How to Buy & Sell Safely

No sale is worth compromising your personal safety. Here’s a few safety tips to follow when buying and selling online.

Meet in a public place.

If you’re buying or selling a small sized item, there’s no reason why you should have to meet at someone’s home (the buyer or seller insists that you come over to their house, approach with caution). Instead, meet in a well-lit, public place – for example, a local coffee shop or another venue that’s convenient for both of you.

Buddy up.

Sometimes inviting a buyer or seller to your home is unavoidable. If you’re going to someone’s home, make sure you bring a friend. Conversely, if you’re going to be letting a buyer into your own abode, make sure you’re not home alone.

Meet at the bank.

Making a big ticket sale? Avoid travelling with a bunch of cash and meet at the bank. With all the security cameras and a bunch of people around, it’s literally one of the safest public places to meet.

Trust your gut.

If an item seems too good to be true or something about the sale feels off, it probably is. Use your intuition as your guide and only do business with people that you feel comfortable with.

Communicating with a prospective buyer

• Communicate only through the anonymous email account, or your disposable phone number.
• Understand that virtually every out-of-area buyer is a fraud.
• If anything feels “off,” stop contact.
• When you’re comfortable that the buyer seems legitimate, ask the buyer to give you his or her phone number. (Sometimes, the area code may indicate if they are in your area.) Try the phone number to find out if it’s valid. If the person responds, chat on the phone for a bit about the item for sale and decide if the person still feels legitimate.
• Make it clear that you will only accept cash for the item. Any other form of payment is highly likely to be fraudulent.

Show transportable items in safe, public places

• Agree to meet during daylight hours in a public place and bring a friend to accompany you. Turn down any request to meet at your house, in an unfamiliar place, or by yourself no matter how big and tough you are.
• Do not hand over the item until you have cash in hand. Don’t accept partial payment or anything other than cash for the transaction. If the method of payment changes from your previous agreement walk away from the deal.
• If the potential buyer wants time to consider and comes back later, follow the same procedures. Don’t get careless the second time around.
• If the item being sold has significant value, meet inside a bank where you can deposit the money before leaving – this way the buyer can’t turn around and rob you. It is hard to be safer than in a bank where there is plenty of security monitoring.

Show non-transportable item at home with plenty of precautions

• The less you show, the less they know. Your house provides many clues about you, your income level, your family, and so on. All of this may be useful information to crooks and predators, so it’s smart to show as little as possible.
• Move the item into the garage or entryway, if possible. The goal is for potential buyers to see as little as necessary of your house – ideally, they won’t come inside your home at all.
• Remove from view any items that could be stolen at the time of the visit, or that would be of interest for the potential buyer to steal later. If you have family photos on display, you may choose to put these away as well. (The less someone knows about you the better—for example, you might not want a stranger buying a couch to learn that you had young children and to be able to identify them.)
• Make your meeting a two-step process. Arrange to meet during daylight hours and have a friend be there with you.
  • First, meet in a public place close to your house. Ask for proof of identity such as a driver’s license. (That way you know who you’re dealing with if there’s is a problem.) Note the license plate number, color, and model of the buyer’s vehicle so you have it in the event there is trouble.
  • If you’re comfortable that the buyer seems legitimate, have them follow you and your friend to your house.
• If more than one person arrives, keep them together. A common ploy is for one person to engage you with questions while another asks to use the restroom. Decline. This splits your ability to supervise and increases their ability to scope out more of your house and any items worth stealing. It may seem rude to refuse to let someone use your bathroom, but it isn’t. Let them know where the closest public bathroom is located.
• Don’t hand over the item until you have cash in hand. Don’t accept partial payment, or anything other than cash for the transaction. If the method of payment changes from your previous agreement, decline the deal.
• If the potential buyer wants time to consider and comes back later, follow the same procedures. Don’t get careless the second time around.