QTH.COM Swap Chat

Hello,

I am new to QTH Classifieds way of buying/selling equipment. I am used to having a "middle man" that makes sure both parties honor the deal, or simply meeting the other party face-to-face to close the deal. Is sending a postal money order really the best we can do? If I find something I want to buy and the seller says, "Send me a postal money order and I will send the item when I cash the money order", am I supposed to trust the seller? It seems to me like I would be taking a huge risk here. I have read the posts providing many useful tips to avoid getting ripped off. Now I am looking for the experience of the community to tell me what I could do as a recourse if a seller didn't send the item when they cashed the money order. In my limited experience it seems like I am giving away free money. If that is the case then I guess I will stick to retail.

Any constructive advice?

Thanks,
Joe
KD0GHU

Joe:

You might want to take a look at "Safe Trading Tips" shown at the top of every Classified page. There is a lot of info there directly related to your question.

AL
K4ICL

kd0ghu wrote:Hello,

I am new to QTH Classifieds way of buying/selling equipment. I am used to having a "middle man" that makes sure both parties honor the deal, or simply meeting the other party face-to-face to close the deal. Is sending a postal money order really the best we can do? If I find something I want to buy and the seller says, "Send me a postal money order and I will send the item when I cash the money order", am I supposed to trust the seller? It seems to me like I would be taking a huge risk here. I have read the posts providing many useful tips to avoid getting ripped off. Now I am looking for the experience of the community to tell me what I could do as a recourse if a seller didn't send the item when they cashed the money order. In my limited experience it seems like I am giving away free money. If that is the case then I guess I will stick to retail.

Any constructive advice?

Thanks,
Joe
KD0GHU

Get what you want from a dealor. It is only about $100 higher for the item if it is a radio or amp, so why worry about it for $100,,, and top it off, you can always send it back to the dealor, but most sellers are""I call it like it is"" Flim Flam Men, I have a garage full of none working amps to prove it, and EBAY say's the seller said no returns and it isn't garenteed,, But the listing says like new..
Option #2,, Do as I said I'd only do, and go to the guy who owns it and try it out,,..I know Living in West Virginia I cnat convieniantly run to California to see if something works,, but they sell that stuff every where it is all over the United States so why worry, be at ease, and check it out or get it from a Ham Radio Dealor,,
Another good thing to remember is if it is in a Peek and Tweek shop, more or less it has been abused even though it works, so it might last a week and it maight not last a day,, but they will not give you the benifit of a doubt,. They always say you blew it up.. Buy from a dealor, or a reputable HAM..

shaggy_24740 wrote:Get what you want from a dealor. It is only about $100 higher for the item if it is a radio or amp, so why worry about it for $100,,, and top it off, you can always send it back to the dealor, but most sellers are""I call it like it is"" Flim Flam Men, I have a garage full of none working amps to prove it, and EBAY say's the seller said no returns and it isn't garenteed,, But the listing says like new..
Option #2,, Do as I said I'd only do, and go to the guy who owns it and try it out,,..I know Living in West Virginia I cnat convieniantly run to California to see if something works,, but they sell that stuff every where it is all over the United States so why worry, be at ease, and check it out or get it from a Ham Radio Dealor,,
Another good thing to remember is if it is in a Peek and Tweek shop, more or less it has been abused even though it works, so it might last a week and it maight not last a day,, but they will not give you the benifit of a doubt,. They always say you blew it up.. Buy from a dealor, or a reputable HAM..

Any LoVHF amps among those? I don't mind tech special stuff....as long as I know it going in, that is.

Joe, check the qth.com feedback forum.

If a guy (gal) has good feeback and no bad feedback, then odds are he is a good risk.

If he has both kinds of feedback-it is a dice toss.

All bad-dont buy.

If he has NO feedback, but claims to have made deals, then ask for references and contact the references.

If YOU have good feedback, then ask if item can be shipped FIRST.

Most wont, but if he has no feedback, then his risk is lessened and yours is improved.

Just my thoughts.

Mark
K8VF

KC8KZY wrote:

shaggy_24740 wrote:Get what you want from a dealor. It is only about $100 higher for the item if it is a radio or amp, so why worry about it for $100,,, and top it off, you can always send it back to the dealor, but most sellers are""I call it like it is"" Flim Flam Men, I have a garage full of none working amps to prove it, and EBAY say's the seller said no returns and it isn't garenteed,, But the listing says like new..
Option #2,, Do as I said I'd only do, and go to the guy who owns it and try it out,,..I know Living in West Virginia I cnat convieniantly run to California to see if something works,, but they sell that stuff every where it is all over the United States so why worry, be at ease, and check it out or get it from a Ham Radio Dealor,,
Another good thing to remember is if it is in a Peek and Tweek shop, more or less it has been abused even though it works, so it might last a week and it maight not last a day,, but they will not give you the benifit of a doubt,. They always say you blew it up.. Buy from a dealor, or a reputable HAM..

Any LoVHF amps among those? I don't mind tech special stuff....as long as I know it going in, that is.

I have VHF amps but I use them Ibought them New, thank goodness ,. I believe the biggest Radio Junk yard is on EBAY. I see radios all the time on there that has been on there several times it's easy to see just find a spot in the picture you can identify and keep it in mind.. I'm a none EBAY'er and a None PayPaler lol.

Quote:
" I believe the biggest Radio Junk yard is on EBAY."


Hmmmm.... I have been quite happy with nearly all of my ebay dealings. Met some very good folks and picked up some nice equipment that would have been very hard to find outside of ebay. Using Paypal has helped a couple of times when dealers were less than honest. All in all ebay has been a winner and the protection afforde by Paypal makes dealing on Ebay work well.

Paypal can be a real help at avoiding fraud and deception at both ends. Surely gives you far more options than a money order. Money order recipients can deny receipt of the MO. Even if the MO is signed it is all too easy for them to claim it was not cashed by them. At that point proving they indeed cashed the MO personally and actually received the funds can be quite difficult to prove. I tend to be wary of people who are wary of Paypal. They came through for me recently on a Hallicrafters Cyclone that was purchased here on QTH. Glad they were there.

As an aside, I find the asking prices right here seem more often than not to be actually be at the high end if not a bit higher than similar selling prices on Ebay. Bottom line is the deals are where you find them but I surely appreciate that Ebay is there.


Regarding US Postal Money Orders:

ratpussell wrote:\ I know of no other process as secure.

That's easy, Paypal. They are a lot easier to deal with as well.

US Postal money orders are EXTREAMLY safe! If the seller fails to send the equipment/and.or it is fraudulent in any way, the US Post office becomes involved. The first stepis for the buyer to visit the postmaster and sign out a 1 page complaint. The the seller recieves a 65+ page response which he has a limited time to respond. Failing response, or if the seller is truely unethical, he faces fines ($50K) and incarceration. In my 30 years of using USPMOs I have had two instances where there was a problem. The first was solved when the seller recieved the complaint. The sencond was when a US Marshal arrived at the seller's house. I know of no other process as secure.

Of course buying from a retailer whether new or used is best. But with that said i've had very good luck on E bay accept with the infamous Radio Mart but it does appear lately by his feed back that he has probably cleaned his act up a little or the buyers are to embarassed to admit they got took. My experience with E Bay is definately read there feed back as a seller or buyer and try to get a phone number from them to talk with them if possible.But by all means use Pay Pal as it if nothing else give's you a transaction record. I do you use personal Checks and M.O. with non e bay deals. Any way you choose to go good luck and use your GOD given common sense..