Buying from unsolicited contacts, F&F, photos

[Woodinblack]

One of the great things about Basschat is that you can put up an advert for what you want and people with that item can contact you. Also Basschat is mostly a safe place with good people.

However, it is still a public forum where people who aren't so great can join.

Recently we have had a few notifications from members who were contacted by people who have been here ages, offering great deals with pictures.

 

These messages have some things in common.

 

* The user has been here a long time but hasn't posted in ages

* The image is exactly what you asked for

* The user wants paying only in Paypal Friends And Family (note, you shouldn't use this payment anyway if you don't 100% trust the person)

 

The  whole point of "Wanted" is to get things you want, but please be cautious. Check that if the person contacting you has been a member for a long time, they haven't had a large break in posting - If you click their name to see their history, did that history stop in say, 2014, with nothing until last week?

If you have been provided with pictures, do the following:

 

1. Download one of the pictures

2. Go to google.com, click on the top right where it says 'images'

3. Click the icon in the search bar that is a bit like a camera, next to the magnifying glass.

4. Click 'Upload a file' and upload the image you downloaded in 1

5.. On the right there will be loads of similar images, but at the top of the left section there will be a button marked 'find image source'

 

 

If that actual image (not just something like it) appears on the internet, there will be a link to where it was shown. Now if that image is on another site, it could well be that the user is also selling the item there, but as most of the links I have found tend to lead to Bassics.de or craigslist in California, you can be reasonably confident that they aren't the actual seller.

If in doubt, you can always ask the user for another photo that they haven't provided such as 'can I see an image of the right side' or something, a genuine user selling something of many £100s shouldn't have an issue with that.

 

And remember, like so many things in life, if it doesn't feel right, don't do it!

 

Also if you do come across issues like this, just report the post and we can look into it, even if it is a message.

 

 

 

 

 

[Stingray5]

Thanks for the heads up on this and some good tips there, too. Forewarned is certainly forearmed. 👍

[Lozz196]

On 15/06/2024 at 13:11, Woodinblack said:

 

* The user wants paying only in Paypal Friends And Family (note, you shouldn't use this payment anyway if you don't 100% trust the person)

 

I`ve found that the best way to deal with this is say no, I`ll pay for goods but I`ll work out what the fees are (there are paypal calculators for this) and add it to the value I send so that you receive the full asking price. I`ll not deal with anyone who then backs away from this approach. 

[Woodinblack]

15 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

I`ve found that the best way to deal with this is say no, I`ll pay for goods but I`ll work out what the fees are (there are paypal calculators for this) and add it to the value I send so that you receive the full asking price. I`ll not deal with anyone who then backs away from this approach. 

 

You don't need to use an online calculator, paypal does it itself. On Paypal when you select goods and services, you put in the value you want, and it gives you the option of you sending that ammount or the seller recieving that amount (so you paying more).

[pete.young]

Is this why the Wanted forum is now visible to supporting members only?

[TheGreek]

10 minutes ago, pete.young said:

Is this why the Wanted forum is now visible to supporting members only?

 

Not something I'm in favour of - I'm trying to downsize (not very successfully TBH) and the Wanted forum has been a useful outlet. I feel that I'm being punished even though I've done nothing wrong.

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, pete.young said:

Is this why the Wanted forum is now visible to supporting members only?

 

We are looking into various options to improve security, nothing is set yet.

The wanted forum may or may not end up being supporting members only, it is being explored, but it would enable it to have conversations and bumping and be more useful for people to sell. 

 

 

[Kev]

3 hours ago, TheGreek said:

 

Not something I'm in favour of - I'm trying to downsize (not very successfully TBH) and the Wanted forum has been a useful outlet. I feel that I'm being punished even though I've done nothing wrong.

 

Best way to downsize (successfully) is to get things listed in the classifieds, surely?  

[TheGreek]

Others have noted that the Marketplace here is frustratingly slow. No guarantees anything will sell at the moment.

[neepheid]

I get the feeling that the Wanted forum is a bit of an echo chamber, it seems very few people go there, there's no way to bump things, so once your thread goes off the first page it's pretty much gone.  I don't think I've had any success from putting a requirement up in there ever.  Feels a bit like peeing in the sea to be honest.

[ped]

Just now, neepheid said:

I get the feeling that the Wanted forum is a bit of an echo chamber, it seems very few people go there, there's no way to bump things, so once your thread goes off the first page it's pretty much gone.  I don't think I've had any success from putting a requirement up in there ever.  Feels a bit like peeing in the sea to be honest.

 

That's probably because we didn't allow replies to posts, or a bump function. Mostly because it would otherwise have become a place to trade and sell without placing an ad. I agree, it wasn't a great solution. Now it's for supporting members only, it's all allowed. You can reply, sell, bump etc in there, plus the wanted ads aren't visible to scammers who are using them to offer items that don't exist for sale. The same has happened at Bassic.de and Talkbass, too. 

[pete.young]

On 19/06/2024 at 21:36, Woodinblack said:

 

We are looking into various options to improve security, nothing is set yet.

The wanted forum may or may not end up being supporting members only, it is being explored, but it would enable it to have conversations and bumping and be more useful for people to sell. 

 

 

From your reply you seem to be in some doubt as to whether it is visible or not? Well at the moment I am not able to view it, presumably because I'm not currently a supporting member.

[pete.young]

3 hours ago, neepheid said:

I get the feeling that the Wanted forum is a bit of an echo chamber, it seems very few people go there, there's no way to bump things, so once your thread goes off the first page it's pretty much gone.  I don't think I've had any success from putting a requirement up in there ever.  Feels a bit like peeing in the sea to be honest.

Its main function seems to be to keep all the for sale forums free of wanted ads, so I think it's doing something useful.

[ped]

1 minute ago, pete.young said:

From your reply you seem to be in some doubt as to whether it is visible or not? Well at the moment I am not able to view it, presumably because I'm not currently a supporting member.

Yeah that’s why, for the time being

[ped]

4 minutes ago, pete.young said:

From your reply you seem to be in some doubt as to whether it is visible or not? Well at the moment I am not able to view it, presumably because I'm not currently a supporting member.

You should be able to see it in the forum index but not view the contents

[Reggaebass]

I don’t view the wanted section often, only the for sale section 😁, but I do put wanted ads out and I’ve had good success, it would be handy to be able to bump it, but it’s no problem just doing another ad now and again 

[kodiakblair]

Pity about the change to the 'Wanted' ads.

 

I've boxes upon boxes of spares so checked in there regularly to see if anyone needed a particular part to complete a build or get a failing bass back on track.

Always made me feel like I was playing a small part in the BC community.

 

Sad state of affairs 🙁

[ped]

6 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

Pity about the change to the 'Wanted' ads.

 

I've boxes upon boxes of spares so checked in there regularly to see if anyone needed a particular part to complete a build or get a failing bass back on track.

Always made me feel like I was playing a small part in the BC community.

 

Sad state of affairs 🙁

Yes I can understand that. But I hope people see that a supporting membership supports the site and helps us keep our community safe. 

[Burns-bass]

On 22/06/2024 at 07:09, ped said:

Yes I can understand that. But I hope people see that a supporting membership supports the site and helps us keep our community safe. 

Especially given the massive rise on online fraud. It’s a sensible option.

[SpondonBassed]

I've used it three times* and it's worked very well.  It's a great facility.

 

*For DBE strings, an 18inch cab and a guitar rack.