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Had an offer for my bike via pinkbike, the guy has no profile details on his profile but has provided address and postcode. I’ve asked for a pic of driving licence and a utility bill, is there any thing else I can do. Fearful of shipping the bike and then a PayPal request for refund comes saying no bike has arrived
Bank transfer. Unless they're using a stolen bank account it's safer than PayPal as they can't reverse the payment. Not sure what pinkbikes rules on that are though.
Have you spoken to the guy on the phone? That can ease a lot of worries, you can very quickly tell if someone is genuine be speaking to them.
Can you insure the shipping? Make sure it is fully tracked?
I'd use BACS over paypal for sure.
Specify pick up in person with cash. Saves the hassle of trying to send the bike through couriers and gets rid of he whole 'not as described' refund issue.
I’m in Northern Ireland he’s in Northampton, plan to insure shipping and I’ll propose bank transfer
I’d use BACS over paypal for sure.
If dealing with a reputable business, but I'd be quite wary of giving all my bank account details to a complete stranger on the internet who apparently isn't trustworthy enough to use paypal!
No more risky than paying someone by cheque (also includes sort code, account number, name, signature etc).
Question i would be asking would be is this bike so rare that this guy can't pick one up in England? If that's a yes and the price is right why not have a little road trip to collect it. I would not pay alot of money for a bike I have never seen.
I would stipulate collection only tbh. The guy may well be legit but there are just to many things that can go wrong by shipping to someone whos never seen the bike.
Monostereo a road trip is out of the question I’m in Northern Ireland he’s in Northampton, so a drive to Cairn Ryan and boat to Belfast is out of the question, the reason I suspect for choosing my bike are the upgrades to original and the price.
When I've bought a motorbike here in France off some classifieds it had to be a bank cheque. Not a personal cheque.
Fudge i meant a road trip for the buyer, not the seller. I've travelled across the uk for stuff before, not a big deal.
Apologies monostereo
I've sold quite a few bikes over the last 2 years and I'm always a bit nervous about it. When I was younger I sold a laptop on eBay and got scammed.
The buyer used a stolen Paypal account to buy it (or so I was led to believe years later). At the time, it just looked like the buyer had claimed I didn't send the item. Despite me providing reams of emails and tracking details (including a hard copy signature), Paypal still sided with the buyer and reversed the money out of my account putting it into the red.
They started threatening me with "scary legal letter", printed on pink paper with whole sentences in CAPITALS!
Eventually got sick of it and went to Citizens Advice, who basically told Paypal to behave. Had the odd debt collector phone calls over the following years. They didn't worry me as I know how all that works, but I can imagine they'd bother some people.
My own Paypal is still locked with about £80 of my money in it, so I just use my wife's now. These days I'm just more cautious with who I trust. You can usually spot a time waster/scammer from a mile away.
fudge I had a similar case...a new addition to PB bought my Bfe frame, used PayPal buy/sell and he came clean. Shortly afterwards his profile was no longer on PB...go figure.
However, if he does provide the few details you asked for use PP sell... keep a copy of all details like the postage/courier records etc