Purchasing a bass of a fellow Basschat user

[Umskii]

Heya guys and gals

First time purchaser outside of ebay and paypal for a bass.

What type of payment is the safest and recommend when purchasing from the forums.

Anything on insurance and delivery from the sellers perspective.

Much appreciated!

[warwickhunt]

Feedback is your first stop, then you make the call on payment. Paypal is best for you but some (inc' me) don't like it/won't use it. However, if the user is long term with loads of feedback then I'd not be unhappy with bank transfer. Insurance on delivery is dependent on courier; some (parcelforce) don't even give insurance, Interparcel/UPS might cost a nadge more (not always) but you are covered.

[Lozz196]

From a sellers point of view I always use the Interparcel/UPS option. Re payment, well if the seller says they don`t want to incur any Paypal fees there is the option of paying for the item as per goods and services - the seller will take a hit on fees this way, but then simply ask them what the value lost was, then do a Paypal gift for that amount. It works out the same on fees as if you`d sent a Paypal gift bu this way you are covered and then they can also prove, should it be needed later on for insurance on loss/damage etc, that they sold an item to you.

But as above, feedback is a good way of determining whether to proceed or not in the first place. Of course you may get a seller with no feedback - doesn`t mean they`re bad, but if there is plenty of negatives, well you then make the call yourself.

[alyctes]

Re PayPal: You can find the PayPal fee calculation on their site. So it's not too hard to do that calculation, then add that amount to the actual price.
This has the advantage that you are actually covered by PayPal's T+C if the deal goes sour - you are not if the payment is a "gift".