Hot Rods Does this sound like a set-up

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Actually, mail fraud, or wire fraud laws work both ways, especially if you have text or email documentation of the agreement.
Send a phony USPS money order; Sender gets to meet with a federal postal investigator about felony counterfeiting and mail fraud.
Receive a USPS legitimate money order as payment, and not complete agreement by sending purchased item, seller gets to have a meeting with federal postal investigator to talk about felony mail fraud charges.

Just sayin'.....Roger

 

That is false info. They simply do not have the manpower or budget to chase every one-time complaint. The few investigators they do have, only work on large scale mass mailing frauds. Check with the Post Office and they will tell you the same.

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All this get your money, drop it off is true. The question I have is how's the buyer going to get it?
Why doesn't buyer say... "I have a buddy close to you. I'll call when I get there, you bring it by, I'll have the cash."

Or... "Drop it off at my buddy's house and he'll pay you".

The OP asked for opinions...my $0.02. To me it's so simple, good business. I know of many cases similar to this that went South.
I've sold lots of things over the years...never had a problem with simple exchange item for money in person.


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Why doesn't the buyer put up a few bucks more and have you mail/ship the thing? Jeez, a six hour round trip to pick up an intake? Crazy.

 

Hire a fucking professional already...
If not i will send him your way.
Dont worry,he'll find you.

 

Call his bluff, tell him you have to go to his city for some work and can drop it off.
I know what is going to happen, he will tell you the part is missing from the fence.
Lock it on the fence and when you get paid and it clears the bank, send him the key.
Compromise and meet him halfway...
Face to face only after this suggestion...yea, lean it against the fence. BS

 

Nope, Absolutely wrong. I filed a mail fraud case against Moore's Auto Salvage in Rapid City South Dakota a few months ago, got an email that said the USPS had received the claim and since then, crickets.

Absolutely right. I filed a mail fraud case against Moore's Auto Salvage in Rapid City South Dakota a few months ago, got an email that said the USPS had received the claim and since then, crickets.

I'm considering sending the OP $80 if he agrees to delete this entire thread......

 

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I agree , I do half $40 !!

 

Deal fell through, Fence fell over

 

its either a scam or a completely out of touch buyer , you as the seller make all the rules for payment and delivery of parts . e-mails are fine to start the transaction but if he wants your part he,ll call you on the phone . also CASH only , all other forms of payment can be hacked .

 

I agree, way too much BS for a 348 intake. Whoever said ship it? You've obviously never lifted one. Want it, come & get it, period. Been to auctions where they couldn't get $5 starting bids on 348 intakes & heads, but I don't blame the OP if he can get $80 out of one.

 

Wait for the red Camaro to show up in your driveway with the cash.

 

I'm heading about 1.5 hours to pick up some parts today, seller wouldn't take them to a friends place about 20 minutes away from him.

Some people are cautious, others not so much.

Personally I'd have the buyer send his buddy the $$ and meet up in a parking lot, etc, if I was concerned.

 

I have done a hundreds of transactions on CL and on the FB Marketplace. I think the most expensive thing I sold was a riding mower for a few hundred bucks. I have three rules for selling items that haven't failed me thus far.

1) Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES do I meet anyone that isn't parked in a public (well lit at night) parking lot. I don't go to their place, they don't go to mind, and I get to the meeting place early.
2) I do zero transactions without the pistol of the day being strapped to my side.
3) I do zero business with pay-pal, checks, and shipping.

RS
Mike

 

A quick update:
The buyer sent me the $80 in cash in the mail. I have his home address, he appears to live where he says.
I think (as someone stated), that he has a friend close to me and will pick up the head on the occasion he comes
to visit his friend. Note: I actually listed the part for $25 and told him $80 by mistake. After dropping off the
part I will send him back $55. I'll let you how it turns out, I feel confident this is for real.
don

 

You are quite the Gentleman, sir.

 

good. now I can sleep through the night again without waking up with the cold sweats

 

Just tape the $55 to intake, then throw it over the fence. Better yet just lay it on that red Camaro hood.
Seriously, very honorable to refund $55. I'd do that too.

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That's pretty severe for a $25 part. I'd be fine with A, fine with C but if I was meeting someone to pay $25 for a part and saw they were fully armed, I'd keep on driving. Too crazy for my blood. Good luck to you. I am sure the OP's deal will go down just fine.

 

Better yet, tape $35 to the intake, seal it in this box, print the $19.95 shipping label, then drop it at the post office (or hand it to your mail carrier). Weight limit is 70 lbs. Dimensions
23-11/16" x 11-3/4" x 3"

You and his "friend" are now out of the equation.

He's 3 hours away and will have it in a day or two. This exercise is successfully done hundreds of thousands of times every day. Done frigging deal. Jeez! LOL.

 

Apparently this comment is not applicable in this case, but beware that personal checks can "bounce" after it appears as a credit on your bank balance. Check with your bank.

If you're really paranoid, if getting payment by cash, ask for small bills. Not as likely to be counterfeit, and you can check to see if serial numbers are all different.

 

I have done many odd ball buys and sells via craigslist. All of them only after talking with the people! You can get a great read about the deal this way. Bought stuff blind from Cali. and sold to Minnesota. No way I would trust anybody without a chat.

 

"Odd ball buys" ??!!

 

Let me ask you this? Is there anyway in the correspondence you have had with this potential buyer that he could know your address. My bet is. He sends you some cash. You feel good. You deliver product (meaning you are away from your house for 6 hours). You return to find your home has been robbed!

 

That would be quite a scam. I hadn't thought of that one. Just like when people received free tickets to something and when they returned home. . .house had been emptied out.

 

Update:
I delivered the part as specified, no issues. The buyer also insisted I keep an extra $25 for "shipping." Therefore
I will send him a $30 adjustment. What I didn't mention I also included an almost new road tube ($107 new), no use
to me with my Edelbrock manifold.

I would like to thank everyone for their comments, because you never know. Some things I did that I gleaned from
the suggestions provided:
1. I Googled the drop site
2. Drove past it first to check it out
3. Did not tell anyone when I was dropping off the part. Did it during the AM
4. Took a picture of the dropped off part leaning against the fence and sent it to the buyer
5. Did not carry my wallet on my person
6. I have a baseball bat in my Jeep (just in case: 38 ounce from the old days, before 22 ounce bats became the rage)
My limited experiences with selling parts are probably the same as most people. 99% percent of the people
you meet in this hobby are honorable and well-intentioned; some are pretty darn interesting. In fact this person
is the second buyer that insisted that I take another $25 (the other buyer was a little late with paying and assessed
himself a late fee). Thanks to everyone with their comments, this one worked out.
don

 

Huh? I have parts shipped to my buddy's house all the time! I buy stuff in the US (free shipping), send 10 or 15 items from difference sources to his house. He packages them all up in one box and sends them across the boarder to me. Saves me hundreds in shipping costs.

 

If I were the scammer, I'd certainly assume the seller would bring his wife, son, daughter, mother and father in-laws, german shepherd et al with him when he delivered the transmission a few miles away (six hours has been debunked), and I'm sure I could guess at the right time window.

 

I used to sell and ship products all over the US and sell locally via the net. Had several rules.
1. Money was in my bank before the product was given to the customer. I would accept any kind of payment. If it was a check, I waited till it cleared ( had a teller that would help me with this) PayPal, I had a seperate bank account from my business that was just for PayPal and I would transfer the money to my business account. Kept it empty. Cash was king!
2: If delivering , always in a public place , cash only, carried my nine.
3: Never had people come to my house, always used my business address. Never gave out my home address.

With these simple rules I never had any problems, since I began selling over the net and I’ve been selling since the beginning.

When I buy, I do as much research as possible on the product and the seller. Have been very lucky and have only been burned a few times.





Bones

 

If this is legit how come his friend can't meet you in the driveway?