I listed an item for sale in Gumtree, I want to meet in person & cash sales only. However buyer wants to deposit the money to my bank account plus postage. My concern is after I received the money & sent the item can the buyer ask the bank to reverse the cash transfer transaction ?
I forgot to mention that buyer says to post the item (worth about $100) once the money is cleared.
The buyer is 3 hours away.
Cash for a delivered item?
If you see the original post there was nothing about the buyer being 3hrs away or waiting for the money to clear so i was just going off what info I had.
With what OP has now told us it sounds like waiting for transfer + posting it would be reasonable
Followed by they ran off without paying
no they cant reverse. if they want to reverse, bank has to ask you, then you can refuse obviously. more risk to buyer
if they are asking to pay that way , thats a huge flag , no one does , and no one wants to if its legit , because it has least rights for them , and if they put fraud funds into your account , your get the short stick.
I've offered and have done it before.
I wouldn't do it with expensive items like phones etc though. If the seller doesn't send it, there's little chance I'll see that money again.
Also remember it won't necessarily process immediately so they might ask you to send the item before it clears? I would probably offer for them to pay via paypal and post it with tracking. It could also be that they don't want to bother come picking it up etc rather than something suspicious.
can't paypal be clawed back or transactions disputed etc.? hence i've always asked for bank deposits (same question always in back of my mind if it could be reversed, but less so than paypal).
Yes you're probably right, yes the buyer can dispute things. I never thought of it that way. Paypal always just seems the safe option because there's no exchange of bank account details etc.
if anything i would think that if they get your bank account numbers what can they do? worse come worse you can't hack or draw out money frmo my bank account merely by having the account and bsb numbers right? Perhaps someone can enlighten me if there is a reason to not have it leaked out (not that you would purposely want it public anyway).
nah, just do it. Put it on your secondary account and make sure you get your hand on the money before sending it out. If anything happens, bank can't just take the money out without your knowledge. There's slight chance that he got access to someone else account and transfer fund from there but every new transaction now require second authentication (like sms or phone/app) so it's unlikely. It is actually safer than paypal where they can just decide your transaction is not protected and side with buyer. At least with a zero balance bank account, the bank has to contact you to do something like that. And if you have proof of doing your part then they probably just cut their loss and reimburse the other party, with Paypal it's either buyer or seller cutting the loss and they always win.
Is it really worth the headache? It's almost certainly a scam.
I wouldn't pay anyone with bank deposit, but if someone wanted to pay me that way it's usually ok as it's harder for them to reverse than PayPal etc. The only risk you really have is if it's stolen money or they don't want to wait for it to clear. I wouldn't accept anyone's word / receipt that they have deposited the money, I'd wait for it to show up.
No really, 'cash' is a huge red flag for large purchases. It depends on the size of the purchase really. For a small one cash is normal, but for a large purchase 'cash' is a huge red flag.
Seems pretty legit really if they can't pick up. I'm not sure why everyone else seems to think that this is weird, for something that you have to buy remotely this is 'normal' if you trust the seller. Because the risk is with them, really. PayPal puts the seller at risk and extra fees.
I was in a similar situation myself today (being on the buyer's side). The thought process was that, I would have the account number of the person. So any shady business, I (or the police) could always track the fraudster through that account number. Time and again, people post "items" on Gumtree about not doing business with such and such people after they've been duped by them. With cash, it becomes difficult to trace someone.
How much is your item worth? Does the buyer even live close by to meet up?
What is the actual item? Scammers usually only target items that they can be sold off again easily such a phones, laptops etc. If your item doesn't fall into those types of categories, then I wouldn't be too concerned.
As a seller, a bank transfer is probably the next safest after just meeting up and doing the exchange (even meeting up comes with its own risks).
The only risk you have is if they're sending money from a hacked account, then the bank may reverse it. Usually nowadays, the transaction will have the account name in the description (the major banks I use have anyway). Just make sure the person's name matches that of the person you're talking to and I think that's as safe as you can get the transaction to be.
Keep in mind that no sale or purchase from these sites will be totally risk free for either seller or buyer.
I've read previously that there's been scams where the buyer photoshops completed BPAY transaction screenshots.
They then claim that BPAY takes up to 3 business to process (which can be true) allowing them to wait out the delivery period before they disappear.
Second this.
Its not worth the risk or hassle. If he's 3 hours away, easier payment options will exist.
Why BPAY? Do they try get someone to pay off their electricity or credit card bill or something?
I've used direct deposit since before paypal was around, always nice since there's no fees if they decide not to list it as a "gift" on paypal. The risk all falls on the person sending cash, not receiving.
I was screwed over once… as the depositor. It's hard as hell to try get the money back, non-refundable fee involved and it was declined anyway, so I wound up worse off. Decided not to push it with police in the end as it wasn't worth the hassle.
Just make sure it's cleared funds in your account first.
worth about $100) once the money is cleared.
All this worry for $100, and you're not even the buyer.
It's perfectly safe. Ask the buyer to pay asap.
Came in, read all the other comments and thought exactly the same thing. All this scam and panic over a $100 item. You would think they were selling a car for thousands…
It’s $100. Tell the buyer, sure, here is the deposit details, but item not sent until funds have cleared. May take up to a week… send the item with some form of tracking.
Back transfer is great for you as long as you make sure you have the money before posting the item.
If I was posting something expensive I would insist on being paid by bank transfer because I hate getting screwed over by PayPal. If they don't like it tough for them. They can drive to pick it up for cash.
That's perfectly normal. I wouldn't want to waste 6hrs of my time (round trip) to pick up a $100 item. Are you willing to spend 6 hrs to meet them in person around their area?
The buyer is also trying to put your paranoid mind at ease by suggesting to ship the item after money has cleared. This puts the risk on the buyer, not you. They are trying to make it easy for you, give them a break.
gumtree = scumtree
No risk. Just wait for it to show up in your account. You can set up a one-way account where money can only come in and can't go out so they can't use your details for fraud. No fee for it at NAB.
I havent had any problems selling with bank transfer. I guess one scam would be for them to deposit a cheque which doesnt clear but that can be checked to see if the funds are cleared or not cleared. You could wait 24 hours after payment before posting the item.
I have a seperate account with another bank for ebay type stuff but i think if i was scammed amd the transfer was somehow reversed id be on the hook for the negative amount.
Another option is COD at a post office but they do charge you a fee. Have used this selling old camera gear.
Done this many times, even did it with a motor vehicle. Once the funds clear, the risk is minimal. Do it.
Maybe do some due diligence first. Check whether they exist on linkedin or Facebook or the White Pages. Conduct a street view search of the address.
So long you ONLY post after the funds have cleared and are in your bank account for sure.
Completely safe. Close thread mods.
Any update OP?
Buyer bank transfer the money plus $20 for postage & packaging but the postage cost $8.50 so I returned $11.50. I used an old box packaging to send the item.
I was a bit worried about giving my bank details to stranger.
Thanks everyone for your advice.
Refuse the offer. Cash only.