Hi guys,

I have an Omega Speedmaster MK40 that i was thinking of selling when some guy approached me through Instagram. Since I don't know him in person and I have never sold a watch before I am seeking for some advice. He proposed a price including shipping costs + PayPal fees. What is the main steps that I have to follow so I won't get played in the end? Many different scenarios go through my mind Any suggestions ?

 

The safest is friends and family or wire transfer before you ship. Looking from his POV he's protecting himself and proposing a square deal IMO. The danger however is that he plays games with his credit card after reciept. I'd call PP just to explore options with them. They will favor the buyer in a dispute. Suggest you arrange a call with the buyer if you are nervous.

 

Escrow.com

 

Ship to a verified address only. That way the basic seller protection is covered.

 

What do you mean by verified address ? Is this the address that he declares in his account? What is also the basic seller protection? Sorry for the many questions, but you are talking to a completely PayPal noob

 

Friends and Family is not safe BTW

 

Wire Transfer is the only safe method if you don't know the buyer.

 

You can also ask for references from previous transactions, and follow up. If he's done business with other popular Instagram users who can vouch for him, you can get a better sense of who you're dealing with.

 

If paid via credit card, PayPal friends and family or gift can still be reversed and there is no buyer or seller protection.

 

PP has a system to link physical addresses to accounts. If you do not ship to a verified address, PP will not help you in case of a scam. So always ship to a buyer with a verified address and to that address.

 

Verified PP address is the one which says shipping address on the payment when you view the transaction. Best to do this by logging into your PP account. Shipping to a different address voids your seller protection.

 

Thank you so much! I will get back to you if I have any questions. You've been really helpful

 

Wire Transfer is really the only way a seller has protection. I prefer Paypal as a buyer for obvious reasons but when selling only use a Wire Transfer unless it is a super reliable buyer. Ive read too many horror stories on here and elsewhere to use Paypal when selling. And anything over $10k should probably done in person if it is collector to collector, if possible. If someone can afford a $10k, they can afford a $300 or $400 plane ticket and that will get you pretty much anywhere in the continental US.

 

Excuse my ignorance, but what about shipping with insurance and signature only? Does that help the seller at all or are there still ways around that?

 

Bank transfer..the safest method for you. At PayPal if the buyer tell that he received a wrong or fake watch it will be a long dispute which you can loose. They will ask for your proof of ownership after you have sent the watch an it's obvious that you'll don't have that anymore..
it happen to me in the past...

 

Do it via eBay and PayPal.

 

or post it for sales here, only sale to established member ^^

 

Exactly this. I hate to be the one to say this but there is no 100% verifiable online payment system, and that includes bank transfers (which can be fraudulent). This is the reason that so much faith is placed in feedback and recommendations. The bottom line is that you have to buy the buyer and he needs to be sure of you.

Frankly, whenever I've been approached about a watch that I haven't explicitly offered for sale, alarm bells ring.

 

My preference order for payment methods is:

- Cash on meeting at a safe location (usually a bank so I can pay it straight in) - I never do collection at home.

- wire/ bank transfer - but allow enough time to make sure it has properly cleared and so that you can see which bank account it has come from. At least in the UK, once it has properly cleared it cannot just be reversed and is actually difficult to get it reversed.

- PayPal - but to benefit from seller protection it has to go to a Paypal verified addressed (i.e. one the buyer has registered with PayPal) and make sure you send it insured, tracked and signed for. Also I would do it properly and send them an invoice via PayPal for goods. It's worth the small fee you pay- there's very little PayPal will do to help you if a Friends & Family deal goes wrong - after all it's only designed for sending money between F&F, and that's NOT what you are doing here.

Finally as has been said, consider a sale here - they are (mostly) the finest, most upstanding bunch of watch nuts you'll ever meet...