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Sellers Beware!!!

Folks, 

I am wondering if anyone else here noticing the latest trend on Audiogon. I have been approached by buyers in Vietnam to buy my listings. I have gotten at least dozen offers in last month or so, they are pretending to be US based buyers, with US address and do not disclose their actual location until you have accepted the offer.  I have already declined two confirmed offers as soon as I figured out their true identity. The US address being provided on Audiogon is either a local business shop run by Vietnamese native or a 'friend' address. I googled the address and called the local address listed on Audiogon. It turns out to be small business shop and the owner had no idea about the sale or the product he is about to receive in next 2-3 days. 

The icing on the cake, the buyer gets bent of shape when you point out these last minute surprises and then try shift the blame on us that we are not very 'trusting'. Go figure! 

I am outlining some of the things that were common in my dealings, 

1. Broken English (sorry no offense)
2. 12-14 hour delay between communications
3. Start off with low ball offer and then agrees to pay within 10-15% off of your asking price
4. Unusual delay in receiving payments, they tend to apologize profusely and blame PayPal for delay
5. They will ask you to 'absorb' PayPal fee due higher percentage charged by PayPal on intl. transfers
6. Negative, neutral or no feedback
7. The address in their Audiogon profile will be either in west cost (CA) or east coast (NY). 

This thread is not intended to target a certain race or nationality, the sole purpose of this thread is to create awareness against the 'sneaky' buyers. I welcome all buyers, domestic or international and wish them a hassle free buying and selling experience on Audiogon. 

128x128lalitk
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Just to be clear, I, too, have had successful sales to overseas buyers.  You have to use your head.  Not likely that someone is going to pay $$$ to ship big, heavy, fragile items around the world.  As others have said, there are lots of red flag issues to pay attention to.  Stay thirsty, but be careful out there!
lalitk's avatar
lalitk OP
5,530 posts
 
Thank you all for your feedback!
jnovak's avatar
jnovak
422 posts
 

I still haven't heard the bottom line here. I too have sold overseas with some crazy results. I want to honor whoever wants to buy but also protect myself on all fronts. This means that as the seller I need to understand ALL the rules in the chain. I also inform the buyer of all the rules I know so we are both on the same page. Yes, PayPal offers extreme protection to the buyer. I sold a Luxman preamp and amp to a guy in Spain. He paid me three payments over two months that were not linked to the sale. All risk was in his hands. I even shipped and declared a $250.00 value per box (actual value was $5000.00!) I sent the boxes out and never heard from him again even though I emailed him repeatedly to see if he got the units OK. Very strange. Another time I sold two LP's to a guy in Japan for $800.00 The ONLY way to insure them with a tracking number was Fed-Ex air. It cost me $125.00 (I paid). He received them OK. If he hadn't, I would have been required to refund his money. I took the safest route on this one. Another time I bought Subs from a guy in Florida for $600.00 He sent by truck on a pallet. He ate the difference in shipping instead of using UPS. I wasn't home when they arrived. My son was and he called by cell. I told him to open the boxes and inspect for damage. He did and there was damage. I told him to sign the BOL as such. I was screwed! I thought that the trucking company was like good ol' UPS. I thought that tey would pick up the subs and return at their expense if I wasn't happy. WRONG!!!! PayPal requires the buyer to return the item on their dime. These were $600.00 subs that would have cost me $275.00 to return! I failed to understand the truckers rules! The seller was a nice guy and we worked it out, lucky for me. Understanding ALL the rules from all parties involved is key. Joe 

ejr1953
915 posts
 
I have had two bad experiences, where a potential "buyer" communicates with me via Audiogon's "in mail", negotiates a "purchase price" with me either by "in mail" or by phone, the tune is always "cash & local pick up", but they decide to reduce their "offer" by several hundred dollars.

I think what I've learned about this is not to accept any "offer" unless its done by making a "formal" Audiogon offer.  If the "buyer" doesn't come thru, at least that's documented somewhere and you can leave negative feedback, so other sellers know who they might be dealing with.

One guy agreed on a price for buying an SACD player, arrives in my driveway and said on the drive up, thought about the amount he offered on the phone and decided he could "only afford" a price which was $600 less.  When I told him I wasn't interested in dealing with him, he still had the audacity to ask if he could see the unit...
jnovak's avatar
jnovak
422 posts
 
Hi ejr1953, I'm in sales for a living and what this buyer did to you was just a part of the sales world. I have customers I deal with that make me cringe when I see them coming. Still, I need the business. In the case of the guy in your driveway; I would have welcomed the chance to show the SACD player to him. A little sales talk from you could have had him shelling out the asking price. ( after all, he is standing there and HE drove the distance to get there). I've learned to limit the time if the buyer is only a tire kicker. Anyway upward and onward! Joe
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