For Trade How [to trade safely]?

[Ariston]

How do people conduct these trades in a manner that protects both parties?

 

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[BrianShaw]

Trust.

 

[mshchem]

How do people conduct these trades in a manner that protects both parties?

Use PayPal buying as merchandise for buyer. Seller needs to use good judgement on who they sell to. There's a fellow on the Large Format site that screwed a bunch of people, requested people pay as a friend to avoid the fees. I tried to buy something from him. I used the merchandise option, PayPal refunded my money.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Without trust, there is nothing.

 

[Rick A]

I find that sellers who request funds via Paypal "friends" option are a red flag for me, follow Paypal's rules and pay the fees, don't be so greedy or raise your price to include the fee. I got ripped off for a tidy sum several years back, never again. When I sell items I tell my buyers to send funds as "buying merchandise" for their protection, and mine. I gladly cover the fees Paypal extracts, a small price to pay to keep a good reputation, plus it makes it easier to print a shipping label and gives a verified address.

 

[MattKing]

Folks, this is in the Classifieds for Trade sub-forum.
Trades mean little or no funds being paid.
I doubt there is any PayPal protection - at least for the portion of value that isn't "paid" for with money.

 

[darkosaric]

When I do the trade - trust is the only thing. People here are in general nice and good, bad are exceptions. I had only positive experience here in trading.

 

[BradS]

Trust.

Without trust, there is nothing.

+1e3

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

There are a lot of long-time members on Photrio, so people have reputations to maintain and friendships, and sometimes people meet up in person, so they get to know each other through the network, and they develop trust. Most of the time it works out.

 

[kmg1974]

I have never had any bad experience with people from Apug, though most of my actions have been buying items. I thought that paypal would also cover non-ebay goods purchases (i.e. through here).
But yes, trust is the main factor...my main problem is that living in Europe the market is relatively small, and shipping is very expensive.... (Add to that the fact that paypal makes you lose a few % points in the exchange rate adds insult to injury...

 

[tallenpatterson]

I run the Fuji X USA sales group on FB. Here's what I put in the files section:

TRADING:
Example:
1) You have found someone willing to trade a Fuji X-Pro1 for your Fuji X-E2.
2) Send pictures and descriptions of items to be traded, ideally in a way that leaves a record (not just on the wall of a forum, where the thread could be deleted). I would ask the person to add a piece of paper in their images showing the date and their name as well.
3) Decide on a monetary value for your trade. Theoretically, you are trading items with a similar value. In the example provided you both have agreed the value of each item is $250.
4) Send a money request to each other. Treat this “trade” like a sale. For PayPal’s purposes, carry out the transaction as if you were selling the other person your camera. Use invoicing or goods and services only.
5) Each of you must pay the received money request. As you see, you will essentially be swapping $250 with each other. PayPal will ultimately deduct their percentage for the transaction equally.
6) Send each other the items in the agreed upon fashion.

Now, there are other things you can do. Swap phone numbers, face time one another at an agreed upon time while both are standing at the counter in the post office, research their social media and see if they are established, ask for references you can contact, etc. One thing I've gone as far to do for those that are still hesitant, is act as the mediator and have each send their package to me, I open, video contents, and then ship to the new party. Of course...for a fee. Not donating time and this would literally be a last resort.

Just some helpful advice. I recently traded for a Hasselblad on here and it was a pleasure.

 

[dankapsner]

"Just some helpful advice. I recently traded for a Hasselblad on here and it was a pleasure." Ditto! I am the fellow with whom the above gentleman traded. We had extensive correspondence and detailed photos, and over many emails I had the strong impression that he was a straight shooter. He was clear, direct, not at all pushy, and he wanted to be fair. That's what I'm looking for in a trade, someone who values integrity.

 

[dodphotography]

I find that sellers who request funds via Paypal "friends" option are a red flag for me, follow Paypal's rules and pay the fees, don't be so greedy or raise your price to include the fee. I got ripped off for a tidy sum several years back, never again. When I sell items I tell my buyers to send funds as "buying merchandise" for their protection, and mine. I gladly cover the fees Paypal extracts, a small price to pay to keep a good reputation, plus it makes it easier to print a shipping label and gives a verified address.

My issue with PP is that the "goods and services" gets treated as income... so 200 deals or 20K leads to a 1099 from paypal. That's bogus to me... you aren't a business, you're selling personal items and more than likely taking a loss. You can combat the 1099 but then it becomes another layer of complexity in your tax profile.

 

[BradS]

I find that sellers who request funds via Paypal "friends" option are a red flag for me, follow Paypal's rules and pay the fees, don't be so greedy or raise your price to include the fee. I got ripped off for a tidy sum several years back, never again. When I sell items I tell my buyers to send funds as "buying merchandise" for their protection, and mine. I gladly cover the fees Paypal extracts, a small price to pay to keep a good reputation, plus it makes it easier to print a shipping label and gives a verified address.

Very well said. This sums up my opinion as well.

 

[binglebugbob]

There can be red flags. Obviously, watch the person who joins PHOTOTRIO only when he reads your post---or perhaps lists a high value item for sale the same day he joins. Or, you ask him a question about it and he obviously doesn't know anything about it.

A Google search for one poster's name who joined the same day he posted items for sale disclosed that he had various pricey items (cars, motorcycles, electronics) for sale on various forums all over the internet. He'd join each group and post within a day or so. Anything anyone asked for, he claimed to have one for sale. .Getting it was probably a little more difficult.

I've enjoyed this group. Generally a great bunch of people.

 

[MattKing]

Does anyone else see the title to this thread and think of The William Tell Overture?

 

[eli griggs]

Trust is what makes these trades, buys and sells happen here and when this site was still APUG, I traded cameras for cameras, bought a few and other items, and never had an issue... the truth is, I was lucky to make contact good folks here, and on other forums, as Trust is more and more often, a red flag for creeps and bad actors.

Look for folks that have previously made good deals, with feedback, and be on the lookout for those whom do no communicate in a timely fashion, or have no completed deals with positive feedback from members with a good number of previous posts, on the non-classified forums.

Lastly, don't send stuff you can no suffer to lose and always, insure your packages and demand the seller/trader does so as well.

IMO.

 

[Gaston 012]

Common sense, the least common of the senses, is a must if you trade.

 

[KinoGrafx]

Hi- I also had a good experience trading here for the first time (with member dankapsner) Lots of clear communication was the key (and it probably helped that I used to shoot for his local newspaper!) That being said, I keep looking at selling/trading a hasselblad swc/m I don’t really use much anymore, but a higher ticket item like that might not be worth the risk on any forum, so it may just go to KEH or an established dealer with that trade-off of security for less cash.

 

[removed account4]

Trust.

+1

I think most people are trustworthy. and if they end up taking something that was a give away without sending something in return you can always post some buyer/seller feedback so other people know what the person was like in a transaction. an example ... many years ago I had a horrible experience, my only bad trading experience since the early days .. bought something listed as "user" it got to me broken and seized bad enough my usual vintage repair guy couldn't even access the seized bits. upon purchase he offered a MBG but when I asked to return it he was going to send me an out of country money order that would have cost me 2x the value of the money order to cash it ( same post office offered a money order that cost me nothing to cash and he knew it ) then I got emails of insults, then he sent me emails insulting my repair guy, real gem of a guy,
I left feedback. and it affected his selling enough that he emailed me ( not to apologize for his terrible behavior but ) to remove the negative feedback. so feedback is a good way to let people know how things worked out.

 

[eli griggs]

One thing that helps is both buyer and seller leaving feedback on this site, so a more complete picture of whom is whom and their level of trustworthiness and ability to follow through.

IMO

 

[dankapsner]

That was a great trade! Your F3 has become my favorite camera! And I think the key is communication that fosters trust.

Hi- I also had a good experience trading here for the first time (with member dankapsner) Lots of clear communication was the key (and it probably helped that I used to shoot for his local newspaper!) That being said, I keep looking at selling/trading a hasselblad swc/m I don’t really use much anymore, but a higher ticket item like that might not be worth the risk on any forum, so it may just go to KEH or an established dealer with that trade-off of security for less cash.