[7PointMe]

Found a bike I'd like to get through a posting on that site. I just wanted to see if you guys had any guidance on doing something like this or anything I should be aware of - bike would be coming from Canada. How do I protect myself as a consumer if it's not going through paypal? Thanks in advance and sorry if this sounds completely ridiculous.

-Mike

 

[Flystagg]

not going through paypal or a credit card, your pretty much screwed, only surefire way is to drive up to canada, hand over money, and grab the bike, I tried buying a lyrik through pinkbike, paypal was the only thing that saved my ass.

 

[Madman133]

Get paypal dude...

 

[7PointMe]

Yeah you guys are right. Thanks for the dose of common sense! Nobody wants to get burned, especially where bikes are involved. I'll have to insist!

 

[LoozinSkin]

its kind of a crapshoot over there.

On one hand its a huge open market thats also non-fee based to get your stuff sold and to find what you need to buy, but I find that 1 out of every 3 users you end up dealing with turns out to be a 15 year old who is not serious about actually paying for the frame you just spent 3 hours stripping down and boxing up for them or they sell the fork to someone else and disappear after they agree on a sale with you.

It sucks but sometimes it's worth while if you can be assertive and use all your resources to cut through the BS.

 

[SHIVER ME TIMBERS]

I wouldn't buy anything out of the country unless he was a frequent poster on the site....credit cards have buyer protection...use it

 

[RickyD]

Check his seller history. There will be a link at the top of the ad. If he is a repeat seller with several ads marked sold, over an extended period of time. You can make a judgment call based on that.

But buying on the internet is always risky, even with establish, respected members. Go check the bad seller forum on Ridemonkey to see what I mean. The post about Bullcrew, to be specific.:nono:

 

[Cable0guy]

Paypal does not guarantee transactions. The safest way is to use escrow.com

 

[climbingbubba]

i just got scammed from a guy out of canada out of $700!!! not a pleasant experience, here is what i learned.

first off.... Paypal will screw you.

without going into details here are the things paypal won't tell you.

1. unless its bought through ebay, they WILL not gaurantee it. no matter what
2. if you use your paypal account make sure the funds are taken from your credit or debit card. if they take it out of your bank account you are again screwed.
3. If the person is a fraud they are willing to give them 10 days to "respond" or as i like to call it "10 days to transfere your money out of their paypal account" they will not pull money out of their bank account. they will only take money out of their paypal account. further note it only takes 2-3 days to transfere money out of your paypal account.
4. if you sold something and have money sitting in your paypal account hurry and transfere it before you pay for stuff. any money taken from your paypal account will not be refunded.

so in summary, if you don't use ebay make sure to use your credit card cause they can get your money back.

well on that note have fun and buy safely

or you could ask them to ship it Cash on Delivery (C.O.D.)

 

[006_007]

i just scammed from a guy out of canada out of $700!!! )

[email protected], give me my $700 back!

 

[redmonster89]

[email protected], give me my $700 back!

I do Believe he forgot a "got" just after the "just".

 

[006_007]

I do Believe he forgot a "got" just after the "just".

damn sarcasm formatting was not working on my post......

 

[climbingbubba]

I do Believe he forgot a "got" just after the "just".

right you are, man im still pissed, put a big kink in building my socom up. i had to switch from getting a 08 marzocchi 888 rc3 WC to a slightly used 09 boxxer team.

oh another thing i forgot to say, buying on pinkbike is killer right now. with the canadian dollar going down you can get some good deals.

my new fork was 660 canadian and it ended up being 525 USD.
good deals.

 

[006_007]

i just scammed got from a guy out of canada out of $700!!!

LOL, my sarcasm is failing, but you are so upset you are obviously drinking! :thumbsup:

Good news is karma will kick the guy in the @ss that ripped you off.

 

[Blackdoq]

I've asked for details and shipping rates on three different frames from three different sellers on Pinkbike recently as a “serious buyer“, never got a reply from any of them. The frames are still up on there for sale.

Can't say I would feel comfortable making a purchase through that site w/o using ebay/paypal due to the lack of communication so far.

 

[LoozinSkin]

I've asked for details and shipping rates on three different frames from three different sellers on Pinkbike recently as a "serious buyer", never got a reply from any of them. The frames are still up on there for sale.

Can't say I would feel comfortable making a purchase through that site w/o using ebay/paypal due to the lack of communication so far.

possibly because:

-the seller got his laptop taken away due to failing western civ
-the seller got banned from the last internet cafe in Nigeria that did'nt know he's wanted by the authorities for internet fraud
-the seller has been baked beyond coherency on purple hydroponic nuggets for te last 72 hrs straight.

Really though, its not all bad... I pull some good biz there too from time to time but its not without going through some hassle.

 

[Clutchman83]

Face to face is preferable, I picked up an 05 Norco Shore for $850 through Pinkbike. Trust me it was well spec'd and in fantastic condition, if you can do it in person then you have no worries, otherwise it's a crapshoot. I'd recommend using Paypal but if a scammer is involved the legal system isn't exactly fast. You will be protected but it's gonna take a while.

 

[climbingbubba]

LOL, my sarcasm is failing, but you are so upset you are obviously drinking! :thumbsup:

Good news is karma will kick the guy in the @ss that ripped you off.

wow im an idiot, i wish i could claim alcohol. that one was all me....both times.

 

[boogenman]

although the Canadian folks are overly friendly on the phone and talk funny they are the.......

 

[el_chupo_]

I just got a frame through there, but I used Paypal + credit card for safety. Seller even declared low value and no customs!!

I bought a frame from a shop up in Canada a bit over a year ago and customs were another 100 bucks...