Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Smyth
I think input from some of the bigger trusted Sellers here could enlighten us all on how to protect ourselves. They have the most experience with buying and selling watches. At least they could give you there ways on how they protect themselves that we may also incorporate into our transactions to make them safe.
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You have to remember that the mods on this forum volunteer their time to run this site. Unfortunately it would be way too time consuming for them to have to take the t responsibility to verify every member who tries to sell here. That responsibility ultimately falls on the buyer.
My rule of thumb is to trust my gut. If even the smallest part of the deal feels fishy I walk. It’s saved me from being scammed several times. I’ve had scammers send bogus references that upon first glance would look very credible. But something just didn’t seem right and there was a reason.
A few rules of thumb I use.
-I need to verify that the seller or a buyer is a real person that I can find on my own. Facebook and LinkedIn is a good start. I connect with them and send them a message through these sites. This would help in a situation where a TRF account was hacked.
- I look for consistencies in location and contact information. Again, these outside sites help.
- obviously post count and forum history is important.
-as a seller references must be provided and I follow-up on every single one. Most likely at least one will be a forum member I know from the past which really helps.
-I’ll ask for a copy of their drivers license. Again, looking for consistency with location etc.
-it never hurts to have the seller send you a pic of the watch with a specific time/date setting.
-a phone call/FaceTime goes a long long way
-I’ll often ask for a business email and contact them through there. One time I had a scammer on this forum provide me with what looked like a legit business email. I used that to find the his website and I called his office. Low and behold it wasn’t really him.
typically after all of these safeguards I’m able to get that feeling of good or bad in my gut. Obviously it’s never foolproof but I’ve managed thus far to do many deals with great and trustworthy people as both a buyer and a seller.
It’s such a shame when good people get scammed on this forum. Obviously it’s devastating for them but it also makes it even harder for us enthusiasts who are honest people to gain trust of suspicious buyers who rightfully so are concerned.
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