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I think this sort of thing has been discussed before, but it's suddenly a bit close to home.
I've recently advertised a bike for sale via a perfectly reputable site (which is neither Pinkbike nor STW, as it happens) and after a couple of weeks of no interest, there was an email this morning saying, basically "Have you still got it, please name your best price" to which the reply was "Yes, and the price is the price in the advert"
The potential purchaser has agreed to that, and is now saying "Let's go ahead, I can't personally come & pick it up from France, I'll send my shipping agent to collect it"
The above quotes are paraphrases, and there's a couple of items of grammar and style in the emails that make me a bit suspicious, but the overall tone just doesn't feel quite right. Spidey senses say to walk away sharpish. What's the consensus from others?
What’s the consensus from others?
You already know that answer really
True! Just wanting confirmation I suppose
Reputable website does not equal reputable users.
It's either a scam or the most clueless buyer in the world.
By all means get them to send the money by western union or care of a Nigerian Prince mind.
True! Just wanting confirmation I suppose
Short of payment by magic beans I'm not entirely sure how much more confirmation you could want beyond "I'll send my shipping agent"
My response would be something like, I’ll be waiting for your shipping agent, please make sure he/they have cash in hand…
Otherwise, they can do one.
Point the first, if you have to ask "is this a scam?" then yes, it's a scam.
Point the second, "I can't collect it because I'm in France / my aunt is poorly / I'm on fire / my Nigerian Uncle has just come into some money" comes up time and time and time again. At some point there will likely be a request for a Western Union payment or some other form of transaction outside of trackable or reversible systems.
Point the third, who the **** has a "shipping agent"?
Point the forth, see point the first. Quack.
‘I’m on fire’ made me chuckle.
Definitely a scam, had the same selling some shelves on FB marketplace. Followed up with a dodgy link to fill in details for "their shipping agent".
What you’ll get is a fake email purporting to be from a genuine but less well known bank saying that they are holding funds in your name which will be released when the buyer accepts the item. The buyer will give you some flannel about sending the funds to said bank and claiming it’s not reversible and you are totally protected from nasty people trying to scam you and they are doing it this way so your money is guaranteed etc etc etc.
Also once you have given them the address where a nice bike might be obtained the chances are someone other than the “shipping agent” will relieve you of it.
My response would be something like,
don’t respond. They’re never as stupid as you think they are. Any kind of smart arse back chat will reveal to them you’re not as clever as you think you are.
Had virtually the same question about 6 years ago selling a Spesh Enduro (the ad was on various websites), I didn't respond to the email
Its not worth your time worrying about it.
If they are in France and the rest of that is true, someone else will pay the same price with less hassle.
Thanks all, those experiences etc pretty much confirm what I suspected. I'll tell him to FRO.
In the meantime, I've already decided it will shortly be removed from these premises and stored at my brother's house, along with a couple of conventional bikes for the foreseeable.
Amyone here wanna buy a very nice Thorn tandem 😂? Magic beans and Nigerian funds not considered.
As a counterpart to this, I actually am a Nigerian prince, resident in France and run a global import/export business specialising in used mountain bike tandems. I am happy to send my man-servant to collect the bike at your convenience with payment to be sent direct once I am satisfied that it is as described - we assess pre-purchased bikes in our QA facility in Lagos. All being well, the money will be with you within days. I hope this puts your mind at rest. For context, strange things do happen, for example, my cousin Boris is now Prime Minister of your great country despite having failed to secure a job in my warehouse.
My agent will be in touch shortly.
for example, my cousin Boris is now Prime Minister of your great country despite having failed to secure a job in my warehouse.
That wins a lol, thank you
my cousin Boris is now Prime Minister of your great country despite having failed to secure a job in my warehouse.
What? He said he'd worked there for years. I can't belive he lied.
@badlywireddog What leads you to believe it's a mtb tandem? 🤣 Sounds like a good offer otherwise...
Cash on collection = much less problems.
That's gone through my mind, yep. But given all the other clues, it doesn't sound like I'd get very far with him on that front.
The scam on this one is that they will ask you to pay the insurance for the courier to bring the cash to your house. No courier will turn up and you won't loose the bike. You'll loose a hundred quid for the "insurance" though.
In fairness, cycling isn't much of a thing in France, I don't know how available bikes are over there.
Given that he claims to be in Val d'Isere, I concluded demand for rigid touring tandems was probably pretty limited. Another one of the fishy elements to the whole story.
Someone on here will be in Val d’Isere shortly.
Say no courier needed, just send a deposit, and pay the rest to the guy that drops it off.
Don't engage with them any further - its 100% a scam and its worrying that so many people (even on here) think that there is a chance that its real.
Yep, sounds like you’re right to be sceptical, and I wouldn’t waste your time with that offer. I’ve been trying to sell my SC Tallboy on Fleabay and had a couple of proper chancers trying it on. Latest one said he was prepared to pay £900 over the asking, and all he needed was my bank a/c or PayPal details….oh yeah, right! :)) TBH, I’ve got so sick of time wasters I’ve decided to just keep the bike and get some use out of it.
The probable scam on that one is that he will pay you the money with a fake or stolen cheque - it will appear to clear into your account and he will ask you to send him back the balance less a bit for your trouble.
A few weeks later your bank will contact you to say the money is stolen or fake, they will then claim it back so you loose it twice.
Had similar with bike I put on classified. ‘Dan Foster’s English wasn’t best and wanted bike secured for when over from France. Turned out his French wasn’t great either...
Bike still in garage ...
Problem with engaging is you end up on the suckers list. I was delayed on a flight, got chatting to the 2 people in the q and both had almost fallen to scams. 1 was fake car ad, 7k, 2nd was the hi mum I 've lost my phone send me 3k, on whatsapp. Both scams only failed when banks wouldn't enact transfer.
I've got a new shower for sale on FB Marketplace. No interest at £75, so it has been reduced in price every few weeks. It's at £40 now I think. Someone did the same message to me last week, they'll send their courier, who will bring cash, and I then send it.They could not do PP or Bank Transfer, so it was clearly some sort of scam. All that trouble for a £40 item?
courier to bring the cash to your house. No courier will turn up and you won’t loose the bike. You’ll loose a hundred quid for the “insurance” though.
Lose. Loose is the opposite of tight.
"In fairness, cycling isn’t much of a thing in France, I don’t know how available bikes are over there."
Really? Must be a different France from the one I'm in, then...
Anyone had the FB marketplace 'is your item like this?' message with a dodgy looking link?
Scammers bloody everywhere.
In the meantime, I’ve already decided it will shortly be removed from these premises and stored at my brother’s house, along with a couple of conventional bikes for the foreseeable.
Theres no risk there. As in theres no 'shipping agent' its all just an attempt to access your bank account.
“In fairness, cycling isn’t much of a thing in France, I don’t know how available bikes are over there.”
Really? Must be a different France from the one I’m in, then…
I think the post was humour...
The sneaky ones on FB mtb groups pretend to sell stuff they’ve stolen photos from other sites like pink bike and copy the description too. They get fake profiles which are people they have previously scammed… you can tell this because they even have a photo of a photo ID that they scammed!
For some reason the ones I keep seeing say that pick up is available from x street in y town. When I see this I always post up “wow, I live just around the corner I’ll be round in ten mins to pick up”