures , no questions . Asking for full name, address, cell number to send payment.

Obviously a scam, but how does it work, how do they benefit?

 

[KralGuy]

I think I saw your ad on Airguns Classifieds....$2600 would be a good price for a mint condition Rosso. If they were to send you a cashier check, from abank and you wait for it to clear, they could not be ripping you off.



Sounds like an eager buyer to me.



Just my thoughts

 

[Guest]

Just a thought. The Rosso is so new and albeit rare. We all know what they are, and people want them. That said, would you send a cashiers check to someone out don't know with no personal information? What is their protection?

AAC is loaded with scams. Stay here or GTA

Wish I had the money ,

Mitch

 

[rangur1]

that place is overun with scams . if they send you check for more as an "accident" and tell you to just deposit it and send back the difference-SCAM! i would not deal with AAC . list it here if you can. you can demand paypal and then you are good to go.

 

[Sigma]

Someone alerted me today that someone was using my pictures and stuff on american airguns (never heard of if before today). Kinda weirded me out, be very careful of that place.

 

[Tominco]

They could be sending a counterfeit cashiers check. Even USPS money orders are being faked. 

If you go for it, and receive the check. Alert the bank when you deposit it that you are nervous that it may be counterfeit and ask how to protect yourself against being held accountable. Basically, put it on them. They don't like that and will do what they need to in order to protect themselves. Like others have said, the risk is primarily on the buyers end in this case. They're blindly sending money to a total stranger and trusting that they will get something for it. 

 

[cmatera]

Odd that the buyer is stating how payment will be made. The guy with the gun usually specifies how payment will be made-I’d run.

 

[boscoebrea]

How do you want someone to pay for your rifle?

 

[JimNM]

Some scams have you ship to a third person. Is the final address in the US or foreign?



The buyer should give you his phone number so y'all can talk before making a deal. Best bet would be to not ship it, IMHO. Hard to reach full market potential, though.

 

[GiveEmLead]

The first question you need to ask is of a bank. Go to your bank and speak with someone knowledgable about fraud. Ask them what happens if you demand payment on a check and it "clears". My understanding is that at this point it's not really cleared all the way and it can still be denied down the line and come back on you. Verify whether this is true or not.

My recommendation: demand payment in a bullet-proof form. For me, it's PayPal. Anyone in the modern world that does business on the internet and doesn't have a PayPal account is shady.

 

[Hepotter]

If you can't find a buyer on this forum, one with references on "Member Feedback", then something is very strange. The forum members who buy, sell and trade on here, with confirmed feedback are about as good as meeting the buyer at the bank. People who own, sell, and buy upper end pcp's on this forum are not poverty stricken individuals.

I only violated this rule once since 2007. A guy in the U.K. asked if I wanted a laminated stock for my gun, which was then unavailable in the U.S. I sent him the money "Friends and Family"...last I ever heard from him. Several hundred down the drain, but I see it as tuition for the lessons we learn in life the hard way...or, for being just plain stupid! We've all been there, one way or another.



Regards,

Kindly 'Ol Uncle Hoot

 

[Franklink]

I've sold and bought a couple on the AA classifieds. Have yet to be scammed, but they've tried. 

It seems like having a conversation with somebody, text, email, or phone is a good way to figure out whether or not you're getting scammed. Guys buying a gun usually have a couple very specific questions about the gun, and speak the lingo. People trying to scam don't speak the airgun lingo (or English usually-really poorly written English has been my first indicator of a scammer a couple of times). 

 

[John "spysir" Blount]

Franklink +1. I've purchased & sold well over 100 airguns on AA over the years, recognize the majority of names. 

"I'll take it" used to be common then again so did many offering a 3day inspection. Now these days an unknown airgunner without a single question buying or selling, hummm. 

Regarding payment options ( normally sellers choice) our local U.S.P.S. office claim their money orders can NOT be faked. Sure one could be printed but right or wrong they feel they WILL spot a fake. On day's they havent enough cash to cover one they happily verify it's genuine and off to the bank. Been fine so far.

Also cashiers checks seem to clear on time.

John

 

[Gunner1985]

Likely scam options 

1) Check is a fake. You deposit the check and happily send the gun. A few days later the bank says the check is a fake and they pull the money back out of your account and they file a BSA report. No money, no gun.

2) Check is real, but money is stolen from someone else through fraud. Let's say they tricked someone to send money to a "boyfriend" on a offshore oil rig (romance scam) or someone to send bail money for a grandson purported to be in a mexican prison. The fraudsters make up a story about how the money needs to go through you and the victim sends the money. You then ship the gun to another person at the fraudsters request who is also a scam victim and so on...eventually fraud money gets back over seas and its be churned so much its almost untraceable.

Clear as mud? PayPal to me seems like the safest way for a seller to sell to a known buyer. Even better is a face to face sale. 

Be careful for sure using that website. Michael and other members do a good job keeping this forum clear of most fraud. I'd say list it here, and GTA. Just my two cents. 

 

[whitetail17]

will do . thanks everyone. 

 

[jeremyorr247]

While I do very little air gun selling since I only own a few (and about to own one less now that I got my impact x sniper), I do extensive buying and selling on the outdoors trader and akfiles. My general rule of thumb is if more than a few hundred and little feedback then I want a money order and take it to the post office as spysir said. They can spot a fake and if they don’t have the cash, I go cash it at my bank and I don’t ship until it has cleared. I also will take PayPal f&f as long as they have good feedback and if I am selling, I wait 24 hours before I ship. So far so good for me. But I always try to sell local ftf if I can and generally will sell for a few dollars less when I do that since way less risk.

 

[cmatera]

Usually, the SELLER dictates how payment will be made.

 

[Gerry52]

DON'T FREAKING DEAL WITH THOSE TYPES!!! Gotten 2 responses, Carol Smith & Sabina Blackshear, offering to pay that way even though my ad reads So. Cal. Only & cash or PayPal only. WATCH OUT!!! They won't divulge where they are located either. ALSO, I just now realized the wording in emails from "both" these people is word for word EXACTLY the same! Something stinks here.

 

[Arzrover]

Gerry52..... I agree. Scam all the way but I do not know what they are after. Heard the exact same story more times than I can count. A lot of those responses are automated and they don't even identify what the ad says...."the item".

I don't even respond to those as there may be some info they scam off your response.

To me... USPS money order is still safest and most beneficial. They WILL pursue fraud through the mail and you can cash it when you send it to know if there is a payment problem before letting go of the "item". I don't care for PayPal, even though I've used them, especially now that the Feds are tracking PayPal payments.

Bob

 

[Yote]

Walmart to Walmart in my opinion is the safest way