Buyer beware / read this

[Ard]

Only 'Senior Members' having a 50 post count on the forum may list items in the classifieds for sale.

Recently we had a deal go bad, so do your self a favor before you buy.

This is not eBay, and we (the forum) make no profit from the sales that take place here. This classified sales forum is a member service for everyone to enjoy.

Although we have no 'Feedback Scores' like eBay there are a few things you can do to gage the person offering items for sale here. When you are thinking about responding to an item listed for sale, go to the sellers 'Personal Profile' and check some things out before you get into a deal.

1. Check to see when the seller joined the forum
2. In the 'Statistics' look at the posts the seller has made here.
3. Is there any personal info about the seller at all on the profile or is it blank?
4. Use only Pay Pal as a method of payment unless you have good reason to trust the seller.

Members here are good people and are not just here to sell tackle items, they post and they are part of the group discussions here. For our members protection from scammer's the post minimum had to be changed.

 

[plecain]

What, if anything, should we do if we see a deal that looks 'funny'?

Should we post a warning - "I'd be careful here if I were you."

Should we PM the moderators?

Keep quiet?

 

[cpowell]

I will add that I have purchased a few items from members on here with absolutely excellent results.

When somebody has a higher post count it is so much easier to know you are dealing with a legit person.

 

[jaybo41]

What, if anything, should we do if we see a deal that looks 'funny'?

Should we post a warning - "I'd be careful here if I were you."

Should we PM the moderators?

Keep quiet?

I'll defer to the mods for the official response but when I see something that is suspect, I report the post, that way the Moderators will get a notification and can intervene as needed. Let them handle it. You can report any post by clicking on the triangle icon with the exclamation point in it.

Post count can be deceiving so what has helped me is to have a conversation with the buyer or seller on the phone if you are unsure. In most cases when I have spoken to buyers or as a seller, the conversation has been for 30 minutes or so about various fly fishing related topics. This helps me get better feel for whom I'm dealing with and I'd like to believe it was mutually beneficial. The discussion also lets me get a feel for whether or not I'd use another payment method other than PayPal. If you have reservations, walk away from the deal. There are other places that provide you with greater security to make purchases or sell your gear. This is not to diminish the excellent experiences I've had here as a seller or buyer. I do appreciate the FREE service offered by the forum, it's just unfortunate anytime something like this happens in the fly fishing community.

Thanks Ard and Larry for staying on top of things.

 

[mcnerney]

+1 for what Jay said above. If something doesn't look right, either do a reported post (it doesn't hurt anything) or send one of the Mods or Admins a PM.

I'm not aware of ever having a sale go south until now, but lately we have been getting a lot of folks that join the forum with the express purpose of selling some FF gear and then they are gone. Selling gear is not the sole purpose of this forum and that privilege should be reserved for the members that participate, so that is why we decided to make a few changes and hopefully protect the members the best we can. Personally, I have purchased lots of gear from the members and always had a great experience, but it only takes a few scumbags to ruin things.

Larry

 

[cpowell]

Not the post count for purpose of how many..but you can read them and understand who the person is a lot better with more posts.

 

[fredaevans]

Dear God, this is the last thing I wanted to read...

"We few, we band of Brothers.....

 

[random user]

Sad to think the ferrell hominidae have found there way in here.

100 post to set up a scam... get serious!

Make it 500 at least with 6 months active participation over the six months, or 5 reputation points, or something along those lines. Make it hard and not worth the effort to burn threw disposable email accounts. (Otherwise find someone who is willing to stick their neck out for you and post your ad for you.)

One thing that works in a couple forums where I go looking for NLA go-fast-goodies or +20 year old cars is a stickie in the top of the "Classifieds" that is a voluntary listing indicating previous good purchases and good sales. Easy enough to bypass, but it is something. Doesn't point out the scams, but it does point out the real human beings.

I hate thieves! Hopefully someone has already paid the scammer a social call.

 

[fredaevans]

Not sure I totally agree with RU's numbers, but he makes several good points. This IS NOT E-Bay. Posting content, not numbers, are what count for me if I'm considering a 'buy.'

Fred

 

[winxp_man]

The other way I see it done on many other forums I'm part of is the buyer seller feedback system. Then people can leave feedback and this will let others know if the seller is good to go or if the buyer is good to go.

 

[theboz]

Having made several purchases through the forum I have always been very pleased with the outcome! Unfortunately there are dirtbags everywhere and it's sometimes hard to tell who to trust! Luckily Ard and Larry do a great job filtering out most of the **** but it's impossible to get them all! With this being said my recommendation is to always use Pay Pal or another control to protect yourself. There are to many swindlers out there who know how to smooth talk and even the most street wise can be fooled! In this day and age sending unprotected funds to anyone is playing with fire!

 

[swirlchaser]

As a general rule, if I don't recognize the screen name at first glance I pass on the deal.

 

[Ard]

As a general rule, if I don't recognize the screen name at first glance I pass on the deal.

Marco has a very good filter with his method of recognition. In the past I remember only one member contacting me about a classified purchase. The buyer felt that a reel purchased as 'Mint' was a bit banged up and was dissatisfied with the reel. Although that was an unfortunate situation it boiled down to 2 people having a different view of what was acceptable condition at a given price. There was no deliberate attempt to defraud anyone and not ship the goods. The case that prompted this thread is quite different. Unless there comes some sort of resolution, what we have had is a case of a sale which was followed by the seller dropping out of sight and no rod & reel being proffered.

For the time being we will go with the 100 post rule and I suspect that it will do it's job. I've read all the comments to this thread and everyone seems to be on the same page which is a good thing. If or when I learn of the matter being settled I'll come back to this sticky and post to that effect.

One last note; I know we have a lot of members who post links. These links lead to videos, web pages, and etc. When you see a new member make a first post which contains a link, be very careful. I clicked on a link that was supposed to direct me to a photo bucket account to view salmon flies that the poster wanted a "value" for on another forum several years ago. That link had flies but they were worth only as much as the hooks they were tied on. The fake Photo Bucket site Hijacked my computer and I ended up having to order and install a new hard drive in order to eradicate the virus!

Use prudence before you click links submitted by a first post member. If you ever take a re-direct that seems hinky, report the thread or post right away.

Thanks to all who help make this a great place to spend spring runoff time

Ard

 

[plecain]

Like others, my experiences (about a 1/2 dozen) of buying through the Personal Classified forum here have been universally excellent.

In one case there was a mixup on shipping method which made me a little nervous for about a week, but it was a completely honest mistake on the seller's part. As a bonus, the rod was, in my opinion, in even better condition than the seller advertised.

 

[fredaevans]

So YES Ard. I have two lap tops, one for 'fun' the other for 'business.' I never down load to either without going through multi-anti's reviews, a 'view' maybe from a trusted site/e-mailer.

Both get a full on scan at least twice a day. Sh it happens.

Fred

Hah, just typing and an anti vir program wants updating.

 

[itchmesir]

I've had no issues with buying things from the Classifieds here.. 3 things I stress... 1) Always use PayPal! You can get your money back through disputing a transaction with PayPal, They are pretty user friendly and I've never had an issue the few times I've needed to get money back on bad deals... 2) Never pay through PP with the "Gift" option.. You're pretty much screwed if your deal goes bad and you gifted the money to the recipient. 3) do your research... Better off missing out on a deal because you read up on it instead of getting a "deal" and you ended up with a lemon...

Also if the guy you are doing business with is a stand-up guy.. Ask for a 3 day examination period.. In these cases I offer to pay return shipping if the item doesn't work out.. Which has never been the case for me.. but It's good to have that grace period to examine items purchased.. Pictures can't show you performance

 

[winxp_man]

Hardyreels would it be hard to introduce a feedback system?

 

[Ard]

This is in the think tank at the current time, other than buying from established members at this time there is no way to tell you are getting a square deal.

I sent you some rep for your comment, that's our feedback system at this time.

Ard

 

[zum]

The current flyrod combo I'm using now was bought at another fly web site.
I know I'm to trusting but I'd like to think that people honest for the most part.
Sent a money order(which was probably dumb) but the combo arrived as stated but I will say,I was alittle nervious for awhile.
Think the next time I'll pm other members to see if they know the person or atleast use paypal.

 

[pete a]

I bought/sold from several different folks on this site with only the best of experiences.

I think others have stated it but if doesn't sound right it probably isn't. Ask the anally retentive that only another fly kook would understand and that should keep you safe.

Again great bunch of guys here. Thanks for a great site.

Pete A.