Fake Venmo FB Marketplace scammers vs real buyers

Reverend Conehead

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I just sold two guitars, one electric and one acoustic via FB Marketplace. When I first listed them, I immediately got responses that didn't make sense. The first sentence some lady writes to me is, "I want your guitar; I'll Venmo you the money, and my son will pick it up later." Then she adds, "What is your address?" This has more red flags than a People's Republic of China military parade. She already wants the guitar, but she hasn't even seen it? Venmo? The MP ad reads that payment is in cash and we meet in a public place. Give out my home address to someone I don't know? Are you kidding? I look at her FB profile, and it's all in Russian. It's obvious she's not here in Omaha. I respond, "We would meet in a public place for the safety of all concerned, and payment would be in cash if you buy it." Poof! She vanishes.

Then about 10 minutes later, I get a nearly identical PM. It's the same hogwash: I'll pay in Venmo, but I can't pick it up; some other family member will pick it up later. They want my address. Person's FB account is in some other country. As soon as I mention we should meet in public and payment must be in cash, they vanish as well. And then I get more PMs like that. I finally don't bother to respond and instead just block them.

So I go online and google "Venmo FB Marketplace scam." A variety of scams came up. In one type, they send a fake email, supposedly from Venmo, saying, "You've received a payment of $400" (or whatever amount). Then someone shows up and steals your guitar straight from your hand. In another variation, they claim you have to upgrade your Venmo account for payment to work. Then the "upgrade" link is really their fake link collecting your bank info so they can rob you straight from your account. I didn't figure out what the deal was with them wanting my actual address, but I suspect it had to do with crooked info collecting. They figure out who has stuff that can be stolen and sold (like guitars) and sell your info to crooks online.

And then it went silent. It seemed no one was interested in my guitars. I think maybe the economy just sucks, and I won't be able to sell the guitars. Then, finally, about a week later, I get another PM. This guy sounded like a normal person. His questions were normal ones that a guitar player might want to know about the electric I was selling. "What year is it?" "Where did you buy it?" "Have there been any modifications?" I look at his FB account; he's right here in Omaha, and we have some common friends. I set up a meetup at a local Starbucks inside a grocery store, and he doesn't flinch. He never asks about payment method. I also get another nibble, this one on the other guitar, the acoustic, that I was selling. With him it was also normal guitar-player questions. So I set up a meeting with him in the same Starbucks at a slightly later time.

I meet both guys one by one, and sell each guitar. There's no BS about payment. The first guy simply pulled out his wallet and gave me cash for my asking price. The second negotiated a slightly lower, but acceptable, price and then gave me the cash. No BS from either guy. What a difference!

I've learned some things from this experience:

1. If you smell a rat, there's probably a rat.
2. Real prospective buyers ask questions that make sense.
3. Be patient when selling something.

None of the scammers had any earthly clue how to mimic a guitar player interested in a guitar. I know guitar players. The scammers sounded like they were from another planet. I was also glad I didn't get desperate. When I wasn't getting any legitimate nibbles, I was like, "If I can't sell these, I'll just keep them and play them, and maybe try again some other time if the economy gets better." I didn't rush to go to a world-wide market like Reverb. It was much nicer to sell local, and thus not have to deal with shipping to some far-way place. The buyer could also try out the guitar first.

So there's my experience with scammers versus real people. Take it for what it's worth. I'd bet some of you guys may have had similar experiences.
 
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Creeper

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I sold 2 guitars and some other stuff on Reverb.com. When I first listed the guitars I got a couple of people message me they wanted my guitars but they wanted to take communications offline. As soon as I told them no, all communications have to take place over Reverb.com, they disappeared.

Reverb is pretty good in how they handle sales. But they charge a lot if you sell on their site, especially if the sale is more than I think $1500.

I have an Marshall JCM 2000 head and speaker cabinet I want to sell. I could list it on Reverb but I imagine the shipping cost will be enormous. They offer discounted shipping but the discount is not that great. The last guitar I shipped from NJ to PA cost $80, plus another $56 for protection which is mandatory for more expensive items. Any thoughts on where to list it?
 

Tabascocat

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Is EBAY not a thing people use much anymore? I sold an airplane on there about ten years ago and it went smoothly. The only hiccup was that I had to pay a pilot to fly it to Oregon because they wouldn’t come get it in Houston.
 

Reverend Conehead

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I sold 2 guitars and some other stuff on Reverb.com. When I first listed the guitars I got a couple of people message me they wanted my guitars but they wanted to take communications offline. As soon as I told them no, all communications have to take place over Reverb.com, they disappeared.

Reverb is pretty good in how they handle sales. But they charge a lot if you sell on their site, especially if the sale is more than I think $1500.

I have an Marshall JCM 2000 head and speaker cabinet I want to sell. I could list it on Reverb but I imagine the shipping cost will be enormous. They offer discounted shipping but the discount is not that great. The last guitar I shipped from NJ to PA cost $80, plus another $56 for protection which is mandatory for more expensive items. Any thoughts on where to list it?
Have you attempted to sell it locally via Facebook Marketplace or Craig's List? Even though some scammers tried to hit me up, I'm happy with my two sales. These were two lower-priced guitars, which would not have been worth mailing across the country. The difference between the scammers and the real buyers is huge. If you haven't used these sales tools before, I would recommend simply going online and reading up on how to use them and how to avoid scams. Maybe check out Youtube as well. I'd bet you anything that you could sell that Marshall. As I'm sure you well know, that's an extremely popular brand. The brands I was selling were Ibanez and Yamaha. Fortunately, almost any guitar player has heard of those brands, and they have good reputations.

It took me about two weeks to sell my guitars. For all of that time, I had ZERO legitimate hits until one day suddenly I had found a buyer for each one. As long as you're in a decent-sized city, or close to one, I'd bet you'll be able to sell that Marshall, but you may need some patience. I looked at some basses on FB MP today because I'm considering getting one. The listings I checked out were 6 weeks old. I'm in Omaha, which isn't a huge city, but I wouldn't call it a small town either. There are about 450K people here. If you're in a tiny town, but a bigger city is something like 50 miles away, there's some chance someone might be willing to drive that distance to see your amp. If I shop for a used guitar on FB-MP, I include both Omaha and Lincoln in the search. Lincoln's about 50 miles from here. I would be willing to drive that if someone had exactly what I wanted.

The thing I love about selling local is you don't have to fool with shipping. You can be more flexible on price that way, since you're not going to have to pay to send it. I also like it better that the person gets to try the guitar, bass, amp or whatever before buying it.
 

CyberB0b

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Is EBAY not a thing people use much anymore? I sold an airplane on there about ten years ago and it went smoothly. The only hiccup was that I had to pay a pilot to fly it to Oregon because they wouldn’t come get it in Houston.
Fees are insane. Much easier to sell locally for cash.

Rule #1: If you are doing a local deal, only accept cash.
 

Reverend Conehead

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Fees are insane. Much easier to sell locally for cash.

Rule #1: If you are doing a local deal, only accept cash.
Absolutely. For a local deal, there generally isn't a good reason to use pay systems like PayPal and Venmo. I do have some caveats about cash, however. Don't worry, you can use cash safely. Just be careful. My cash tips are:
1. Don't drive a long distance with a lot of cash on your person or in your vehicle. In many states, cops abuse civil asset forfeiture laws. Those laws are intended to help cops when they bust some drug dealer who has a bunch of cash from his deals. The cops can confiscate that cash and then funnel it into their police budgets. Unfortunately, many cops have been pulling over normal citizens for basic things like speeding or tail lights, etc., and then if they figure out somehow that there's a large amount of cash in the car, they may simply assume it's from a drug deal and then legally steal it from you. This happens A LOT. It happened to a dude who was traveling across country to buy a semi truck. He lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and had to hire a lawyer to get it back. So if you take a road trip to buy a guitar, or anything else, drive without the cash in your pocket. Wait till you get there; then withdraw it from an ATM (in a safe area).
2. Choose your public spots wisely. My spot was a Starbucks inside a supermarket. My buyer PMed me that he was in the parking lot of it, and he described his vehicle. It was probably innocent on his part, but I took no chances. I went inside the store and then PMed him where I was. In the parking lot, there's some chance some crook could pull a gun on you and take your guitar or your cash. I don't think this guy was going to do that, but I wasn't taking any chances.
 

Creeper

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Have you attempted to sell it locally via Facebook Marketplace or Craig's List? Even though some scammers tried to hit me up, I'm happy with my two sales. These were two lower-priced guitars, which would not have been worth mailing across the country. The difference between the scammers and the real buyers is huge. If you haven't used these sales tools before, I would recommend simply going online and reading up on how to use them and how to avoid scams. Maybe check out Youtube as well. I'd bet you anything that you could sell that Marshall. As I'm sure you well know, that's an extremely popular brand. The brands I was selling were Ibanez and Yamaha. Fortunately, almost any guitar player has heard of those brands, and they have good reputations.

It took me about two weeks to sell my guitars. For all of that time, I had ZERO legitimate hits until one day suddenly I had found a buyer for each one. As long as you're in a decent-sized city, or close to one, I'd bet you'll be able to sell that Marshall, but you may need some patience. I looked at some basses on FB MP today because I'm considering getting one. The listings I checked out were 6 weeks old. I'm in Omaha, which isn't a huge city, but I wouldn't call it a small town either. There are about 450K people here. If you're in a tiny town, but a bigger city is something like 50 miles away, there's some chance someone might be willing to drive that distance to see your amp. If I shop for a used guitar on FB-MP, I include both Omaha and Lincoln in the search. Lincoln's about 50 miles from here. I would be willing to drive that if someone had exactly what I wanted.

The thing I love about selling local is you don't have to fool with shipping. You can be more flexible on price that way, since you're not going to have to pay to send it. I also like it better that the person gets to try the guitar, bass, amp or whatever before buying it.
I have been to Omaha. It was a long time ago for business but I recall pictures of the High School football team on the walls of the hotel lobby, and they sell Omaha steaks at kiosks in the airport.

Anyway, I am not on Facebook, but I will look into FB Marketplace. I would love to know for example if I sell on a site how many potential customers are in my area. I tried to sell it in the local listing here but got no hits for over a month.

I guess I can list it on Reverb and see what happens. They tell you how many views and watchers there are for your items . If it doesn't sell, it doesn't sell. I suppose there is nothing stopping me from using eBay as well. I am generally shy about people coming to my door. I sold a car once and a few very scary groups showed up to look at it.
 

Reverend Conehead

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I have been to Omaha. It was a long time ago for business but I recall pictures of the High School football team on the walls of the hotel lobby, and they sell Omaha steaks at kiosks in the airport.

Anyway, I am not on Facebook, but I will look into FB Marketplace. I would love to know for example if I sell on a site how many potential customers are in my area. I tried to sell it in the local listing here but got no hits for over a month.

I guess I can list it on Reverb and see what happens. They tell you how many views and watchers there are for your items . If it doesn't sell, it doesn't sell. I suppose there is nothing stopping me from using eBay as well. I am generally shy about people coming to my door. I sold a car once and a few very scary groups showed up to look at it.
Another thing you can do is join local Facebook market groups. Then when you list to Facebook Marketplace, you also post to those groups. I thought there might be a way to make your FB MP listings automatically show up in the market groups. Yes, there's also eBay, which I've never used as a seller, but it's there, as is Craig's List.

I'd be surprised if you can't sell your Marshall amp. As I'm sure you know, it's one of the most desired brands. Just do the research and know all about the scams that are out there.
 

Creeper

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Another thing you can do is join local Facebook market groups. Then when you list to Facebook Marketplace, you also post to those groups. I thought there might be a way to make your FB MP listings automatically show up in the market groups. Yes, there's also eBay, which I've never used as a seller, but it's there, as is Craig's List.

I'd be surprised if you can't sell your Marshall amp. As I'm sure you know, it's one of the most desired brands. Just do the research and know all about the scams that are out there.
Thanks, it is a great amp but it is way too powerful for my needs now. I have an attenuator so I can crank up the tubes without blowing my eardrums out of my head. But when I play now I use my little Roland Cube and headphones.
 

Reverend Conehead

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Thanks, it is a great amp but it is way too powerful for my needs now. I have an attenuator so I can crank up the tubes without blowing my eardrums out of my head. But when I play now I use my little Roland Cube and headphones.
Yeah, there's no way I could crank up some amp like a Marshall where I live. I have a Positive Grid Spark practice amp that can do about a zillion different tones. Blows my mind. I remember the days when it was really hard to get good tone with out cranking it up insanely loud.
 

Creeper

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One other thought on this, the IRS is now getting reporting on any transactions over $600 from eBay, Reverb.com, Venmo etc. If you sell stuff on these sites, they are required to report the transaction to the IRS on a 1099k. The seller will be expected to declare any profits from sales on their tax returns. What I do not know yet is how the IRS will treat these sales. Say for example you bought a guitar in 1970 for $300. And you sell that guitar in 2023 for $3000. How will the IRS know what you paid for it? Will they expect the seller to prove the original purchase price?
 

Creeper

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Yeah, there's no way I could crank up some amp like a Marshall where I live. I have a Positive Grid Spark practice amp that can do about a zillion different tones. Blows my mind. I remember the days when it was really hard to get good tone with out cranking it up insanely loud.
You were right! I listed the amp on Reverb.com and sold in in a couple of hours. I was surprised anyone still wants a old tube amp considering how advanced the solid state electronics have become. Still waiting for someone to buy the cabinet though. The shipping costs are really high so I expect I will need to drop the price or offer free shipping before some one buys it.
 

Reverend Conehead

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You were right! I listed the amp on Reverb.com and sold in in a couple of hours. I was surprised anyone still wants a old tube amp considering how advanced the solid state electronics have become. Still waiting for someone to buy the cabinet though. The shipping costs are really high so I expect I will need to drop the price or offer free shipping before some one buys it.
Yey! Great news. Tube amps are definitely not dead. A lot of guitar players got their first great tone with a tube amp, and are reluctant to let them go, even if the solid state modeling amps have gotten really good. I remember I had a solid state amp in the 80s. It's tone was CRAP compared to my tub amp that I bought. It was a Sheriff amp, a custom-built amp from a small company in Honolulu at the time. But its tone just cobbered anything that that solid state amp could do.

So lots of guitar players are reluctant to go with any solid state amp, even if these amps have radically improved.
 

Creeper

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Yey! Great news. Tube amps are definitely not dead. A lot of guitar players got their first great tone with a tube amp, and are reluctant to let them go, even if the solid state modeling amps have gotten really good. I remember I had a solid state amp in the 80s. It's tone was CRAP compared to my tub amp that I bought. It was a Sheriff amp, a custom-built amp from a small company in Honolulu at the time. But its tone just cobbered anything that that solid state amp could do.

So lots of guitar players are reluctant to go with any solid state amp, even if these amps have radically improved.
If I was playing professionally, on stage and all that, I would definitely go with a tube amp. When cranked up there is nothing like the tonal warmth and power of a tube amp. But for everything else, these little practice amps can produce incredible sound. The only thing that limits them is the speakers. I have 10" speak in my Cube and it sounds like crap, but with good headphones the sound quality is good enough.
 
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